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Source: thThe Hindu

(http://www.hinduonnet.com/br/2002/07/09/stories/2002070900010300.htm)

 

Essays on mysticism

 

 

 

 

 

MYSTICISM IN SHAIVISM AND CHRISTIANITY: Bettina Baumer Editor; DK Print

World, "Sri Kunj," F-52, Bali Nagar, New Delhi-110015. Rs. 450.

 

IT USED to be said that in the Middle Ages religion was literally a burning

question. Mystics like Sir Thomas More, Clement of Alexandria, Julian of

Norwich, St. John of the Cross and Eckhart were dissenters. The mystic has no

use for formal religion and its ritual. He is above and beyond particular

formulation of faith. He is often alone in his own religious tradition. He may

not be a great intellectual but is blest with something few intellectuals

achieve, an experience of Ultimate Reality which thrills him with an unspeakable

joy. This experience is supra rational but real in the best sense of the word.

So real it is to him that he gives up everything else as utterly worthless and

is content to count his mystical experiences of God, Brahma, Reality, the Ground

as sufficient reward for his existence.

 

Swami Nityananda Giri, who deals with "Saivite mysticism" dwells lovingly and

illuminatingly on the mystical relation between Pati (God) and Pasu (Jivatma).

The Saivite mystic hails Siva as Love. The Christian mysticism is dealt with by

a number of outstanding scholars among whom is Raymond Panikar, the son through

a Kerala father of the Spanish mother whose daughter is a frequent visitor to

Kerala. The Christ of the mystics is not the Christ of the Christian Church. He

is the spirit that passeth all understanding.

 

The book under review is elevating reading as it deals with the grave and great

matter of union with and experience of God. Fundamentalism which we witness

today is a tragically dangerous form of terrorism, it is the enemy of true

religion even as superstition is. Religious fundamentalism clings to the

external and has little to do with the essence of religion. The old Rig Vedic

verse, "Ekam sat, viprah bahuda vadanti" is the most fundamental revelation of

the Vedic seers. The Gita affirms that all faiths lead to Him, i.e. God. Alas,

we seem fast slipping into a medieval state of mind and have begun to hate or

kill those whose pathway to God differs from that of other seekers of God.

 

Father Henri Siyeux, who became by his own choice Abhishekananda, and who

recognised Ramana Maharshi and Gnanananda Giri of Tapovanam as his Gurus, was an

excellent example of a kind of human being who, realised that God is not to be

found only in churches, mosques, temples and "viharas" but in the cave of the

heart. It is the society he established at Varanasi which has sponsored the book

under review and we recommend it heartily to all those who care for true

religion.

 

 

 

S.R.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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