10/31: The Golden Temple Day Three

The Golden Temple at night time.

The buildings around the Golden Temple at night

Bathers at sunrise

The golden Tempe at sunrise, as the light first hit it.

The Golden Temple is a beautiful building surrounded by water, with an inner walkway outside the water, and then many more beautiful buildings surround it. This I will call the inner structures, because there are these very impressive buildings outside of this as well. It is all part of the Golden Temple complex.

Unlike many other sites in India, everything in the Golden Temple complex is free. They even provide free dormitory rooms and free meals. I decided not to stay in the dorms, but did partake in a meal. It doesn't matter what time you go to eat, the food is the same - rice, dahl, vegetables, and chapatis. It was very good. You sit on the floor on these long, thin carpets and men come around and ladle food onto your plate. I counted 50 people on a carpet, and 14 carpets, which means they can serve 700 people at a time, and it is constantly busy. As a row of eaters leave, a man drives a little street cleaner like vehicle, cleaning up the mess on the floor.

I went to the Golden Temple three times yesterday, and then again at sunrise this morning. There is always music going - chanting and prayers. You check your shoes, then walk through a little structure to wash your feet. I watched many Indians take that same water, put some in their mouth and some on their head, before entering the inner complex. Once inside, most people walk clockwise, some people bath in the water, many just sit. There are tall Sikhs guards with decorative spears making sure you do everything proper. For example, you must sit cross legged or with your legs bent underneath, but not with your legs outstretched (I did this). You can not sit on one step and your feet on the step below (I did this too).

Though this is the holiest site in the world for Sikhs, there are just as many Hindus here. They all pray upon entering, touching their head to the ground. I watch the way they pray, their unquestioning faith, their total surrender, and I wish I had that. It reminds me of a quote from Adyashanti: ". . . in silence is the never ending welcoming to do that which our human heart truly desires, which is to be always with our knees on the floor, always be in that sort of devotion to Truth."

I wish to have my knees on the floor and the door to my heart always open. But it doesn't come with the wishing. As Jack Kornfield wrote, "We don't have to improve ourselves: we just have to let go of what blocks our heart." And so I ask myself, what blocks my heart. And every once in a while I understand.