Article on Ashram:
This article on ashram explains about the
Christian ashram in general and my ashram in particular.
The Sanskrit word “ashram” means
withdrawal from the world work. It refers to a spiritual retreat center or
community that is engaged in spiritual pursuits. Ashram refers to a place of
peace in the forest where a community of disciples lives under the guidance of
a guru to learn about God through experience. In ancient India , the
“rishis” (prophets) founded ashrams in the forest or in a secluded area on the
banks of the rivers surrounded by beautiful scenery. One author described these
ashrams as laboratories for religious experiments. Traditionally the ashrams were the centers of
learning, retreat, and disciple making. Some of them also served as schools
similar to the school of prophets found in the Old Testament of the Bible. During
the Vedic period young men from noble families came to the ashram for education
and training concerning the duties of life, then return to society to live as
responsible citizens. Here, the
vanaprasathis and the sages who retired from the society after obtaining a
wealth of experience, prepared the students for a life of responsibility in the
society. Therefore, the ashrams are
known as “guru Kulam”
Even today, the
Hindus who thirst for the knowledge of God search after a suitable guru by
going from one ashram to another because, they believe that only a guru could
help them on spiritual matters through various sadhanas (practices). The ashrams and gurus are increasing in
numbers in these modern times to meet the spiritual needs of Indians as well as
others coming from west in search of meaning and purpose in life.
In the past,
the ashrams had no rigid structure or formal constitution.
However, they had certain operating principles and goals.
The guru was the center and heart of the ashram. He directed the activities of
the ashram and the Ashramites responded to his instruction with obedience and
humility. By a simple and pious life, the guru was able to exert great influence
on those under his discipleship. The gurus have established ashrams in modern India with a
simple structure due to government regulations. Since the ashrams own property,
the government requires the board of trustees to handle the financial
affairs. Although the guru is still the
sole head of the ashram, he acts through the board of trustees regarding
secular matters relating to the ashram. The guru will decide the succession of
leadership. He may name one of his
disciples as the head of the ashram before he dies.
In
contemporary India ,
the ashrams have modified their programs to meet the spiritual, social and
intellectual needs of people. For example, leaders like Mahatma Gandhi,
Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Sivanada started ashrams to meet the political and
spiritual quests of the people. Following the examples of these Hindu leaders,
some Christian leaders who were hungering for an Indian mode of Christ life,
witness and service started the Christian ashram movement in India and attempted to make
Christianity meaningful and relevant to Indians in the context of the Hindu
spiritual tradition. The Christian spiritual life definitely includes the
experience of prayer, love, peace, forgiveness, and freedom, joy, sharing and
serving. However, it lacks the
experiences of solitude, silence, contemplation, devotion, self-surrender,
simplicity, renunciation, continence, self-realization, and bliss. Although
Christ exemplified these qualities in his life on earth, many Christian
teachers and ministers in India
do not practice them. Christian ashrams have emerged to fill this spiritual gap
in the lives of the Christians.
Dr.S.Jesudason,
Dr.E.forrester-Patton, father Jack Winslow of the Anglican Church and the
Catholic Fathers J.Monchanin and Le saux started Christian ashrams in which
they tried to express the ideals of Christian service and spirituality in
harmony with their particular church tradition. These ashrams are still alive
and continue to attract the Hindus. There are over 50 Christian ashrams in India adopting Christian witness to the
spiritual and political climate in India .
Dr.S.Jesudason and Dr. E. Forrester-Patton started the first Christian
ashram in India
to express the ideals of Christian service at Thiruppathur, Tamil Nadu in 1921.
They built a house of prayer in Dravidian style of temple architecture that they
used for indigenous modes of worship. Since then, it has been great attraction
to many Hindus to come there for worship. The Hindu villagers from nearby
places benefit from the school and the hospitals this ashram operates. This ashram
remains as the indigenous expression of Christian faith and service in this
part of India .
In the same
period father Jack Winslow of Anglican Church started an ashram in Pune, Maharastra State India and had close links with the
leaders of freedom movement. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi himself stayed here
once and participated in the meditation.
Hindus who came here felt accepted and loved. From its
start, this ashram community had a Hindu member to help with its religious and
social services. This ashram did not aim at converting the Hindus, but to live
the life of prayer amidst the Hindu community of Pune.
J.Monchanin and
H. Le Saux founded the famous catholic ashram at Kulithalai, Tamilnadu known as
Saccidananda Ashram on the banks of the river Cauvery, in 1950.
Then Bede Griffiths came in 1968 wanting to demonstrate to
the Hindus in spiritual greatness of Christianity through the completive life
style. He stated that the ashrams
could become authentic centers of Indian spirituality
leading people through the Indian methods of prayer and meditation. He felt
that ideal of Christian sannyasin could be a powerful starting to approach the
Hindus. Griffith also attempted to interpret the
doctrine of trinity in the context of Advita system of Hinduism, which is the
most powerful philosophical system in India . Through the contemplative life,
he tried to help people realize the mystery and nature of Absolute. He used the Christian view of the trinity and
concept of the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ to the realization of the
mystery of the Ultimate Reality of the Advita Vedanta.
These
ashrams are similar in many ways to Hindu ashrams, but in certain aspects, they
are different. Unlike the Hindu ashrams, Christian ashram has no visible guru.
It is because they believe that Christ is the “sad guru” (true guru). However, each Christian ashram has a leader
known as “acharya”, who is looked upon for spiritual guidance. The ashramites
respect him but do not revere as guru. Another difference is that the Christian
ashrams are not just a community engaged only in holy living. Christian ashrams communicate Christ to the
world and engage in social service. In addition, Christian ashrams have
organization with the flexible power structure, goals, objectives, rules,
guiding principles and activities.
Christian ashrams are Para-church
communities existing independent of the institutionalized churches, yet related
to certain denominational church traditions and orders. For example, the
Saccidhananda Ashram of Bede Griffith has affiliation with the Camadolese
branch of the Benedictine order and the Chrsitu-kula Ashram of Thirupathur has direction from National Missionary
Society. They are not anti church institutions, but independent, indigenous,
communities that spontaneously emerged in response to the missiological
challenges in India .
Christian ashrams in general serve as a great asset to the Church and the cause
of Christ in India .
The Christian spirituality manifested in Christian ashrams is an enormous
source of inspiration to many Hindus who are not attracted by religious life of
the churches that appeared to them as Western cultural colonies. Christian
ashram itself is a new way of being a Church, providing the environment that
enriches the spiritual life of the Church.
The
word ashram still has great attraction to Indian people because of its
connection with ancient hermitages of the rishis who lived a holy life of
prayer and meditation. Therefore, the name ashram should not be used carelessly
just for any Christian institution as is often the case presently in referring
to the orphanages, hospitals, or other social service units of the Church. The
misuse of the word ashram is an offense to the Hindus. Besides, they do not like the Christian
ashram used for proselytism. We can
establish Christian ashrams only with the purpose of promoting the principles
of spirituality, community, service and religious education.
“Spirituality” refers to the spiritual aspect of life that focuses on
knowing and experiencing God within oneself by transcending self. It is the
experience of abiding presence of God within the cave of the heart through
sadhanas such as study, prayer, reflection, contemplation, intense longing for
salvation, renunciation, complete surrender of the will to God, disinterested
benevolence, faith and yoga. Christian spirituality centers on Christ and it is
the response to the redeeming love revealed in the historical person of Jesus
Christ and his death on the cross. It focuses on our relationship to God
through Christ and to our fellow human beings. It is also an eschatological spirituality
because it focuses on the faith in soon coming of Christ. This faith shapes the
Christian life in the world causing a person to live a holy life of
renunciation, prayer, witness, persecution, martyrdom. Thus, Christian
spirituality differs from Hindu spirituality for the later bases on the
pessimistic way of looking at life, history and world, the inner reality of
self and its identity with ultimate reality Brahman. Spirituality in the
ashrams also expressed in terms of simplicity in dwellings, food, and dress.
Christian ashrams, in general, do not propagate
a particular denominational creed or a set of dogmas. However, few ashrams, affiliated with certain
denominations, do hold to the dogmas of their respective denominations, but
often do not propagate them vigorously. Christian ashrams started by certain
individuals do not affiliate with any denomination; however, they may still
reflect the ideas and aspiration of denominations from which the founders come.
Having these ideas
in mind, I started a Christian ashram at Thirupanthurithi village near
Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu in 1990 on the banks of the Cauvery River Spicer Memorial
College India
and abroad, and visit to few Christian ashrams shaped my ashram plans and its
ideals. I discussed my plans with Pastor J.P.Masillamony, former editor of
nalvazhy magazine of the Southern Asia Division of Seventh-day-Adventist, and
asked him to suggest a name for it in June1986. He suggested the name
Karunaiyanathar Ashram. Karunaiyanathar is one of the indigenous names given to
Jesus Christ by Vedhanayaga Sasthri, a Christian poet from Thanjavur Tamil
Nadu. This name means “one who is compassionate and blissful”.
The name itself clearly indicates
that Jesus is the center of this ashram, and that we want to bring joy (bliss),
peace (shanthi), and harmony in the world through compassionate service. Service
here is the practical expression of bhakthi (devotion) to Jesus Christ. He is exalted through word and deed so that
he would draw all people unto him. We have adopted the missiological principles
enlisted in two missionary texts found in Luke 4:18-19 and Romans 15:20, which
are to preach the gospel to the people
who never heard the gospel, heal the broken hearted, give freedom to the
captives and liberty to the oppressed.
Accordingly, we focus on communicating Christ to all people including
Christians and do various types of service to the needy.
It is not a Christian
ashram in communal sense but ashram of Christ. It has no affiliation with any
Christian denomination. It is an indigenous, independent ecumenical community where
people could live together as one family and carry out the objectives of the
ashram. I have incorporated features like simple lifestyle, natural setting,
spirituality from Hindu ashrams and ideals of healthful living from Adventist
self-supporting institutions in this ashram. It is not another evangelistic
strategy for proselytism and it will not be a camouflaged proselytizing agency
for any denomination. Rather, it will be a discipling agency for Christ and the
Church, the body of Christ. The disciple making will be the objective and it
will happen naturally by the leading of the Holy Sprit as people experience the
power of Christ in the spiritual atmosphere of ashram and as they see a group
of Christians living in an intense and committed Christian life.
The ashram has
adopted principles such as spirituality, contextualization, service,
simplicity, unity, health and witness as guiding principle to reach the goals
and objectives. Its goal is to make Christ known among all especially the
Hindus and to influence the Indian society with the values of Kingdom of God (
Ram Raj) taught by Jesus Christ. Its objectives are to develop indigenous form
of worship and witness, to serve as a center for religious dialogue, study and
training, to provide philanthropic service in the neighborhood, to publish
literature and to serve as a home for people ostracized by their families.
These goals and objectives carried out not by
paid workers but volunteers called by God for this ministry. Paid ministry is
foreign to Indian religious tradition.
It is contrary to the spirit of the ashram. It could defeat the purpose of the ashram.
Volunteers at the ashrams are classified as part-time, long-time and lifetime
volunteers. They share different service responsibilities in the ashram
according to the time and talent they could invest. They receive the incidental
expenses, food and accommodation when they are engaged in the service at the
ashram. Ashram has a leader and board of trustees who are also volunteers. All
these volunteers known as ashramites help with all ashram activities.
This
ashram has been engaged in several activities in the past 15 years.
Inter-religious worship, inter-religious dialogue, festivals, seminars, summer
camps, eye camps, medical camps are regular features of this ashram. Besides,
the ashramites communicate Christ and his teachings through personal dialogue
and Tamil pamphlets centered on Christ and his teachings.
The ashram
premise consists of several buildings for its activities and there is still a
need for a few more buildings to meet our needs. At present, there is a room
for meditation, a hall for public meeting, a library and guest rooms. Besides,
there is a kitchen and dinning room. There is a plan to build a hostel in the
future to accommodate 12 students and few more guest rooms. Further, in the
future we hope to build a Christian
This ashram
still has a long way to go in order to realize its goal. It is open to new
possibilities and new relationship with any religious groups. Being the only active member of the
inter-religious group Thiruarutperavi of Thanjavur district, this ashram serves
as an agency to bring people of various religions together. The Ashram works in
cooperation with the Rotary club, Red Cross, Joseph Eye Hospital
In
conclusion, I would like to plead for a change in the mission of the church in India . We need
to shift our focus from proselytism to discipling, from sheep stealing to
nurturing, from attacking each other to uplifting, from dividing to uniting,
from building walls around to building bridges, from dependency to self-support,
from slavery to freedom and from commercializing the Gospel to contextualizing
the Gospel. With courage and faith, the leaders of various denominational
churches and mission agencies should dismantle the old imported evangelistic
approach that is no longer suitable to modern India and return to the biblical
model of discipleship as practiced by Jesus and his disciples. In our
evangelism, success measured not in terms of reports based on baptismal
statistics rather measured in terms of the impact Christians make in the life
of the society. By living holy and serving like Mother Theresa, Christians can
make powerful impact on the lives of the Indian society than any propaganda.
Stanley Jones said, “Christ interpreted through experience and backed by fine
living is almost irresistible for India today”. Therefore, Christian
evangelists, instead of engaging in sheep stealing and targeting the poor
unsophisticated low caste village Hindus to achieve their baptismal goal, they
must learn to transform the community with their holy living and service. The
ashram model provides proper Christian approach to people in India.
Finally, I
would like to state that it is my conviction that the ashram model is one of the suitable models for Christian witness
and discipleship in modern India
because it comes within the spiritual heritage of India . Christian Ashrams will not
replace the institutionalized churches but supplement them with spiritual
energy. Therefore, the church leaders instead of viewing the ashrams with
negative attitude should learn to view it positively and co-operate with
Christian ashrams in bringing the knowledge of Christ in India. Christian
ashrams can certainly fulfill Hindu aspirations and longing for God in Jesus
Christ. Therefore, ashram as a
contextualized model can succeed in discipling the people of India. The great
Indian missiologist, Paul D. Devanandan upheld the idea of ashram and said,
“The future rests with the ashram approach.
At any rate, in the immediate years to come, the Christian evangelist to
Hindu India should more and more adopt the underlying principles of the ashram
strategy in planning his campaign”.
The following pages are extracted from my doctoral thesis
Chapter 5 and modified for this web site.
FACTORS
CONSIDERED IN THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE ASHRAM MODEL FOR THE
COMMUNICATION OF THE GOSPEL IN TAMIL NADU
Inasmuch as I
also believe like Devanandan that the future of discipling India for Chriat
rests with the ashram approach, I consider the following important factors in
developing the ashram model in Tamil Nadu.
1. The
relationship between Church and Christian ashrams
2. The underlying principles of an ashram
3. The key concepts relevant to the ashram ideal
4. The experiments of significant Hindu and
Christian ashrams in modern India
5. The experiences of Jewish and Christian
communities
6. The supporting ministries of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church.
Although the
ashram ideal belongs to Indian tradition, it is not totally foreign Christian
traditions. Therefore, I have described
some Jewish and Christian communities in order to show that an ashram model is
in accordance with Christian tradition.
Ashram
and Church
A correct understanding of what an ashram is
and how it differs from the church is essential for developing an ashram model
suitable for Tamil Nadu. Christians in
the West and even in India have no proper understanding of an ashram. In fact, many Christians believe that the
ashram model belongs only to Hinduism or Hindu cults. Therefore, Christians in India did not
respond positively to the idea of starting Christian ashrams when they were
first proposed seventy years ago.
However, after Vatican II (1962-65) the
ashram ideal gained ground in India.
Catholic ashrams began to increase in number after the 1969 seminar on
"The Church in India Today" which emphasized the need for ashrams for
the renewal of spirituality in the church.[1] Yet, in spite of these encouraging
beginnings, there is still only uncommitted interest in Christian ashrams on
the part of the Church, religious orders, and individual Christians.[2] This is partly due to lack of understanding
about the nature of the ashram, its relationship with Hinduism, its function in
the society, and its role in the mission of the Church.
Ashram
The Sanskrit word "ashram" means
(A = from, shram = work)[3]
withdrawal from the world of work. It
refers to a place or community which is engaged in spiritual pursuit. Ashram is sometimes defined as a place of
peace in the forest, or a community of disciples with a guru, as well as a way
of life. The ashram is an open concept
with fluid boundaries and definitions; therefore, I would like to present some
descriptions in order to illustrate the essential qualities of ashrams.
In ancient India, during the Vedic period
between 800-500 B.C., ashrams were located in forests, or in secluded areas on
the banks of rivers surrounded by beautiful scenery. Here, the rishis lived with their
disciples for spiritual pursuit and medical research. These ashrams were described as
"laboratories for religious experiment" and "spiritual
power-houses."[4]
Traditionally, ashrams were the centers for
disciple making as discussed earlier.
People came to the ashrams in search of gurus who could guide them in
attaining salvation, or enlightenment through various sadhanas. Even today, gurus and ashrams are increasing
in number in order to meet the spiritual needs of Indians as well as others
coming from the West in search of meaning and purpose in life.
Ashrams were also centers of learning and
training. In the Vedic period, the
ashrams served as schools similar to the schools of the prophets found in the
Old Testament. Young men from noble
families came to the ashrams for education and training[5]
concerning the duties of life, then returned to society to live as responsible
citizens. The Vanaprasathis, who
retired from society after obtaining a wealth of experience, prepared the brahmacharies
for a life of responsibility in the society.[6] Presently, ashrams are not religious schools
as such; some of them, especially the Ramakrishna order, operate schools as
part of their service to the community and do follow the government curriculum.
Traditionally,
ashrams were not formally organized institutions with a rigid structure; they
were not dependent on other institutions.[7] They had no formal constitution, power
structure, laws, or written contracts.
However, they had certain operating principles and goals. A guru was the center and the heart of the
ashram. He directed all the activities
of the ashram and the ashramites responded to him with obedience and
humility. By his simple and pious life,
the guru was able to exert a great influence on those under his discipleship.
The ashrams in modern India are established
by the gurus and now have a simple structure due to government
regulations. Since the ashrams own
property, the government requires a board of trustees to handle the financial
affairs. Although the guru is still the
sole head of the ashram, he acts through the board of trustees[8]
regarding secular matters relating to the ashram. The succession of leadership is left to the
guru who often names one of his disciples as head of the ashram before he
dies. If he dies before naming his
successor, it would become necessary for the trustees to appoint one of the
disciples as guru, in which case a power struggle for leadership could develop
between the disciples.[9]
An ashram is an open community and does not
recruit members like other organizations.
It is open to rich and poor, and people of all castes and colors. People come to an ashram of their own
freewill to learn about God and live a spiritual life. Some might stay there for a few years and
then return to their native places with new spiritual energy to serve
others. Visitors might visit for few
days and share in the life of the ashramites.[10]
Modern Hindu ashrams, while preserving the
old ashram ideals, have adapted to the present conditions and needs of
life. For instance, some of them are
located within cities or in urban areas.
In addition to their spiritual goals, they also promote social,
cultural, and educational services as well.
Christian
Ashram
What is a Christian ashram? The leaders of the Christian ashram movement
have defined Christian ashrams in terms of the objectives they had in mind. Therefore, there is no single definition for
Christian ashrams. R. Pierce Beaver,
Professor of Missions at the University of Chicago Divinity School, found it
difficult to explain what a Christian ashram was even after visiting several of
them for a three-month period. However,
he defined Christian ashrams as follows:
An ashram
is an ascetic community characterized by fellowship, mutual bearing of burdens,
common worship, silent meditation, intercession and study, living a close
family life under a rule of discipline to the glory of God, to the service of
the most needy and to the communication of the gospel. It is one form of the Indian holy life
baptized into the service of Jesus Christ and his Church.[11]
This definition seems to contain all the major principles
of a Christian ashram and presents a fair description of it.
Christian ashrams are similar in many ways
to Hindu ashrams, but in certain aspects they are different. Christian ashrams are well-organized
institutions. Some of them depend on
local churches, mission organizations, and individual Christians for financial
support. This section of the paper
summarizes only their major differences.
Unlike Hindu ashrams, Christian ashrams, in
general, are not centered around a visible guru. They believe Christ is the sadguru
(true guru). However, each Christian
ashram has a leader known as acharya who is looked upon for spiritual
guidance. He operates the ashram with
the consensus from the ashramites and is respected by his disciples as their
spiritual leader, but not revered as guru.
Social service is another essential part of Christian
ashrams; traditional Hindu ashrams do not engage in social service, since their
major emphasis is on the spiritual life.
However, recently some modern Hindu ashrams have begun some social work
in the community. Among Christian
ashrams, Protestant ashrams do more social services than do Catholic ashrams.
Another major difference between Hindu and
Christian ashrams is the communication of the gospel. A Christian ashram is a communicating
community, not just a community living for itself. It has the task of communicating the gospel
and discipling others to follow Jesus.
Christian ashramites want to tell the world not only who God is,
but also what He has done in Christ.
They do it by word and deed, living separate as a Christian community
while still being related to the Church.
Relationship of Christian Ashrams
with the
Church and Mission
Christian ashrams are para-church
communities existing independent of the institutionalized churches, yet related
to certain denominational church traditions and orders. For example, the Saccidhananda Ashram of Bede
Griffith is "affiliated to the Camadolese branch of the Benedictine order
with full freedom to follow its own path in fidelity to Indian tradition."[12] The Christu-Kula Ashram was established under
the guidance of the National Missionary Society.[13] Even now, the founders of Christian ashrams
continue to remain faithful members of their respective denominational
traditions, while carrying out the activities of the ashrams.
Christian ashrams are not anti-church
institutions, but independent, indigenous communities which spontaneously
emerged in response to the missiological challenges in India. Since many churches in India appeared to be
Western cultural colonies, they lost their power to influence the Hindu society
or to disciple the Hindus with the gospel.
In response to this problem, Christian ashrams were established and
began to witness to the power of the gospel by living the gospel in the context
of the cultural traditions of India.
Ashrams also contextualized the gospel in terms and forms intelligible
to the Hindus.
Christian ashrams are a great asset to the
Church and the cause of Christ in India.
The Christian spirituality manifested in Christian ashrams is a great
source of inspiration to many Hindus who are not attracted by the religious
life as modeled and directed by the churches.
The Christian life of prayer, contemplation, and service demonstrates to
the Hindus what it means to be the Church, the Body of Christ, in the context
of India. Arnulf Camps calls Christian
ashrams "a new way of being a Church or a new form of Christian
togetherness"[14]
which often draws people to Christ. In
addition, Christian ashrams bring renewal in the life of the church in
India. As the ashramites who are trained
in various spiritual vocations return to their local churches, they help these
churches to grow also in spirituality.
Another benefit is that both ministers and lay persons can make use of
the ashram facilities for their spiritual pursuits.
The word ashram still has great attraction
to Indian people because of its connection with the ancient hermitages of the
rishis who lived a holy life of prayer and meditation in the community with their
disciples. Therefore, the name ashram
should not be carelessly used for just any Christian institution as is often
the case presently in referring to orphanages, hospitals, or other social
service units of the Church. Hindus are
offended when the word ashram is misused or when ashrams are established with a
purpose of proselytism. Instead, Hindus
would be more favorably impressed if the Christian ashrams would preserve the
principles of Hindu ashrams.
Ashram Principles
All Hindu and Christian ashrams are not the
same in their objectives even though they are more or less using many of the
same broad principles. For example,
while both may differ from each other on their emphasis of certain principles
and forms of expression, most share common principles such as spirituality,
simplicity, non-violence, fellowship, and selfless service.
Spirituality
"Spirituality" refers to the
spiritual aspect of life which is focused on knowing, realizing, or experiencing
God. It is basically a life that is
lived in devotion to God, or lived in awareness of the indwelling God. In Hinduism, this spirituality is expressed
in such forms as contemplation, prayer, devotion, silence, the guru-shishya
relationship, an ascetic life, chanting of God's names, worship, bhajan,
and pilgrimage. All these activities are
done with the aim of liberating the soul from the cycle of karma-samsara,
or attaining self-realization.
On the other hand, Christian spirituality is
centered around Jesus Christ, and one's duty to God and society. It consists of seeking God through prayer,
study of Scripture, worship, witness, and service. Christian spirituality is based on one's
response to the redeeming love revealed in the historical person of Jesus
Christ. The aim is not to attain
salvation, but to express the salvation they have already experienced through
the saving power of Christ.
Christian spirituality also has prophetic or
eschatological elements because it is centered around faith in the soon-coming
of Christ. This faith motivates and
shapes a Christian's life in the world, causing a person to express love for
God by living a holy life of renunciation, prayer, martyrdom, persecution, and
witness on account of parousia and the Kingdom of God. Thus, Christian spirituality is different
from Hindu spirituality for the latter is based on a pessimistic view of life,
history, the world, and the inner reality of self and its identity with God.
The purpose of Christian ashrams is to
express Christian spirituality using Indian or Hindu forms, and also to adopt
Hindu spiritual methods in order to enrich the Christian experience of
God. A Christian ashram with its
emphasis on simplicity, devotion, contemplation, service, and community life
will not only enrich one's spiritual life, but also will provide a strong
foundation for Christian witness among the Hindus. If Hindu spiritual methods such as silence,
contemplation, chanting, bhajan, and Scripture reading are followed in Christian
ashrams in addition to promoting Christian values such as service, fellowship,
and witness, then Hindus will be attracted to know and experience this
God.
Amalorpavadass, an Indian Catholic
theologian, observed that a Christian ashram is "one of the best means for
promoting authentic and meaningful spiritual life which is fully Indian and
fully Christian."[15] The Christian ashram can provide Hindus with
the deepest spiritual experience of God's love revealed in Jesus Christ. It can also provide an opportunity for them
to know Jesus who lived a simple life and identified Himself with the common
people. Hindus will be greatly attracted
toward the Christ of an ashram than a church.
Simplicity
According to Indian tradition, simplicity is
an expression of one's spirituality. In
Hindu ashrams, simplicity is demonstrated by a life of renunciation and
asceticism aimed toward personal holiness and salvation. Hinduism believes that attachment to material
things is evil and a hindrance to the service of God. Further, in the context of India's cultural
perspective, simplicity has a deeper meaning of expressing one's identity with
the poor and spiritual people of India.
Therefore, a life of simplicity is essential to an ashram community.
The principle of simplicity is expressed in
various forms in Hindu ashrams. Indians
consider simple dress as the most important mark of simplicity and
spirituality. The ashramites wear simple
Indian dress suitable for work and in accordance with the climate and
weather. The color of their dress
depends on the type of the ashrams to which the ashramites belong. Generally, the gurus and disciples wear kavi[16]
in Hindu ashrams. Some Christian ashrams
such as the Saccidhananda Ashram of Bede Griffiths also follow this
practice. The Protestant ashramites,
such as of the Christukula Ashram, wear white khadi[17]
dress. Other
forms of simplicity include the food eaten and the places where ashramites
live. Ashramites eat simple vegetarian
food consisting of rice, dhal, salad, and fruits. Their dwellings are simple huts constructed
with mud or bricks. They sleep on the
floor and walk barefooted. Some modern
Hindu ashrams have adopted some new facilities; however, they retain the basic
simplicity of an Indian lifestyle[18]
which would also include the principle of non-violence.
Non-violence
The Indian term used for non-violence is ahimsa. The aspects of ahimsa are compassion,
reverence for life, respect for nature, forbearance, self-suffering, and
non-retaliation. Hindu sages and
Buddhists in the past laid great emphasis on this principle. Gandhi advocated this principle in his ashram
and practiced it at the cost of his personal life.
The active part of non-violence is love,
forgiveness, doing good to one's enemies, and resisting evil with good. At the same time, non-violence does not mean
submission to evil, wrongdoing, or injustice.
It is resistance to evil by satyagraha which is the force of
truth or the force of love.[19] Non-violence, in this sense, is the same as
the Christian principle of love taught by Jesus Christ. M. K. Gandhi practiced non-violent methods
such as non-cooperation and passive resistance in his political life to obtain
freedom for India from the British.[20]
Fellowship
The idea of
fellowship in the Hindu ashram is
different from the concept of fellowship described in the
Bible. The Bible
explains fellowship in terms of relationship between believers within the
Church. In Hinduism, fellowship is
viewed in the context of the
relationship between the guru and his disciple known as
guru-bhakti.
Guru-Bhakti
The Guru-shishya relationship is the
basic prerequisite of any Hindu ashram.
Guru-Bhakti is the term used for the relationship a disciple has toward
his guru. It is the highest virtue and
an essential prerequisite for a shishya to become a future guru. This relationship between the guru and the
shishya is also vital to the spiritual enlightenment of the disciple.
The relationship begins when individuals are
drawn closer to a religious teacher and accept him as guru by completely
surrendering themselves to his authority.
This relationship with the guru is not like a relationship between a
seminary teacher and his student. It is
a kind of mystical relationship in which the disciple is born in the heart of
his guru. The guru becomes the spiritual
father, with the disciples serving their guru with love, devotion, and complete
obedience. At the end, they are
transformed into his character and led to the higher levels of spiritual
understanding[21]
or enlightenment. This type of
guru-bhakti is absent in Christian ashrams, because Christians do not recognize
anyone as guru except Christ. Therefore,
the concept of koinonia or fellowship is prevalent in Christian ashrams.
Koinonia
Koinonia is the Greek term used for
fellowship in the Bible. It means
"sharing in."[22] Although the early believers still maintained
their contact with Judaism, they identified themselves as a distinct group by
their unique fellowship.[23] Fellowship was expressed by the visible
activities of breaking bread, prayer, and the sharing of goods in the early Church (Acts 2:42, 44f;
4:32). The early Christians were
inspired to have this kind of fellowship because of their spiritual experience
with God through the Holy Spirit. The
Christian ashram is an attempt to realize the same fellowship in the context of
India.
Christian
ashrams emphasize the ideals of fraternity, equality, justice, and unity in
faith and experience. They advocate
these principles in order to develop fellowship among the ashramites. These ideals are also expressed in terms of
social service in the society.
Service
The idea of service in Hindu ashrams is
different from the concept of service prevalent in Christian ashrams. The disciples in traditional Hindu ashrams
think service in terms of the duty to the guru and the work in the ashram. According to Manu Smrithi, serving the
guru was one of the prerequisites for attaining supreme bliss.[24] In ancient Hindu ashrams, disciples collected
firewood, attended livestock, and gathered roots, fruits, and vegetables. However, the idea of serving the larger
community was absent in the traditional Hindu ashrams. Lately some modern Hindu ashrams have adopted
this aspect of service from Christian missions.
On the other hand, service in Christian
ashrams is mainly directed toward the community as an expression of the love
the believers have found in Christ. It
is based on the belief that Jesus came to serve and save the lost, so His
disciples need to do the same. The Greek
word diakonas is used in the New Testament to refer to the service
rendered to the people within the church.
However, the concept of diakonas is applied in the larger context of the
community in Christian ashrams.
Christian ashrams, in addition to contemplation, encourage the
ashramites to participate in community service. Christian ashrams also operate
clinics, orphanages, schools, and community development services to express
their Christian love.
Thus far,
I have discussed some of the principles related to an ashram's life and its
services. Now I would like to explain
some of the key concepts related to Hindu ashrams and values in Hindu society.
Key
Concepts
It is
necessary to understand some of the Hindu concepts and their significance in
order to understand the power of the Hindu ashram. These key concepts are also important to the
development of a Christian ashram model.
Therefore, in the following section I identify these concepts and their
relevance to the establishment of Christian ashrams in India.
Guru
The idea of a guru in an ashram is an
important concept. The term guru has
become a familiar term in the vocabulary of Westerners and also is listed in
many English dictionaries. According to
Webster's dictionary, the meaning of
guru is a personal religious teacher or a spiritual guide.[25] However, the Sanskrit term "guru"
has several meaning in Hinduism.
Etymologically "Gu" means ignorance and "ru"
means dispeller. Therefore, guru means
dispeller of ignorance. It also means
heavy or weighty.[26] In Hindu tradition, guru refers to a
spiritual person and has no exact counterpart in Western culture.
According to Hinduism, a guru is a religious
teacher with exceptional qualities and is endowed with the power of furnishing
arguments in favor of his ideas. He is
considered to be pure, kind, compassionate, forgiving, helpful, temperate, and
honest. Further, he is free from
partiality, malice, pride, deceit, cunning, manipulation, jealousy, falsehood,
egotism, and attachment. He lives only
with the aim of imparting the knowledge of God to others.[27] Moreover, a guru is viewed by Hindus as the
embodiment of truth and an incarnation of God.
He is reverently addressed by people as "His Holiness,"
"His Divine Grace," "Lord," "Jagad Guru,"
"Maharishi," "Mahayogi," and "Mahatma." He is described as a friend to a friend,
lover to the beloved, father, mother, master, Lord, King, the mighty one and the
beloved in Saiva-siddhanta tradition.[28] He is the main spiritual figure in a Hindu
ashram.
A Hindu ashram is centered around a guru and
cannot exist without one. He holds
complete authority over the ashram and does not receive his authority from an
organization or a committee. First of
all, an individual does not claim to be a guru, but emerges as a guru
spontaneously when others recognize one's spiritual powers and ability to lead
people to God. A guru in the making
lives as a disciple under a guru for a long time, living in austerity and
undergoing discipline in a lengthy apprenticeship. He also practices asceticism, yoga,
meditation, and a life of sexual continence before he is recognized as a guru
by the people.[29]
Further, in
Hinduism one cannot obtain religious knowledge or salvation without the help of
a guru. Gandhi said,
I believe in the Hindu theory of Guru and his importance
in spiritual realization. I think there
is a great deal of truth in the doctrine that true knowledge is impossible
without a guru.[30]
God is not a notion but an experience for many Hindus, and
the religious knowledge taught by a guru is experiential knowledge. The guru leads his disciples to experience
God through his presence and personal guidance.
The guru is the center of attraction in the
ashram. People are attracted to an
ashram not by the programs run by the ashram but by the presence of a
charismatic guru. They come to the
ashram in search of a guru who will dispel darkness from their minds and help
them in their religious striving (i.e., sadhanas).
Sadhanas
The word "sadhana" means method or
way. It refers to the method of
achieving salvation in Hinduism. The
goal of sadhana is God-realization or union with one's personal God. The number of sadhanas followed by the
disciples depend on the sect to which the guru adheres to. Some Hindus use other names such as yoga and marga
for sadhanas. Yoga, which is a cognate
with the English word "yoke," means union with God.[31] Marga means path, and indicates the way of
salvation. Hinduism, in general,
advocates four important sadhanas or margas, Jnana marga,
Karma marga, Bhakti marga and Yoga marga.
Jnana Marga
Jnana marga is the way of knowledge. Jnana does not mean intellectual knowledge,
but spiritual insight, experiential
knowledge, or transcendent knowledge.
According to advaita vedanta, there are two kinds of knowledge: lower
knowledge which is the knowledge of all sciences and arts, and higher knowledge
which is the intuitive knowledge of God
or Ultimate Reality.[32] The term vidya is used by Hindu
philosophers for intellectual knowledge.
The term Jnana is used for liberating knowledge or enlightenment.[33]
Enlightenment is reached in two stages. The first stage is a preparatory stage which
consists of four qualities in the aspirant: (1) discrimination between the
eternal and the non-eternal, (2) detachment from all selfish pursuits, (3)
development of the virtues of calmness, restraint, renunciation, resignation,
concentration, and faith, and (4) an intense longing for liberation. The next stage consists of three steps: (1) Sravana,
the study of the scripture, (2) Manana, reflection on the texts studied
to understand the truth revealed in the scripture, and (3) Nididhyasana, deep
contemplation which gives intuitive experience of the Absolute or God.[34] Advaita philosophers
like Sankara consider Jnana as the principal means to
attain salvation, which is self-realization.
Karma Marga
Karma marga is the way of action to attain
salvation. In other words, it is
salvation by works which is done without desire over the results of the
work. This idea of karma marga is called
nishkama karma in Bhagavad-Gita. It
teaches that one should not desist from work, but should do it without
attachment to the result.[35] If good action is done for honor, promotion,
credit, praise, and prestige, salvation is not possible. According to the doctrine of karma marga, one
should do his/her duty for the sake of duty and do good because it is
good. People cannot follow nishkama
karma unless they are spiritually mature.
The concept of nishkama karma is also taught
by Jesus Christ on the Sermon on the Mount.
He said, "Let not the left hand know what the right hand
doeth" (Matt 6:3). Christians call this disinterested benevolence. The basic idea is the same in Gita and in the
teachings of Jesus Christ. However, in
Hinduism it is considered to be a marga.
In Christianity it is not a marga, but a dharma, a moral
principle by which one is called to live in order to bring glory to God. The nishkama karma for a Christian is also an
expression of his bhakti or faith in God.
Bhakti Marga
Bhakti marga is the way of devotional faith
or salvation by faith. Since the meaning
of bhakti was discussed in the previous
chapter, only brief reference is made here.
Bhakti is the attitude of a devotee toward
his God. It begins with an attitude of a
servant to his master. Later on, it
develops into the love of a friend to friend, parent to child, child to parent,
wife to husband, and finally the love of the lover toward his/her beloved. The devotee views himself as a bride and God
as the bridegroom[36]
with the devotee expressing his devotion by singing, dancing, and offering
gifts to God.
According to the doctrine of devotional
Hinduism, these actions are only in response to God's grace. However, many Hindus follow devotional
practices in order to attain salvation.
Therefore, bhakti becomes a means rather than a response. In essence, bhakti marga teaches salvation by
grace through bhakti; it appears to be salvation by works consisting of
singing, dancing, chanting mantras,
worshipping idols with gifts, fasting, feasting, and pilgrimages. While the majority of Hindus follow bhakti to
attain salvation, only a few follow yoga.
Yoga Marga
Yoga marga is the way of mind-control. The word yoga comes from the root Yug
which means unite, join, or yoke. It
refers to a way of uniting oneself with God.[37] It is a mind-training method used to achieve
salvation and can only be practiced with the help of a guru.
The classical form of yoga comes from
Patanjali who did not create yoga, but who systematized the techniques of yoga
in their present form in his text Yoga Sutras.
Yoga has eight steps: yama, niyama, asana,
pranayama, pratyahara, dharna, dhyana, and samadhi. The first step yama (self-control) consists
of five moral principles: non-violence, truthfulness, not stealing, chastity,
and non-possession. The second step
niyama (observance) has five regulations: purity, contentment, austerity,
study, and faith in God. The first two
steps constitute the ethical basis for following further steps. The five yamas and five niyamas are the ten
commandments of yoga.[38]
The next three steps are related to the
disciplining of body, breathing, and senses.
Step 3 is asana (posture), keeping the body in certain postures. Patanjali did not suggest a particular posture
but advised that the posture be steady and easy. Since his time, yogis have devised
over eighty-four asanas and quarrelled over the relative merits of these
postures.[39] The fourth step is pranayama (control over
breathing). Breathing is regulated and
slowed to help in mind-control. The
fifth step is pratyahara (restraint of senses), a discipline related to the
senses where the sense organs are trained to withdraw from and cease their
perception of respective objects.
The last three steps involve different
stages of concentration. Together they
are called samyama, inner-discipline.
The sixth step is dharna, developing ability to fix the mind on one idea
or object. Next is dhyana (meditation),
the continuous and complete flow of thought with reference to the object of
concentration.[40] The last step is samadhi (deep meditation). Here, the true nature of the object is
revealed and the mind temporarily becomes abstract. At this stage, the soul is believed to enjoy
aloneness.
Yoga is practiced by several Hindu sects in
India. Other religions like Sikhism,
Jainism, and Buddhism have also adopted the techniques of yoga to realize their
religious goals. Swami Nikhilananda says
that the techniques of yoga can be followed in varying degrees by all.[41] I have seen even an atheist practicing yoga
to achieve peace within.
The
Jnana marga and yoga marga are introverted forms of spirituality practiced only
by the Hindu elite. In contrast, the
karma marga and bhakti marga are extroverted forms of spirituality followed by
the unreflective masses in India.[42] Many Indian Christians with their orientation
towards Western Christianity practice neither introverted nor extroverted forms
of spirituality. Their religious
experience may be only on the cognitive level, leading to a kind of classroom
religious experience. At the same time, traces of bhakti can be seen in the Christian
spirituality of those who have been converted out of the Indian religious
climate.
Recently, the Christian churches of South
India have begun to see the value of different sadhanas in developing spirituality
in the life of the Christians. They view
yoga as an authentic part of Indian culture which can be adopted to enrich the
prayer life of the Christians in the church.
They consider that yoga is a spiritual treasure that India has to offer
to the world and one that Christians can adopt in order to enrich Christian
spirituality just as the Hindus and others have done.[43] I believe Western Christianity can be greatly
benefitted by adopting yoga and other sadhanas.
We have seen above how the four margas or
sadhanas have shaped Indian spiritual life.
In the following section, I discuss four values Hindus follow in
addition to the four sadhanas mentioned above.
Purusarthas
Purusarthas means human ends or
desires. Hinduism believes in the fourfold
end of human life. They are: artha
(wealth and physical comforts), kama (pleasure, enjoyment, and hedonic
satisfaction), dharma (righteousness, duty, and law of inner growth) and
moksha (freedom, liberation, or salvation).[44]
Artha
Hinduism advocates a legitimate way of
acquiring wealth to maintain the family. Artha includes all material things by
which a person can maintain his family, follow his vocation, and perform his
religious duties.[45] It is the sign of worldly success. It is considered to be important to have
wealth in order to realize two other ends, kama and dharma. Artha is good only as a means to an end and
is not an end in itself.
Kama
The word kama stands for all the desires of
one's senses. However, the pursuit of
pleasure is subject to the moral law.
One should never indulge in an excess of pleasure, but should only
satisfy the legitimate demands of one's body.
Kama not only includes conjugal love, but also the enjoyment of art and
music.[46] Artha and kama are only means to promote
virtue, which is dharma.
Dharma
The word "dharma" derives from the
root "dhri" meaning to sustain or to support. Dharma is translated into English as duty,
law, virtue, righteousness, justice, and morality. Dharma is basically doing the things that
sustain society and the growth of the individual. It is the responsibility of everyone to do
one's duty as required by one's station in life such as being a member of a
caste and being at a stage (asramas) in life. The Indian mind is so conditioned by dharma from childhood that
people naturally act in the way of dharma.
To not follow one's dharma is seldom entertained as a viable
alternative.[47] Like the first two human ends, dharma is also
not an end in itself but a means to liberation (moksha).
Moksha
Moksha is the supreme end (summum bonum) of
life.[48] The first three ends mentioned above belong
to the realm of worldly values which pave the way for moksha.[49] Desire for moksha is a natural desire in all
humans. Hindus believe that all
religions basically try to deal with the question of moksha, liberation or
salvation. For millions of popular
Hindus, it is freedom from karma-samsara which is release from sin and
reincarnation. But for classical Hindus
it is freedom from ignorance and the attainment of self-realization which
normally occurs at sanyasa stage in life.
Sanyasa is explained further in the next section.
Sanyasa
Sanyasa is one of the four stages in life
(see page 83 above). It is the last
stage in which a person renounces all worldly ties, wealth, and family, and
follows a life of asceticism. Although
this ideal is open to all, it is mostly followed by male Brahmins. The person who attains this fourth stage is
called a sanyasin or sanyasi.
A sanyasin is a wanderer who follows a
disciplined lifestyle of fasting, avoidance of meat, alcohol, and sensual
pleasures, and who observes the vows of celibacy, silence, renunciation, and
contemplation. This sanyasa ideal has
been viewed by many Catholics in India as a powerful medium for communicating
the gospel to the Hindus.[50]
The key
factors that we have discussed above are concepts closely related to the Hindu
ashrams. They are not Hindu beliefs, but
Hindu religious and cultural forms which are used in many of the Hindu and
Christian ashrams.
Hindu
Ashrams
There are numerous Hindu ashrams in India
and the West. For the purpose of this
paper, only some of the significant ones representing various idealogies found
in contemporary India are discussed.
These ashrams have made important contributions to the spiritual as well
as cultural life of India. In the
following section a brief survey is given concerning each ashram, its history,
objectives, and activities.
Ramakrishna
Order
The
Ramakrishna Order is one of the well-known ashram movements in India and the
West. Some references were made above to
the discipleship method followed in this order.
The Ramakrishna Order was started by a poor
Bengali Brahmin priest Ramakrishna and has been promoted all over the world by
his disciple Swami Vivekananda, who came to the United States in 1893 to attend
the World's Parliament of Religions held in Chicago. After studying and practicing various religious
traditions including Christianity and Islam, Ramakrishna declared that all
religions are true and merely take different paths to the same God. His teachings appealed to the young, educated
Bengalis who were already under the influence of the New-Hindu reform
movements. After his death in 1886,
Vivekananda became his spiritual heir as designated by Ramakrishna himself.[51]
Vivekananda officially formed the
Ramakrishna Mission on May 1, 1897, at Belur, near Calcutta, with the
objectives of spreading the message of Ramakrishna and helping the community
with social services. National
development, the uplift of women, education, medical service, and training of sanyasis
are the major objectives of the Ramakrishna Order. Since its establishment, the Order has
engaged in establishing hospitals, dispensaries, orphanages, elementary and
high schools, colleges, cultural training centers, and monasteries in India and
abroad.[52]
The Ramakrishna Order is operated like a
typical Christian missionary organization with effective policies and structure. It is obvious that Vivekananda was influenced
by Christian missionary organizations.
He integrated the Hindu concepts of sanyasa and dharma with the
Christian models for monastic orders and missionary institutions in carrying
out his religious movement. Every ashram
that comes under the Ramakrishna Order has a guru to initiate its members, but
commitment and obedience of the members are directed towards the organization
rather than to the individual guru.[53] The Order also emphasizes jnana and karma margas
among its members.
Sivananda
Ashram
The Sivananda Ashram is the most
representative of the many Hindu ashrams.
It was started by Sivananda, a Tamil Brahmin medical doctor, in 1923
near Rishikish in the foothills of the Himalayas. He legally registered his ashram in 1936 as
the Divine Life Society which presently has about three hundred branches all
over the world.[54] Swami Chidananda is its current President and
Swami Krishnananda is the General Secretary.
Under their leadership, the activities of the ashram are well organized
and effectively carried out. The aims
and objectives of the Society are to spread spiritual knowledge, operate
educational institutions, help orphans, and operate medical services.[55]
Sivananda followed the advaita vedanta
system of Hindu philosophy. Although
this philosophy advocates jnana marga, Sivananda believed in karma and
bhakti margas as valid paths to salvation.
In accordance with these teachings, the ashram conducts kirthan, bhajans,
yoga classes, pujas, and satsang, which is a devotional meeting
equivalent to a frontier camp meeting.
The ashram also feeds the poor, cares for the sick, and publishes books
and periodicals.[56] It is open to Westerners, with many
Christians from the West coming to learn about Hinduism. This ashram does not try to convert
Westerners, but instead encourages them to study the Gospels and live
accordingly.[57] Visitors can stay for years in pursuit of
spirituality.[58]
Shantiniketan
Ashram
The word "santiniketan"
means "abode of peace." This
ashram was started by Maharishi Devadranath Tagore in 1863. His son, Rabindranath Tagore, started a
school in that ashram in 1901 to impart spiritual knowledge and culture to
young people.[59] His ashram school gradually grew into an
university in 1921 and is named Vishvabarathi (Eastern University).
The aim of the ashram and the university was
to serve as a center for education that promoted intercultural and inter-racial
amity and understanding. Tagore wanted
to bring unity to all humankind, free people from all antagonism caused by
race, nationality, creed, and caste and do this all in the name of the One
Supreme Being.[60]
Aurobindo
Ashram
The Aurobindo Ashram is located in
Pondicherry, once a French colony in India.
It is a flourishing contemporary Hindu ashram occupying a large part of
the town and owning about four hundred buildings.[61] It does not resemble the traditional Hindu
ashrams in appearance since it has a theater, dance hall, and music center.[62] It is much like a large Western hotel in
appearance and organization.[63]
The ashram was founded by Sri Aurobindo in
1926. After his death in 1950, the
ashram was headed by his disciple Mira Richard, a French woman, until her death
in 1973. It is presently managed by a
five-member Board of Trustees. However,
Mira Richard, known as "the Mother," remains a dominant symbolic guru
of the ashram, and has had more influence than Sri Aurobindo. In the nineties the ashram has more than two
thousand members with many of them
Westerners.[64]
The ashram was established with the purpose
of synthesizing the spiritual heritage of the East with the material heritage
of the West. Aurobindo developed, from
his studies and experience, an integral yoga[65]
bridging the gap between the spiritual and the material.[66] To put this into practice, he established an
ashram with modern facilities. Because
of this emphasis, this ashram is thriving both in India and in other parts of
the world where it has established many branches. Many educated Indians have given their
retirement funds to the ashram and then spend their last years in the ashram.[67]
Ramanashram
The Ramanashram of Ramana Maharishi, a Tamil
Brahmin (1819-1850), is located in Thiruvanna-malai, Tamil Nadu. The ashram was created by the followers of
Ramana as a small community, but it became a large organization after his
death. Helen Ralston observed:
About
seventy men (no women) are permanent residents, while hundreds of visitors, men
and women, foreign and Indian, visit the ashram for varying periods. . . . There is no community life among the
ashramites. Some devotees or disciples
of Ramana Maharishi are guided by individual Swamis of the ashram.[68]
At present the ashram is administered by a Board of
Trustees with a manager as the administrative head.[69]
Ramana was a
mystic and Jnanayogi who attracted people by his powerful presence and
message. He followed the philosophy of
advaita vedanta as taught by Sankara[70]
and did not concern himself with social reforms like Gandhi's and
Vivekananda's. However, he greatly
valued social service.[71] Many Westerners visited Ramana including F.
H. Humphreys, Paul Brunton, Somerset Maugham, Zimmer, Jung,[72]
and the founders of the first Catholic ashrams, Monchanin and Le Saux.[73]
Many modern Hindu ashrams are different
from ancient Hindu ashrams in their activities and have adapted to the
contemporary world. However, Ramanashram
is the only one that seems to follow the ashram model of the Upanishad period
with the aim of advocating the philosophy of advaita.
Protestant
Ashrams
Protestant Christians are considered to be the pioneers of the Christian
ashram movement in India. The purpose of
the Protestant ashram movement was to give India an Oriental Christ.
Christu-Kula
Ashram
The Christu-Kula Ashram was the first
Protestant ashram and was started at Tirupattur, Tamil Nadu, in 1921 by S.
Jesudason and Dr. E. Forrester Paton under the guidance of the National
Missionary Society of India. The Society
had advocated the ashram model at its North India conference in 1912 as a
valuable indigenous model for evangelism in India. Although the founders were affiliated with
the National Missionary Society, the ashram was established independent of control
by any national or foreign organizations.[74]
The term "Christu-Kula"
means "family of Christ." The
ancient Hindu ashrams were called guru-kula, because they were centered around
a guru. The founders of the Christu-Kula
Ashram recognized Christ as the only guru, therefore, they named their ashram
Christu-Kula. The ashram presently has
one administrative head and three other permanent members to help manage
activities.
This ashram consists of a hospital, a small
school, and a chapel built in the architectural style of the Dravidian Hindu
temples, with two kopurams or towers.
The ashram also has ninety-one acres of land and sixteen buildings used
to carry out its activities.[75]
The activities of the ashram include daily
morning and evening worship, caring for the sick in the hospital, and providing
religious education to children. The
ashramites also participate in evangelism in nearby villages; however, they do
not conduct the ordinance of baptism in the ashram. People who accept Christ are led to become
members of the Church of South India.[76]
The primary aim of the ashram is to live an
integrated life of prayer and action.[77] This ashram emphasizes the principles of
renunciation, brotherhood, celibacy, and service in order to realize the
kingdom of God within the ashram context.
Christa
Sishya Ashram
The Christa Sishya Ashram is situated at
Thadagam, Tamil Nadu. It was founded by
the Anglican Bishop, Herbert Pakenham Walsh, and his wife Clare on January,
1936, on a beautiful site of six and a half acres of land at the foot of the
Nilgiri mountains. The ashram originally
followed Protestant principles and lifestyle, but today it is considered to be
an Orthodox Syrian ashram. Worship is
conducted according to the Orthodox Syrian rite.
The purpose of the ashram was evangelism,
health care, and community development.
In order to realize these purposes, the ashram operated a medical center
and two branch offices for village uplift work, and participated in village
evangelism. In the nineties, activities
are limited to conducting retreats, seminars, and camps due to lack of
membership. In the beginning, married
people were allowed to be members of the ashram, but for the past ten years
celibacy was required of all seeking membership. This has caused the ashram to lose some of
its members and make ashram life unattractive to young people.[78] The study of these
two Protestant ashrams clearly shows that the practice of celibacy has become a
hindrance to the growth of ashrams in India today. Most Catholic ashrams also follow the
practice of celibacy, but are not declining because celibacy has long been an
accepted form of life within the Catholic tradition. Although Hindu ashrams and Catholic
monasteries practice celibacy, this is not consistent with Scripture.
Catholic
Ashrams
Although the ashram movement began with the
establishment of the first Protestant ashram in 1921, Catholics in general did
not show much interest in the ashram model until Vatican II (1962-65). However, a few Catholics like J. Monchanin
and H. Le Saux seriously contemplated starting ashrams in the late
forties. Their main concern was to
develop an indigenous liturgy and emphasize the contemplative life. With these two ideas in mind, the first
Catholic ashram was started in Tamil Nadu in 1950. After Vatican II, many Catholics showed
interest in the ashram model and established many Catholic ashrams in India.
Saccidananda
Ashram
Jules Monchanin and Henri Le Saux, French priests,
founded the first Catholic ashram with the name Saccidananda in 1950. The ashram is located near the holy river
Cauvery, near Kulithali, Tamil Nadu. The
ashram looks very much like an ancient Hindu ashram with its huts, temple,
meditation hall, library, gardens, and beautiful surroundings.
After coming to India, Monchanin and Le Saux
adopted the Sanskrit names Parama Arubi Ananda (The Bliss of the Supreme
Spirit) and Abhishiktananda (The Bliss of the Anointed One),
respectively.[79] They realized that the real Christianization
of India could come only by living a life of contemplation, meditation,
worship, liturgy, and study. They also
considered the ideal of sanyasa as the most effective way of Christian witness. They wanted to integrate the Christian
monastic tradition with the Hindu sanyasa tradition in order to model a
meaningful expression of Christianity in India.
In addition, they intended to identify themselves with the Hindu pursuit
of the Absolute by relating the advaita view of the Absolute with their own
experience of God, the Holy Trinity.[80]
The name, Saccidhananda Ashram, conveys the
idea that the Absolute which is conceived as sat (Being), cit
(Consciousness), and ananda (Bliss) in Hindu tradition is identified
with the Christian Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by the founders. Although the ashram is widely known as the
Saccidhananda Ashram, it is officially called The Ashram of the Holy Trinity.[81]
Monchanin died in 1957 and Le Saux moved
from the ashram in 1968 to live the life of a hermit in the Himalayas and died
in 1973. After he left the ashram, Dom
Bede Griffiths, a Welsh Benedictine, came from the Kurismala Ashram to take
care of the Saccidananda Ashram. At
present (1993) he is recognized as the guru and the head of the ashram. The ashramites are now affiliated with the
Benedictine monastery of Camaldoli in Italy.[82] However, the ashram is free to develop its
own form of worship and lifestyle adapted from Hindu ashrams.
The main activities of the ashram are meditation,
study, classes on yoga and spirituality, corporate prayer three times a day,
and work in the garden. The ashram also
observes major Christian and Hindu festivals like Pongal (harvest festival). Involvement in social services and evangelism
is limited. However, the ashram runs a
nursery school in one village and two spinning units in another village.
The unique feature of this ashram is its
adaptation of Hindu forms of worship. I
have visited the ashram three times and spoken with Bede Griffiths and others,
and participated in their worship. The
worship consisted of bhajans, reading from Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gita,
Tamil classics and the Bible, arati (waving light), sprinkling of water,
the ringing of bells, prayers, and distributing Kun-Kumam (purple powder
to put on the forehead).
The
worshippers sat cross-legged on the temple floor around an Indian lamp
decorated with flowers, during a worship
which lasted for thirty minutes. The
Hindus who accompanied me participated in the worship without hesitation, but
did not seem to understand the meaning of the rituals since no one explained
the meaning behind the symbolism which had been adopted from Hinduism. I felt that the ashram should have developed
a method to explain the meaning of the rituals to the visitors.
The Saccidananda Ashram is a great center
for Christian spirituality, serving not only the Hindus but also Westerners who
come to India in search of meaning and purpose in life.
Anbu
Vazhvu Ashram
The word "Anbu" means love
and Vazhvu means "living the life." Living the life of love is the ideal
expressed through this ashram which is located in Palani, Tamil Nadu. Palani is one of the pilgrim centers in Tamil
Nadu for the devotees of Murugan, the popular Tamil god. Father Philip Payant, a French-Canadian Holy
Cross Father, founded this ashram in late 1972 on six acres of land where rice,
vegetables, and fruits are grown for their own use as well as to help operate the
ashram on a self-supporting basis. The
ashram also has other facilities such as a kitchen, dining room, huts,[83]
and a well-organized library with much Tamil literature.[84]
The objective of the ashram is to integrate
the three ways (Jnana-marga, Karma-marga, and Bhakti-marga) using indigenous
symbols, rituals, and music in worship.
Meditation is practiced in the personal prayer life of the ashramites.[85] This ashram also strives to train the
disciples for service with Helen Ralston recently reporting that twelve
candidates have passed through the ashram training.[86]
The ashram
did not seem to carry out any evangelistic work in the neighborhood. However, its presence in a pilgrim center
itself is a great Christian witness to the Hindus who come to this town. Thus far, we have
seen how the ashram came from Hindu traditions and how it has been adapted in
modern India by both Hindus and Christians.
Next, we turn our attention to some communities within Jewish and
Christian traditions where practices similar to ashrams are followed,
especially in respect to community life and spirituality.
Jewish
Communities
Although the ashram comes from a Hindu
tradition, its characteristics are not exclusive to that tradition alone, for
ashram-type religious communities are found in Jewish culture too. According to the Old Testament, many
Jewish communities have existed since the time
of Samuel.
Schools
of the Prophets
The schools of the prophets mentioned in the
Old Testament were analogous to the guru-kula ashrams of ancient India. In these schools, the prophets functioned as
gurus and the disciples or the students were called sons of the prophets (2 Kgs
4:38). They lived a community life amidst nature. These communities most likely came into
existence around the time of Samuel (1 Sam 10:10). There were two such communities in Samuel's
day: one at Ramah and the other at Kirjath-Jearim.[87] Later on, prophetic communities were formed
at Jericho (2 Kgs 2:5) and Gilgal (2
Kgs 4:38).
The prophets, who taught the sons of the
prophets, were recognized as teachers divinely appointed.[88] Regarding the spiritual character of these
teachers, Ellen G. White observed:
The
instructors were not only versed in divine truth, but had themselves enjoyed
communion with God, and had received the special endowment of His spirit. They had respect and confidence of the
people, both for learning and for piety.[89]
The students addressed the prophet as master, bowed before
him (2 Kgs 2:15; 6:15), considered themselves as servants (2 Kgs 2:16; 4:1; 6:3), and sat at the
feet of the prophet to learn from him.
This kind of relationship which existed between the prophet and the sons
of the prophet is similar to the relationship between the guru and disciples in
the guru-kula ashram of the Vedic period.
Students who attended the schools of
prophets were pious, intelligent, and studious.
They were trained to become leaders and counselors in Israel. They studied the law of God, sacred history,
sacred music, and poetry, and sustained themselves by hard work. Additionally, each one learned a trade.[90] They built their own huts to live in (2 Kgs 6:1-2). Some of the students were married (2 Kgs
4:1). People also brought gifts to the
prophets to support the school. We read
that the sons of the prophets ate meals together (2 Kgs 4:40-44). Similar activities were also carried on in
the guru-kula ashrams during the Vedic period.
Although the ancient ashrams and the schools of the prophets had
theological differences, their form and structure were approximately the same.[91] The schools of the prophets gradually
disappeared from Israel; however, the community ideal continued to prevail
until the time of Christ.
Qumran
Community
At the time of Christ, there were religious
sects and communities in Judea. It is
believed that John the Baptist might have come from the Essenes
communities. Some authors think that
John was a member of the Essenes, a monastic community, most likely an offshoot
of the Qumran community.[92]
It is believed that the initial settlement
at Qumran might have occurred around the mid-second century B.C., when one
branch of the Hasidim under the leadership of one called the Teacher of
Righteousness resorted to the wilderness of Judea. Later on, many new members probably joined
the Qumran community during the reign of Hyrcanus (134-104 B.C.).[93] The community flourished until A.D. 68 when
it was destroyed by the Roman Legions.[94]
The activities of the Qumran included study,
worship, fellowship, and writing or copying manuscripts. The Dead Sea Scrolls which were discovered in
1947 are considered to be the manuscripts of the Qumran community. It is believed that their members did such
manual labor as making pottery.
Archeological evidence shows that the Qumran had a kitchen, laundry,
assembly hall, library, numerous storage rooms, and workshops.[95]
Qumran was a spiritual community where the
members renounced worldly pleasures and shared their worldly possessions. Members met together regularly for prayer,
study, and food.
Qumran was a well-organized community. The supreme authority in all doctrine and
economic matters was held by the priests.
There was a general council, which served like a parliament where
community matters were discussed. Membership
into the community was granted only after two years of probation in which the
person's intellectual capacity and moral character were examined. A member had to place all his property in
trust with an "overseer" after he was admitted into the community. He was then assigned duties in the community
by another office.[96]
Certain religious and administrative
practices mentioned in the New Testament seemed to have been adopted from
Qumran. The office of the Bishop,
deciding issues by the casting of "lots," selling of one's
possessions, laying the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, the Lord's
Supper, and feet washing were some of the elements adopted from Qumran.
Qumran was similar to ashrams in some
aspects with members in both communities
isolating themselves from the world and living a disciplined life under the
strict rules of their teachers. Members
in both communities also engaged in study, meditation, fellowship, and work,
and members were initiated into the community after a period of probation.
Christian Communities
Community
of Jesus
The ministry of Jesus to His disciples gives
us another picture of a community that was unique, yet resembled the ashram
community in certain aspects. It was a
missionary community which lived under the direction of the guru, Jesus Christ.
Jesus the Sadguru
Jesus, in every respect, outweighed the
qualities required of a guru in a Hindu ashram.
Therefore, He is the Sadguru (true guru), and the only guru for
Christians. Jesus told His disciples
that He was the only rabbi and Master
and that His followers should consider each other only as brothers (Matt
23:7-10).
In India, Christ has been accepted by the
Hindus as a great and unique guru, but not as the only guru. Although Christ lived the life of a celibate,
He did not seclude Himself from social life or exalt Himself like the rabbis of
His days. He humbled Himself and lived
like a servant. Like many Indian gurus,
He transcended the earthly ties with brothers, sisters, and parents, and
considered all those who do the will of God to be His mother, brothers and
sisters (Matt 12:47-50). However, He did
not give up His responsibility toward His mother. He honored His mother and asked John to take
care His mother as if she were his own (John 19:26, 27).
Mobile Community
Christ formed a missionary community and
commissioned His disciples to form similar communities. This is an unique difference between the
ashram community and the community Jesus established. Traditionally, the Hindu ashram community did
not carry on any missionary task, but concerned itself with the salvation and
the spirituality of its own members. It
did not have any agenda to save the world.
In contrast, Jesus gave His disciples the task of forming a new world
community. Therefore, the disciples did
not settle down in a particular place like the ashram communities. Even after the resurrection of Christ, the
disciples did not plan to establish a community similar to Qumran, but only
wanted to develop a consciousness of being members of the community of
Jesus.
After Christ's ascension, the idea of community continued in the early
Church. The book Acts of the Apostles
speaks about the community that was formed around the apostles in Jerusalem and
in other places, as mentioned below.
Apostolic Community
After the resurrection of Christ, the first
Christian community was formed by the apostles.
Nearly three thousand members joined this community. Its members sold their possessions and held
all things in common. With one accord
they spent their time in prayer, fellowship, and the breaking of bread (Acts
2:44-47; 4:32-35). However, this
community did not isolate itself like Qumran in one place. Believers lived in their own homes, and met
in the houses (Rom 16:5, 1 Cor 16:19, Acts 1:13, Phil 2, Col 4:15) of some
believers for worship and fellowship; they never met as a whole in one
place. Dr. Bruce Bauer observed:
Initially these Christian gatherings
probably adopted the Jewish synagogue as a model for their worship
structure. It is quite certain that
small messianic synagogues were established in the various homes of Christian
believers throughout the city of Jerusalem and that these home Churches became the
focus point for early Christian worship.[97]
It seems that the apostolic community existed as cell
groups without any central organization or pre-planned structure.
However, the
local cells or ekklesias (churches) were linked with each other by the
apostles' letters (Col 4:16), the visits of individuals from one group to
another (e.g., Rom 16:1), the sending of financial contributions during times
of need (2 Cor 8:1-14; 1 Cor 16:1-5), the offering of prayers for each other,
and the passing of greetings and news (Col 4:12-15; 1 Cor 16:19).[98] Although the believers did not establish
communities and form a central organization, they developed a sense of
consciousness that they were members of a spiritual community whose head was
Christ (Col 1:18, 24; Eph 2:19).
The house
church model of apostolic times gradually disappeared by the time of
Constantine and was replaced by a form more in keeping with the Roman
governmental pattern.[99] However, the community concept continued
throughout Christian history and small
communities were formed apart from the institutionalized congregations.
Monastic
Communities
After large
numbers of unconverted people became Christians at the time of Constantine, the
church began to conform with the
standards of the world. In response to
the worldliness found in the church, committed Christians began to form
monastic communities and orders in order to live according to the teachings of
Jesus and carry out the missionary function of the Church.[100]
These monastic communities "also became centers from which new life and
renewal flowed back into the local congregations."[101]
The monastic
movement gradually began to spread from Egypt, Palestine, and Asia Minor
westward to Gaul and other parts of Europe, including Ireland.[102] It thrived among the Irish Celts who
evangelized the Germanic world, Northern Italy, and Slavic lands.[103]
During the
Dark Ages (500-1000), monastic communities went through hard times. However, the monastic communities of Benedict
were able to render service in remote and uncultured regions by being away from
the influence of the outside world. The
monks of these communities cultivated the land with their own hands and
continued to develop their spiritual life in the midst of the country
folks. They contextualized the gospel to
the context of the beliefs and practices of the rural people.[104] Moreover, the Benedictine Rule came to be
adopted among most of the monasteries in the past fifteen centuries.[105]
Monastic communities began to revive in the
early thirteenth century. The most famous among them were the
Franciscans and Dominicans which brought new missionary zeal to
Christianity. Regarding the founders of
these, Stephen Neill wrote:
Francis (1181-1226)
lived to bring back simplicity and joy into the Christian world, and to release
new forces for the service of the very poor.
In the work of Dominic (1170-1221) there were from the beginning harsher
traits. His Order was to be
intellectually competent, devoted to the conversion of heretics particularly
through the work of preaching, as its official title the 'Order of Preachers'
indicates. But in each lived a genuine
missionary impulse.[106]
Of the Franciscans, it is said that they were found at the
ends of the known earth before the end of the thirteenth century.[107]
During the
pre-Reformation period, these communities helped the missionary outreach of the
Catholic Church. After the Reformation,
Protestants also developed communities, of which many were Anabaptist.
Protestant
Communities
According to
Anabaptists, the Christian life can never be lived out individually but must be
lived within the context of a group.[108] Among the Anabaptists, the Hutterites were
known for establishing agricultural communes throughout the German lands. The members of these communes practiced
asceticism, total non-resistance, renounced all private property, and centered
their lives on the celebration of the Lord's Supper.[109] At the end of the sixteenth century, these
communities increased in number with at least one hundred communities, with a
probable total membership of 30,000.[110] The Pietist movement came at the
end of the seventeenth century and developed as a renewal movement within Protestantism. This movement gave birth to the Moravian
missionary movement in the eighteenth century.
The Moravians continued to be a very vital missionary community for well
over a century.[111] Regarding the Moravians, Stephen Neill
observed:
The
Moravians have tended to go to the most remote, unfavorable, and neglected
parts of the surface of the earth. Many
of the missionaries have been quite simple people, peasants and artisans; their
aim has been to live the Gospel, and so to commend it to those who have never
heard it.[112]
Moravian missionaries even went to Greenland and the West
Indies to spread the gospel. The mission
of the Moravians was carried out as a community[113]
and they also inspired others to establish new Christian communities in the
last two centuries.
In the nineties, there are Christian
communities all over the world which follow approximately the same principles
followed in Hindu ashrams. Due to the
limited scope of this paper, it is not possible to describe all of them. However, it is necessary to name some in
order to show that community life has been part of the tradition of the
Christian Church. Some of the
significant ones are: the Bruderhoff Community in the village of Sannerz in
Germany, the Aiyetoro Community in Nigeria, the Family of Jesus in China,
L'Abri Community of Francis A. Schaeffer in Switzerland, Riverside Community in
New Zealand, Koinonia Farm in Georgia USA, Taize in France, and Seventh-day
Adventist self-supporting communities in the U.S.A. All these Christian communities more or less
share the ideals of the Indian ashram and the apostolic community of the early
church. These communities attract many
young people from all over the world and serve their spiritual needs.
SDA Communities
The only above-mentioned Christian
communities I have visited are the SDA communities in the U.S.A. I found these to be similar to the ashram in
many respects. These ashram-like
communities were once known as self-supporting institutions and are now called
supporting ministries.
The SDA communities are well organized and
carry on the educational, medical, and evangelistic ideals set forth by Ellen
G. White, one of the founding leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They serve as spiritual retreat centers where
natural remedies, vegetarian cooking, vegetarian restaurants, health foods,
missionary training, community life, home education, and personal witness
programs are carried out. The
significant supporting ministries are: Wildwood Sanitarium, Little Creek
Academy, Laural Brook Academy, Yuchi Pines, Oak Haven, Living Springs, and Eden
Valley.[114] These institutions came into existence with
the encouragement of Ellen G. White's writings, and they now work in accordance
with the guidelines set forth by the General Conference of Seventh-day
Adventists.
Christian
communities, where the ideals of community life are lived, have always been a
vital part in the tradition of the Christian Church in general and the
Seventh-day Adventist Church in particular.
We can safely say that many of the principles followed by Hindu ashrams
are scriptural and spiritually uplifting.
The ashram
model has a great attraction to Hindus because it serves their spiritual needs
and is not a foreign entity, but an entity that comes from the religious
heritage of India. Therefore, I believe
that a Christian ashram based on the Bible, Church traditions, and Tamil
culture can effectively communicate the gospel and witness to the saving power
of Jesus Christ in Tamil Nadu.
The Christian Ashram Movement of India (CAM of India)—A Brief
By Louis
*The Christian Ashram Movement of
India is singularly focused on Christian faith and Indian culture—what does the
incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ in Indian culture or the idea of Christian
presence mean to ordinary Christian Indians?
With that fused focus, the Movement will explore, clarify and affirm our
Christian Indian identity.
* It is a grassroots’ movement of
the ordinary faithful in and out of India that faithfully lead their daily
lives in the awareness of God’s love for all His children in India and
everywhere.
* Ashram is the pre-eminent spiritual channel of the Indian mind
and remains open to all faiths.
* The CAM of India is primarily, a
lay-initiated self-reflective movement to deepen and broaden what has remained
a quietly passionate, conscious, but scattered awareness of the spiritual and
cultural significance of ashram as a
natural environment for prayer, meditation, worship and service of the Christian
faith. St. Thomas who germinated the
Christian faith in our soil can be rightly seen as the first Christian ashramite, as he became Indian to
Indians as other disciples became Greek to Greeks, Roman to Romans, or
Ethiopian to Ethiopians.
* Of the many features of the ashram, the CAM of India takes its cue
from ashram’s primary meaning, that
is, siramam or shram, meaning, a strenuous
effort. Such an effort is within the reach of every
Christian Indian to engage in personally and culturally transforming spiritual
exercise in India and elsewhere. It is not limited to deep spiritual seekers or
the ideal of renunciation, as it is a faith-induced cultural effort in the
daily life of the ordinary faithful.
* It upholds the value of human
dignity as intrinsic to every human being as a child of God. The secular
extension of the value is embedded in the Preamble of the Constitution of
India. That makes the value a potent objective of the movement for personal and
cultural transformation.
*The CAM of
India will work together with all secular and non-secular efforts in upholding
the fundamental value of human dignity as the inclusive bond that interfuses
the unity and integrity of India. A nation-wide constituency that would
consciously work for this vision is greatly needed.
*The CAM of
India is inclusive of all Christian efforts, irrespective of the denominational
differences, within the scope of the above understanding. The lay leadership of
the movement, coming as it does from different denominations, makes the fervent
appeal to all of them to consciously infuse in our worship forms of prayer,
liturgy, music and singing the elevating tones, texture, and phrases of the
richness of the Indian culture. Several churches have begun doing this.
Thank God. Our cultural offering will resoundingly join
the universal chorus of all nations in praising God. It will prove as a blessing to our immediate
neighbours as well.
* Its cultural
focus will help make known new research discoveries on the nativism of the
Christian Indian roots. It would also
enable Christian Indians shed their meekly held relegated slot as a minority,
to emerge and function as a rightful component in the changing spectrum of Indian
culture.
*The sounding of
the incarnate Word, strummed across India by many, will keep it resonating. By being involved wherever you are in that
spirit, you will glow as a Christian ashramite
by choice.
*As a
grass-roots’ movement, the CAM of India leaves aside the need for organizational
setups, membership drive, or fund-raising.
Faith and prayer will sustain the movement. Spontaneous mushrooming of
the clusters of the movement will, by their very nature, freely determine the
foci and the nature of their functioning across India. Please get involved. Please initiate conversation on the Christian
Ashram website, WWW.christian-ashram.net.
(By L. Sundaramani
Simon, a sojourner in the ashram movement. lsimon7248@yahoo.com)
The Christian Ashram Movement of India
(A revised composition of the announcement)
by Louis Sundaramani Simon
What is the Christian
Ashram Movement of India?
It is a grassroots’
Movement of the faithful:
Ø To
create a keen awareness of our being Christian-Indian, as an intertwined
identity, as all other similar identities – Muslim-Indian, Sikh-Indian,
Buddhist- Indian or Hindu-Indian;
Ø To
explore the meaning of Christian presence in Indian culture in that light :
Ø To
accept the basic meaning of ashram as a great-faith-effort (in this case) of ordinary believers in ordinary
walks of life;
Ø To
appreciate the ashram tradition as our foremost cultural vehicle to pray,
meditate, worship, adore, confess, choose voluntary simplicity or celibacy,
celebrate life and serve Christ, the Lord of our calling, in every day life;
Ø To
realise that everyone’s so attempting to live one’s faith is indeed an ashramite, free to explore the
implications of our faith and culture as they inform each other;
Ø To
make known that the celebration of the incarnate Word of God in our culture is
more than merely using the rituals or mystical linguistic expressions of our
culture in worship forms, as it is inherently a self-examination with regard to
our message, our methods and our cultural sensibilities as we relate to our
neighbours;
Ø To
generate a grassroots movement that would be embracive of all cultural efforts
of individuals, churches and unorganized groups, which expresses our hope in
Christ;
Ø And,
to remind that everyone so moved by the Movement would remember St. Peter's
address to "God's select" in Asia Minor as it is to us in India:
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the
reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1
Peter 3:15).
Why is it necessary?
Ø A
fundamental understanding of our faith in India largely remains obscure to us
and to others. God’s manifestation in history is no abstraction but God’s act
of love to redeem the fallen human beings from God’s grace. The fallen humans, meaning the individuals,
are not disembodied spirits but individuals from specific cultures.
Ø God
incarnates in the environment of a specific culture, as in the messianic
redemption of the whole Judaic culture.
Ø The
incarnate Jesus Christ freely offered the good news of the love God to all
peoples of all nations.
Ø He
clearly meant to make disciples out of specific people of specific cultures, as
the men and women of the fishing, pastoral, peasant as well as urban
communities in Palestine. His use of the
idioms specific to the respective communities is important to note.
Ø When
Jesus assured that he was in the world to establish the Kingdom of God on
earth, it meant, among other things, that His grace would be adequate to all
His children to realise the fullness of being human as they lived in their
respective cultures. Individual
redemption in essence also means the redemption of the culture to which one belongs.
Ø Therefore,
specifically, an Indian-cultural approach to the Word-of-God incarnate in India
is natural and appropriate, and faithful to the Good News (the Gospel) of our
faith.
Ø Yet,
our church systems largely remain obdurate in alien forms, accessories and
appearance. Our being perceived as of foreign importation is yet to jolt us
into genuine contrition.
Ø The
ashramites of the Movement will focus
on relieving this anomalous situation that betrays our intertwined identity as
Christian-Indian.
Ø Our cultural environment:
Ø Our
culture is in crisis. Fundamentally, it is a crisis in its values, as it is
adrift from its traditional value mooring.
This should be of great concern to everyone of Indian lineage.
Ø As
it existed, it represented the greatest social engineering of a reputably
stable culture the world has ever known. It lasted over two thousand years to
our day.
Ø Despite
its contradictions, the spectacle of Indian culture has been
extraordinary. The Indian life of
metaphysical and devotional thinking by sages, great and small, a vast array of
gods and goddesses actively believed in, excellence at all levels of fine arts
- music, dancing, painting, art, architecture, literature and such of
exceptional and ordinary kinds—these have impressively characterised its
vibrancy.
Ø The
culture had also withstood the very powerful value-altering disruptions by
Buddhism, by Islam and its regimes, by the British political and cultural
thrust, by the leveling disturbance of secular Marxist ideology, and by the
Gandhian paternalistic idealism merging into its identity as an independent,
republican, and democratic nation.
Ø These
intrusions were, as though, just passing interludes to the proud heritage of
our stable social order. Every Indian
was tacitly complicit in performing everyone’s predetermined role in an
in-egalitarian social order (the hierarchical caste system).
Ø The
Vedic minds and their mundane interests (offered as the self-determined
value-loop of dharma and karma) sanctioned our culture’s hierarchical rigidity
and sustained it as a way of life. ‘Accept the given in fated resignation’
became the ethical glue that bound us as one.
Ø Our
culture could move on relentlessly, remorselessly, and with self-assurance that
its old value-system underpinning it would outlast. Such was the gravity of our
wisdom or smug cleverness in having formulated an eternal social design.
Ø We
are now witnessing the implosion of its long held values under the weight of
their contradictions. Our visible
cultural expressions like the fine arts may not collapse and disappear, but in
what form would the old value underpinning reemerge to guide the surging
billion-plus people? Would they continue
to retard or serve the aspirations of a developing nation? These are the
pressing questions.
Ø The
panic reaction of the scions of the Vedic mindset to shore up the old order
under the shroud of Hinduism is a grotesque gesture and has no redeeming value
to the crisis. It will decisively
undermine the “Unity and Integrity” and the development aspirations of a modern
nation.
Ø Herein come the globalising values becoming
ever pronounced in our culture:
Primarily, they are the self-indulgent individualism, freedom as its
essential extension, and the market driven consumerism as values of global
modernity, apart from the visible expressions of the Western culture. They are
themselves cut adrift from the fundamental values of the West. In themselves,
they may seem as very cheerful antidotes to the Vedic values. On the contrary,
their uncritical acceptance simply conflates the crisis.
Ø Paradoxically,
great many descendents of the old order mindset are the most well equipped to
be the happy riders of these globalising values. The condition of their continued enjoyment of
success and power in all walks of life and leadership screens them off from the
double faceted crisis in values. They become their own standard of the nation’s
progress.
Ø Of course, we do have the recognition of
the dignity of the individual and fundamental human rights, as inscribed in the Constitution of India
(in the Preamble and Chapter III), to serve as a bastion against the
value-crisis onrush. These provisions have clearly set up a large vision for
the progress of the nation. But they
primarily carry only litigating significance when Human Rights groups raise the
conflicts of human dignity and rights before courts. Otherwise, the
Constitution remains pretty helpless before the encroaching value-crisis.
Ø The
problem is that there is no grassroots constituency across the country to
provide the clarion call for upholding the value of human dignity as our
value-standard to save us.
Ø The
political parties buried in their power politics have no stake in addressing
the crisis.
Ø The
grand vision of our democratic process has unfortunately become a gutter
channel for reactionary power politics.
The attempt to refloat old ways and values merely carry the cultural
implosion to the very depths of the sordid gutter –of scapegoating, of
unspeakable violence and of denial of humanity itself to the victimised.
Ø The
reactionary virulence of a small section of our people is bluntly against the
emerging culture of India as a Democratic Republic. To uphold the ‘unity and
integrity’ of our nation
is the
duty and honour of every Indian. The feigning of a majority-minority politics
for
that
purpose is spurious and absurd.
Ø This
is the state of our cultural environment and the crisis in values.
Could the Movement
play a role in this crisis? Yes.
Ø Bearing
in mind Christ's command to spread the love of God as a saving grace to every
nation, we feel that the mercies of our faith have equipped us for the cultural
task of providing the needed value-clarification that would help brace our
culture’s implosion.
Ø We
are called upon to affirm that everyone is created in the image of God and,
thereby, has equal right to the dignity of being human, meaning, having the
full potential of being human in freedom.
Ø Our
excitement and hope for the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth gives
us a particular allurement to the value of human dignity as recognised in our
Constitution.
Ø Thereby,
we are able to point out to everyone – the hitherto highest, lowest and
everyone in-between – that we all had remained dehumanised in God’s grace.
Every one of us had fallen short of the full potential of being human in our
culture. It had no exit to escape here in life.
Ø With
that humbling clarity on what needs to be done, we will join human rights
groups to initiate the missing constituency that would uphold the liberating
value of Human Dignity as the
foundation of a greater nation engaged in unprecedented developmental efforts.
Ø The
upholding of the principle of human
dignity as a sublime part of the Constitution would be our profound
cultural act.
Ø It
also means that the value of our love for our neighbour has to go beyond just
meeting the indigent needs and other known services. The love of God has to be seen in our
promoting relationships based on human dignity in inclusive neighborhoods.
Ø That
act should proceed in humility from a profound sense of the cultural
insensitivities that we as Christian Indians have displayed in our
neighbourhoods.
Ø The
emergence of Christian ashrams with cultural sensibilities was a profound act
of humility in this regard. Those sensibilities are our own. They are not copied or borrowed.
How is it going to be
done?
Ø We
will explore cultural sensibilities as our genuine ways of witnessing our
faith. It will be an ongoing task, as we dare, by God’s grace, to imagine our
culture’s renaissance.
Ø Conscious
cooperative efforts would promote the awareness of the value of human dignity
as the new stabilising template of the Indian culture—to rescue, heal and
restore the “unity and integrity” of the nation as portrayed in the
Constitution of India.
Ø As
a Movement, it will need no formal organisational setup, membership or
leadership.
Ø As
in ashram traditions, ashramites will
emerge autonomously and live out their lives independently in their own light
wherever they happen to be.
Ø The
Movement needs no fund-raising as such. All activities are expected to be
self-supportive and governed locally as needed.
Ø Minimal
coordination of efforts across India will rely on Ashram Mitra, a proposed organ of the Movement. The publication would share information on
significant activities, encourage research and writings on our objectives,
publish critical writings, and make known our cultural roots, in particular,
our Thomesian roots as they are being
discovered in literatures beginning the Christian era, especially, literature
pertaining to Saivist and Vaishnavist
expressions of faith and ethics, and archaeologically.
Ø Networking
would be an obvious method of the Movement.
The life of existing Christian ashrams and the emerging new ones,
worship forms of congregations, and individual lifestyles expressing cultural
sensibilities are readily within the networking fellowship.
Ø Major
issues that our culture faces, such as, Development, Environment, Global
Warming, Peace and Justice are equal priorities for living our faith in our
culture.
Ø Internet
and other information technology are the immediate, efficient, and effective
means available to promote the Movement’s objectives.
When would the
Movement begin?
Ø It
has been in existence as a quiet ingredient of the undercurrent of our culture
since
St.
Thomas. The Movement will merely bring it to the open for addressing the crisis
in values and to humbly play a role
in establishing God’s Kingdom (Deva Rajya)
in our
Culture.
(The composition is
by Louis Sundaramani Simon of insights gained from other scholars, thinkers and
life experience of ashramites. If you
missed this YouTube video on the CK Ashram tradition and the songs of
Dr.Savarirayan Jesudason, please click on the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiwSKE5MTlY)
12/12/09Saturday, December 12,
2009.
Christian Ashrams in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka
This list has been compiled, in an alphabetical
order, from several Christian publications. The date of foundation, wherever
available, has been given in brackets.1
India
|
1.
|
Aikiya Alayam, Madras, Tamil Nadu.
|
|
2.
|
The Alwaye Fellowship House (1947), Alwaye, Kerala.
|
|
3.
|
Anbu Vazhvu Ashram, Palani, Madurai District, Tamil Nadu.
|
|
4.
|
Anjali Ashram, Mysore, Karnataka.
|
|
5.
|
Anusandhan Ashram, Bhanpuri, Raipur District, Madhya
Pradesh.
|
|
6.
|
Arupa Ashram, Aruppakotai, Tamil Nadu.
|
|
7.
|
Asha Niketan, Bangalore, Karnataka.
|
|
8.
|
Asha Niketan, Calcutta, West Bengal.
|
|
9.
|
Asha Niketan, Katalur, Kerala.
|
|
10.
|
Asha Niketan, Tiruvanmayur, Madras, Tamil Nadu.
|
|
11.
|
The Ashram (1931), Perambavoor, Kerala.
|
|
12.
|
Asirvanam, Kumbalgud, Bangalore District, Karnataka.
|
|
13.
|
Bethany Ashram, Bapatla, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh.
|
|
14.
|
Bethany Ashram (1938), Channapatna, Bangalore District,
Karnataka.
|
|
15.
|
Bethany Ashram, Lahal, Kerala.
|
|
16.
|
Bethany Nature Cure and Yoga Centre, Nalanchira,
Trivandrum, Kerala.
|
|
17.
|
Bethel Ashram (1957), Gudalur, Nilgiris District, Tamil
Nadu.
|
|
18.
|
Bethel Ashram, Kattrapally, Warangal District, Andhra
Pradesh.
|
|
19.
|
Bethel Ashram, Parkal, Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh.
|
|
20.
|
Bethel Ashram (1922), Tiruvalla, Kerala.
|
|
21.
|
Bethel Ashram, Trichur, Kerala.
|
|
22.
|
Calcutta Samaritans, Calcutta, West Bengal.
|
|
23.
|
Catholic Church, Garhi, Bihar.
|
|
24.
|
Catholic Mission, Rohtak, Haryana.
|
|
25.
|
Chayalpadi Ashram, Angamoozhi, Kerala.
|
|
26.
|
Christa Krupashrama (1949), Mandagadde, Shimoga District,
Karnataka.
|
|
27.
|
Christa Mitra Ashram (1940), Ankola, North Kanara
District, Karnataka.
|
|
28.
|
Christa Panthi Ashram (1942), Sihora, Madhya Pradesh.
|
|
29.
|
Christa Prema Seva Ashram (1922), Pune, Maharashtra.
|
|
30.
|
Christa Sathia Veda Ashram, Boyalakantla, Kurnool
District, Andhra Pradesh.
|
|
31.
|
Christa Sevakee Ashram (1950), Karkala, Karnataka.
|
|
32.
|
Christa Sisya Ashram (1936), Tadgam, Coimbatore District,
Tamil Nadu.
|
|
33.
|
Christa Yesudasi Sangha (1935), Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra.
|
|
34.
|
Christa Yesudasi Sangha (1919), Malegaon, Nasik District,
Maharashtra.
|
|
35.
|
Christavashram (1940), Manganam, Kottayam District, Kerala
|
|
36.
|
Christian Ashram (1930), Vrindavan, Mathura District,
Uttar Pradesh.
|
|
37.
|
Christian Institute for the study of Religion and Society,
Bangalore, Karnataka.
|
|
38.
|
Christian Medical Fellowship, Oddanchatram, Madurai
District, Tamil Nadu.
|
|
39.
|
Christiya Bandhu Kulam, Satna, Madhya Pradesh.
|
|
40.
|
Christu Dasa Ashram (1929), Palghat, Kerala.
|
|
41.
|
Christukulam Ashram (1921), Tripattur, North Arcot
District, Tamil Nadu.
|
|
42.
|
Deepshikshashram, Narsingpura, Madhya Pradesh.
|
|
43.
|
Dhyan Ashram, Manpur, Indore District, Madhya Pradesh.
|
|
44.
|
Dhyana Ashram, Madras, Tamil Nadu.
|
|
45.
|
Dhyana Ashram, Wynad, Kerala.
|
|
46.
|
Dhyana Nilayam, Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
|
|
47.
|
Dilaram House, New Delhi.
|
|
48.
|
Dilaram House, Calangute, Goa.
|
|
49.
|
Dohnavur Fellowship, Dohnavur, Tirunelveli District, Tamil
Nadu.
|
|
50.
|
Evangelisation Centre, Paramkudi, Ramanathapuram Distict,
Tamil Nadu.
|
|
51.
|
Fransalian Vidya Niketan, Khamgaon, Buldana District,
Maharashtra.
|
|
52.
|
Friend's Centre, Rusulai, Hoshangabad District, Madhya
Pradesh.
|
|
53.
|
Gethesme Ashram, Muvathupuzha, Kerala.
|
|
54.
|
Gospel House, Keonjhar, Orissa.
|
|
55.
|
Gyan Ashram, Andheri, Bombay, Maharashtra.
|
|
56.
|
Ishapanthi Ashram (1922), Puri, Orissa.
|
|
57.
|
Jeevan Dhara, Rishikesh, Uttar Pradesh.
|
|
58.
|
Jesu Christ Passid Ashram, Cochin, Kerala.
|
|
59.
|
Jyoti Niketan Ashram, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
|
|
60.
|
Khrist Panthi Ashram (1947), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
|
|
61.
|
Khrist Sevashram, Rani, Assam.
|
|
62.
|
Kodaikanal Ashram Fellowship (1934), Kodaikanal, Tamil
Nadu.
|
|
63.
|
Kurishumala Ashram, Vagamon, Kottayam District, Kerala.
|
|
64.
|
Little Brothers of Jesus, Alampundi, South Arcot, Distict,
Tamil Nadu.
|
|
65.
|
Madras Gurukul, Madras, Tamil Nadu.
|
|
66.
|
Masihi Gurukul, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
|
|
67.
|
Masihi Sadhu Ashram, Maranda, Kangra District, Himachal
Pradesh.
|
|
68.
|
Meherpur Ashram, Nadia, West Bengal.
|
|
69.
|
Menonite Central Committee, Calcutta, West Bengal.
|
|
70.
|
Missionary Brothers of Charity, Calcutta, West Bengal.
|
|
71.
|
Mitri Bhavan, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
|
|
72.
|
New Life Centre, Pune, Maharashtra.
|
|
73.
|
Nirmala Mata Ashram, Goa.
|
|
74.
|
Om Yeshu Niketan, Bardez, Goa.
|
|
75.
|
Prakashpuram Ashram, Udemalpet, Tamil Nadu.
|
|
76.
|
Prarthana Ashram (1948), Neyyatinkara, Kerala.
|
|
77.
|
Premalaya Ashram (1937), Chamrajanagar, Karnataka.
|
|
78.
|
Prem Ashram, Kadari, Chhatarpur District, Madhya Pradesh.
|
|
79.
|
Saccidananda Ashram, Bangalore, Karnataka.
|
|
80.
|
Saccidananda Ashram, Coorg, Karnataka.
|
|
81.
|
Saccidananda Ashram, Narsingpur, Madhya Pradesh.
|
|
82.
|
Saccidananda Ashram, (1950), Tannirpalli, Tiruchirapalli
District, Tamil Nadu.
|
|
83.
|
Saccidananda Ashram, Thasra, Kaira District, Gurajat.
|
|
84.
|
Sanjeevan Ashram, Nasik, Maharashtra.
|
|
85.
|
Sat Tal Ashram (1929), Bhowali, Nainital District, Uttar
Pradesh.
|
|
86.
|
Sevananda Nilayam (1929), Nandikotkur. Kurnool District,
Andhra Pradesh.
|
|
87.
|
Shanti Ashram, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
|
|
88.
|
Shanti Neer, Harendrapur, Calcutta, West Bengal.
|
|
89.
|
Shantivanam, Raipur, Madhya Pradesh.
|
|
90.
|
Snanika Arulappara Virakta Math, Deshnur, Belgaum
District, Karnataka.
|
|
91.
|
Snehalaya, Pune, Maharashtra.
|
|
92.
|
Sneh Sadan, Pune, Maharashtra.
|
|
93.
|
Spiritual Life Centre, Naraspur, Pune District,
Maharashtra.
|
|
94.
|
St. Joseph's Boys Village, Periyakulam, Dindigul District,
Tamil Nadu.
|
|
95.
|
St. Paul's Cathedral Social Services, Calcutta, West
Bengal.
|
|
96.
|
Suvartha Premi Samithi, Ranthi, Uttar Pradesh.
|
|
97.
|
Suvisesha Ashram, Bidadi, Bangalore District, Karnataka.
|
|
98.
|
Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church, Triuchirapalli, Tamil
Nadu.
|
|
99.
|
Tapovansarai, Rishikesh, Uttar Pradesh.
|
|
100.
|
Tirumalai Ashram, Nagarcoil, Kanya Kumari District, Tamil
Nadu.
|
|
101.
|
TRACI Community, New Delhi.
|
|
102.
|
Vellore Ashram (1930), Vellore, Andhra Pradesh.
|
|
103.
|
Vidivelli Ashram (1932), Saymalai, Tirunelveli District,
Tamil Nadu.
|
|
104.
|
Village Reconstruction Organsiation, Guntur, Andhra
Pradesh.
|
|
105.
|
Vishram, Bangalore. Karnataka.
|
|
106.
|
Yeshu Ashram, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
|
|
107.
|
Yesu Ashram, Bangalore, Karnataka.
|
|
108.
|
Yesu Karuna Prarthanalaya, Kote, Mysore District,
Karnataka.
|
Nepal
|
1.
|
Christa Shanti Sangh (1952), Kathmandu.
|
|
2.
|
Dilaram House, Kathmandu.
|
|
3.
|
Dilaram House, Pokhara.
|
|
4.
|
St. Xavier Social Centre, Kathmandu.
|
Sri Lanka
|
1.
|
Blessed Sacrament Fathers, Colombo.
|
|
2.
|
Christa Illam (1950), Kalmunai, Eastern
Province.
|
|
3.
|
Christ Seva Ashram (1939), Chunnakam,
Jafna District.
|
|
4.
|
Devasadan Aramaya, Ibbagmuva, North-West
Province.
|
|
5.
|
Devia Seva Ashramaya, Urrubokka.
|
|
6.
|
Karuna Nilayam (1955), Killinochi.
|
|
7.
|
Satyodaya Centre, Nawdha, Kandy.
|
|
8.
|
Tulana Kelaniya, Dalgama, Colombo
District.
|
|
:
|
|
|
|
|
[50]For
further knowledge on this subject, read Jesu Rajan, Bede Griffiths and
Sannyasa (Banglore: Asian Trading Corporation, 1989); and Klaus
Klostermaier, "Sanyasa--A Christian Way of Life in Today's India?" in
Indian Voices in Today's Theological Debate, ed. H. Burkle and W. M. W.
Roth (Lucknow: Lucknow Publishing House, 1972).
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