Growing up in India, I have vivid memories of many a train journeys that my family undertook, to visit relatives who lived in towns all across India.
As the train chugged through the countryside one would spot little white temples built on remote hill tops. At other times, one would catch glimpses of conical temple roofs and saffron flags, peeking through the mango groves of a nearby village. It was, and continues to be a mesmerizing sight.
It is interesting to note that Mother Nature forms the backdrop of not only these small village shrines, but also of major pilgrimage sites in India, many of which are located deep in the Himalayan mountains, inside caves, carved out of sheer cliff faces, near beautiful rivers and lakes or by the ocean-side.
And this leads one to wonder: Is there a reason behind choosing these sites as the locus of worship?
There is, as the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore revealed in his book Sadhana – The Realisation of Life: “India chose her places of pilgrimage wherever there was in nature some special grandeur or beauty, so that her mind could come out of its world of narrow necessities and realise its place in the infinite (God).”
And while Tagore offers an answer in the Indian context, it is just as applicable to Christian and Buddhist monasteries throughout the world, many of which are built in places of immense natural beauty and solitude. Such a setting being highly conducive to prayer, contemplation and meditation.
So the next time you trek to a temple or a monastery, remember the effort is not in vain. There is a purpose hidden behind the journey – to turn your mind away from the distractions of the outer world, and focus it on discovering the profound truths of the inner world.
“Meditation means the mind is turned back upon itself. The mind stops, all thought-waves and the world stops. Your consciousness expands. Every time you meditate you will keep your growth.”
– Swami Vivekananda
