Each of Us is a Living Shrine!

When I was growing up and studying for the priesthood in my high school and college years, I always heard my teachers say that I was “the temple of the Holy Spirit.” I began to believe that seriously. So strong was my belief that the Holy Spirit, according to Catholic Christianity, was dwelling inside of me that it spurred me to give up smoking. I didn’t want to destroy the temple of God. I, and everyone else, am a living temple of the Holy Spirit, especially if, as Christians believe, I am baptized.

Last week, while listening to Pandit Rajmani Tigunait (Panditji), my yoga teacher and spiritual guide, he said that all humans, just through their creation, are living shrines. The Source of Life resides deep within our core being and is the Source of all our true and loving actions. We are living shrines of the divine, even though sometimes we just act and think of our bodies as “buildings” that get adorned with make-up or deodorant or colorful clothing. We don’t necessarily think of our bodies as living shrines, but rather physical “shrines” that need to be put in shape through exercise or eating properly. We often don’t realize that the divine is alive and well and living in us.

When Panditji said that I was a living shrine, I realized that that vitality and joy which people sometimes feel when they are around me is not me, but is the divine energy within me. The divine within me uses my physical body and mind to spread its vitality and joy, just like the divine uses all humans’ bodies.

This understanding of living shrines is true of The Center as well. Often, when new people enter The Center, I hear them say, “Wow! This place is really powerful.” Or “I feel a real sense of peace here.” Or “I felt something different when entered The Center.” That difference, that energetic reality, is the Divine Presence of the Divine Mother (God) living in The Center.

Just like some Catholic faithful experience an activating presence when they enter a Eucharistic Adoration chapel, so too, The Center is a living shrine, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit/Source of Life.

If you haven’t visited The Center lately, I invite you to partake in that Living Divine Presence. You don’t even have to participate in a yoga class. You could just come to sit for a while either in the Sun Room or the Meditation Room.

It is wonderful to sit in the Presence of the Divine!

Namaste’