Gurus, Ashrams and Christians

Vandana Mataji has for many years had a great interest in Hindu spiritual traditions, and has worked for a recognition of their authenticity by Christians. She taught history and politics in Sophia College, Bombay. In 1969 she added a postgraduate qualification in Indian classical music to her already existing M A in history. She began to be able to devote time to studying traditional Indian spirituality and has been working on the National Liturgical Commission of he Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India over the years. This book is, to a great extent, the result not only of her researches but of her wide experiences in ashrams, both Hindu and Christians. In her preface to the first edition of this book, she writes: Today, thousands of Westerners come to India seeking God and gurus, hoping that this country has some riches to offer them of a kind not to be found in their own materialistic environment. This book is written primarily for western god seekers, but I hope that it may also be of some help to the growing numbers of Christians in India, especially vowed religious, who are looking for a simpler way of life, and one which is indigenous to India. It is hoped that this edition will lead not only religious but our laity in India to use Ashrams as our Hindu grahasthi brothers and sisters do. In an ashram, the waters of contemplation water the Seed of the Word. Solitude, a simple lifestyle, work, an open community life and the masterhand of a guru all enable the young plant to grow gradually into a tree. Birds of the air from both east and west may come to rest, to build nests; and the leaves and fruit of the tree provide shelter and food for weary man. The ashram acts as a meeting place, a resting place, an oasis. It prepares us to meet the coming revolution, which implies radical transformation, not so much of structures as of self.