Pilgrimage, Dialogue, and Solitude

Abhishiktananda (Notes 4)

 

Pilgrimage

This section (the end of Chapter 4 "Immersion in Hinduism" and Chapter 5 "The Life of the Hermit") continues to develop the theme of "personal experience."  Writing from his experience as a pilgrim in India, A writes,

"[Pilgrimage] is the universal response of man to the call which comes from the hills whose summits he instinctively connects with the dwelling place of God, his Creator" (115-116).

  This universal call seems to be central to A's thought and forms part of his struggle with Christian exclusivity.

 

Dialogue

The tension between Hinduism and Christianity continues to be reflected in his writing.  In an excerpt from his book Saccidananda, A writes from a Christian perspective.  In this selection he states that Hinduism belongs to the "Cosmic Covenant."  These

"Cosmic religions essentially consist in the worship of God as he manifests himself in nature, and reach their highest point in contemplating him in the deepest center of the heart" (119).

This perspective is consistent with the view of natural theology.  A even adds,

"no prophet or seer of the cosmic covenant has ever received or taught anything substantially new.  All was given from the beginning:  his task is only to recognize that which is and to decipher its mystery" (119). 

Nothing new is added. There is no revelation as such. God is entirely immanent. A has profound appreciation of the advaitic experience found at the heart of Hinduism.  It is

"beyond question the highest point attainable by man in the contemplation of the mystery of man and nature" (120).

 

 

Yet A also articulates the Hindu point of view as well.  This is clearly brought out in a tongue in cheek book review he writes of his own book "Hindu-Christian Meeting Point."  This review reveals just how much A identifies with and understands the Hindu perspective.  He writes as a Hindu in a Hindu "voice."  For example,

"We [Hindu's] realize, naturally, that it is difficult for a Christian to accept that his own Christian dharma should be itself transcended.  We are familiar of course with that theme which has gained ground among them in the past years [the concept of "anonymous Christians" articulated by Rahner] ... that all religions, including Hinduism, are tending by means of their own spiritual development and under the impulse of the 'Holy Spirit' towards Christ and Christianity as their fulfillment and culmination, and that those who are saved meanwhile even outside the fold of Christianity are saved 'implicitly' through Christ and the church.  Before Christianity even existed, Sri Krishna Bhagavan had already explained to Arjuna that all worship was really directed towards Himself even when outwardly addressed to any deity of any name whatsoever.  As a friend of mine answered a Christian priest who was developing this theory before him:  'Father, I agree with you in everything, except for a minor detail.  I feel that my master Sri Aurobindo has shown better than any of your theologians that the universe is growing towards a final point, the point Omega as you now say.  Only you call that point Christ, whereas I call it Vishnu!  ... Christianity has only relative value -- which is just what we Hindus are constantly pointing out" (122-123)

 

 

A is able to see with both Christian and Hindu eyes and this dual vision gives him true depth perception.  He does not resolve one perspective into the other, each point of view lives within him.  It appears that he refuses to abandon the "scandal of particularity" of Christianity.  But he also embraces the radical openness to mystery of Hinduism.

Solitude

Chapter 4 "The Life of the Hermit" deals with basic monastic themes.  "Solitude", A writes, "is only worth anything when filled with the presence of the Lord" (138).  A uses the phrase "alone" often to describe the solitary as well as God.  In a poem/prayer entitled "Naked as a Stone is Naked," for example, A writes of solitude being

"... alone with the self, at the source of its being, alone with the Absolute, alone in the aloneness of the Alone" (135).

  In speaking of the call to solitude,

"That he should 'remain there' is enough for God; and anyone for whom that is not enough has understood nothing of his 'call' to solitude.  If God wishes to use him in the world of men, it is for God to make him understand this; so long as the 'inspiration' to act, write, study, make foundations, is not clear, the solitary ought not to stir from his place." 

If a call is authentic, God will make it clear.  There is no need to be anxious.  Solitude teaches us to wait for clarity.