Vidyavanam Ashram

Located in Bannerughatta, a suburb of the City of Bangalore, this ashram is unique in many ways. Here, one would see how Christianity is lived in a simple Indian way, incorporating the age-old wisdoms of Hindu spirituality with the message of Christian faith devoid of its western trappings.  Opening such an ashram has been the life-long aspiration of the Rev. Dr V. Francis Vinneth, of CMI (Carmalite of Mary Immaculate) of India. He believes that our knowledge of Jesus Christ will be at its best, when we realize Christ in us and become another Christ as the ancient Christian dictum goes, “Every Christian is another Christ.” In his autobiography, Fr. Vinneth states that founding an ashram, that would resemble the ways of both the Christian ascetic Fathers who lived in the deserts and the Hindu mystics who lived in the forests, is what God has been preparing him for. 

 

The day after coming to Bangalore after spending considerable time in a Hindu ashram in the north, I came to Vidyavanam, the forest of wisdom.  I was warmly received by Guru Vineeth, a very humble and unassuming man in his mid seventies with a double doctorate from Rome and Oxford and well versed in both Indian and Western Philosophies and fluent in Sanskrit, Latin, German, Italian, English and Malayalam. For me it was a dream comes true.  Immediately I felt a spiritual connection with him.

Perhaps you may remember from one of my earlier blogs my ranting on why Christianity failed to make deeper roots in India even after 2000 years.  For anything to flourish in a new place, it has to take on and adjust to its new surrounding, which was what the ancient Thomas Christians in India did.  However this Indianization of Christianity suffered major blow once western colonial powers began to arrive its shores beginning with the Portuguese in1498.  They turned the nascent Indian Christianity into the shape and form of a western religion, and today it is considered to be a foreign religion.  The Christianity brought here by the apostle Thomas was not a western one. However, today, by and large, the Indian church is sadly regarded as an outpost of western influence and culture.  For some Christians anything Indian is not good and they disparage other religions and philosophies of India.  So, I think this ashram’s embrace of yoga spirituality and its emphasis on interiority in experiencing God provide us not only with an alternative to being a Christian in a genuinely Indian way but also give Hindus an Indian lens to see Christ in a fresh way.

The Cottage I stayed

Jesus depicted as a yogi

A Fresco of Jesus in the Garden

A Statue of Jesus on the top of the Chapel

The Cave Chapel in the center of the Ashram

Artwork resembling the familiar anthills in the area

Sitting for meditation with Fr. Vinneth

Fr. Vineeth and Fr. Anto in addition to celebrating masses in the morning and leading prayers in the evening daily, give classes in yoga, meditation, and Indian spirituality to the ashramites.  They also provide spiritual direction and listen to confessions.  The chapel, central to the campus and where the mass and evening prayers are held, is designed to resemble a forest cave. Rooms where people lodge during their stay are very Spartan. Food is very simple and strictly vegetarian. Since the ashram campus is located on a hill, the sunset is especially beautiful and a great place to sit for meditation. Away from the din of the city and embraced in the coolness of the evening, I sat with Fr. Vineeth for meditation daily at dusk, my mind was at peace and it felt as if I were experiencing the Ineffable.