Maxim Demchenko
"The Three Fathers in Russia"

Англоязычная статья о нашем проекте, опубликованная в периодическом издании Сангхи Беды Гриффитса (THE BEDE GRIFFITHS SANGHA NEWSLETTER). Скачать этот выпуск в PDF.

A couple of years ago the names of the three holy Fathers Henri Le Saux, Jules Monchanin and Bede Griffiths remained unfamiliar for Russian audience.

Though in Russia there is a strong and constantly growing interest in Hinduism, the Upanishads, yoga and meditation, and Buddhism is the third traditional religion (along with Christianity and Islam), professed (in the form of Mongolian Lamaism) by 90% of Buryats and Kalmyks, interreligious dialogue has always developed on grassroots level only: official Churches are still falling behind in this domain. More than a century ago Leo Tolstoy (who kept correspondence with Mahatma Gandhi and was genuinely interested in Indian philosophy) dreamed about introducing “Bhagavad-Gita” and contemplative prayer to Russian Christians, and now, by virtue of the three Christian Swamis we have got a chance to fulfill his aspirations.

Our first articles on Bede Griffiths and Swami Abhishiktananda appeared in Russian Christian Media in 2005 and aroused some readers’ interest. As a result we were invited to participate in a series of radio-programmes on oriental spirituality and Hindu-Christian dialogue, hosted by a Russian Orthodox priest Yakov Krotov. We discussed basic principles of the dialogue, introduced by the Catholic Church at Vatican II and the way they were put in action by the founders of Saccidananda Ashram.

Inculturation and contemplation were the main issues: many people were surprised to discover how the three Fathers’ experience could reconcile contradictions between their Christian faith and profound interest in Non-Christian religions. Besides, Fr. Bede’s clear explanations on Christian Meditation satisfied their thirst for contemplative dimension of spiritual life. We felt that there was acute need in a more sophisticated resource that would provide information on the three Fathers and contemplative prayer.

In summer 2006 we (as a small contemplative group of Christians – mostly Catholics from Ukraine and Russia) introduced a web-site called “Sangha of Henri Le Saux, Jules Monchanin and Bede Griffiths” that contained brief biographies of the holy Fathers and extracts from their works. It became possible only with help of brothers and sisters worldwide who supported us, prayed for our work and gave their kind permissions to translate and publish the materials. By the present moment our web-site has more than a dozen sections with texts, photographs, prayers, bhajans, meditation guidelines and reference sources.

Apart from the web-resource we are working on other projects: publishing of a first Russian book about Henri Le Saux, Jules Monchanin and Bede Griffiths, arranging a first Christian Meditation Group in Moscow, etc. The book called “The Way of Saccidananda” will be published by the end of summer 2007 and, in addition to the three Fathers’ biographies and experience, it will also cover such important issues as the history of Christianity in India or the role of sannyasa in Indian life pattern and in Hindu-Christian dialogue. The first regular Christian Meditation Group starts in July 2007 in the Evangelical-Lutheran Parish of St. Michael, Moscow and, in the long view, the Christian Meditation movement can go on spreading in the Diocese to which the mentioned Parish belongs.

The most exciting event for us was a pilgrimage of two of us to Tamil-Nadu in October-November 2006, when we could experience the real presence of Fr. Bede in his Ashram and visit the most sacred places such as Sri Rangam and Rameshwaram. We have reflected our meditations on the pilgrimage in a series of articles and photographs most of which are available on the web-site. Looking back at the first year of the work of our project we would like to thank all those who helped us and we are looking forward to cooperation with people and societies worldwide, working in the domain of spreading the three holy Fathers’ New Vision of Reality and that of restoring contemplative dimension in the life of modern society.

Перевод: www.shantivanam.info