Early Harmandir Sahib (Sepia)

hir mMdru hir jIau swijAw myry lwl jIau hir iqsu mih rihAw smwey rwm ]

– Guru Granth Sahib, p. 542

The Dear Lord has fashioned the body as the temple of the Lord, O my dear beloveds; the Lord continues to dwell there.

To understand the sacredness of our bodies as temples, it is useful to compare a temple building with the temple body.

Temple buildings are considered to be places where the Lord may come and manifest Himself as thousands and thousands of pilgrims come here with sacred vibrations filled with love, faith, hope and devotion. In this high vibrational frequency, they find peace and solace. Similarly, our bodies, when pure, are places where God can manifest Himself.

Scripture tells us that our bodies are temples, and we are called to take care of them and honor them just as we do the buildings that we consider to be holy. One example is this painting of Harmandir Sahib, also called The Golden Temple at Amritsar, India. It is considered to be such a sacred place for worship for Sikhs. Its exterior has a glorious golden plating and the interior is beautifully adorned in elegance and kept immaculately clean and it is surrounded by a pool of water. Here, many pilgrims profess that they have had their wishes fulfilled – a result of the devotion, blessings and love cultivated here. In a similar manner, we have to consider the body as a gift, taking adequate care of it with exercise and healthy nutrition and meditation so that it too can house thoughts of loving devotional energy and can find the Divine within.

One must descend into the Golden temple within the body.