Do fearful people go to temples? (PK answered 4)
Hare Krishna question do fearful people go to the temple? answer yes, people who are afraid go to the temple but they are not the only kind of people to go to the temple and fear is not the only emotion that makes people go to god this world is a place of uncertainty, it's a place of anxiety and everyone needs relief so when we say jo dar gaya wo mandir gaya we can also say jo dar gaya wo movie gaya now when people are filled with anxiety, filled with worry then they go and watch movies they watch TV, they want to forget all their worry forget their anxiety now quite often the movie or the TV that they watch, that does nothing to deal with their fear practically but still they watch it because that gives them at least a break from their anxiety now when people go to a temple they understand there is a higher power and they can petition that higher power and pray for his guidance, for his help and in that way they get relief so just as when we have a problem we go to some loud one and consult that person, share, unburden our heart to that person, similarly when we are fearful we can go to god and unburden our heart to him so naturally there are various levels at which people approach god there is fear, desire duty and love so fear is the lowest level of motivation where one feels that oh I am in trouble, I must go to god god will solve my problems or if I don't go to god oh then he may create some trouble for me therefore I will go out of fear now fear is a preliminary level fear of god is the beginning of wisdom it is said in the biblical tradition but that is only the beginning that is not the end, the culmination the highest level of approaching god is love of god so just like a child in the early stages as the child is growing up, it is good for the child to have a little fear of the parents otherwise the child will become unruly and naughty and may do anything so some amount of discipline is required so some amount of fear is good but as the child grows up so the fear should give way to higher levels then the child goes forward to higher level desire he says oh this father doesn't only punish me if I do something good my father rewards me also so then I will do something good my father will give me a chocolate, will give me a toy or something like that and then as the child grows further then the child starts thinking oh my father has done so much for me provided clothes for me food for me, gave me education therefore now I must serve him so then that is the level of duty and then the highest is love actually my father loves me and I should love him back so fear is the first step in approaching god also initially we are afraid oh this world is so big, they are so unpredictable better I need someone who will protect me so then let me go to god and pray to him for protection and then beyond that there is desire, maybe I can get this maybe I can get that so then one goes to god for that also but that is also considered preliminary then there is duty and understand that god has already provided me so much now I need water, I need food, I need air I need heat, I need light all this where does it come from, it is ultimately god's arrangement by which he has provided it therefore let me worship, let me serve him, let me worship him as a duty and beyond that one rises to the level of love of god where one focuses on god out of the desire to love and serve him and that is the highest level of approaching god and that is the purpose of religion to take us to the level of loving god so if fear takes people to god, that is good but in the temples, in the churches in the mosques, in the gurudwaras there should be spiritual teachers who help people rise to a higher level from fear to understand god's glory understand god's love and rise to the level of love but on the other hand, if we instead of helping people rise make a caricature of those people who go to the temple out of fear then we deprive people of even that shelter what are we offering people instead we offer them nothing we just leave them burdened with their anxieties so that is like we check the child's growth, the child is fearful of the father, so what should we do we should help the child to grow up, we should help the child to understand the father's love and come to the level of loving the father but here what are we doing, oh you are afraid of your father, stop going to your father only, run away from your home, so like that we are saying that when we say fearful people go to the temple, making a mockery of that level of approaching god, we are misleading people away from the shelter of god that they can have at a fuller level when their relationship evolves from fear ultimately to love.