January 1989
MY TURNShoes Off - Barefooted Reflections
Nemah, Poojanand
Among Hindus it is an
uncontested tradition to remove one's shoes before going inside a
monastery or a place of worship. Christians do not feel the need to go
barefoot in churches, although Moses did so on request when the Supreme
Being manifested Himself before him. But Buddhists do remove their shoes
or slippers as do Muslims before sitting for sizda.
This deeply
rooted custom is now taken for granted. People, not knowing the philosophy
behind the tradition, get little spiritual benefit from it. A prime reason
for removing shoes is that they are made of leather which is considered
impure as it is derived from dead animals. Violence and suffering is often
the history of leather-made shoes. So, taking off shoes should always
remind one and all not to kill and to get rid of all sinful actions - even
those that give the least suffering.
Another popular reason for
removing shoes is that the soles absorb impurities of the road. Temples
and other places of prayers are considered sacred, and shoes, being
impure, are not allowed to be brought inside. Therefore, even non-leather
shoes or slippers are not allowed in sacred places. Wooden kharaon also
are prohibited. Barefootedness is a deeply-rooted pass to enter into the
kingdom of divinities.
The inner significance of being barefooted
also provides deep, inner reasons to take off one's shoes. Whether you
tread land that is soft or rough, shoes play the role of separation by
protecting the feet. If someone wishes to really know whether the ground
is soft or hard, he has to come in touch with it. So the removal of shoes
expresses the eagerness for direct contact, an attitude of being a naked
iceberg in the direct sunshine ready to melt and lose our personal
identity. Removal of shoes is pan of surrender and humility which comprise
the gateway to wisdom and the realm of God.
Another aspect of
taking off shoes goes even deeper. Indoors, shoes have no importance. The
history of shoes began when men wanted to travel far beyond their limits.
Man has trodden unknown lands on shoes. Shoes mean long journey - all
sorts of exhaustive trips either good or bad. The non-stop search of man
is going on from age to age. Man's desire is endless and so is his
endeavor to fulfill it.
One must internally and externally stop all
activities to get hold of cosmic consciousness and behold the peaceful
nature of Omnipresence - the Unknown who extends Himself beyond time and
space. Removing shoes thus means to cease adventuring, to pause in
complete relaxation, to feel the emptiness and nakedness of life, a total
freedom, a total liberation.
Thousands of people are seen going
barefooted in the temple, but unfortunately they keep their mind full of
past, present and future trips. Their journey does not end, because they
keep thinking of putting on their shoes immediately after coming out of
the temple. Their trips are endless. Van Gogh once depicted old shoes to
speak of the long, tiresome journey of man. Cast off shoes once and for
all and end all external journeys; the destination is not far away but
within. If one can absorb the whole understanding of putting off shoes,
there is no doubt that he is ready to experience the non-dimensional truth
of the universal mind and cosmic consciousness. Such is the great
philosophy of taking off our shoes at the temple's door.
Article
copyright Himalayan Academy.
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