Making of a White Elephant

When we refer to a white elephant, all our friends know exactly what we are referring to. This had become the talk of the town sometime ago, and it is there for all to see. Originally visualized as an architectural marvel, this elephant was designed by a former student of one of our prestigious schools in the city, but we have to tighten our shoe strings in order to complete the building of the elephant, which had cost us a lot. But those who were instrumental in adorning this elephant, still claim that it is all worth it, because it is sure to stay as an architectural wonder to all who would visit the place. However I beg to differ from them, and had been doing so from the beginning of the making of it.

A place of prayer has to be beautiful, no wonder; but more than being beautiful what a place of prayer should be primarily is, providing a conducive ambiance to silent communication of the soul with its maker. The beauty can come only after the ambiance. The ambiance, spiritual masters might call this a spiritual vibration, cannot be created out of nothing; every place may have its own vibration, and if care is taken to discern a place with spiritual vibration, it would benefit all those who sit there to open their hearts to the Maker. Mere external beauty of the building cannot provide the ambiance to pray and commune with God.

I would think that the making of a place of worship and prayer should be left to those people who are spiritually oriented. I have seen several churches and temples, which have been squeezed between several buildings, and there might be too little vibration to pray; however those who design these might argue that if they seek after a place with proper vibe, they might not get one, and therefore should make use of what is at their disposal. I feel that this might be one of the main reasons why many people do not feel at home to pray in many churches. The architectural wonders may become a tourist attraction, but not a spiritual destination. This might be the contradiction that the improper white elephants may cause.

Spending a fortune to build and adorn it with the best of possible décor may not make a place of worship achieve the purpose for which it has been made. There are hundred and one ways to adorn even the ugliest of things, and to make them appear beautiful. Beauticians have a magic wand which can transform anything into an object of beauty; however no beautician can really assure beauty which seeps through the skin of the object or thing, or person. It would be better to bring out the beauty of the benevolent God through the structure and décor of a place of prayer, rather than making them imposing, even strangling the very presence of God.

Unfortunately there is a trend among the Church builders to make them as posh and imposing as possible, and not taking into consideration the sentiments and feelings of the people who would frequent the place to pour out their pain and suffering. If only the people who would use the place of worship were to make their own structure, then they might do it quite differently, saving so much of time, money, and even resources. Ultimately what matters is that the people feel at home, and I wonder how many people will really feel comfortable to pray inside the ‘white elephant’, and it would be a sad sight if it does not take people to God. It might just remain as a relic of someone’s obstinacy and high-handedness, and not a place of prayer and worship.

When Work is Worship…

Someone had said, work is worship, and I would add another word at the end of this much used-abused adage : sometimes. That is, work is worship sometimes; but it would be quite erroneous to think that all the time, work can be considered something holy and sacred. After going through three marathon sessions of meetings, each time lasting for about three and half hours, I feel such “work” if I may say so, is far from worship. To put it in other words, what is reasonable and normal, may become something sacred, provided it is carried out with a proper framework of mind. In fact, no work can automatically become holy and sacred unless the “worker” makes a conscious and conscientious effort to make it so. Maybe someone may think that if he/she is a non-believer, how the work can become something holy, since he/she does not believe in the very concept of the sacred. Here we have to expand the meaning of holiness or sacredness that we are used to, in order to include certain amount of authenticity and genuineness to the work being accomplished.

But there are works which are killing and sucking the life energy of people. Generally it is understood that the manual labor is very tiring, slowly draining all the energy of the workers, but we should also realize that sometimes mental works can also be equally killing. We also often hear about the dignity of labor and May first is celebrated all over the world with aplomb, especially by the Marxists, in order to uphold the philosophy that the world belongs to the laborers. Work in order to earn a living is not sufficient in order to make it holy and sacred; we need to go beyond the mere subsistence providing labor. Work can become noble and sacred only when we begin to enjoy the labor, irrespective of the fruits it may produce. It is in other words an art, which comes so very naturally to us.

I would be a laughing stock if I were to suggest this to a villager, who has to work all the daylong in order to earn his daily bread. If he does not work on a particular day, he may starve, or may go to bed with half-stomach. Is it ever possible that this person one day begins to enjoy the work he does, just like an artist is immersed in the painting he/she does, or the singer lost in the world of music? Unfortunately we are involved in so many kinds of works, where drawing enjoyment is a remote possibility. A man exposed to the hot sun throughout the day, cannot enjoy his work; all that he might enjoy is the shade of a tree and a mug of rice soaked in water.

While a good majority of the population may never begin to enjoy their work, a small per centage of the people would take great pleasure in the work they are involved with, even if it is manual labor, and involving a lot of painstaking physical work. For such people, the fruits of the work or the consequence is only secondary; what they are interested in is the sheer joy of getting immersed in the work. Even if the manager were to say that there was not enough money to give his wages, he would still offer his services, because there is a pleasure he might draw from the work, which he cannot get from anything else, not even a peg of beer, or a mug of country liquor.

I would not hesitate to equate the real joy that we may be able to draw from the work we may be involved in, with ananda, the sheer bliss; the formless, nameless joy. It is very much possible for us to enter into such a state of bliss, even if it is for a moment. In fact, it would be hard to sustain such joy and bliss for a long stretch of time; however the joy that we may gain out of the job or work may be able to sustain us for a long time, even after we have shifted gears to some other work, or chores. Therefore today I pause for a moment, in the middle of the work I am busy with… and ask myself how do I feel as I mechanically do this job! Am I cursing my fate for doing such a job, or am I happy to do this? I am happy to do this job, is it because I have to do it, or because I enjoy doing it? Those who enjoy doing their job may not look at their watches five times in fifteen minutes, and they often would realize that the time has passed away too soon. That is the true mark of making our work holy and sacred. If I have a tendency to check the clock too often, to see how soon I would get out of this place, then I need to realize that my work is far from being holy and sacred. And the more I feel the work as a burden, it will keep increasing, until I become too tired of it, and look for alternatives. If I enjoy the work, then there is nothing I should want!