Abstract

The French Benedictine monk and Hindu sannyasin Abhishiktananda is one of the most radical pioneers of Hindu–Christian dialogue. He was born (Henri Le Saux) in 1910 and traveled to India in 1948 to join abbe Jules Monchanin in an effort to establish a Christian monastic community on the model of a Hindu ashram. Having immersed himself deeply in the Hindu spirituality of Advaita Vedanta, he spent much of his life attempting to reconcile its teachings and experience with the Christian tradition, going back and forth between interpreting Hindu teachings, such as the notion saccidānanda (Being–Consciousness–Bliss) in Christian terms, and reinterpreting Christian categories, such as the Trinity, in Hindu terms. His theological insights were often innovative and challenging. But more than his theology, it is his life of relentless pursuit of the ultimate religious experience, and his radical openness to learning from Hindu teachings and practices that remains a source of inspiration for anyone involved in Hindu–Christian dialogue.