The Perpetual Prayer and Meditation Service
Jai Ma has now introduced a new form of meditation service for its retreats: The Perpetual Prayer and Meditation Service. This is an addition to the spiritual activities presently offered.
Jesus said: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Paramahansa Yogananda, our guru, has said “The Hindu saints tell us that if we would give so short a time as 24 hours to continuous, uninterupted prayer, the Lord would appear before us or make Himself known in some way.” Thus the concept of the Perpetual Prayer and Meditation Service is to make a united effort to feel the closeness of God.
The Service
(Length: 12 or 24 hours)
In shifts of two hours, we complete the 12 or 24 hour Service. A schedule indicates the shifts in which we each wish to participate. There will always be a minimum of two devotees in the chapel, to uphold the continuity of the perpetual prayer and meditation, however, for the first and in the last hour of the Service, we will all be gathered together.
The Service commences with a guided opening prayer, followed by individual, silent, perpetual prayer and meditation, in accordance with one’s own rhythm. The Service ends with the healing technique and a closing prayer, both of which are guided.
Whether we are in the chapel, resting, or in recreation on the beach, we should remain in silence whenever possible, making a continuous, conscious effort to remember God, to practice His presence in every setting and to keep our consciousness with the devotees in prayer and meditation in the chapel. May this occasion remind us to perceive the Divine everywhere, to thus behold God as the Polestar of our lives.
The Perpetual Adoration of the Holy Sacrament, a prayer silent in nature, offered by the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre, in France, has been the inspiration behind this idea. Perpetual adoration is a practice whereby the Eucharist is adored continuously, night and day. This practice may be seen as a modern variation of perpetual prayer (Latin: laus perennis), the Christian practice of continuous prayer carried out by a group. The purpose of this practice is to maintain the awareness of God’s presence in our lives and to keep vigil for one another.
… we invite His Holy Presence of Divine Vibrations into our midst.
“In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping,
Serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving,
My soul constantly hums, unheard by any;
God! God! God!” – Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda , “Songs of the Soul”
