The Cosmic Revelation

This analysis of what Christians can learn from Hindus, and conversely what Hindus could learn from Christians is lucid and to the point. It was redacted from a series of lectures or teachings given by Bede Griffiths at a Catholic setting in the U. S. and thus has the clarity and simplicity of the spoken word. Griffiths' conclusion is that God has revealed Himself truly in the heart and in the cosmos to Hindus, but that there is still something of value in Christianity that cannot be found in Hinduism. This is an excellent primer to Hinduism, as all the sacred Hindu books are briefly explained and all the key concepts of Hinduism are touched upon. One could read a number of other books and not have as clear a sense of the context of Hindu understanding as he gives here. The fact that his insights are the fruit of 25 years of living out his Christian contemplation in a Hindu context makes his insights very well-balanced. He recognizes both the obvious and the more subtle weaknesses in Hinduism, and yet he also values it enough to live as a sannyasi in an ashram. Like him, I find that I can understand who Jesus is more clearly when I see him in an eastern context. It is also quite fascinating to see how connected Sanskrit and the western languages are. The first western scholar who worked on Sanskrit could hardly believe his eyes when it became obvious to him that Sanskrit had ties to Latin and Greek. Yet consider this, which is my own interpretation: the Ancient Sanskrit for God is Dyaus Pita, meaning Sky Father. We can obviously see that Pita is related to Pater and thus to Father. But what is Dyaus? Is not the Latin for God Deus? (Spanish Dios, Greek Theos) I don't think I'm imagining things when I see God the Father in the Sanskrit Sky God. We are One at the deepest level, but even on the surface level, we are far more inter-connected than the school books would lead us to believe. Columbus may have been trying to get to India the wrong way round, but it is clear to me that there was cultural contact in very ancient times.

A very solid comparision of Hindu and Christian beliefs. Confirmed many of the conclusions I had reached after having read the Bible and Upanishads many times.