The Hindu Temple v2.c11.s8.19

v2.c11.s8.19

The central pillar of the temple thus is alike to the Passage in the Fire-Altar; through it sacrificial man, the devotee, attains to the Highest Point where he is altogether liberated from the conditions of space and time. This straight, short way however is only for those who ascend from the Centre, from within the darkness in the mountain to the light above. Figuratively, the Pillar strikes the ground in the centre of the Garbhagṛha, a shaft of light. Nothing retards their ascension, it is instantaneous. The pilgrims from afar, however require the conductors on the way upwards. They are stationed on the outward shape of the temple, in its architecture. The temple as a monument thus serves a similar purpose as the icon (mūrti). The highest kind of devotion need not dwell on either and ascends straight from the Centre within the cavity, within the heart, to the Highest Point.¹⁷²