Bede Griffiths, who died in 1994, was an English Benedictine monk who settled in India in 1955 and went on to become one of the great mystical teachers of our time. In India, where he assumed the dress and ascetic discipline of a Hindu holy man, Griffiths established a Christian community following the customs of a Hindu ashram. Through his immersion in the scriptures of India, he found wisdom and inspiration for his own Christian faith. This volume, which draws on his autobiographical volumes and his many other books, presents the ideal entry to the cosmic and mystical spirituality of a great spiritual guide.

Record of a spiritual journey which led the author through the Church of England into Roman Catholic Church, by an English Benedictine abbot.

Bede Griffiths was a Benedictine monk who achieved worldwide recognition for his pioneering efforts to bridge the great traditions of Christian and Hindu faith. He advocates a global spiritual friendship, rather than a global religion, cultivating respct for each other's spiritual practices.

The author invites us to look afresh at Christianity in the context of modern physics on the one hand and Eastern mysticism on the other. Scientists now acknowledge that quantitative enquiry can reveal only one aspect of reality and to come to terms with a much deeper transcendent reality we must also be prepared to learn from Eastern traditions. The Western machanistic model of the universe, dating from the time of Galileo and Newton, must now be replaced with a new organic model -- this marks a return to the ancient traditional wisdom in which the universe was seen to consist not only of a physical dimension but also of psychological and spiritual dimensions, all of which are interrelated and interdependent. In exploring "the divine mystery behind human life" the author seeks to discover the basic unity which underlies all religion and discusses the concept of the Cosmic Person or Cosmic Lord as revealed in Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. He concludes that a radical vision of a new society and a universal religion in which "the essential values of Christianity will be preserved in living relationship with the other religious traditions of the world."

Bede Griffiths, O.S.B.Cam. (1906–1993) was a pioneer in the meeting of faiths and of cultures in the second half of the twentieth century. This captivating study of his pioneering work in intercultural and interreligious dialogue draws from meticulous research of Griffiths's writings and his sources, as well as numerous personal interviews with the man himself. Born in England, Griffiths immersed himself in Western culture through an Oxford education and twenty-five years in Benedictine monasteries. Yet early mystical experiences in nature and the study of Asian scriptures sparked a life-long search for what he called "the other half of my soul"—a search that would in 1958 take him to India. After participating in two Christian monastic experiments, he accepted leadership of Saccidananda Ashram, a community dedicated to pursuing the recently renewed Christian contemplative ideal in an India context. Here he boldly explored interreligious dialogue and inculturation, two projects of the Second Vatican Council. Envisioning "the marriage of East and West" in his writings and incarnating that marriage in spirituality, Griffiths became a prophet of our age, publishing more than a dozen books and scores of articles. In latter years, Griffiths attracted large audiences and received recognition from fellow pioneers in the dialogue of faiths, including the Dalai Lama.

One of today's foremost mystics introduces readers to the thought of one of the most important spiritual teachers of the past century. Bede Griffiths—English Benedictine monk and lifelong friend of C.S. Lewis, who was his tutor at Oxford—wrote in 1955 to a friend: "I'm going out to India to seek the other half of my soul." There, he explored the intersection of Hinduism and Christianity and was a driving force behind the growth of interspiritual awareness so common today, yet almost unheard of a half-century ago. Wayne Teasdale, a longtime personal friend and student of Griffiths, provides readers with an intriguing view into the thoughts, beliefs, and life of this champion of interreligious acceptance and harmony. This volume is the first in-depth study of Bede Griffiths' contemplative experience and thought. Fully exploring the antecedents and development of Griffiths' theory that the Christian mystery can be expressed through the worldview of Hinduism, Bede Griffiths: An Introduction to His Interspiritual Thought is a vital starting point for any spiritual seeker who wants to understand the shared territories of these two great faiths.

Written for those who want to use the Gita as a practical spiritual guide--but who have no knowledge of the background to these texts--River of Compassion provides a line-by-line reflection on this key Hindu text and is certain to become a classic of contemporary spirituality.

This compilation reflects the increasing desire amongst practitioners of the great world religions to find the universal wisdom that underlies their diverse philosophies and beliefs. It consists of extracts from the sacred scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity.