Guest guest Posted November 4, 2003 Report Share Posted November 4, 2003 In a message dated 4/11/03 6:16:30 pm, Ramakrishna writes: Also I would like to point out that there is a Skanda Vale Monastery in South Wales in the UK web page http://www.skandavale.org/, it was founded by a Sinhalese Buddhist from Srilanka. It is on a hill, you will find temples for Lord Skanda, Mother Kali, lord Vishnu, Lord Buddha and a church with marry and Jesus, more than 70000 people visit every year. This monastery promotes interfaith. Not quite! The principal founder of Skanda Vale, Guru Sri Subramanium, had a Sinhalese father and a Hindu mother and his focus in primarily Hindu (of the non-sectarian multi-faith Sanatana Dharma variety). There are three temples at Skanda Vale dedicated to Lord Muruga, Mahashakti and an open-air temple for Lord Narayana/Ranganatha. There is no Buddhist temple or Christian church but the Buddhist and Christian faiths, as all the major religions, are repesented in the other temples which are all essentially multi-faith despite their Hindu appellations. The community there celebrates all the main religious festivals, not just Hindu. There is a beautiful Mary 'niche' in the Mahashakti temple. I had the privilege of visiting Kataragama Temple in Sri Lanka with Sri Subramanium in 1993. Skanda Vale is, to a degree, modelled as a 'western Kataragama' but the monastic community at SV is essentially a blend of Ramakrishna Order and Franciscan. It is a very special place of pilgrimage where any devotee of Ramakrishna would feel at home. God bless, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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