What temples are meant for – and not meant for
Temples and monasteries should be constructed for the preaching of spiritual consciousness or Krishna consciousness, not to provide free hotels for persons who are useful for neither material nor spiritual purposes. Temples and monasteries should be strictly off limits to worthless clubs of crazy men. In the Krishna consciousness movement we welcome everyone who agrees at least to follow the movement’s regulative principles–no illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat-eating and no gambling. In the temples and monasteries, gatherings of unnecessary, rejected, lazy fellows should be strictly disallowed. The temples and monasteries should be used exclusively by devotees who are serious about spiritual advancement in Krishna consciousness.
Srimad Bhagavatam 7.13.8 purport
Hare Krishna ,
Some time people who propagate that ” Daridra Narayana or Nar Narayan seva ”
they criticize us for doing service in temple & not addressing the cause of humanity ,
So are we really so selfish ?
A movie ” Oh My God ” says that temple’s take huge amount of donation
& do nothing for humanity . So there should not be any donation for temple’s ,
The Person you will serve is same as serving God .
But what is the true understanding of such a thing ?
Srila Prabhupada give’s the true meaning of devotee
Bhagavad Gita As It Is ( 9.11 Purport )
Any neophyte devotee who simply gives his attention to the arcā-mūrti, the form of the Supreme Lord in the temple, and does not respect other living entities is uselessly worshiping the form of the Lord in the temple. There are three kinds of devotees of the Lord, and the neophyte is in the lowest stage. The neophyte devotee gives more attention to the Deity in the temple than to other devotees, so Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura warns that this sort of mentality should be corrected. A devotee should see that because Kṛṣṇa is present in everyone’s heart as Paramātmā, every body is the embodiment or the temple of the Supreme Lord; so as one offers respect to the temple of the Lord, he should similarly properly respect each and every body in which the Paramātmā dwells. Everyone should therefore be given proper respect and should not be neglected.
Jaya Srila Prabhupada !!