Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue (Anantand Rambachan) -- A Review
PATHWAYS TO HINDU-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE. By Anantanand Rambachan. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2022. Xii + 158 pages.
Interfaith
dialogue can be challenging, especially when participants come from very
different worldviews. As a Christian, I have found dialog with Jews and Muslims
easier than with Hindus and Buddhists, largely because we have a similar
starting point. That all three religious traditions claim Abraham as a common
ancestor provides a significant foundation for conversation. Conversations with
Dharmic religions lack that common ancestor; nevertheless, we must engage in such
conversations for the good of the world.
Although one of my dearest friends
is a Hindu woman with whom I have shared interfaith leadership, I have
struggled to get my head around her faith tradition. Sometimes we use the same
language, and at others, we don’t. Although I’ve done some reading about
Hinduism, what I’ve been looking for is a guide to a very particular
conversation, and that conversation is the one that brings together Christians
and Hindus. Thus, I’m grateful to Anantanand Rambachan for sharing with us his
book Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue. In his foreword to this book,
Christian theologian S. Wesley Ariarajah points out that “of all the dialogical
relationships that Christians have cultivated with the other major religious
traditions of the world, Hindu-Christian relations are perhaps the least
developed” (p. ix). It’s not because there hasn’t been contact between the two
religious traditions. Christians have been in contact with Hindus since the
second century if not before, but there have always been barriers to fruitful
conversation, from both sides. Fortunately, Professor Rambachan provides us
with some pathways that he has experienced as a Hindu participant in dialogues.
Rambachan is a professor of religion,
philosophy, and Asian studies at St. Olaf College. Not only has he authored
many books, but he has participated in major interfaith conversations sponsored
by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious
Dialogue. In other words, he has had a long-standing relationship with the
Christian community, and thus he can speak as a Hindu who has a significant understanding
both of his own tradition and the Christian tradition. He is a Hindu who is a
descendant of Indians, but he is not from India. Instead, he was born in the Caribbean
nation of Trinidad and Tobago, with his ancestors being numbered among Indian Hindus
and Muslims brought to the islands by the British to participate in sugar cultivation.
Thus, he grew up in a context that included Christians, Hindus, Muslims, and practitioners
of African religious traditions. He had friends in all of these communities,
and he was educated largely in Christian settings. Thus, “learning about other
traditions came as a natural consequence of growing up in a diverse community and
from childhood friendships” (p. 3). That continued through his later education
and teaching experiences, as well as interfaith dialogue opportunities starting
in 1981 when he was invited to participate in a Christian-Hindu dialogue
sponsored by the World Council of Churches. Those dialogues have continued to
the present. This book emerges from those experiences. Thus, this isn’t a book
about theories of dialogue. “It is a book about the practice and experience of
dialogue” written by a participant. Because of that, we have an extremely
helpful resource.
Ramabachan begins this conversation,
by laying out starting points for this dialogue. He notes up front that for
Hindus the belief that mission is foundational for Christians and that mission involves
the pursuit of conversion, dialogue will require building trust. Thus the need
for a different starting point that moves beyond the idea that mission is
central to Christian identity. Thus, he suggests that the two traditions start
with the premise that there is one divine reality that serves as a source of
all life. While understood differently at points, there is the common belief
that God is the source of creation. Thus, both traditions assume that “God is
not the national, tribal, or exclusive deity of a particular religious or
ethnic community but the source of all life and existence” (p. 17). In other
words, God isn’t a Hindu or a Christian. With this, the two traditions can
approach the conversation with humility acknowledging the limits to knowledge. We can also engage together in acts of service
that aren’t motivated by proselytization. Ultimately, effective conversation
requires mutual respect.
In chapter two, Rambachan speaks of
“theological resources and challenges to Hindu-Christian dialogue.” One of the
challenges is the reticence among Hindus to participate in such dialogue. There
have been important examples of dialogue partners in the past, but still for
the most part dialogue has come because Christians have pursued it. Part of the
problem here is that Hinduism is a decentralized religious tradition, with
leadership being very decentralized. He notes that even the Hindu American
Society doesn’t list the development of interreligious relationships as a goal
of the organization. That reticence is rooted in the perception that
Christianity (along with Islam) is a religion that places conversion at the top
of its core values, such that there is little openness to the ideas and beliefs
of others, especially Hindus. There is also the challenge noted here of Hindu
nationalism (Hindutva), which he discusses in chapter 3. While many Hindus
question whether there is anything to discuss, that isn’t true of all. However,
the fact that many Hindu scholars focus more on religious experience than
scriptural exegesis makes the conversation more difficult. Rambachan suggests
that such scriptural exploration can be a very helpful path for conversation to
take place. While there are many challenges, there are possible resources,
including scriptural study that can assist the conversation. Ultimately,
however, trust must be developed. He writes that “trust is the soil in which
truth can flourish and where the difficult questions that we want to ask one another
can be raised” (p. 47).
One area of concern, especially for
Christians and Muslims, is the growing presence of Hindu nationalism in India.
This belief system has raised questions as to whether persons other than Hindus
can truly be Indian. Rambachan goes into some detail explaining this concept,
including laying out its origins with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The question
here has to do with the connection between religious identity and national identity.
It’s an issue that is present here in the United States and parts of Europe as
well, as Christian nationalism is on the rise. As a response to the Hindutva tendency
toward intolerance of plural identities, Rambachan points to an ancient
tradition of hospitality present in the Hindu tradition and seeks to highlight
that as a foundation for dialogue. A second area of concern, one that
Christians often raise, is the issue of caste. He notes that the majority of
Christians in India (around 2.5% of the total population) are of Dalit origin.
Dalits are also known as untouchables or lie outside the caste system. Many
Dalits have converted to Christianity and Islam as a way of finding an identity
outside the caste system. Ramabachan very openly discusses the challenges of
the caste system and its role in the Christian community. He calls on Hindus to
acknowledge the “inhumanity, injustice, and oppression of the caste system and
the fact that it has been legitimized and perpetuated by appeal to and interpretation
of Hindu teachings” (p. 83). This is true despite caste not being an essential
part of Hindu traditions.
Having addressed two important
challenges to dialogue, Rambachan spends two chapters exploring what Hindus can
learn from Christianity (chapter 5) and Christians from Hindus. He points in the
former to the interest that many Hindus have had in Jesus, if not in
Christianity. He notes several Hindu leaders/scholars who have devoted
attention to Jesus including Rammohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, and Mahatma Gandhi.
He also shares what he has learned from Christianity over the years, with a
special interest in Liberation Theology. He points out that while “compassion
and generosity were known to me as core Hindu teachings,” these were often “limited
to interpersonal relationships.” What Liberation Theology introduce to his
thinking was the need to transform structures of injustice and oppression. He
came to appreciate the vision of a suffering God, a vision he did not find
present in Hinduism. As for what Christians can learn from Hindus, he points
out that it is easier for him to note what he learned from Christianity than to
suggest to Christians what they might learn. With that recognition of the need
for humility, he suggests that the Hindu texts, such as the Upanishads, provide
helpful words about the God-universe relationship, the human problem (for
Hindus it’s ignorance rather than sin that is the issue), and a Hindu vision of
liberation (moksha), which involves liberation from ignorance and an “awakening
to the reality of the divine that is present equally in all beings and the
heard of each self” (p. 117).
In the concluding chapter of this
important book, which I hope will open up new avenues of conversation within my
own friendship circle, Rambachan speaks to “the political and the theological”
dimensions of this conversation. In other words, why is a Hindu-Christian
dialogue necessary? It starts with the religious
diversity found in the United States. The fact that there is such diversity means
that if we’re to tackle important concerns in the country and world, we will
need to work together. That means building trust. That requires sharing theological
resources. In other words, we need to hear each other’s vision of a just
society. That involves hearing each other’s religious/theological traditions, especially
as they speak to the question of justice. He also notes something I’ve experienced
over the years of engaging in interreligious relationships, “deep encounters
with another tradition have the potential to both challenge and enrich our
traditions.” (p. 141).
Anantanand Rambachan’s Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue is not a lengthy book. It is in fact, a very
accessible and readable book. For a Christian reader, he helpfully laid out important
areas of concern that I’ve wondered about or struggled to understand. He brings
to our attention issues that both communities present to the other, issues that
create barriers to relationships and understanding. There is still much for me
to learn—and I still struggle with theological concepts present in Hinduism,
but I believe this book is an important starting point for those who wish to build
relationships with another religious tradition, a relationship that can
contribute to the common good of the universe. It is also a reminder that the
God embraced by both Hinduism and Christianity is not a tribal God. That’s
something that has often been forgotten of late! May this book be the
foundation for a fruitful conversation and friendship.
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