LIFE OF THE CONGREGATION
Sebastião Pitz, scj
This article describes an experience lived by me for approximately two and a half years as a missionary in India. It is still early to make an exhaustive exposition of Indian and Asiatic spirituality, as seen in the social-political, religious, economic and cultural context which characterizes religious life in the East.
The principal objective of my sharing this experience with you, dear reader, is that of reflecting together on the mission which the religious life has in the process of being inserted in the Indian reality. For it is within this reality that the religious life is called to bear witness to Jesus Christ and proclaim Him with ever-renewed ardor.
The post Synodal apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in Asia, in presenting Asia as the geographic and historic context in which the Incarnation took place, affirms that this same context had an important influence also on the life and on the mission of the Redeemer as a man. “Likewise”, observes the Holy Father, “the Church lives and fulfills her mission in the actual circumstances of time and place. A critical awareness of the diverse and complex realities of Asia is essential if the People of God on the continent are to respond to God’s will for them in the new evangelization” (Cf. n. 5).
This reflection is part of a sincere preoccupation to respond to the will of God in the Indian reality, and more specifically in the contribution which I myself am making in the formation of the new religious.
1. The Origin of the Experience
In recent years we are continually more aware of the fact that we must also unite the forces of the religious of different Congregations in the field of formation, especially in the periods of the postulate, the novitiate and the juniorate. India cannot remain an outsider to this process. Here too, young people feel the call, they gather together for days, and even for weeks of formation or for inter-congregational experience. I refer in particular to the Claretians of Carmelaram (Bangalore, capital of Karnataka State), who each year organize courses for novices, courses which are open to Congregations present within the region, or even to those in other States, but with a smaller number of novices so that they can all be lodged in the Claretian Novice House.
Since I appreciated this initiative on the part of Carmelaram1, which I had learned about during the first year that I was in India. I took my three novices from Cochin-Kerala to spend the month of August in the Claretian novitiate. Thus they took part in three courses which had as their themes: “Psycho- Spiritual Integration”, “Social Analysis and Street Theater” and “Human Maturity”. The first and the third courses were animated by the Novice Master and his assistant; both of them were psychologists trained in the Psychology Institute of the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome. For the first of the ten day courses the registration showed that the novices (both male and female) who participated came from fourteen different religious Congregations, and that there was a total of ninety participants2.
I have provided this forward in order to emphasize that the spiritual experience which I now intend to present owes its origin to these forms of living and of receiving formation together with other novices who, normally, during the period of the new novitiate, also have experience of Ashram: a course, or retreat, of “initiation to Indian-Asiatic spirituality”, held in the Anjali Ashram in Mysore and founded by Swami Amalorananda3. I took my novices there for this ten day experience in the month of November 1999. In all we made up a group of more than 90: male and female novices, novice masters and, in addition, a group of female religious and priests who came from a course of formation which also included an experience of Ashram.
2. What an experience of “Ashram” offers
Before giving a definition of Ashram it is important to specify that it deals with a style of life which claims to be “integrated” on all levels. Everything converges on the experience: an experience of God enriched by silence, contact with nature, simplicity and also austerity, with a style of life which has the typical characteristics of the modus vivendi of most poor Indians, and/or those impoverished because of social, political or economic factors.
The founder of the Anjali Ashram was a well known person, a man who had reflected on the way the Ashram was to be built in order to be able to receive the people who sought it; people who hoped to deepen their own experience of God and their own culture, prepared to inculturate the Christian religion and its expression of faith into the Indian culture.
This Ashram, directed, since 1992 up to the present time, by Swami Louis, a priest of the same diocese as Swami Amalorananda, Ponticherry, takes care to continue in the same line as its predecessor, promoting a living and authentic Indian spirituality. In the days spent in the Anjali Ashram, in addition to following the normal program of the ordinary life of the Ashram, we had two hours of lectures daily, given by the Fr. Director, and also a homily to harmonize the Word of God with the theme for reflection and for the prayer of the day.
With his lectures and homilies, the Director brought to light his particular style of life, revealing himself to be a realistic and integrated man with a profound experience of God, very well informed about Indian culture and open to religious dialogue, principally with that of Hinduism. In his prayers a spontaneous concentration on Christ and the Resurrected Christ came through, one which was inculturated in the Indian reality. Therefore some sacred Hindu books are read and studied in the hours of meditation and communal prayer.
The real poverty and simplicity of the Ashram is evident in the food, in the way that those who are part of the community dress and also in the furnishings of the temple, the chapel, the lecture room and the refectory. Normally they sit on the ground, on a simple straw mat, during the whole time of communal activities. It is a sincere attempt to live truly as the poor live in India. Once, towards the end of our experience, we had a free evening to visit, in little groups of two or three, the poor people on the outskirts of Mysore. This made it possible for us to compare the style of life in the Ashram with the real life of the poor. The house we visited, together with an Italian Father and another Indian from Andhra Pradesh, was a house with a single large room where the parents lived together with their three children. When we entered we were kindly invited to leave our shoes outside the door and to sit down on a straw mat. I was impressed by the fact that they did not seem at all uneasy because of our presence. They offered us some water and a slice of cake, certainly taken from their supper.
Swami Louis, convinced that the rich could not evangelize the poor by taking the example of Jesus who made Himself poor to proclaim the Good News to the poor, is somewhat critical of the religious life as lived today in India. He affirms with conviction that the religious life is not giving a true witness of poverty and ardent adhesion to Christ and to His life. “It is essential”, he states, “that the religious (male or female) is a fulfilled and happy person in the life which they have chosen and, consequently, they must attract and help people especially with the witness of their own life”.
The reflections follow the following pattern;
- Introduction: The vision present in the construction of the Ashram and its meaning.
- Atma Purna Anhubava: Full experience of the Spirit (Atman) or experience of the fullness of the Spirit.
- Sadhana (the itinerary for its accomplishment).
- Guru (spiritual guidance and its importance).
- Prayer as the expression of the totality of the being in freedom, tranquility, silence.
- “I am who I am” (Ex 3:14) is the expression of freedom in its fullness.
- Dyana (illumination) and the search for my “I” in God.
- Yoga (union): the opening and union with oneself, with God, with the universe. It aids the personal control of the body, the senses, the tongue and the mind.
- The consequence of that is freedom which is expressed interiorly: union with myself and with God, communion with society, harmony with nature. Thus I will have a greater capacity of expressing myself.
- The religious, being human, ecclesial and disciple - always in search of that reality which is God - in freedom like dharma (justice) and in the simplicity of life, becomes similar to the pilgrim who has God as his final objective.
- The religious life must be lived with decision and determination, and as a total renunciation. It must lead to Christ who proclaims the Good News to the poor and frees them from their chains.
- Within this framework, and following the daily program of the Ashram4, I was able to have a meaningful experience of God, which was and continues to be an important contribution also for my personal process of inculturation in the Indian reality.
3. Some Reflections
I consider this experience, which some Congregations of female religious are having in India, as being very important; above all in the formative field. Inter-Congregationality is certainly a great help in a country in which the cultural, social and religious challenges are very accentuated. We must learn also from the experience of others, as well as offer something of our own poverty, so that the religious life may come to be an ever more incarnate reality in India too.
In addition, a global vision of the religious life in India is maturing, in this way it may really be a meaningful presence as a religious witness in the radical following of the Passion of Christ: pure, chaste, obedient.
In comparing our religious with the “Sandu”, the holy men of Hinduism, one realizes that the latter give a very powerful example of radical renunciation, to the point of being “shocking”. In our religious life, on the other hand, a strong western influence can be perceived. This also depends on the fact that our religious are trained according to western methods; and here, very often, evangelical radicalness has left room for new forms of being “a religious presence in the midst of the people”; forms which are sometimes still meaningful, but not all of them valid for the Asiatic mentality.
Another problem is due to the fact that there are a great number of vocations to be found, particularly in Southern India.
Without doubting the attraction to the religious life of many well intentioned young people who truly desire to live it in its evangelical radicalness, the trainer who has the task of initiating them into the religious life must be very careful with regard to those young people in whom there prevails instead the quest for a more comfortable and secure life, as well as a desire to know the western world better. This, above all, is important for those Congregations which have more recently arrived in India, as is our case. To have the houses full of aspirants and to cultivate a great vocational optimism can be positive and feed one’s commitment. However, it is much better if from the start, attention is directed to forming authentic religious and priests who are immersed body and soul in the Indian reality, committed to being witnesses in this reality and dedicated to implanting there the Kingdom of God with all of its values.
In conclusion, as a foreign trainer, in the process of formation I must be careful to welcome with joy that which the Indian and Asiatic reality offers me for my personal conversion. I must help others to follow their religious itinerary with serenity and to act in a very realistic way when faced with the challenges which can not only be reasons for anxiety but, at the same time, can encourage us to advance in the direction of that Truth in which we believe, that Truth which fulfills us and makes us happy.
1 The name “Carmelaram” is due to the Carmelites, who were pioneers in this place. After they came many other Congregations were to acquire lands from the Carmelites in those surroundings and were to build monasteries as well as formation and hospitality houses.
2 At this point it would be useful to be more specific concerning the number of vocations in India. Often, in the region of Bangalore, capital of the Karnataka State, known also as the “Rome” of the Orient, there are approximately 400 novices (of both sexes). This information comes to us from the National Biblical Catechetic and Liturgical Center (NBCLC), which is also to be found in Bangalore. Carmelaram is to be found 15 km outside the city and aims to house one group of novices. The others gather in the NBCLC, which also offers specific courses for novices and religious from all of India.
3 In India there exist approximately 50 Ashram (centers of spirituality). As one of these centers, the Anjali Ashram has a particular importance because it proposes a spirituality which also seeks to integrate and maximize certain elements of Buddhism and Hinduism, and offers systematic courses for religious (priests and brothers), as well as for persons of other religions who desire to know more about and have experience of Indian spirituality. This Ashram was founded by Swami Amalorananda (1932-1990). This religious from Ponticherry (former French colony), who gained his diploma in catechesis and his doctorate in theology at the Catholic Institute of Paris, deserves a prominent post in the Indian Church. He was also the founder of the NBCLC, of which he was later director (1967-1982), and, inspired by the teachings of Vatican II, he made a notable contribution to the renewal of India. He organized seminars in various regions and published the magazine “Word and Worship”. On the international level he was a member of several Vatican and international commissions and theological organizations. In 1979 Fr. Amalor was invited to be titular professor in the chair of Christianity at the University of Mysore - the first such institute in India. In 1981 he instituted the department and, at the same time, built and initiated the beautiful and serene Anjali Ashram at the foot of the sacred mountain. He later returned to his Achaya-Guru to be with the many people who had, as early as 1980, been involved in the building of the Ashram. He died in a road accident on May 25, 1990, while traveling in his automobile from Mysore to Bangalore.
4 The Ashram proposes a program with its own characteristics in the celebration of the Eucharist, following a rite which includes: The Holy Mass for India, songs of Bhajans and Mantras, symbols linked to the Indian culture and, in addition to the Bible, the use of certain readings taken from the sacred Hindu books. This is the timetable: 5:30 - Pratah samdhya (morning meditation); 6:30 - Celebration of the Eucharist; 7:30 - Morning coffee; 8:00 - Free time and Ashram seva (manual work); 10:30 - Upadesa (lecture); 12:00 - Madhyan samdhya (midday meditation); 12:30 - Lunch, free time, rest and Ashram seva; 15:30 - Tea; 16:00 - Upadesa II; 18:30 - Saayan samdhya (evening meditation); 19:30 - Jantar (supper); 20:15 - Satsangh (group sharing), individual study, prayer; 22:00 - Rest.