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© J. Glenn Friesen 2003-2006 |
Henri Le Saux
(Abhishiktananda)
The Natraj
Shiva as the Lord of Creation
Abhishiktananda
The Benedictine monk Abhishiktananda went to India in 1948. Together with Fr. Jules Monchanin, he started a Christian ashram in the South of India. It is known by several names: Shantivanam, Saccidananda Ashram, the Ashram of the Holy Trinity. See photos of the ashram today.
Shortly after he arrived in India, Abhishiktananda met Ramana Maharshi, a Hindu sage of advaita (nondualism). Abhishiktananda was overwhelmed by this encounter, and spent the rest of his life seeking the to integrate this nondual experience with his Christian beliefs. He believed that nonduality is neither dualism nor monism because although 'advaita' means "not-two," it does not mean "only one."
Abhishiktananda's affirmation of both nonduality and non-monism was influenced by Christian Trinitarianism, interpreted as an expression of the Many from the One. Jesus’s experience of Sonship with the Father is an advaitic experience that is equally available to everyone. Abhishiktananda believed that the early Upanishads report a similar experience. A monistic interpretation of advaita only developed later with the “dialectics” of Shankara’s disciples. In non-monistic advaita, the world is not an illusion. Using ideas derived from tantra and Kashmir Shaivism, Abhishiktananda interpreted maya not as illusion, but as the shakti or power of Shiva. He compares shakti to the Holy Spirit.
Abhishiktananda distinguished between a pure consciousness experience (nirvikalpa or kevala samadhi) and the experience of a return to the world of diversity in sahaja samadhi. Sahaja samadhi is the state of the jivanmukta, the one who is liberated while still in the body; it is an experience that is referred to in tantra and in Kashmir Shaivism. Abhishiktananda never experienced nirvikalpa samadhi, but I believe that he did experience sahaja samadhi.
My doctoral thesis on Abhishiktananda is entitled "Abhishiktananda's Non-Monistic Advaitic Experience." I examine Abhishiktananda's description of his experience in relation to perception, thinking, action, ontology and theology. The appendix provides one possible interpretation of Abhishiktananda’s understanding of advaita using the ideas of C.G. Jung
My thesis in pdf format only, in order to preserve the romanized Sanskrit font. The thesis is long (two volumes, 650 pages). There are five separate pdf downloads. Download here.
I briefly refer to Dooyeweerd in this thesis. But I had not at that time fully understood the western mystical roots of Dooyeweerd's own philosophy, some of which are also evident in Abhishiktananda's understanding of nondualism. But in Dooyeweerd's terminology, Abhishiktananda's story shows a movement from a Ground Motive of a dualism between nature and grace (the natural and the supernatural) towards the Christian Ground Motive of creation, fall and redemption. Both Abhishiktananda and Dooyeweerd emphasize that when we are directed from out of this nondual standpoint, we experience our Sonship with God. Dooyeweerd does more clearly indicate the uniqueness or Christ, and our participation in His redeeming work. Dooyeweerd's emphasis on religious self-reflection seems very similar to Ramana Maharshi's Self-Enquiry. And the experience of enstasis in naive experience has many similarities to the state of sahaja samadhi. Although there are also some key differences, Abhishiktananda's exploration of nondual experience helps to understand Dooyeweerd's own opposition to dualisms of perception, thinking, action, ontology and theology.
Abhishiktananda seemed to have regarded Ramana Maharshi as a traditional sage of Hindu advaita. In my article "Ramana Maharshi: Hindu and non-Hindu interpretations of a Jivanmukta," I have shown that Ramana was influenced by many non-traditional Hindu sources, including tantra, kundalini yoga and neo-Hinduism. Ramana was also influenced by many Western traditions, including Christianity, some kinds of western theosophy, and by western psychological ideas. And in my article "Paul Brunton and Ramana Maharshi," I have shown that Paul Brunton, who made Ramana Maharshi well-known to Westerners by his book A Search in Secret India, later admitted that he had used Ramana Maharshi as a "peg" on which to hang his own previously formed ideas. In this way, Brunton may not only have distorted Ramana Maharshi's teachings, but he may also have influenced the way that Ramana Maharshi regarded his own teachings. It is possible thatr Abhishiktananda would have not have been as enthusiastic in trying to emulate Ramana Maharshi had he known of all these other influences.
See also the online interview of myself regarding my studies on Abhishiktananda.
Revised Jul 24/06