Eliza - "I find the whole concept of eating and drinking Christ's 'flesh and blood' weird and distasteful"

The interesting thing is, Eliza, that that was a far more shocking idea to the people in Jesus' own time (if taken literally...or even symbolically) than it is now! There were already very strong rules against drinking blood (human or animal) in the Jewish culture...and the idea of drinking a man's blood or eating his flesh would have horrified Jews in that culture. For Jesus to even suggest such a thing to his disciples was an extraordinary and absolutely radical act, an illegal concept...and must have stunned them at the time...but they'd been through enough with him already to probably realize there was a deeper meaning behind his words and actions.

If he'd meant it literally, he'd have drawn actual blood from his own arm and offered it to them to drink...or he'd have cut flesh from his own body.

He obviously did not mean it literally, because he offered them bread and wine.

So what did he mean?

Well, it has been recorded many times in Asian cultures that when a human being experiences enlightenment (or Christ consciousness) he becomes consciously united with all of Creation. He sees himself present in everything, whether it be another person, a tree, a rock, a cloud, an animal, the food on his plate, a flower, etc. That is one aspect OF Christ consciousness. Seeing oneself in everything, one feels great love and connection with everything. This produces very loving behaviour, because there is that sense of complete connection with others.

Jesus was pointing out to his disciples that if they wished to remember him in a symbolic way after he physically departed from their lives, they could do it by eating some bread and drinking some wine, and recognizing his presence in spiritual form within those simple substances...the bread symbolizing the solid body, the wine symbolizing the liquid blood. He chose bread and wine because those were the basics of a simple meal back then.

This is the same as to say, "I am present within all things" which is exactly what some people have consciously experienced when they reached enlightenment or Christ consciousness.

*(People who completely disbelieve in the very concept of enlightenment or Christ consciousness...because they have rock-solid FAITH that that there is no such thing...are, of course, excused from giving any credence to such notions. That is their free choice.)

It's a symbolic act about spiritual presence, and it has absolutely nothing to do with cannibalism or with drinking human blood.