THE FEAST OF THE UNKNOWN SAINT - Hindu Spiritual Practices' compatibility with Christianity

Me and my spiritual sisters

sitting with the swami

about 1985

Just before I joined the Vedanta convent in California, I was made the producer of a yearly celebration called "All Saints Day." It used to be "All Guru's Day," but the Western world doesn't typically use that term for holy people, so it had been changed, years before.

That year, I decided the theme would be "the Unknown Saint," with the underlying meaning being that each of us can be that unknown saint if we quietly, steadily make progress in purification, study and practice of the faith (which consisted mainly of meditation.) Of course, there was also a code of conduct similar to that of Catholicism, especially in the sexual arena, because it was perceived that sexuality was an area of human experience that holds great potential for either "God realization" or spiritual destruction.

It would be a surprise to many that the Vedantic Hindu version of sexual restraint is much more stringent than even the Catholics propose. The primary "Saint" of the Vedanta Societies was Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and he frequently advised that a man and wife should "live as brother and sister" after the birth of one or two children (a principle echoed in many ancient strains of that religion.) Yes, that is to mean that they were no longer to have sex after that time - not for the purpose of reducing births, mind you, but to allow for more time to devote to meditation and other spiritual disciplines. Also, and probably more important in that theological construct, is that the restraint of the sex urge is a key component in rallying one's spiritual energies in a mystical way.

Hindu saint Ramakrishna (1836-1886)

Prior to the mystical path of the Hindu monastic tradition - the sadhus, swamis and their female counterparts - householders had a well defined path of gradual approach to that monastic lifestyle. The standard used to be for man and wife to take to the forest toward the end of their lives, to live a rigorous monastic existence so that they may attain to the heights of spiritual experience. Later, it became possible for younger people to bypass the householder state entirely and take directly to the ocher cloth, without marrying or having children at all.

My spiritual teacher, Swami Swahananda, allowed me to take to the Hindu monastic life in a special ceremony that permanently altered the arc of my existence as one that is dedicated to the realization of God as its primary focus. My artistic ventures, my writing, and the other incidental activities, are a pale remnant of my previous life.

Me and Swami Swahananda

Just prior to my sannyas vows

Swamiji named me Sannyasini Kaliprana. "Sannyasini" is actually a title denoting that style of Hindu monasticism. The name "Kaliprana" has something to do with my energies being informed by the spirit of the Divine Mother of the Universe (a concept that reverberates with Catholicism's respect for Mary, the Mother of God.)

Sannyasini Kaliprana, on the day of Sannyas vows

(That's "Duffy" on my lap - obviously prior to my losing some weight!)

Subsequent conversion to Catholicism did not delete my commitment to living a monastic life for God alone. In fact, when I discovered Catholic mystic Bede Griffiths (1906-1993) , I had a wonderful "ah ha!" moment of realization of the complementarity of Catholicism and the Vedantic mystical method.  I'd previously read the works of many Catholic mystics that dovetailed with the stories of Hindu saints and sages. I experience all of this as a marvelous harmony of past and present yearnings that arose from corresponding teachings.

Catholic monk, Bede Griffiths (1906-1993)

Catholic mass, with an East Indian flavor

The similarities of Vedanta with the other major religious traditions would be surprising to some Christians who have placed other religions in an "enemy of the faith" category, which they really are not. Religious education isn't complete, in my mind, without a comparative religions class or two.

While Bede Griffiths was a Catholic monk who gradually moved into an East Indian expression of the faith, my journey was the opposite. Also unlike Bede, I am not a member of any Catholic monastic institution, primarily because I am disabled and of no use to them. I suppose if I had money or was physically vigorous, there may be more interest in supporting my spiritual life, but there doesn't seem to be any, so I really AM left to my own devices, except that the life of a hermit is not typical of either religious tradition, though it exists. There are usually fellow monastics in the general vicinity. I sometimes wonder if my current hermit state is a detriment to me, but I can only hope that my faith in God is protecting me in that regard.

Divine Mother Kali of the Hindu faith

This morning, when I was researching the Catholic saints of the day and found yet another female Catholic martyr for whom we have a name but little else, the memory of that celebration, years ago, of "the unknown saint" came back to me with sweet recollection. It was during THAT time when I experienced the feeling of being saved from an otherwise pointless life. It grew to fruition in my Catholic conversion, many years later, so that every time I research one of these "unknown" Catholic saints (and most of the little known are female, by the way), I feel a renewed pull toward the Divine.

Saint Albina of Caesarea

Martyr who died in the year 250

Today's unknown saint is Saint Albina. All we know about her is that she was very young when she was martyred for the faith under Emperor Trajanus Decius in the year 250 in Caesarea, where she was born. (She could have been martyred in Formiea, according to some sources.) Anyway, she is listed in the Roman martyrology, and nothing is known of her life before her execution during the persecutions of the early church.

It is my hope to become one of that massive number of unknown saints who lived and died for God alone, without fame or fanfare. We come. We go.

May you go with God also.

Silver Rose