A Hindu temple in The Hague (2)

You promised to comment on my blog last week, in which I tell how moved I am by the atmosphere, the openness and the spiritual energy that I experienced during my visit to this temple.

I will do so.

You have appreciated this ancient Hindu belief well. So many years of devotion and tradition, and refined rituals and a variety of images of God and stories about great heroes who were dealing with the gods contribute precisely to what you felt. A strong impact on your sense of devotion that is accompanied by great spiritual energy. One enters and one is touched immediately. One is absorbed into the great temple, which is built in the spiritual world, which exerts its influence on every visitor. And it also touches the distant environment with the spread of spiritual energy. The Hindu temples are also transformer houses of spiritual energy and a blessing for the environment.

From the principle of monotheism and the fight against superstition and from the perspective of the human ratio, Islam, Judaism and Protestantism score very well on earth. One God, great simplicity and austerity.

Shintoism, Catholicism and Hinduism on the other hand score best on the principle of multi-colouredness and creativity and support for the human heart and for human emotional life.
And who will tell which of the now seven billion people on earth must believe what? God / Allah / Braham / Yahweh does not do this. More often, Its servants on earth do that, too often.

The glorious multi-colouredness of Hinduism is best symbolized by the Holi-Phagwa festival where spring, the victory of good over evil and the new year are celebrated. And non-Hindus are very welcome at this party. All fellowmen. And have you not experienced in this temple that you and your family member as non-Hindus were very welcome to receive the bindi (dot on the forehead)?

That gets Me to another aspect that I would like to emphasize in this blog. The openness to other religions, other gods, other forms of faith. The Hindus were delighted to welcome Christians and their Christ. They were impressed by the figure of Christ, His spiritual example and the rituals and customs of the Catholics for example such as the communion and a church full of images of saints. It only contributed to the multi-color nature of their faith. This is a wonderful characteristic of the Hindus, they did want to welcome Christ and Mary, but the Christians wanted them to abolish Ganesh and Durga and so on. In contrast with the Christians the Hindu faith here displays a beautiful, rich, wise and age-old openness that is sung in the spiritual world!

Finally this, My son. We do great injustice to the Hindu faith of devoting just two blogs to their rituals, their gods, their wisdom and their traditions. But we can't help it. We have so many other topics in front of us. And after all, you have to visit a synagogue and a mosque for example as well?

The Hindus are blessed.
 
My blessings to you all

No 457

A Hindu temple in The Hague (1)

 I am visiting a Hindu temple in The Hague. A family member of mine knows colleagues who come over there. The temple is maintained by the Shiram Mandir foundation, which "meets the needs of the Hindu community throughout the Netherlands by holding church services on a weekly basis."
 
 


See also http://shrirammandir.nl

The temple is located in the Schilderswijk, a neighborhood of The Hague, and I think it is housed in a former school and has been enlarged inside, so that I was pleasantly surprised to see a huge space with many Hindu gods, texts, decorations, golden domes, altars. In short it was as a whole full of inspiration and atmosphere and special energy. We took off our shoes on our arrival, and we really stood out as original Dutch people tall and white and blond and so but we were warmly welcomed by people from the Hindustani community. I quickly felt at home even though I really didn't know much about all the symbols and images. And the Mandir, the leader, said a lot, but that was in Hindi, so we didn't understand anything. Where do I look at, how does it come across to me, what do I find impressive or strange? Well that's what I'm going to describe.

·        I feel how I am immersed in an age-old tradition of devotion and fine energy. Somewhere is sung, we have the Dutch translation on paper "Come to me, My child" appears Brahman telling us. Well, of course, that feels very welcome. I think Brahman is the same as Allah, God or Yahweh of course. There is a lot of beautiful singing and partly because of this I feel how I am becoming more open to the beautiful old Hindu values ​​of faith. I feel awe, respect for the divine world, sincere faith and surrender. I also feel the support from the spiritual world as if we are immersed in grace and love so that we can stand it again in the outside world.

·        Throughout the service rituals, prayers and bows are performed, and flowers and food offered on all kinds of altars, and I don't know the names of all those gods, but I do see Krishna, Ganesh, Shiva, Vishnu and Durga somewhere. As far as I am concerned, they are all aspects of Brahman having here their own power and strength and status. But they are really Hindu gods without any doubt. In addition to the mandir, an older couple performs rituals throughout the meeting. It feels very devotional, warm and respectful. I think that's the older notables of the community, maybe the elderly ex-mandir and his wife. Later on I hear that this role is always performed by an different  older couple, and that old man is the cleaner at the school where my family member is working,  and his wife. I think that is really very special. Although the mandir is a man, I see all kinds of women performing rituals, in any case I have the impression that the feminine aspect is well given room in this temple, such as Durga, one important goddess.

·        Almost at the end of the service all of us get a dot painted with dye on our foreheads (I understood it is a bindi painted at the place of the chakra of the forehead). I am very moved, as a Catholic I experience it as a kind of communion, something sacred and that we as an outsider also get such a dot on the forehead feels very welcome and open, so of the sort of “we are all children of Brahman "

 I still feel uplifted and blessed all week long, I clearly got something of energy to withhold against the angry outside world.

My God, would You like to comment on my story?

My son, I will do so in the next blog.

My blessings to you all

No 456