If in days past we knew the significance and deeper secrets of temple, then somewhere in the deep recess of the unconscious that memory still lies embedded. The intellect may totally deny its existence, but intellect cannot reach the depth where memory dwells. So despite its meaningless appearence, this is something which persists and can’t be removed.

Apart from its outward use — as a means to an end — the mind apparatus also has a deeper significance and purpose. The universal urge to construct a temple is inherent only in humans. Animals make their dwellings, and birds build nests, but they do not build temples. It is perfectly natural to provide shelter for oneself. Birds and animals do it, even small insects, building a house for the divine is a distinctly human feature.

Without humans having some deep awareness of the divine, a temple could not be built. Even if that awareness is later lost, the temple will still remain; and it is certain that it could not have been built without a deep experience of the divine.

You make a guest house because guests come calling. If there were no guests, you wouldn’t waste money on a guest house. Even though there may be no guests now, the guest house remains. So the whole idea of building temples or shrines for the divine must have been conceived of in such moments when the divine was not just a matter of imagination but a living reality for the people.

— (Concluded)