The relationship between the sound of falling coins and the places of worship. (My Experiences with Truth – 4)

This subject was there in mind from the day I started going to religious places of worship with my whole mind and soul having a feeling of gratitude. And now when I have a platform to share my true experiences with all my friends as an open book, the thought compels me to share itself frankly with everyone here for the first time ever.

May be it was my shyness or unwillingness, that I was not able to express it before, but today I would readily like to write about it with all my respect towards every divine deity worshipped anywhere in the world. And before even starting I would like to admit that the thought may not get appreciation and agreement from many friends reading it, so its requested to please take it sportingly as my personal expression only and not anything in general.

Let’s start with your childhood memories of going to a place of worship and just try to remember what your father or mother used to give you before entering the divine place……………In more than 80% of cases (or may be 90%), parents usually give coins to their kids to put it in the money box kept right in front of them before bowing down to the Almighty. And that too is the coin with the least possible value, lying somewhere in the corner of their pocket or wallet.

The child doesn’t know anything, so he takes the coin, puts it in the money box and bows down very innocently. But this regular childhood practice imposed upon the child goes deep down into his psyche and his first encounter with the God itself gets related to the concept of money unknowingly.

But has anyone ever given a thought about this questionable ritual of ours. Does anyone care about what kind of relationship this practice builds between a devotee and his God. Yes, undoubtedly we should contribute our bit to the cause but certainly not in such a way which shows no love, warmth or respect towards the Supreme Power. (Here I would also like to add that it’s since this last decade only that huge money boxes have been kept in the places of worship. Earlier we even used to throw coins and notes in front of our beloved master which was definitely not a pleasant sight.) For me this kind of act certainly takes us to a much lower level and I would readily like to give my elaborate reasons for that.

First of all the said practice at once builds up an unnecessary relationship between a devotee, his deity and money. A child is not aware of any such thing, but deep inside he simply starts linking devotion with offering of money and keeps practicing it all his life. Slowly and steadily as he lives more years of his gifted life, in most of the cases, the devotion part keeps diminishing and the money part starts getting more importance quite effortlessly due to the never ending demands of life.

Now what must have happened, if we had not taught him/her anything about offering of money and just introduced him to the divine place only meant for worship? In that case, he unarguably would have made a completely different kind of relationship with the divine place which would have really meant more respectful, peaceful and meaningful for his entire life till death. And regarding the contribution he should be making for the same, we should be teaching him the concept of a fixed percentage to be given out of our earned income for the betterment of the society in any way. (As mentioned in my article about the DASWAND).

Secondly, the above mentioned practice also associates worship with the least amount of coin lying in your pocket. Putting it differently, just think of the time, when a person searches his pocket to find some money to offer before entering a divine place. He simply goes for the least value of coin or note with him. Now what kind of gratitude feeling it is for your GIVER OF LIFE, to pay him such minuscule return? What kind of impact we would be making on our small kids who are innocently watching their parents keeping all the big notes aside and giving them the least amount note or coin from their pocket to offer in a divine place? Thinking about their future years, how many of them would be able to break this disrespectful habit of paying the minimum to the Almighty in their entire life. And how many would even go on passing this ritual to their future families unconsciously?

Yes, I admit that we all have to adjust with our limited earnings and hence are not able to go for the maximum value note in our pockets. And also there is no one forcing anyone to put in some money in front of the deity as a compulsion. But that’s not the question or point I am trying to make here. What I wish to convey is that Just imagine, how beautiful it would have been if we had designed our places of worship, un-related with the concept of money boxes lying in front of us to be filled. How enigmatic it would have been if we all used to come to a place of worship just for singing praises for our LORD and nothing else.

If you can just imagine that for a moment then in the above scenario our whole concept of A Divine Place goes through a drastic welcome change unassociated with any monetary motives or politics. And then every such big or small temple suddenly becomes ALIVE as if God really stays there as his home.

Coming back to the subject of “Sounds of Coins”, I would like to show my disliking for the concept by relating it to a real life incident, we all face almost every day. The example may not be liked by all but it’s indeed a burning truth which cannot be denied by anyone through any kind of explanation.

For a moment, just picture the time when we encounter many less privileged and poor people standing on the Red Light Crossings, who come rushing towards ourselves as we stop. They normally refuse to move away, until they are offered something out of compassion.

Now what most of the people do in this given situation? They simply start searching their pockets for the least value coin they might have, which can be given it to the person standing there with the open hand. Now doesn’t this search of the least value coin also remind you of something else?

Isn’t this the same kind of practice a person normally does while visiting a place of worship too? Doesn’t he also search for the minimum value coin lying in his pockets there too?

Honestly the answer is Yes, which clearly shows us the ugly mirror of our society wherein we shamelessly treat both kinds of diverse situations in the same way. And truly speaking, how sick it is to even think that Yes we all do behave in the same manner both while standing at the door of a divine place and while waiting at the red light crossing.

Perhaps this is my own personal observation or conclusion which may or may not force you to seriously think about it. Moreover the fact is expressed here is as per my own understanding or experiences and therefore should not be considered anything written in general. However as far as I am concerned, my consciousness simply does not like the sound of coins falling in the money boxes kept in the places of worship. Listening to that sound makes me feel as if I am standing on the red light crossing all alone. It makes me feel both sad and helpless at the same time.

And the only thing I can do at this particular moment is to pray that May The Almighty bless us all with more ability and understanding to grow over offering least value coins in those big money boxes. And may we all treat our HOLY GIVER OF LIFE in a more respectful manner.

With a hope that my observations force you to think at least once!

Harpreet Singh (Bobby Sing)
A Seeker On The Path.

HIS BLESSINGS

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