Journey to the Centre of My Being

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Though profoundly moved by the religions he studied and taught about, he was unable to accept the metaphysical beliefs underpinning them. Increasingly, though, he became fascinated by modern scientific discoveries about the universe, and about our planet and the evolution of life on it. So he wove together elements from religious and scientific traditions. In particular, he took Adi Shankara's Advaita, also known as spiritual monism, and applied it to the physical universe, adding in also feelings and attitudes from New Zealand's indigenous Maori religion. He now believes that the centre of his being is the physical energy of the universe, with which, therefore, he is at one. He finds this deeply satisfying in understanding, and emotionally and morally experiencing, his place on this planet and in the universe. Because it owes so much to spiritual monism he calls it physical monism, or physical Advaita.

Jim Wilson is an adventurer: mountaineering: Antarctic exploration; adventure films with Sir Edmund Hillary (on one of which he drove a jet boat up Mother Ganga from ocean to sky); climbing and school building with Sir Edmund in the Everest region of Nepal; and sailing to Pacific islands in a small yacht. These physical adventures provide an exciting backdrop to this book.

But Jim is also a religious adventurer. He relates in depth, with clarity and humour, his long journey in search of a satisfying way of understanding and experiencing the true nature of his self, and of his place in this mysterious universe. Studying Western philosophy and theology moved him away from intense involvement in the liberal Christianity of his parents. So he looked to India, inexhaustible source of inspiration. For two years he studied Indian philosophy and religion at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Then he taught for 23 years in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, returning many times to India and Nepal.

I am happy to contribute this foreword to the story of Jim Wilson's rich Land many-sided life, for I have had a long and personal connection with him. My first wife Nancy was his teacher for a short time when he started school inTimaru in 1942, and in the years 1960-2 I lectured to him on Old Testament Studies in his theological training at Knox College Theological Hall, Dunedin, where I tried, with only limited success, to teach him Hebrew. Later, during 1972-83, we were colleagues in Religious Studies.

As a young and inexperienced Presbyterian minister, I was a great admirer of Jim's father, Mac Wilson, whose preaching and pastoral concern at Chalmers Church, Timaru, became a model for me. So I was not surprised when Jim opted to follow him into the ministry. But neither was I surprised when, at the end of his training, Jim chose not to proceed to ordination. In 1963 my colleagues and I at Knox College joked about his decision to accept a postgraduate scholarship to study religion at Banaras Hindu University in India, for we knew his real intention was to use the opportunity to do some mountain-climbing in the Himalayas. Nevertheless, what he studied in Banaras was to prove very relevant and helpful when he later returned to Christchurch to take up a lectureship in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Canterbury University, where he spent the rest of his working career.

All New Zealanders have heard of Ed Hillary, but few know of the Jim Wilson who accompanied him on the epic journey up the Ganges from its mouth to its source in the Himalayan mountains. This is partly due to Jim's modesty for he has never been one to boast of his many exploits.

These pages reveal to us the chief passions that shaped Jim's life, such as mountain-climbing and other outdoor pursuits, philosophy, loyal and supportive friendships and, by no means least, his love for his wife Ann and their family of three boys.