"Globality" at the Parliament

"We discover our transcendental unity as we immerse ourselves in this world." I know what a shock this sends through some of you. It is found in the presentation by Paul Knitter at the "Globality" session at the Parliament of Religions Centenary, 1993, in Chicago. But let him go on to explain: "To feel globally responsible... in this tormented world, to join hands with victims and to experience victimization and the struggle for justice, to feel claimed by the sacredness of the earth --such human experiences and activities constitute, I suggest, a universally available arena in which persons of different religious backgrounds can feel the presence and empowerment of that for which religious language is appropriate."

His question is, Can interfaith dialog be globally responsible? And my question is, What has our Vedanta to say about it?

Knitter spoke for Christianity, and in a sense for the West in general; his respondent was Ron Kidd, a Buddhist. Knitter feels that religious pluralism and economic well-being must go hand in hand: in dialog I may address other faiths, but to carry it on meaningfully I must also listen to the voices of the suffering and do something about it. He speaks here for what are now called the Liberation theologians: every religion has a belief in changing this world for the better, and offers some kind of soteria (salvation or liberation).

His thesis, then, has three parts. (1) The ground and goal of dialog is global responsibility and all religious traditions are capable of this. Their mystical and prophetic (social service) elements must be kept in balance. In all of these traditions mystical experience brings about a different sense of self: however it may be stated, ego-self changes to other-self. On the basis of this we come together.

(2) This capacity on the part of the faiths is becoming enhanced today as the earth itself becomes a locus for the shared religious experience. This is why the sentence at the head of our essay came from Knitter's mouth. "Earth can be a shared context for religious experiences which will feed and reform our religious traditions." He wants us to share not only our meditations, in ashramas, our contemplative moods, but also our mutual spirituality in work for justice and freedom for all downtrodden people.

Now you may recall that Swami Vivekananda, speaking in India, said that he was not able to make Westerners understand Vedanta until he told them what good it would do to society. That was the yardstick. Then, in ringing tones, "Truth does not have to pay homage to society, ancient or modern; society must pay homage to Truth, or die!" The truths of a religious faith are never to be judged by any such pragmatic rule --whether it contributes to the material well-being and justice of the dispossessed. Yes, we are enlightened Westerners, who will always seek outward means to ameliorate ugly conditions; but when will we learn the message of the East that the only enduring solution to oppression is to go within?

At the same time, we know equally well Swamiji's heartfelt cry, "I would not give a fig for that religion which cannot wipe the widow's tears and give bread to a starving orphan." Knowing his life was short he wasted not a moment in getting his disciples into active social service and salvation, a hallmark of our movement to this day.

Knitter's stance here is clearly, then, a kind of karma yoga as we would see it, and deserves our deep respect. For a group of persons to make the acts of purifying a polluted lake or saving a precious forest into a spiritual practice is an excellent idea, and one with which the Ramakrishna Mission in India is thoroughly familiar.

Do the liberation theologians also recognize the subtle and causal forms of action, as we should call them? We know how easy it is for thinkers of our culture to dismiss "mind," and think of it as not material. But Vedanta says it is. It is as much material as the things made of gross matter, differing only in its type; it is subject to its own laws of time, space and causation. In his Raja Yoga , we recall, Swamiji tells us that a yogi is one who knows that if he goes into a cave and is able to think five true thoughts, those will penetrate walls and resound throughout the earth. Christian and Buddhist contemplatives alike, have long made the practice of covering the world, section by section, with their prayers.

"Show us the effect of that," says the skeptic, and to satisfy him is indeed difficult; but the mystic knows to what extent the real power for effective and lasting action lies in his intimate connection with the Cosmic Mind. "May the Lord grant that all the sannyasin disciples of my Master and myself be perfected, Swamiji said, "so that they may be fit for missionary work." This preparation of the mind and heart, the ego-work needed to precede egoless work, was raised by the Buddhist respondent to Dr. Knitter, Ron Kidd, reminding us that the "unripe prophet may do more harm than good; it is only the "ripe" prophet --ripe because of mystical attainment-- who is fit for soteriological activity."

How do we work out practically this balance between the mystical and the prophetic? I am most fortunate in being able to say that I have seen it beautifully done by some members of our Order. It cannot be done, however by teaching as subjects are taught in school.

As we said, Knitter did not overlook the need for this balance. And he voiced judicious doubts about parts of his own thesis. When he insisted that the voice of the suffering must be heard, in any spirituality dialog, I was reminded that scarcely a month goes by when I am not asked about the Holocaust and what the swamis think about it. It has not always been easy to give replies that satisfied either the questioner or us.

As to his third point: How does the well-being or justice of the populace serve as a criterion for truth? Here he acknowledged the diversity of outlook in the religious world. Knowing, and implicitly deploring, the isolationist or self-absorbed traditions which still exist, Knitter came down vigorously on the side of those who understand that at least in today's "shrinking" world, the suffering-other must form a link between, or among, our religious traditions; he offers us this as an appropriate substitute for the transcendent unity of religions about which we hear so much.