The feeling of being in Church

[Nikolai1]

Yesterday I was wandering around a place near me called Buckfast Abbey - the home of a small community of Benedictine monks.  It is a place of lawns, herb gardens and, of course, a large impressive Church abutting onto the rooms and cells where the monks live.

 

It is a fairly new monastery, not much more than a hundred years, and for that reason there is still a small consecreted Methodist chapel in the grounds which pre-dates the building of the monastery.  I had walked around the whole grounds with my daughter with a pleasant, peaceful feeling, but when I stepped into this small chapel I was strongly struck by that holy, numinious feeling - the feeling of being in Church.

 

I could not escape the perception that the atmosphere existed within the building.  I walked in, and felt it, just as it might have been an aroma in the air.  Of course we can wonder what faculty we use to detect this feeling; and also how the stimulus (whatever it is) has accumulated within these four walls.  Some might say it is the product of centuries of prayer...?

 

But this is where it gets confusing...

 

I also know from experience that the same holy feeling can descend upon me as if from nowhere.  I can be engaged in the most mundane activity, in my kitchen or living room, and from nowhere I am wrapped in the sensations of the numinous.  Clearly, centuries of prayer have not consecrated my kitchen, and the mood was not there five minutes ago?

 

This makes me wonder that the Church is nothing other than an outer symbol of a Church that is somehow within us.  Or to put it in more Jungian terms, the outer Church is the constellation of an archetypal Church that exists within us.  The outer church we can visit at will; the inner church comes to us against our will.

 

Is the atmosphere in the Methodist chapel always there for us to draw on? Or when I visit next week will I find that the holiness deserts me and the perception that it exists within the four walls was an illusion?

 

I ask all this because the feeling of Church is the feeling by which we all wish to live our lives.  It is peaceful and loving and entire.  If we understand where this feeling lies perhaps we can understand how to dwell in it more permanently.

[Kubba]

I love to go to a church but I'm not a christian. Sometimes these are the only places in the city that are... quiet. Some of them are also spiritually charged. I was also thinking once that maybe cause of prayers - but why to know the reason... Thats just speculation

 

There is a church next to where I live where people regullary have visions and some other spiritual experiences (after which they often end up in a psychiatric hospital).

 

Maybe I'm wrong but it does not appear that we can find this feeling and stay there- what if it is the other way around?

Edited June 14, 2016 by Kubba

[Nikolai1]

I love to go to a church but I'm not a christian. 

Yes me too - exactly the same. I love churches for the holy atmosphere and the peace.  But the same peace comes when I'm not in Church!

 

I wonder if those who need a Church in order to get the holy feeling are called the idolaters?

[3bob]

the Holy Spirit will work through any and all types of forms possible,  just as it is working through the Earth - so does that make the Earth one giant idol...? I'd say that most of us do not understand the inner meaning and use of so called idols at all per certain misconstrued or twisted "Abrahamic" type religious teachings. 

[Nikolai1]

the Holy Spirit will work through any and all types of forms possible, 

And it can felt as being out there and in here:

 

'The chapel was holy ground; but it was my holiness within that recognised and responded to that.'

 

'I am holy, and my kitchen was sanctified by my presence; or even my humble kitchen is holy ground like the chapel.'

 

The holy spirit is made within or without by the act of interpretation we make.  Idolatry is when we refuse to accept that the chapel is a humble spot like my kitchen.  It is not holy because all do not feel it as holy, just like my kitchen.

[Kubba]

Yes me too - exactly the same. I love churches for the holy atmosphere and the peace. But the same peace comes when I'm not in Church!

 

I wonder if those who need a Church in order to get the holy feeling are called the idolaters?

That's twisting the meaning of holy vibrations through the language. Maybe it sounds funny for some - I don't know.

 

Is it apropriate to say that this person needs it? Or maybe is it choiceless... Like attracts like. When you are sensitive to spiritual current then you can't help but to go where it is present. Forest, church, darshan, retreat. Call it as you want.

 

Some ofcours find entertiment in it so they need it in order to have fun

Edited June 14, 2016 by Kubba

[Nikolai1]

 

 

Is it apropriate to say that this person needs it? Or maybe is it choiceless... Like attracts like. 

I think an important part of spiritual growth is that the feeling of Church can also happen spontaneously within so that, as Jesus said, our bodies themselves become our temple.

 

A person who is only capable of religious feeling while in a physical Church must surely be stuck?

[Kubba]

I think an important part of spiritual growth is that the feeling of Church can also happen spontaneously within so that, as Jesus said, our bodies themselves become our temple.

 

A person who is only capable of religious feeling while in a physical Church must surely be stuck?

Perhaps at the beginning some feels it only with teachers and in special places. Then it expands and takes you over

 

 

What do you mean by "feeling of church?" exactly? Vibratory, electrical current in the body?

 

I don't know if he or she is stuck. I've been once to a talk of a spiritual teacher. A person told him that "he does not feel shakti everyday". The teacher replied - "if you felt it once then it is working within you weather you feel it everyday or no".

Shakti means this current of energy within the body.

 

My greatest amasement is to know that some people are born like that and they don't even know what is it like to not to feel "church feeling" . Nice ha?

Edited June 14, 2016 by Kubba

[thelerner]

Certain places have wah; a feeling that pervades them.  You find it in nature.  There are individuals that give off certain wahs, of peace and equanimity or go in the other direction.  

 

I'm not Christian but many churches have some sacred geometry built into them.  Tall spiral ceilings, old woods, light and sound carefully choreographed, perhaps most of all a place where tens of thousands over decades have sat quietly, openly, focused on an aspect of the divine.  Sometimes you can tune in to that sacred wah. 

 

Best to carry it within but thats not always possible.  So finding places where one can recharge is nice. 

[Nikolai1]

What do you mean by "feeling of church?" exactly? Vibratory, electrical current in the body?

 

 

Yes I call it peace, but I feel it as a pleasant buzzing in the chest.  The atmosphere feels charged and meaningful.  Perceptions are sharpened.  There is a strong tendency to fall into silence, perhaps close the eyes.  This is the Church Feeling!

 

But like I said, for me it seems very important that we discover that this peace can descend upon us anytime - no church required!

[Nikolai1]

Certain places have wah; a feeling that pervades them.  You find it in nature.  There are individuals that give off certain wahs, of peace and equanimity or go in the other direction.  

 

So a person is like a kind of church, or sacred grove?  Something has accumulated where they are?

 

 

I'm not Christian but many churches have some sacred geometry built into them. 

I like this! Beautiful architecture is to stone what yoga is to the human body.  

[Kubba]

Yes I call it peace, but I feel it as a pleasant buzzing in the chest. The atmosphere feels charged and meaningful. Perceptions are sharpened. There is a strong tendency to fall into silence, perhaps close the eyes. This is the Church Feeling!

 

But like I said, for me it seems very important that we discover that this peace can descend upon us anytime - no church required!

Sweet . What you've desribed is traditionaly called Shakti. Shakti loves nature and spirituall places but sometimes she can come to your work too and makes you embarrassed hehe Edited June 14, 2016 by Kubba