- Abhishiktananda
Abhishiktananda was the name taken by the French
Benedictine monk Henri le Saux, whose religious experience inIndia led him to become a bridge between Hindu and Christian spirituality.Born in
Saint Briac ,Brittany onAugust 30 1910 , he seemed destined for a religious life and entered 'minor seminary' at the age of 11, becoming a Benedictine novice in 1930.He left France for India in the summer of 1948, never to return to France despite his affection for his homeland. He became immersed in the atmosphere of India, in particular the Hindu perspective of
Advaita . He founded anashram and religious community, Shantivanam, in 1950 and becameSwami Abhishiktananda. In his latter years though, he found himself very drawn to religious experience within solitude, spending much time in the hermit caves atArunachala . But at no point did he disavow hisChristianity , and he celebrated Mass until virtually the end of his life.He died on
December 7 1973 atIndore nursing home , weakened by a heart attack that summer, after a year in which he had lived virtually as ahermit .Further reading
*"The Cave of the Heart: The Life of Swami Abhishiktananda", Shirley du Boulay (Orbis Books, New York 2005)
External links
* [http://www.upanishad.org/lesaux/abhisociety.htm Abhishiktananda Society]
* [http://www.monasticdialog.com/au.php?id=25 Swami Abhishiktananda at Monastic Interreligious Dialogue]
* [http://www.shantivanam.info/page/anri_bio.html Russian "Henri Le Saux, Jules Monchanin and Bede Griffiths Sangha"]
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