'Sanyaas' lessons for Christian clergy
By Ananthakrishnan G
TNN
THE TIMES OF INDIA
October 21, 2007
Tiruvanantapuram -- While the Anglican Church may shun Yog,
in Kerala the Syro-Malabar church -- regarded as the oldest
in the country -- has decided to embrace the Hindu
tradition of Sanyaas. This and other cultural aspects like
bhajans are becoming a part of new curriculum for training
the Christian clergy in the church.
''Priests have to work in the Indian milieu. So it's
necessary that they learn about India's strong spiritual
foundations like the Gurukul system, Sanyaas, and
Varnashram'' church spokesman Paul Thelekat told TOI. The
curriculum, which is called the 'Charter for priestly
formation in the Syro-Malabar church', has been reformed
and promulgated and is going to be applied in every
seminary, he said.
''We were taught the basics of Indian philosophical systems
as part of theory,'' says Thelekat, but now there's focus
on practical learning.
The clerical curriculum includes an introduction to
Hinduism. Although the usual training is given by
Indologists, of late seminaries are being advised to take
direct assistance of Sanyaasis, to prepare students for
ascetic life. ''Undoubtedly, there are a lot of good ideas
in the Indic way of life which we must incor****ate and use.
Priests must imbibe the rich Indian traditions and be open
to new ideas,'' said Thelekat.
But then why all this fuss about Yog in the UK? ''That's
absolute nonsense. Even we were taught Yog during our
training. It's a method by which you can recollect
yourself. I do it everyday. It's good not only for the body
but also for the mind,'' said the priest.
Early this year, a church was opened at Pariman in Kollam
district with Jesus seated in padmasana and was called
'Jagat Jyoti Man-dir'. While the church calls this
Indianisation, critics are wary of all the changes,
suspecting it to be an attempt to confuse people.
More at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Sanyaas_lessons_for_Christian_clergy/articleshow/2477689.cms
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