" BEYOND RELIGIONS "
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In 1950, two French priests founded a Christian ashram, SHANTIVANAM, in southern India, devoted to a contemplative life and inter-religious dialogue.
In so doing, these two pioneers, Jules Monchanin and Henri Le Saux, were at the source of an original current of spiritual thought: the confluence of Christianity and Hinduism. They revisited the Bible and the teachings of Christ, re-reading them in the light of the age-old Indian wisdom of non-duality and the sacred teachings of the Upanishads, the Vedanta and the Advaita.
These founders were authentic prophets. Their work was later continued by Bede Griffiths, who influenced the spiritual journey of Brother John Martin, the present spiritual director of SHANTIVANAM.
This spiritual current is gaining in strength and importance, particularly in Europe, where many westerners, having felt themselves alienated from the Christian faith, rediscover their spiritual roots through this teaching.
The message is universal and liberating. Its only dogma being The Kingdom of Heaven, understood as the discovery of the inner and universal presence of God and transforming our ordinary life into extra-ordinary life or life of God. At its heart is the dignity of the human being, who has the capacity to go beyond the limits of religion and to discover for himself as "the way, the truth and the life" as Jesus Himself did. Therein lies the originality of this philosophy and theology, offspring of the double nature of Indian and Christian cultures.
It seems to us that this is the opportune time to spread this original teaching to the greatest number of people possible.
