Abhishiktananda and the Challenge of Hindu-Christian Experience - 2

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Abhishiktananda and the Challenge of Hindu-Christian Experience

Dr. Bettina Baeumer

from Bulletin 64, May 2000

Page 2 of 2

 

III.Shiva and Christ

Twenty-five years have passed since Abhishiktananda attained Samadhi. To some

theologians his ideas seem to be too daring, too revolutionary, while others

consider his theological problems outdated. At the existential level, some of

the Indian Christians have tried to follow his ideal, with the danger of

creating new namarupas, as Abhishiktananda had feared. Others find his obsession

with sannyasa one-sided and prefer a Dalit liberation theology. And yet, the

liberating and explosive message of his life and experience remains very much

valid and necessary. The only condition for making it fruitful is the utmost

sincerity and transparency that was his.

 

What have we done in these twenty-five years since his passing? I do not want to

give a history and speak about others who have tread a similar path. But I may

dare to say something about my own experience of thirty-two years in a Hindu

context. It is not my intention to be too personal, but I remember the reply of

a Hindu friend when I had given a slide show about my pilgrimage to the most

sacred mountain Kailash and after that told him that I did not want to speak

about my personal experience. He said simply: " What is personal? It is all

universal., " But I may extract the more universal aspects of my personal

experience.

 

First of all, not all those who tread a similar path have to pass through the

same anguish that Abhishiktananda went through in his experience of two

traditions. He has cleared the way for others. Second, though I was inspired by

his example and encouraged by him since the beginning of my contact with

spiritual India in 1963, I had to find my own way. Though the Upanishads and

Ramana Maharshi were and still are fundamental in my plunge into Indian

spirituality, it was the mystical tradition of Kashmir Shaivism that brought me

the fullness I was longing for. Here is not the place to give an introduction to

this spirituality and philosophy which, in a way, is the culmination of Indian

thought and mysticism. I can only mention the essential complementary aspects to

the spirituality of advaita that was Abhishiktananda's main partner in dialogue.

 

In Kashmir Shaivism, as in advaita, we find a non-duality between the self and

God, but in a theistic context. The difference is that there we have a personal

relationship with God, Shiva, who bestows grace on the soul in order to make it

recognize its true, original, that is, divine nature. The underlying philosophy

is therefore called the school of recognition (pratyabhijna). Another important

difference from the spirituality of Vedanta is the positive value of the body in

spiritual practice and experience, due to the Tantric background. It is a more

incarnated spirituality than the a cosmic sannyasa that was Abhishiktananda's

ideal. The cosmos and the body are very much part of the process of

liberation—the ideal being liberation during one's lifetime (jivanmukti). This

spirituality is thus more sacramental since all the acts of daily life are

considered to be sacred and means for spiritual realization.

 

This is only a brief description of some of the practical aspects of Kashmir

Shaiva spirituality complementary to Vedanta. It is impossible to describe its

philosophical depths and mystical heights which lead to a state of perfect

spontaneity, of Divine consciousness, where ultimately even spiritual practice

is to be given up. To quote only one verse of Abhinavagupta's " Hymn to the

Absolute or Unsurpassable " :

 

What words can describe the Unsurpassable? In the Absolute can there be any

distinction between the worship, the one who worships and the object of worship?

How and in whom can there be spiritual progress? What are the degrees of

absorption? Illusion itself is ultimately the same as non-dual Consciousness,

all being the pure nature of the Self, experienced by oneself—so have no vain

anxiety!

 

The conception of the Divine is so universal that the names Shiva, Bhairava or

others are never understood in any limiting, sectarian sense. That is why the

great mystic Utpaladeva of the early tenth century can exclaim:

 

Glory to you, O Shiva, who are the essence of the " righthanded, " path, who are

the essence of the " lefthanded, " path, [two opposing Tantric schools]who belong

to every traditionand to no tradition at all. May you be glorified, O God, who

can be worshipped in any manner, in any place, in whatever form at all

(Shivastotravali 2. 19-20)

 

But obviously, the reasons for being attracted by a spiritual tradition are not

merely theoretical. It is a living tradition in its fullness that attracts and

challenges. And the only response possible, as was the response of

Abhishiktananda to Ramana Maharshi and Sri Gnanananda, is a total acceptance,

respect, and, finally, surrender.

 

To observe a spiritual tradition from outside, to read its texts, is not

sufficient if one wants to enter deeply. One has to accept it, in theory and

practice. In the case of most Indian traditions, this also implies initiation.

For me it was the meeting with Swami Lakshman Joo of Kashmir and being accepted

by him in this tradition which opened the door to this spiritual world.

 

What happens then to one's Christian roots and convictions? There is an entirely

inner process of encountering, absorbing, letting the two traditions lead an

internal dialogue without too much interference of the mind. It all happens at

the level of pure consciousness, where the names " Shiva, " or " Christ, " are not

important, but the reality lived and experienced behind those names. In any

authentic experience nothing can be lost.

 

We know that most Westerners who accept a spiritual tradition such as Buddhism

or who embrace Hindu forms have been disappointed by Christianity and have

thrown overboard their Christian faith. This requires another form of dialogue

than with the authentic representatives of the original traditions. Both are

necessary, because we are more and more confronted with a kind of secondary

tradition. But I am convinced that the discovery of the original living

traditions is most essential for our Christian understanding and dialogue. It is

pioneers like Abhishiktananda, who have experienced the other tradition from

within, who are the best mediators, because they have undergone a process of

transformation—a personal spiritual process which has wide repercussions.

 

IV. Conclusion

The Hindu-Christian experience can have many consequences and conclusions, and

it can lead to a fresh understanding of Christ. The name Jesus Christ is heavily

loaded by 2000 years of history and, according to Panikkar, " perhaps we should

change that name because of the historical connotations of the last 2000 years,

.. . . Yet, it is in and through Jesus that a Christian experiences that mystery

which Christians call Christ, " (, " Indian Theology and the Third

Millennium, " ).Whether or not we change the name, what is important is to

rediscover the experience of " that mystery, " , and here the meeting in depth with

Hindu and Buddhist spirituality can give an essential impulse. This also because

the West has been culturally and religiously emptied and de-sacralized and it is

very difficult to recover what has been lost. However, I do not mean that these

spiritual traditions should be used by Christians for resolving their crisis.

This would be another kind of colonialism where we exploit not the natural

riches of another culture, but its spiritual riches. One has to be aware of this

danger.

 

This meeting still remains a challenge, and we should have the humility of

disciples learning and receiving, the intellectual honesty to accept the

differences, and the deep respect for these traditions in their own right. But

with these precautions the meeting with Hindu spirituality can open a wide

horizon, and it can also help us in rediscovering our own Christ. I shall

mention a few points and concepts.

 

Abhishiktananda had developed the correspondences with the Vedic-Upanishadic

purusha, the cosmic and inner Person, the Divine presence within:

 

The mythos of the Purusha is wider than that of Christos; not only does it

include the cosmic and metacosmic aspect of the mystery, but it is also free

from attachment to time entailed by the mythos of Christ. Rather it recognizes

all the symbolic value contained in the mystery of Time, but refuses to compress

the absolute separately into a particular point of time. (February 17, 1973, p.

372)

 

Jesus could also be described as the perfect jivanmukta, the one " liberated

while living, " , the greatest ideal of Hindu spirituality, especially of its

advaitic or non-dualistic forms. The jivamukta incorporates the divine

perfection in his or her very body, by being transparent to the Spirit, the

Atman. Sri Ramana Maharshi and Swami Lakshman Joo were perfect examples in our

lifetime.

 

Another important spiritual and theological approach to Christ is the Guru, the

Sadguru or true Master. Contrary to the misunderstanding and misuses of the

importance of the Guru in the West, in the Indian tradition he is the personal

face of the transcendent Reality, he is the visible form of the Ultimate: guruh

saksat parabrahman. As every Hindu recites almost daily: tasmai srigurave namah,

" to that Master be adoration, " . The Guru is only recognized as such if he is

transparent to the Divine Reality. The great mystic Kabir therefore expressed

what most Hindus feel: that if he were to meet his Guru and God at the same

time, he would fall at the feet of his Guru first, because it is through him

that he has seen and experienced God. What could be more close to a christology

where Christ is the visible form of the invisible Father, and the Master?

 

If Abhishiktananda were with us at this workshop he would be happy that we are

now talking about Christ consciousness, not Christology. At the same time he

would caution us to be careful that it remain at the level of a living

experience and not become another concept! In Hinduism we find a variety of

living spiritual traditions, but with all the embeddedness in tradition, the

Hindu is aware that ultimately he has to go beyond them, once he or she has come

to the realization of the Self, of God.

 

Abhishiktananda, who had carried the burden of the tradition and at the end

liberated himself from the same burden, would have surely rejoiced at the

following verse from the Yoga Vasistha, a highly mystical text of Advaita:

 

The sacred scriptures are a burden for one who has no discrimination, knowledge

is a burden for one who is attached, the mind is a burden for one who has no

peace, and the body itself is a burden if one has not realized the Self.

 

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