| At Skanda Vale we ever seek to
bring life into those traditions of worship which have been
misinterpreted or incorrectly practiced over the years. We are
always trying to go back to how those traditions were followed
when they were originally instituted and set into motion by the
saints and avatars who were inspired by the Divine. In this way
we are re-establishing dharma through the timeless worship of
God. This is seen in all the pujas and festivals at Skanda Vale
and as a result the Temples have become reservoirs of the grace
and power of God.
The Christian Services in particular have undergone
substantial development in this respect. Over time we have
gradually built up a Christian Service which truly extols the
virtue of Christ in the consecration of the Wine and Host.
Through my own experience I have come to realise that
it is your daily living and the way in which you strive to
identify with God in all your activities that brings the power
into the Services and Pujas. If you go through your day in a
muddled, confused and unfocused way, you cannot expect the power
of God to come to you during the Service.
The Service that you, as the priest, will perform will
reflect the way in which your daily life has been conducted. If
you have tried your best to identify with God during the day
then when you come to lift the Sacred Host in the service you
will be able to focus so much that you will become Christ at
that moment of consecration.
To do the consecration properly means you have to completely
identify yourself with Christ. You have to take yourself back to
that moment when Christ was at the last supper with his closest
disciples all gathered round. You have to feel that tremendous
and overwhelming love which prompted Jesus to lay down his own
life for the sake of his best friends and all who came to Him.
You have to feel that as you break the bread you are breaking
your own life for the love of everyone who has come to the
Service to receive Holy Communion.
In this way the Blessed Host changes, through the act of
transubstantiation into Christ’s body which is broken to take
away some of the karma and negativity of those who sincerely
offer themselves to Christ in the Sacrament.
The priest’s act of consecration draws the energy of
Christ into a point of focus in the Host and the Wine. The
change which occurs is not purely symbolic, but it is actual,
occurring at a molecular level. This tremendous vibration of
Divine energy is then transferred, physically and spiritually,
to anyone who receives Communion.
It is an amazing experience to receive communion if you are
in a focused state of mind. Even before, as you approach the
priest giving communion you can feel within yourself the subtle
but tangible vibration of the presence of Christ. Then when you
have had communion, if you sit quietly you can feel this
vibration which is like a warm and resonant hum.
It is through experiences like these that you realize Christ
is truly omnipresent. He is not just somewhere on a cloud in a
place called Heaven, or in a Church or Temple. He is present
everywhere – in all of creation. He is in the air that you
breathe, in the ground beneath your feet. He is in the trees and
plants, in the animals, the birds and the sky above. He is in
the oceans and the mountains, in the sun, the moon and the
stars.
Christ is alive in the essence of all religious faiths. He is
there in the universality of all aspects of God, and He can be
experienced directly within your heart if you earnestly seek Him
there. |
