Saccidananda Ashram (also called Shantivanam) is a

Camaldolese The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona ( la, Congregatio Eremitarum Camaldulensium Montis Coronae), commonly called Camaldolese is a monastic order of Pontifical Right for men founded by Saint Romuald. Their name is derived from the Holy Hermit ...

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

in Tannirpalli,

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

founded in 1950.

Description

Located in the village of Tannirpalli in the Tiruchirapalli District of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

, on the bank of the

River Kavery A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

(), it was founded in 1950 by French priest Jules Monchanin, who was later to adopt the name Parma Arupi Anananda, and French Benedictine monk

Henri le Saux Abhishiktananda ( sa, अभिषिक्तानन्द, Abhiṣiktānanda; 30 August 1910, in Saint Briac, Brittany – 7 December 1973, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India), born Henri Le Saux, was a French monk who, having moved to In ...

, who was later to adopt the name Abhishiktananda. Together, the two wrote a book about their ashram, entitled ''An Indian Benedictine Ashram'' which was later re-published under the title ''A Benedictine Ashram''. The goal of le Saux and Monchanin was to integrate Benedictine monasticism with the model of an

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' ...

and wore

kavi Kavi or KAVI may refer to: People * Agasthya Kavi, 14th century composer from Warangal * Appachcha Kavi (1868–1930), Indian poet and playwright * Archana Kavi (born 1988), Indian film actress and YouTuber * Arunachala Kavi (1711–1779), Tamil ...

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

monk Francis Mahieu joined them in 1953, and was later to go on to found

Kurisumala Ashram Kurisumala Ashram is a Trappist monastery of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in the Sahya Mountains in Vagamon, Kerala, India. History Francis Mahieu, a Trappist monk from the Scourmont Abbey in Belgium came to Kerala to start the ash ...

with

Bede Griffiths Bede Griffiths OSB Cam (17 December 1906 – 13 May 1993), born Alan Richard Griffiths and also known by the end of his life as Swami Dayananda ("bliss of compassion"), was a British-born priest and Benedictine monk who lived in ashrams in So ...

in 1958. Griffiths himself stayed at Saccidananda Ashram in 1957 and 1958, and was later to return to the monastery in 1968 as its leader. Monchanin had died in 1957, and le Saux preferred more and more to stay in his

hermitage Hermitage, The Hermitage or L'Hermitage may refer to: * Hermitage (religious retreat), a place of religious seclusion Places * The Hermitage Museum (est. 1754), in Saint Petersburg, Russia * The Hermitage (Nashville, Tennessee), the estate ...

in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over ...

rather than at Saccidananda Ashram. The name " Saccidananda" is the name for the Christian

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...

(the nickname "Shantivanam" meaning "forest of peace"). Literally translated as "Being — Consciousness/Knowledge — Bliss" ("Sat — Cit — Ananda") the name was coined by

Keshub Chandra Sen Keshub Chandra Sen ( bn, কেশবচন্দ্র সেন; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was a Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology withi ...

in 1882 as the name for the Trinity. Monchanin's adopted name (Parma Arupi Anananda) similarly meant "man of the supreme joy of the Spirit" or "supreme formless joy" and le Saux's adopted name (Abhishiktananda) meant "bliss of Christ" or "he whose joy is the blessing of the Lord". The name of the monastery was a reflection of Monchanin's attempt to blend Christian and Hindu mysticism together; but it was also a reflection of Monchanin's firm commitment to Christianity. Monchanin, who was more of an intellectual than le Saux, did not desire to identify the

Advaita ''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' ( ...

concept of

the Absolute Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...

with the Holy Trinity, stating that "Christian mysticism is Trinitarian or it is nothing", but he did believe that with a lot of work it was possible to reconcile the two mystical traditions, and this was the principle upon which Saccidananda Ashram was founded. This integration of the

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, ...

with Christianity is a point upon which the two founders of Saccidananda Ashram differed. Le Saux was more radical in his thinking than Monchanin. Whilst Monchanin held to the idea of Christianizing other religions, le Saux (who often referred to Monchanin as his "Christian Guru", although there was no clear master-disciple relationship between the twain) believed that non-Christian religions could transform Christianity itself.

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External links

Shantivanam Ashram

Oblates of Shantivanam

Shantivanam at Bede Griffiths Trust
Catholic Church in India Christianity in Tamil Nadu Benedictine monasteries Religious organizations established in 1938 Tiruchirappalli district

Description

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Further reading

External links