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Spending more time at New Camaldoli Hermitage
I have been feeling more strongly drawn back to the Hermitage in Big Sur, where I originally made monastic vows. I have continued with the Order, by God’s grace, and on June 19, 2014, I celebrated there, together with fellow … Continue reading
Posted in Berkeley, Bible, Big Sur, faith as hope, India, Jesus, monastic life
Tagged apostle, beloved disciple, Big Sur, hermitage, India, Jesus, Paul, Peter, philosophy, the three and the fourth, virtue
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The Scenario of the Gita
We stand with Krishna and Arjuna between two armies, in the Field of Truth, Dharma-kshetre. Dialogue genre, disciple and guru, following a typically Indian (Asian) pedagogy of reiterated themes, viewed differently at different levels of reality and understanding: as it … Continue reading
Posted in dialogue, Hinduism, India, inter-spirituality
Tagged Arjuna, Bhagavad-Gita, Hinduism, Krishna, Mahatma Gandhi, Stephen Mitchell, yoga
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Translating the Gita
The first translation of a Hindu sacred text into a European language — Charles Wilkins’ English version of the Gita, 1785 — marks the beginning of the inter-religious dialogue in its modern sense. Hindus as well as Christians and, of … Continue reading
January course in Berkeley: “The Bhagavad-Gita today”
Again this January, if any students sign up, I’ll be teaching a course on Hinduism. The theme this year is about the Bhagavad-Gita, India’s favorite scripture, as understood by four twentieth-century commentators. Here is the summary from the course syllabus: … Continue reading
I’m always in India
Conversation with Karen Andrews, our oblate: I was speaking about a young Indian-American, who has been inquiring about staying in one of our guest rooms. This led me into talking about what India is for me. I last was there … Continue reading
Posted in Hinduism, India
Tagged Bede Griffiths, bhajan, devotee of Jesus, eucharist, Hindu, Karen Andrews, Marie-Louise Coutinho, rasam, Saccidananda Ashram, Shantivanam, Tamil Nadu, Yeshu-bhakta
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On “Christ the King” Sunday, but is He?
Here are some words I shared with our friends at Incarnation Monastery in Berkeley today. When we read “Christ,” we usually understand the word to be a name. That is not a misunderstanding. As a title, in its literal usage, … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, faith as hope, Jesus
Tagged anointed, Bible, Christ, cross, divinization, Elizabeth Windsor, eucharist, fulfillment, king, Messiah, paradise, prophecy
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Hindu Diaspora in America
9. Building a traditional Hindu presence in America: the arrival in greater numbers of Indian immigrants, the building of temples across the continent, where authentic vedic rites are celebrated by immigrant Brahmins. Some Hindu scholars and Brahmins are still of … Continue reading
Posted in dialogue, Hinduism, India, inter-spirituality
Tagged Caste, diaspora, Hinduism, temple, Vivekananda, Yogananda
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Christian meditation, yoga practice, ‘intention’
8. Alternatives to Yoga: John Main’s meditation movement and his initial Hindu inspiration; Centering Prayer; the use of mantras; the Christian embrace of the Hindu greeting gesture, the namaskara. American devotees of Hindu gurus who have converted to the Catholic … Continue reading
From West to East: Vedic America returns to India
7. From West to East: Western scholarship and comparative religious studies and their influence in India: Raimon Panikkar; Mircea Eliade and the Chicago school. The controversy surrounding Jeffrey J. Kripal’s reading of Sri Ramakrishna. The work of Georg Feuerstein on … Continue reading
Posted in dialogue, Hinduism, India, inter-spirituality, yoga
Tagged Bede Griffiths, Caste, Daya Mata, Henri Le Saux, Hindu, Indology, Jules Monchanin, kriyaban, mircea eliade, Raimon Pannikkar, Scholars, Wayne Teasdale, Yogoda Sat-Sanga
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Ashram Diary 