Notes (3) Abhishiktananda Essential Writings

East meets West in chapter 3 of the Essential Writings of Abhishiktananda. My reading has slowed lately as work gets busier. Chapter 3, "East-West" presents some excellent selections for reflection. This section is tension filled as A is caught in the tension between the Eastern (inward experience) and Western (outward revelation) explanations of salvation and in this tension is driven deeper into mystery. In a letter written in 1966, A writes,

"What contrasts! I do my best to be at ease everywhere, but there is an inevitable tension. But it is precisely this being torn apart between India and Europe, between Vedanta and Christianity which enables me to live the fundamental experience and to express its mystery to some extent." (86)

He attempts to integrate this strain at the deepest level of his being.

"No exchange is truly profitable unless it takes place as communion at the deepest depths of people's beings" (79).

As a monk, A isn't primarily concerned about a conceptual integration at the level of the intellect, but about experiential integration at the level of being. He challenges Christianity to find a way to integrate the experience of the Vedantic tradition. This tradition does relativize the value of other religions, even itself.

"From a Vedantic point of view neither Hindu scriptures and worship nor Christian dogmas and sacraments have an ultimate value." (76)

Unfortunately, in my opinion, A does not engage the Christian mystical tradition here. Maybe it is simply this selection, but I kept asking myself as I read, "What about John of the Cross?" or other streams of the Christian mystical tradition.



However, the level of engagement with Hinduism becomes very clear in chapter 4, "Immersion in Hinduism." This chapter begins with a brilliant letter on inculturation (a term probably not used during A's time). Born out of his own experience of wanting to transplant the Benedictine way to India, this letter repeatedly calls for the individual coming to India to be "transparent," "open," "teachable," and "recpetive." I wish I would quote the entire letter. Here is a sample section:

"What we need are monks, souls who have opened themselves, in their very depth, to the life of the Spirit within, who have listened within to the voice of the Spirit calling to the Father, who have heard within the very silence of the Father. There is no need for transplanted trees' we need the seeds, the seeds which will be entrusted to the rich soil of India and which in time will bear a wonderful harvest, always provided the seed is good and the ground well chosen." (89)

The theme of "within" and "interiority" are keys to A's understanding of India. They are the gift that India has for the West which cannot be appreciated without an attitude of openness and receptivity.



This chapter continues with descriptions of the way A incorporated Hindu ritual into the worship of Shantivanam. For example,

"He [the priest] emerged from the chancel carrying the brass plate on which the flame was burning itself out. Each of the faithful approached and stretched out his hands respectfully over the flame. With his palms thus sanctified by the sacred touch, each one touched his own eyes and then taking a pinch of the holy ash reverently marked his forehead." (98)

The next section deals with the concept of the guru. This section shed new light on the Christian understanding of all people being made in the "image of God" and Christ dwelling in all people. There is a profound mystical theology embedded in this section. The guru is an instrument of the transcendent. They convey their own experience to the disciple and there is a non-dual relationship between the guru and disciple. Within Christianity, Christ is the true or essential guru (sad-guru) who dwells in the disciple's heart. The church, at its best, is a manifestation of Christ (his "body").

"The 'external' guru is only the temporary form taken by the essential guru to make himself recognized, and at the moment of that recognition there is no longer either guru or disciple. [I couldn't help thinking about the Emmaus story and Jesus' disappearance when the disciples recognized him in the breaking of the bread.] In Christianity it is the church -- i.e. individuals in the church and those whom God expecially brings into contact with himself -- that is the manifested guru, the form actualized in space and time which Jesus takes to reveal himself. The Christian guru is never anything but the manifestation of the Lord, and the moment he forgets this he becomes a thief, no longer a shepherd. (114)

Paula D'Arcy's statement that God comes to us disguised as our life also popped into my mind at this point. Maybe the experience of encountering Christ the specific person of the guru is a particular case of the general principle that God can be encountered in all things. Everything is a guru to the true disciple. Hmmm.



Anyway, that is as far as I got. More later...