the beauty of prayer.

As part of my CASA training, I was recently assigned the task of visiting a place of worship other than my own. Growing up in a predominately Caucasian, Christian community, it wasn't until college that I was fully exposed to the diversity of our world. Living in Hopewell is akin to living in a little bubble where "diversity" was only something you heard on TV or read in the newspaper. But alas, I finally left the bubble, moved to college (even if only a few miles down the road), went on to work for a firm employing more than 100,000 people, and even moved across the country to the densely populated, yet incredibly charming city of San Jose. In those few years I was exposed to people of more backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, and cultures, than an entire childhood provided me. 

But still, despite all of my fabulous friends and co-workers - many of whom are not Caucasian and/or Christian - I never really dove into the multi-faceted depths of  other religions/cultures (aside from 3 credits worth of World Religion during my first year of college). I suppose the reasoning behind this was quite simple. Quite frankly, there was no reason for me to go to another place of worship. Sure I asked my friends questions about their beliefs and customs, but my knowledge didn't extend much more beyond that. I was raised Catholic, so I grew up going to Sunday morning mass (at the crack of dawn, mind you) and that was that. It wasn't until this past Wednesday that I was actually "assigned" to go to another place of worship. Immediately I logged onto Facebook (please, it's 2011, what else are you supposed to do when you need to reach out to all of your friends) and basically requested that one of my friends take me to their place of worship (outside of Christianity).

In comes Ravi, not only an awesome friend, but a stellar former co-worker (the kind who would listen to me throw a temper tantrum when it was 11pm and I was still at work during busy season and the copy machine decided to jam a 50 page tax return). An Indian follower of Hinduism, Ravi graciously invited me to visit a temple with him last Friday. Knowing next to nothing about Hinduism, I asked Ravi a few basic questions and did a quick Google search so I wasn't *completely* clueless during my visit. Unfortunately, due to bad timing, we weren't able to attend a service, but we were still able to visit and explore the temple. 

I have to admit, I was a little excited when Friday evening rolled around. For some ridiculous reason, I envisioned the temple to be this huge, pristine, marble building, accessorized in ivory and gold. Clearly I pay too much attention to Hollywood movies. Admittedly, I actually took time to make myself look presentable, wearing a somewhat sophisticated outfit and splashing on some make up (for those of you who know me, sleep is a very precious commodity, so I do as little as possible when it comes to getting ready for work in the morning). 

Clearly the temple was not made of marble or plated in gold. Thanks, Hollywood. If anything, the temple looked like a church or a very large, oddly configured house. Ravi took me inside and the revelation began. We had to travel through several rooms before we arrived at the room right before the actual "main room" (Ravi, what is that room called?!). That's when Ravi reminded me that I had to take my boots off. Even though Ravi warned me about this part, I still had a mini panic attack at the sheer thought of removing my boots. I am so sorry if what I'm about to say is "TMI," but this is my blog and I'll write accordingly. In short, my feet have one too many sweat glands. So when their freedom is taken away from them and they're stuck in  shoes all day long they tend to sweat. And then, well maybe, smell. There, I said it. I'm a girl and I have stinky feet. So, imagine my horror as I removed my boots! Luckily, I remembered to bring an extra pair of socks...You can't have stinky feet and pray! As Ravi rolled his eyes and informed me how unattractive I was, I prepared myself to enter *the room* of prayer. 

Ravi led me into the room and the ultimate tour/tutorial began. In Hinduism, you do not pray to just one god. In fact there are many gods you  pray to. So, in the front of the room, there was what appeared to be a stage or one very elongated pedestal where all of the gods were situated. Since we weren't attending a service, Ravi took me to the front so we could pray before each of the gods. At first, I simply observed Ravi close his eyes, bring his hands together to his face and pray. Mimicking his gestures, I attempted to pray. Only I couldn't! Keep in mind that I never have a hard time praying at my church (I pray and give thanks for anything and everything). So I sat there, eyes closed, while my mind chattered away - "I wonder what Ravi's praying for, I wonder if it's an actual memorized prayer...hmm...maybe I'll sneak a peek and see if he's done...I wonder what I should pray for...Shit, I should probably start praying, he's probably done by now. Damn, I probably shouldn't curse in church!, okay, fine the "Our Father" will have to suffice for now").

We ended the visit by sitting down (picture the sukasana pose in yoga) near the center of the room and made one last prayer to all of the gods. Ravi then handed me what is called "prasad," which is quite literally a gracious gift, blessed by the gods. My prasad consisted of almonds, raisins, and rock sugar. Ravi explained that you must accept prasad when offered - I suppose much like receiving Communion in the Catholic church. The difference with prasad is that it's food offered by worshippers (ie. Ravi), then blessed by the gods, and offered back to the worshippers. A concept that I had previously never heard of, but was completely amazed by.

During our visit, several other people came in to pray. They removed their shoes and assumed the easy pose position, prayed for a few minutes, made an offering (as customary in my church) and went on their way. 

I found the entire experience to be rather peaceful and uplifting. As we left the temple, I remember thinking that I would love to attend an actual service. Contrary to many people's preconceived notions, many of the religions of the worlds really do parallel one another. Sure, the temple was totally different than a Catholic Church as far as appearance goes. But the perceptions people have about the actual differences are totally askew. Maybe Ravi was right in the fact that people may have looked at me oddly, wondering what a super pale, blue eyed girl was doing at the temple, but really weren't we all doing the same thing? Don't we all, in essence, do the same thing when we go to worship? People, especially in today's world, need something to believe in. Most of us have that innate desire to come together as a community and remove ourselves from the hardships of our lives, if only temporarily. So yes, someone could argue that Hinduism is a complete 180 from Catholicism, but before you make that conclusion, go ahead and try it out yourself. You just might find that the basic concept of prayer and faith outweighs all of the differences that separate  religions. And people. 

And one final thought for the evening. Throughout my life, I have found that the people I am most attracted to and form the strongest relationships and friendships with are the people who believe in something. Faith is a very powerful instrument in life and when played appropriately is very appealing.