Swami Abhishiktananda

Swami Abhishiktananda (Henri Le Saux, 1910-1973) was one of the most fascinating spiritual figures of the 20th century and a bridge-builder between East and West. His encounter with Indian spirituality over a period of twenty-five years deepened and enriched his Christian faith beyond measure. The fruits of this profound spiritual experience are to be found in this treasured book Prayer. The book was, as the author wrote, "written beside the Ganges in very close contact with the spiritual experience of the Upanishads .... In it] there is nothing technical. It seeks rather to be a travelling companion on the road that leads within." "A simple and practical handbook resplendent with the gems of Christian and Hindu wisdom, Prayer has rightly been acclaimed a classic and can be compared to similar works authored by contemporary Christian mystics who have explored contemplative prayer through Eastern and Western Spirituality, namely: Anthony de Mello, Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle, Bede Griffiths, William Johnston, Thomas Keating, John Main, Thomas Merton, Vincent Shigeto Oshida, Ama Samy, David Steindl-Rast, Vandana Mataji and many more pioneers in interreligious spiritual understanding." -from the Editor's Note

The unique value of these theological essays written by Swami Abhishiktananda between 1952 and 1973 lies in the fact that they are based on his dual spiritual experience, Christian and Advaitic, and reflect the synthesis constantly sought by the author but never found." These essay- now available in English for the first time-offer a new and unique insight into the development of Swami Abhishiktananda's theological thought. They were not only the outcome of his spiritual experience but also of his past religious conditioning.

Swami Abhishiktananda was a French Benedictine monk who lived in India for more than two decades and strove to understand and live his Christian faith through the enlightening teachings of Hindu Advaita Vedanta. Even as he remained a faithful Catholic monk, he increasingly longed to live his life from the depths of both Christian and Hindu understandings of the ultimate Real. In contrast to his many powerful prose works for which he is known, Swami Abhishiktananda also employs free verse to explore, exhort, and expound, reporting in poetry on his long journey of interreligious spiritual discovery with little desire to justify himself systematically. In these poems, a fervent and devoted Christian mystic plunges into the riches of the Hindu religious genius and brings forth ecstatic, colorful, and profound wisdom charged with an acute awareness of the non-duality between the innermost self of the human being and the Absolute Reality. These poems, collected together for the first time, search and hope with the dire honesty characteristic of the greatest of the world's mystics. ""Henri Le Saux, OSB--Swami Abhishiktananda--was a renowned mystic, pilgrim, and theologian. A master of prose, he was also a passionate poet, by eloquent words probing the mystery of God, speech reaching from his heart to the heart of his readers. Jacob Riyeff has done us a great service in translating the poems into today's English: simple and spare, yet richly resonant of Sanskrit and Tamil poems sung through the ages. For those who know Swami's works, In the Bosom of the Father will be a welcome resource that fills out the great store of his teachings. For newcomers who browse these poems and then take them to prayer, it opens a sure path into the wisdom of an extraordinary man in a remarkable era of the Church in India."" --Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Harvard University ""These poems are of such depth, anguish, and intimacy that one must think of the Book of Job, of St. John of the Cross, of Meister Eckhart. Naked experience and hidden fermentation have forged a melding into words of what is most fundamental in Christianity and Hinduism--words powerful and raw enough to reduce you to silence."" --Paul Quenon o.c.s.o, Abbey of Gethsemani, ""Jacob Riyeff offers a highly inspirational work in this first collection of Swami Abhishiktananda's poems. This is an essential piece for all academics interested in the French Benedictine and precious to all Truth seekers. A reminder that great mystics often possess a poetic heart. Poetry is a crucial though rarely studied aspect of Swami's theological efforts to express what is ineffable and to grasp what is universal within the great variety of spiritual ways."" --Fabrice Blee, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada Jacob Riyeff teaches in the English department at Marquette University. In addition to his scholarship on medieval vernacular poetry and monastic culture, he is a translator of Latin, Old English, Middle English, and French poetry and prose. His first book is a translation of St. thelwold of Winchester's Old English Rule of St. Benedict (2017).

Swami Abhishiktananda was a French Benedictine monk who lived in India for more than two decades and strove to understand and live his Christian faith through the enlightening teachings of Hindu Advaita Vedanta. Even as he remained a faithful Catholic monk, he increasingly longed to live his life from the depths of both Christian and Hindu understandings of the ultimate Real. In contrast to his many powerful prose works for which he is known, Swami Abhishiktananda also employs free verse to explore, exhort, and expound, reporting in poetry on his long journey of interreligious spiritual discovery with little desire to justify himself systematically. In these poems, a fervent and devoted Christian mystic plunges into the riches of the Hindu religious genius and brings forth ecstatic, colorful, and profound wisdom charged with an acute awareness of the non-duality between the innermost self of the human being and the Absolute Reality. These poems, collected together for the first time, search and hope with the dire honesty characteristic of the greatest of the world's mystics. ""Henri Le Saux, OSB--Swami Abhishiktananda--was a renowned mystic, pilgrim, and theologian. A master of prose, he was also a passionate poet, by eloquent words probing the mystery of God, speech reaching from his heart to the heart of his readers. Jacob Riyeff has done us a great service in translating the poems into today's English: simple and spare, yet richly resonant of Sanskrit and Tamil poems sung through the ages. For those who know Swami's works, In the Bosom of the Father will be a welcome resource that fills out the great store of his teachings. For newcomers who browse these poems and then take them to prayer, it opens a sure path into the wisdom of an extraordinary man in a remarkable era of the Church in India."" --Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Harvard University ""These poems are of such depth, anguish, and intimacy that one must think of the Book of Job, of St. John of the Cross, of Meister Eckhart. Naked experience and hidden fermentation have forged a melding into words of what is most fundamental in Christianity and Hinduism--words powerful and raw enough to reduce you to silence."" --Paul Quenon o.c.s.o, Abbey of Gethsemani, ""Jacob Riyeff offers a highly inspirational work in this first collection of Swami Abhishiktananda's poems. This is an essential piece for all academics interested in the French Benedictine and precious to all Truth seekers. A reminder that great mystics often possess a poetic heart. Poetry is a crucial though rarely studied aspect of Swami's theological efforts to express what is ineffable and to grasp what is universal within the great variety of spiritual ways."" --Fabrice Blee, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada Jacob Riyeff teaches in the English department at Marquette University. In addition to his scholarship on medieval vernacular poetry and monastic culture, he is a translator of Latin, Old English, Middle English, and French poetry and prose. His first book is a translation of St. thelwold of Winchester's Old English Rule of St. Benedict (2017).

First published nearly forty years ago and having been translated into numerous languages, this classic text is written by a Benedictine monk whose Christianity was profoundly enriched by his encounter with Hindu spirituality. Described by its author as 'a little book to help Christians in their inner renewal, and to make them increasingly attentive to the call of the Spirit', it is a simple and practical manual for learning to live each moment in the presence of God. 10 short chapters provide a lifetime's agenda and are full of gems of wisdom. They focus on: the holy presence, the mystery of God, recognizing God in all things, listening for God's call, the prayer of silence, and contemplative reading of scripture. This deceptively simple text contains all the building blocks necessary for a mature life of prayer.