I've only ever visited a temple on an open day; I never went through the endownment ceremony.

After reading in another thread about the Celestial room 'looking like a furniture store, except in a furniture store they let you sit down for a while', this got me thinking: Do people really get ushered through at breakneck speeds with no time for contemplation or allowed to sit down on that tacky looking furniture?

It seems a terrible waste of money if nobody is allowed to use it - And on top of everything else! It just goes to show that everything in this scc is set up as a 'sale'.

Thoughts?

Also for show or for weary temple workers between and after sessions.

...and empty room would be too appropriately symbolic of the emptiness of the temple experience.

it's disgusting that they even HAVE furniture. I would run, run away as far as possible.

When I was on my mission in San Diego, we went to the temple about once a month. Most of the time, we were not rushed out of the Celestial room, but a few times, we were, because another session, full of people who had just performed ordinances for the same list of names we had had done, were about to get out.

Also, looking back, white furniture, in an all white room is pretty tacky. For Raptor Lord's sake, throw a splash of color in there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2012 09:11AM by forbiddencokedrinker.

They couldn't have had another session backed up behind us, because we know the actors need naps after each performance. Maybe it was time for the veil workers' snooze time.

It's for God's family home evening, in case he ever really shows up.

The new "Super Power Building" looks waaaay better than stale old Mormon interior design:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2042730/Inside-Scientologys-Super-Power-Building--worshippers-controversial-religion-told-superhuman.html

When I finally reached the celestial room through a haze of bad breath courtesy of the old man I had to do the vertical mambo with as I was translated through the veil, I went to sit on a long padded velvety bench, look around, and try to make sense of what had just happened in the same way as deer try to de-code the headlights coming straight at them.

I was there less than twenty seconds when an elderly matron gave me the bum's rush. It was really shocking at this moment that you have waited for nineteen years to experience.

I suppose she did me a favor considering I could have sat there until my backside was numb and still have made no sense of it all. Deeper meaning was very elusive at the moment.

Then it was off to Harmon's for a fried chicken lunch.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2012 12:08PM by blueorchid.

People typically hang out in the celestial room afterwards for 2-15 minutes. Some will use it to pray or meditate. Families/couples typical use it to celebrate their anticipated forever family. Many sit down for a few minutes - many just stand.

My wife & I would usually sit for about 5-10 minutes each time and hold hands. It was pretty much always me wanting to get out of there - just waiting for my wife to be ready to go so we could get out of there. Funny thing - when I came out as not believing to my wife and knew I would never attend the temple again - it made me quite said knowing that never again would I sit in the celestial room holding her hand (not because I felt it had any eternal meaning, but because the ritual had meaning for us, in our marriage, and now it was gone.)

In the busy temples a new group comes through every 30 minutes so they probably prefer you to clear out before the next group comes through but it doesn't really matter.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2012 12:54PM by bc.

I used to sit down every time I did an endowment. And I purposely waited until everyone left (except for the temple workers), so I could enjoy some ultimate peace and quiet. I was nice, though, while smiling at the temple workers whose passive aggressive attempts to get me to leave failed. One time, I even stayed until the next round of peeps showed up.

I used to just check out the entire room, glancing at as many details as I could. Sometimes I'd just pray while sitting. Mostly, I just thought in my own little space. Maybe that room wasn't intended for my actions, but I thought it should be, so that's why I hung around.

Praying in the CRoom: A contest to see who can look constipated for the longest time. Leaving the CRoom quickly: That was torturous, I need something to drink.

I was never given the bum's rush, but the temple workers would stare at me and it made me feel uncomfortable so I left. It was impossible to have a quiet conversation without temple workers walking nearby and eavesdropping, so I was never able to privately discuss the endowment with anyone in that one place where I thought the endowment could be discussed. I've been shushed too.

It's funny that the temple endowment should turn out to be so meaningless, because it's filled with detail and takes two hours to get through. I think that's what you end up with when you have a religion that refuses to examine itself critically and flees from one scandal to the next, cutting out doctrines and parts of rituals right and left without explanation or concern about the resulting aesthetics. It's no wonder they don't want you hanging around discussing or even contemplating the endowment. You might figure it out.

Perhaps a well-connected mormon in the furniture business made a bundle on each temple.

You wondered about the purpose of the furniture in the temples. Really, you have to experience the temple ceremony to understand how it all fits together.

Temple experiences differ, I'm sure, but I never had a good visit to the temple. My first visit to the Salt Lake Temple, just before my mission, was bizarre. I don't know what I was expecting--no one told me the details beforehand. But the washings and anointings freaked me out, and I never really recovered.

So when I was going through the ceremony, I was still in shock and fairly clueless as to what to do. The temple workers were picky, not helpful. One woman would always find something to adjust on my clothing. My hair was not tucked completely under my hat in front, and she viciously kept poking at it. Or the strings were not tied correctly. Always something.

As we went through the session, it was just one weird thing after another, led by the temple workers, all of whom were old and crabby and had been through it all hundreds of times. At the veil, I needed to be coached to say anything, and kept messing up the words and signs. Finally, the workers got tired of it all and just let me through.

Given all that, my entry into the well-lighted Celestial Room with its beautiful furniture and furnishings was like going from chaos to peace. I gratefully sank into a sofa.

But as others have said, I too was rather quickly chased out. Why, I don't know. It did seem like the workers just didn't want anything to slow down the processing of souls into heaven and out the door.

I went to various temples a few times after that. Some experiences were better than others. A few--a very rare few--of the temple workers were actually friendly and helpful. But beautiful furniture or not, none of my temple experiences were holy or uplifting. Not even close.

What about furniture in other areas of the temple, like the chairs and stuff in the "hallways?" After finishing an endowment session, can one just sit and hang out in the temple, go back to sit in the chapel? Can one go to the temple to just sit and contemplate with out doing an endowment session?

It stops people dancing