What Is Sacred?

Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.
Joseph Campbell

For the sixth year in a row I have enjoyed the sacred spaces of the Kauaʻi Hindu Monastery. The Sacred Journey took us, as it does each year, to the monastery where we had an audience with Sadasivanatha Palaniswami. This is the activity I most look forward to each year I visit the island. I become deeply reflective in this most magnificent place. This year was no different.

There was a moment when a person in our group asked me what I was thinking about all that I was seeing and experiencing during our tour and time there. In that moment I was taken by surprise, no one had ever asked me before what I thought about the experience while I was having the experience. I responded by saying, “I don’t know that I am thinking of anything specific in this moment, I am just taking it all in.”

What was I taking in? The majesty of the Iraivan Temple. The Temple has been under construction for more than thirty years. That may seem like a long time, but it is made of granite and is being crafted entirely by hand (no power tools).

The time at the temple was preceded on our journey by a visit to the Sacred Rudrashka Forest, another part of the more than 300 acres that make up the monastery’s lands.

In all of it, I was taking in the quiet nature and energy of the places. It got me thinking, once again, about the quality of a thing that makes that thing sacred.

So I ask, what is sacred? The dictionary defines sacred as, “connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration.” I am in a faith tradition that teaches that there is nothing that isn’t God. If that is the case, then all things are sacred according to the initial part of the definition. Is a magnificent, hand carved temple more sacred than a midden? According to my tradition, there is no more or less God in either place. So what makes one seem more sacred?

That leads to the second part of the definition… dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration. What we decide to dedicate is sacred. We are more likely to decide the temple is sacred, and decide the midden is not. It’s all perspective.

In the new temple, there is an inner space in which only the priests will be able to enter. It is the space where the monastery’s crystal lingam will be placed. Swami took us within, to the area just adjacent to this space, and there is undoubtedly a palpable energy. I considered this while I was standing there, and in the understanding that decision is what makes a space sacred I more deeply understood the energy. The shared decision of the monks, coupled with the acceptance of the decision by visitors, keeps the space feeling more deeply sacred. And that feeling can be created anywhere, by anyone, at anytime.

So the practice I am offering to you today is this: decide what is sacred in your life and decide to treat it with the deepest respect. Take the time to care for it, nurture it, and deepen in your connection with it. Beauty makes us feel more connected to God, so recognize the inherent beauty of it all (whether it be a temple, a midden, or your living room). Create sacred space for yourself. Tend to it, love it, and let yourself be immersed in God. It is your decision. Find yourself again and again.