Bridging Science and Spirituality East and West

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BRIDGING SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY EAST AND WEST A one-day workshop Hampstead, London Brother MartinWednesday, and RupertJuly 2nd Sheldrake have known 10ameach other to 5pm for many years, having met at the ashram of Father Bede Griffiths, Shantivanam, on the banks of the Cauvery River in South In- dia. Over the years they have been holding a series of dialogues in England and at Shanti- vanam, where Brother Martin is based. Now, for the first time, they are giving a workshop together. They will be exploring connections between new science and spiritual practices, some of the relations between the Christian and Hindu traditions, and the nature of prayer and meditation. This workshop will include dialogues, discussions and direct participation in spiritual practices, led by Brother Martin. This gathering will be at Rupert Sheldrake’s home, in Hampstead, London NW3. Numbers are limited. Please book by emailing Pam Smart at [email protected]. The cost of the workshop is £60 (concessions £40). Please email Pam if you are interested in attending and if places are still available she will send you a booking form and further details. Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D. is a biologist and author of more than 80 scientific papers and 11 books, including The Science Delusion. He was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge Uni- versity, a Research Fellow of the Royal Society, Principal Plant Physiologist at ICRISAT (the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics) in Hyderabad, India, and from 2005-2010 the Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project, funded from Trinity College, Cambridge. He lived for a year and a half at the Benedictine ashram of Fr Bede Griffiths in South India, where he wrote his first book, A New Science of Life. He lives in London with his wife, Jill Purce. His web site is www.sheldrake.org. Brother John Martin is a Benedictine monk, a member of Saccidananda ashram, Shanti- vanam, associated with Fr. Bede Griffiths, a Benedictine monk, from the U.K. Br. Martin has been a close disciple of Fr.Bede. He is very much interested in inter-religious dialogue, particularly Hindu-Christian dialogue. He has written several books, the most recent being Fully Human-Fully Divine: Integral Dynamic Monotheism, a Meeting point between the Vedic Vision and the Vision of Christ, published by Penguin Patridge..

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Christian Saṃnyāsis and the Enduring Influence of Bede Griffiths in California
3 (2016) Miscellaneous 3: AP-BI Christian Saṃnyāsis and the Enduring Influence of Bede Griffiths in California ENRICO BELTRAMINI Department of Religious Studies, Santa Clara University, California, USA © 2016 Ruhr-Universität Bochum Entangled Religions 3 (2016) ISSN 2363-6696 http://dx.doi.org/10.13154/er.v3.2016.AP-BI Enrico Beltramini Christian Saṃnyāsis and the Enduring Influence of Bede Griffiths in California ENRICO BELTRAMINI Santa Clara University, California, USA ABSTRACT This article thematizes a spiritual movement of ascetic hermits in California, which is based on the religious practice of Bede Griffiths. These hermits took their religious vows in India as Christian saṃnyāsis, in the hands of Father Bede, and then returned to California to ignite a contemplative renewal in the Christian dispirited tradition. Some tried to integrate such Indian tradition in the Benedictine order, while others traced new paths. KEY WORDS Bede; Griffiths; California; saṃnyāsa; Camaldoli; Christianity Preliminary Remarks— Sources and Definitions The present paper profited greatly from its main sources, Sr. Michaela Terrio and Br. Francis Ali, hermits at Sky Farm Hermitage, who generously shared with me their memories of Bede Griffiths as well as spiritual insights of their life of renunciation as Christian saṃnyāsis in California. Several of the personalities mentioned in this article are personally known to the author. I offer a definition of the main terms used here:saṃnyāsis ‘ ’ are the renouncers, the acosmic hermits in the tradition of the Gītā; ‘saṃnyāsa’ is the ancient Indian consecration to acosmism and also the fourth and last stage (aśhrama) in the growth of human life; ‘guru’ is a polysemic word in India; its theological meaning depends on the religious tradition.
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The Golden String
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The Golden String
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