Bede Griffiths (1906–1993)

So many writers on spiritual matters have named Bede Griffiths as a key influence in their spiritual lives. As is typical of the highly evolved, he has little new to say about the spiritual path; but his gentle soul and intelligence always shine through. Perhaps best known as a voyager to India and an important mid-century catalyst in bringing the Hinduism to the West (it worked less well in reverse), he seems someone well worth getting to know.

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.

If modern civilization has lost sight of the goal that all ancient cultures held steadily before their eyes --a religious goal-- how is man to recover the sense of the absolute and the unconditioned to which he can commit himself?

Excellent. Bede Griffiths was a Christian monk who lived in India. He sought to live his vocation in an Indian style. He writes in his introduction that "one of the greatest needs of humanity today is to transcend the cultural limitations of the great religions and to find a wisdom...which can reconcile differences and reveal the unity which underlies all their diversity." The volume then has brief introductions to Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese Tradition, Sikhism, Islam, Judaism and show more Christianity followed by selections from the sacred literature of each tradition. That universal wisdom that Griffiths seeks is the experiential encounter with Ultimate Reality -- which, he says, is beyond names, doctrines, or concepts -- and thus the selected verses from the sacred literature is a pointing to something beyond. An excellent source show less