The Role of Swami Chinmayananda in Revitalization of Hinduism and Reinterpretation of Christianity (An Old and Rare Book)

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About the Book

The book “THE ROLE OF SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA IN REVITALIZATION OF HINDUISM AND REINTERPRETATION OF CHRISTIANITY” attempts to show how Swami Chinmayanandaji dedicated his life for the revival of Hindu religion and in doing so he has tried to reinterpret Christianity in his own way. There is also an attempt to focus on the condition of Hinduism and the need of revitalization. We have also discussed the impact of Christianity, Christian Mission and organization on the life, thinking and practice of Swami Chinmayananda. It is a useful survey for any student of Religion and Philosophy who is trying to focus on these two existing religions of our beloved country.

About the Author

Rev. Dr. Jagdhari Masih is presently serving as the Principal at Allahabad Bible Seminary, Allahabad. He has been teaching since 1982 and has served on various capacities in this institution, such as Dean of Students, Academic Dean and Chairman of various committees etc. He has done his theological studies such as B. Th., B.D., and M.Th. from the Senate of Serampore College and secular studies BA, MA, and Ph.D from Kanpur and Rohilkhand Universities. He has been a Visiting Professor at Haggai Institute, Singapore, Satyaniketan Dharamvigyan Maha-vidhyalaya and Serampore College, Serampore. He is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Church of India and has 'served as a Pastor in this church for many years. He has served on the Board of Studies of the Senate of Serampore College and at present he has also been appointed on the same position. He has written several articles in various journals and magazines. He is married and has two children.

Foreword

As a person who has the conviction that there is a deep affinity between Advaitic experience and Christian experience, I am glad to write these lines to appreciate the effort taken by Rev. Dr. Jagdhari Masih to study the thought of Swami Chinmayananda, a powerful exponent of Advaitic experience. Of course Swami Chinmayananda was not that interested in Christ of Christianity. His focus of attention was the Upanishads and the Bhagvad Gita, to communicate the message of these to modern educated people. But what I would like to indicate here is that the teachings of the Upanishads and the Gita are in line with the teachings of Jesus. If the former help us to awake to the One Supreme Brahman/ Atman, the latter help us to awake to God, the Father. Christians in India as well as the followers of Swami Chinmayananda are challenged in the third millennium to come to terms with such an insight.

Preface

While studying and preparing for my Master of Theology (M.Th.) in Religions. I chose “THE UNDERSTANDING OF GURUSHIP IN NEO-GURUISM : A Study of the Concept in the Movements around His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Swami Chmmayananda” as my subject for dissertation. While studying and writing the above dissertation. I was inspired and impressed by the philosophy and thought of Swami Chinmayananda and the activities of his Mission. He himself made a strong and challenging statement which impressed me to study in detail about his life. “A new type of Swami is emerging in this country who will serve as Missionaries to their own people. At this crucial time in our history. we do not need those who live in a cave and meditate.” Accordingly, Swami Chinmayananda has brought respect to the spiritual traditions and had started a spiritual reawakening in India. Swami Vivekananda has also said the same as Swamiji Chinmayananda has said regarding revitalization of Hinduism. “Nowadays everybody blames those who constantly look back to their past. It is said that so much looking back to the past is the cause of India's all woes. To me on the contrary, it seems that the opposite is true. So long as Indians forgot the past the nation remained in a state of stupor and as soon as they have begun to look into their past, there is on every side a fresh manifestation of life. It is out of this past that the future has to be moulded, this past will become the future.

As a sincere Christian and a student of Christian thought and theology. I also studied Christian religion and philosophy and found its influence on Swami Chinmayananda's thought and philosophy. So, I decided to carry on research work on his philosophy and thought together with the influence of Christianity on it. While I was planning for this I came in contact with Professor M.N. Rastogi. an eminent scholar and a disciple of His Holiness Swami Sivananda. who is also the Deeksha Guru of Swami Chinmayananda. I discussed my research plan with Professor Rastogi and the result was the topic: REVITALIZATION OF HINDUISM AND REINTERPRETATION OF CHRISTIANITY BY SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA'S THOUGHT AND PHILOSOPHY. for my present research work. Professor M.N. Rastogi very kindly and willingly agreed to guide my research work for which I am highly obliged to him. Professor Rastogi, at the age of 18 came in contact with Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj in 1949 and since then he has been a regular Visitor of Sivananda Ashram. Head Quarter of Divine Life Society. Rishikesh, and had the opportunity of attending some of the lectures of Swami Chinmayananda at the Ashram.

In this research work we have tried to explain clearly Swami Chinmayananda's thought and philosophy and his contribution to revitalize Hinduism. We have also tried to explain his reinterpretation of Christianity which are found in his writings. By reinterpretation of Christianity we do not mean that he had created any new school of thought of Christianity for Christians. What we mean is that he reinterpreted Christianity for Hindus and moulded some of the thoughts and Missionary activities of Christianity and imbibed them in his philosophy and Missionary activities. He did not in anyway want to interfere with the prevailing thought and faith of Christianity but if any Christian believer is impressed by and appreciates his way of thinking and activities, he is free to do so and is welcomed.

We have developed four parts in this Thesis. The Part-I deals with two things: first, Essentials of Traditional Hindu Religion and Philosophy as well as Essentials of Christian Religion and Philosophy. Secondly, we have discussed in detail about Swami Chinmayananda's teachings and Mission activities.

Part-II deals with the Historical, Political and Sociological condition of India in his lifetime which led to Swami's thoughts on revitalization of Hinduism. We have tried to study the revitalization of Hinduism in the 19th and 20th centuries from Raja Rammohan Roy to Swami Vivekananda. from Sri Aurobindo Ghosh to Acharya Vnobha Bhave, and then from Hindu Mahasabha. Jana Sangh, RSS. VHP. BJP to modern Guru Movements.

In Part-III we have done an extensive study of Swami Chinmayananda as a Guru and his Mission. We have intended to study the role of Swami Chinmayananda as understood by his followers. We have critically evaluated his thought and Mission activities in the process of revitalization of Hinduism. In this section we have further studied the impact of Christianity and Christian Mission and Christian organizations on Indian reformers. viz; from Raja Rammohan Roy down to the New-Guru Movements. In the last chapter of this section, we have tried to study the reinterpretation of Christianity by Swami Chinmayananda and the influence of Christianity on him and his missionary work.

In the final part i.e. Part-IV we have tried to bring out conclusions of our research work. We have assessed Swamiji a Hindu Missionary, a critical estimate of his revitalization – Hinduism, the influence of Christianity on his thought philosophy and Mission a critical estimate of his reinterpretation of Christianity and the relevance of his philosophy and activities in India and other parts of the world.

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