For those who read our blog on a regular basis, you might remember that the subject of my posting last month was about a French monk by the name of Henri Le Saux who went to India in the late 1940's and became a sannyasi - a person who renouces everything. He then became known as Abhishiktananda.
This month I am writing my posting from Montreal, Canada, where I have just arrived from London. This past weekend I attended a retreat in a very quiet corner of the south west of England to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Abhishiktananda in France. We had the opportunity to hear talks by three experts on the life of Abhishiktananda: Bettina Baumer, who personally knew the swami, Shirley du Boulay who studied his life and wrote his biography and Laurence Freeman, OSB who spoke on his interpretation of the deep conflicts the swami experienced in his years in India. While Abhishiktananda remained a Christian until his death, he also knew that his search for the Ultimate, God, had to include some of the Hindu spirituality of "advaita" or non-duality, thus the conflict. He truly believed in the need of creating a bridge between Christianity and Hinduism but his single-minded purposeful seeking caused him a great deal of pain and, I believe, an early death at the age of 63.
In addition to the presentations and the opportunity to visit with the speakers, it was such a rich experience of connecting with men and women who are in such earnest about their relationship with God. About 80 people came from all over England, Ireland and Scotland. Then there were a few of us Americans, French and German.
Several things stand out for me about the 4-day retreat but there are two in particular that I want to mention. The first one is the "at-homeness" I felt among so many strangers. Culturally we were, literally, an ocean apart but it was evident to me that in this situation the communion of spirit and heart was a much stronger bond than language or culture. Our conversations amongst ourselves never stayed on the surface for more than a few minutes; we would easily move into sharing our great desire for God. The second piece that I found helpful in integrating the teaching of Abhishiktananda were the short readings we had from his writings and those of other mystics at the beginning of meditations or during our prayer periods. Without exception they reminded us of the need for silence, both interior and exterior, solitude and going inward to encounter the Presence.
Now that I have both feet back on the ground in Montreal, I am happy to spend time visiting with friends and family before returning to Saint Benedict's in early August.
