(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Melbourne, Australia, October 2011)
When we are marking the body with tilak in twelve different places, it is said that the meaning of the tilak is that the body is a temple. It is not only that the body is a temple – we are actually installing deities:
“Om Keśavāya namaḥ,”
And in twelve directions we are installing twelve deities of Visnu. So literally, the body is a temple, when we are wearing tilak.
So what auspiciousness is this movement offering to us?
Therefore, early in the morning when we rise we put tilak on. Even if we get up late, and we have five minutes only before we go to work, we can wear tilak for five minutes – that is auspicious. In other words we must try to fix ourselves in this new identity!