July 26th, 2024
I went to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin yesterday. It’s been months since I was last there. The temple (or gurdwara) is not far from where I live. I used to go there often to pray or meditate. Recently, I realized that I needed to do that again.
I am not a Sikh, and I’ll never be one. It really doesn’t matter. Over the years, I have found that the rituals and theologies of different religious traditions aren’t that important to me. I have been in mosques, synagogues, and a wide variety of churches. I have spent time with Buddhists and Native Americans while they chanted or prayed. Despite their obvious differences, each tradition has an innate sense of the holy, and they design their worship spaces to reflect that understanding. The Sikh temple is not any more sacred than a church. However, the Sikh temple is almost always open. Churches generally are not.
When I was a boy, it was normal for a church or a chapel to be open to anybody at all times during the day. Anybody, regardless of belief, was welcome to wander into the sanctuary and pray or meditate or just rest for a while. I suspect it was the same way with the mosques and the synagogues. I know that, years ago, I could walk into the Sikh temple whenever I liked, and nobody gave me a second look. I was and still am usually the only non-Indian in the place. However, that never mattered. Until a decade ago.
In August of 2012, a man took advantage of the Sikh hospitality and killed six of the congregants. The police eventually shot and killed the man. Since that time, the doors of the temple are locked, and a visitor has to ring the doorbell to get somebody to open up the doors of the gurdwara. However, there is almost always a person available to do that, and they are consistently friendly and welcoming. Despite the security precautions, the temple is still a good place for me to go.
In our time, fear has taken hold of us, and it is rare to find a sacred space that is not heavily defended. I go to a synagogue, and there is an armed guard at the door for every gathering of the community. A local mosque always has guards on hand. The churches are locked tight, and often there is nobody willing or able to let anybody inside. The places that we need the most to connect with the Divine are the places that are unavailable to us.
I know that God is everywhere and that I can reach out to Him/Her any time I want. However, sacred spaces exist to make it a bit easier for humans to touch God. I can’t verbally express what makes a place holy for me. I just know it when I am there. It’s not necessarily rational. It’s an intuitive thing.
When I sit on the floor in the gurdwara, I know I am in the presence of God. That’s enough.
Frank is Emptiness 