We recently posted Volume III, the most recent issue of Swadharma, online. The theme of Volume III, Passing on the Tradition, was intentionally broad so that our authors could touch upon more of the most pressing issues facing Hinduism today. Because the point of Swadharma is to spark discussion about these issues, we will be blogging about each of the articles in a series of posts.
The first article, “Why Pray, and Do You Need a Special Space for Prayer?” by Dr. Kumar Nochur, is adapted from a speech Dr. Nochur delivered at the consecration of Harvard Dharma’s own prayer space in October 2006. To give some background, the co-presidents of Dharma during the 2005-06 academic year, Shyam Tanguturi and Vijay Yanamadala, worked closely with Professor Benedict Gross, then dean of Harvard College, to obtain a designated prayer space for Hindu students on campus. Pujas had taken place in various areas, from dining halls to library conference rooms, but the Dharma community thought that an area set aside specifically for prayer was necessary.
But why should we have a space set aside specifically for prayer? The communal aspect was one factor: places of worship play a vital role in bringing communities together through social events, service activities, and discussion groups. In his article, Dr. Nochur also points to the unique atmosphere we create by performing rituals in a designated prayer space:
These iconic forms — pictures, moortis or vigrahas, yantras, mandalas, rangoli colorings, etc. — are all aids for our meditation and worship. Even without sanctification, they serve us well if they remind us of the inner truths and powers of the divinities they represent and symbolize. Their value to us is greatly enhanced, however, through the special processes of consecration that Hinduism provides… After initial consecration, the sanctity of a deity or a sacred place such as a temple, grows in a number of ways. The fervor and sincerity of the devotees itself adds to the vibrational power of the deities and the temple… The blowing of conches, the smell of camphor and incense, the ringing of bells, the singing of bhajans, the sight, smell and smoke of Vedic fire altars — all these elements of Hindu worship have symbolic as well as physical meaning.
In addition to the ritualistic and symbolic, however, I see the scientific. Because we often treat holy places as removed from everyday life, a space specifically designated for prayer can provide us with a relatively closed environment that functions like a laboratory of the soul, a sort of spiritual Skinner box in which we can try to determine why we do things the way we do. Through the spiritual thought experiments we perform in a holy space, we might attempt to answer some of our deepest questions, such as determining a moral code to guide our actions. The fact that we often become hyper-aware of our thoughts in a holy space only magnifies the investigative power of these thought experiments and increases the likelihood that we will act on their results in that space. Note how people are almost certainly far less likely to gossip or swear in a temple: if they do happen to swear, chances are they will catch themselves and apologize.
However disciplined we might be in a holy space, the benefits are small if we cannot also discipline ourselves outside that space. But how are we to do this? The Bible offers an interesting possibility. The dimensions of the Holy of Holies are mentioned in three places in the Bible. In Exodus 25-26, the Holy of Holies was part of the Tabernacle, “a moving worship center that traveled wherever the children of Israel were sent by God”, and most likely measured 20 x 20 x 20 cubits. In 1 Kings 6-8, the Holy of Holies is part of the (First) Temple, which (obviously) measures larger than 20 x 20 x 20 cubits. In Revelations 21-22, with the Temple destroyed, the Holy of Holies is in the New Jerusalem, which measures 12,000 x 12,000 x 12,000 stadia. The point is that the space occupied by the Holy of Holies increases over time. While I am hardly a Biblical scholar, I think one possible interpretation is that we are meant to slowly expand our “prayer spaces”, or those spaces in which we are hyper-aware of our actions and their consequences. We might start with a “traditional” prayer area, but through practice and conviction, we gradually expand that area until it covers our entire world.
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