ASHRAMS IN INDIA: CATHOLIC or NEW AGE? NEW WEBSITE: www.ephesians-511.net OCTOBER 2005 NOTE: Information within brackets [ ] is either page number of the book that is being quoted from, or comments of the writer; [See pages 1, 2, 3, 4] in blue indicates references of the pages in this report; the more important of the page references -- that will throw further light on the subject -- in that group, are underlined [See pages 1, 2, 3, 4]; information within brackets ( ) comes along with the material being quoted from by me; bold/other font size or underlining are introduced by the writer as special emphases to engage the attention of the reader.
A Letter to the Vatican. Subject: ‘ New Age ’ in the Catholic Church in India: In my May 2004 letter with the above title, written in connection with the 3rd February 2003 Vatican Provisional Report “Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life, A Christian reflection on the ‘New Age’”, I had also noted: “ASHRAMS, & THE NATIONAL BIBLICAL CATECHETICAL AND LITURGICAL CENTRE [NBCLC] The Ashram culture was originally meant to be or projected as an Indian Christian way of life and worship that would find mass appeal, and remove the impression that has been created that Christianity is a ‘foreign’ religion, in a country where just over 2% of the population has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord. But the actual history [as seen from the true believer’s point of view] is sadly different, and warrants close scrutiny from Rome. What it is now can be easily seen from the writings of any of the Benedictine or Jesuit priests or RSCJ [Sisters of the Sacred Heart] nuns connected with the ‘Ashram Movement’. It is difficult to see the unique monotheistic dualism of the Bible in the different shades of advaitic monism that colour all their ‘Christian’ writings. From there it was just a short step to the New Age. One of the pioneers Fr. Bede Griffiths not only ended up as a yogi but also opened his center to New Agers from the West [one of whom wrote his famous New Age thesis in the Ashram]. Bede also traveled to Europe to participate in an international New Age conference. His teachings greatly influenced many people who, along with some of his former disciples, are today influential in the major religious congregations and Church hierarchy and who continue to promote the Hindu-isation of the Catholic Church in India. It is no coincidence that the founder of DHARMA BHARATHI is one of these disciples. He [Swami Sachidananda Bharathi] met his first New Agers from the West at Bede’s Ashram. They have influenced his beliefs and his vision and he in turn now passes it on to our children [in Catholic educational institutions] through his organization which has the recognition and support of the CBCI. These Ashrams have not brought anyone to a saving knowledge of the Jesus Christ of the Bible. Rather, the use of gross iconology, cross-breeding of sacred religious symbols, yogic exercises, temple-dances and dubious rituals and liturgies of an inculturation gone awry that emerged from the Ashram culture and were disseminated in the Church through the NBCLC [which is located at Bangalore] continues to be one of the major reasons for Catholics leaving the Church. The Ashram movement is nothing but a Hindu way of life thinly disguised as Christianity. It has opened the door to a multitude of evils which, as in the case of the other issues here already reported on by me, will be the subject of a detailed report from this writer in the near future.” What follows here, from page number 2 onwards, is that detailed report, made after a December 2004 7-day visit to Saccidananda Ashram, Shantivanam. Certain sections of this write-up had been included in my earlier reports such as the one on Dharma Bharathi. The reader will therefore have to bear with a few repetitions, and also with seemingly irrelevant details which I believe must necessarily be included here so that the wider implications of the issue are not obscured. Copies of the above-referred “A Letter to the Vatican” were posted and/or sent by email to every Bishop, Archbishop and Cardinal listed in the 2004 Directory of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, over 160 in number. While a majority of the Bishops did not respond even to repeated despatches of the Letter, I am pleased to report that I did receive a few dozen encouraging replies from them, several of whom have continued their correspondence with me, and also from one Cardinal. In response to the ‘Letter’, this ministry also received scores of letters expressing support and solidarity from seminarians, priests and simple lay Catholics, from independent Catholic ministries, and from regional, national and international leaders in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Four months after the letter was received by over a dozen dicasteries of the Vatican, I received a rather discouraging response dated 7 th September 2004 from Rome. It was from the Undersecretary, Pontifical Council of Culture. My reply dated 1 st January