The One Light - (Introduction, Part 2)

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The One Light

 

Introduction - Part 2

 

 

THE WRITINGS

 

(p.6) Bede Griffiths has become widely known through his writings, which include

ten books and several hundred articles.[6] Beginning with 'The Golden String',

his successive books unfolded with grace and clarity a synthetic vision of the

wisdom of East and West. Christian revelation was brought into a creative

interaction with the Hindu Vedanta, and the spiritual light of the Asian

traditions was made accessible to westerners. (p.7) Nine books were published

during Bede's lifetime. 'Universal Wisdom' (1993), a selection which he had made

of the scriptures of the great religious traditions, was published after his

death.

 

'The Golden String' (1954) is Bede's account of the 'first half' of his life,

from childhood until the time of his departure for India. A beautifully written

account of his personal experience, it quickly became a best-seller and is still

in print after nearly half a century. We shall present substantial extracts

narrating Bede's first spiritual awakening, his conversion to Christianity and

entrance into the Catholic church.

 

'Christ in India' (1966), a collection of 21 essays, was published just after

the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council when Bede had been in India for a

decade. Focusing principally on the relation of Christianity and the Asian

traditions, it contains Bede's major articles on Christianity and the East from

as early as 1953. Included are reflections on an Indian Christian monasticism,

on Indian Catholicism, on a non-violent society and on church renewal. Written

with Bede's characteristic passion and clarity, these pieces bring forth again

and again his developing vision of a new Christianity.

 

'Vedanta and Christian Faith' (1973), the less-known of Bede Griffiths' books,

is a collection of three lectures in which he presents a Christian theological

vision which has developed in the light of Hindu thought. The three critical

questions which he confronts are " The Mystery of the Godhead, " " Creation and

Incarnation, " and " The Ultimate State of Man and the Universe. " This small book

is Bede's first substantial draft of a synthesis of the two worlds of Hinduism

and Christianity.

 

In 'Return to the Center' (1976), Bede's vision has been thoroughly permeated by

the unitive light of the Vedanta. The book's orientation, as its title suggests,

is back toward the primal Mystery and inward to the unitive core of the person.

Interwoven with this series of theological meditations upon the traditions of

East and West is a poetry of personal experience. (p.8) At this time in his life

Bede has been caught and held by the gravitation of the unitive 'center,' which

absorbs all differences into itself.

 

'The Marriage of East and West' (1983) is subtitled 'A Sequel to The Golden

String.' In fact, Griffiths quickly abandons the mode of autobiography in favor

of a further, more systematic exploration of the integration of East and West.

An introductory section, 'The Discovery of India' is followed by a development

in three successive layers: " The Vedic Revelation,' 'The Judaic Revelation,' and

'The Christian Revelation: The Rebirth of the Myth.' Dominated by the tension

between eastern and western epistemologies, the edifice leans strongly toward

the East. Here Bede writes at length of the ultimate sapiental [wisdom]

principles which he finds in the Vedanta: nonduality (advaita) and the unitive

Self (atman).

 

Beginning with 'The Cosmic Revelation: The Hindu Way to God' (1983), Bede

Griffiths' books will consist almost entirely of edited transcriptions of his

recorded talks. No longer shall we experience the same fusion of intuitive sweep

and literary elegance. This book is a revision of six talks given in the United

States. As the title indicates, the conferences are a presentation of the

teachings of Hinduism - once again, chiefly the Vedanta - and only in the final

talk does Bede bring this tradition into confrontation with Christianity. At

this point the reader may be surprised to find a sharply critical examination of

Hindu religion and theology. Bede concluded by proposing once again the

complementarity of the religious traditions of East and West.

 

In 'River of Compassion: A Christian Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita' (1987), a

series of talks given at Shantivanam, Bede presents the 'Gita' to westerners.

The commentary presents the Hindu classic as a series of 'yogas' (integrations

or ways of union): principally 'karma' yoga, the way of work, 'bhakti' yoga, the

way of love and devotion and 'jnana' yoga, the way of contemplative knowledge.

Key verses of the 'Gita' are commented at length. There is a frequent

confrontation with Christian tradition. 'River of Compassion' is probably Bede's

most successful demonstration of the affinities and complementarities of

Hinduism and Christianity. He is clearly moving toward a broader integration in

this book; spirituality returns to the marketplace. (p.9) We seem to be sitting

around him and listening to his living words.

 

'A New Vision of Reality' (1989) was edited from a series of talks given at

Shantivanam around the beginning of 1983. This is Bede Griffiths' fullest

attempt at an overall synthesis, embracing not only the ancient religious

traditions of Christianity and the East (still principally Hinduism), but the

perspectives of contemporary physics, cosmology and transpersonal psychology.

Audacious synoptic views of cosmology, anthropology, spiritual theology and the

history of consciousness demonstrate Bede's formidable powers of assimilation

and integration. In conclusion, he imagines more concretely a 'New Age' both for

humanity as a whole and for the Christian church.

 

'The New Creation in Christ: Christian Meditation and Community' (1992) presents

Bede Griffiths' five lectures at the 1991 John Main Seminar in Indiana, together

with a transcript of listeners' questions and his responses. Here Bede is

concerned with meditation - particularly 'Christian meditation' and the use of a

mantra - and with the movement of the contemplative life and prayer beyond the

confines of monasticism, to people in the world.

 

'Universal Wisdom: A Journey through the Sacred Wisdom of the World' (1993),

published just after Bede Griffiths' death, is a selection of scriptures and

spiritual poetry from Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, Islam, Judaism and

Christianity. The general Introduction (about 36 pages) is a dense synthetic

reflection written by Bede, who also supplies a brief introduction to each of

the successive parts. The collection itself, idiosyncratic and exclusive, gives

us another view of Bede's horizons, at the end of his life.

 

Two small books, edited and published after Bede's death by his friend Roland

Ropers, present Bede's personal selections from the Book of Psalms and from

various provinces of the literature of East and West. 'Psalms for Christian

Prayer' (1995), brings together the 95 biblical Psalms which Bede found

relatively free of the anger, hatred and desire for vengeance which he found

incompatible with sacred wisdom. 'Pathways to the Supreme: The Personal Notebook

of Bede Griffiths (1995), with a longer introduction (11 pages) by Bede,

contains a series of selections from his favorite authors, ancient and

contemporary. The order in which the texts are presented is significant,

corresponding to the successive 'ways' of cosmic revelation (here understood as

primitive religion), of poetry, of philosophy (the 'perennial philosophy' in its

Greek, Chinese, Buddhist and Hindu expressions), of Christian revelation, and

finally the 'way of mysticism.'

 

Bede Griffiths, one quickly realizes, was a gifted writer. His elegant prose was

not the product of labored revision. Of the writing of his early books, he

recalls:

 

I sat down every day after breakfast for about two hours and began to write. It

just came out, just flowed out. I forget how long it took - maybe six months.

That ['The Golden String'] was my first experiment in writing a full-length

piece.

When I first came to India, I didn't write, but I did some translations. When I

came here to Shantivanam, I began to write 'Return to the Center'. It is very

interesting, looking back now, that this book came out absolutely spontaneously.

I wrote it in longhand completely, and made no corrections at all. It just came

out like that. It's extraordinary. I think 'The Marriage of East and West' was

probably the same.[7]

 

Bede's articles appeared in a wide range of journals. Early pieces were

published in the English Benedictine 'Pax', then in the progressive American

Catholic journal 'Commonweal' and the English Dominican 'Blackfriars'. Many

further articles came out over the years in 'The Tablet' and 'The Examiner', and

his pungent letters appeared frequently in 'The Tablet'. He also contributed to

a number of Indian publications and to western monastic journals.[8]

 

The One Light - Bede Griffiths' Principal Writings

Introduction, p. 6-10

Edited and with Commentary by Bruno Barnhart

Templegate Publishers, Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-254-8

 

Notes:

 

[6] See the Bibliography by Jesu Rajan and Judson Trapnell in 'The Other Half of

My Soul', ed. Beatrice Bruteau, 381-391.

 

[7] 'A Human Search: Bede Griffiths Reflects on His Life', An Oral History

Edited by John Swindells, 127.

 

[8] See the Bibliography in note 6 above.