This book is a special kind of autobiography, dealing with the events and episodes
of life that led to greater spiritual awareness in somebody who is one of the foremost
writers in matters spiritual today. She is also in an elite group of at best five
members when it comes to interpreting the Hindu tradition. Such a person's views
are always interesting and understanding their evolution does a lot to better appreciate
one's own. The book does not disappoint in any way, because Eck has a quality unusual
in writers about matters spiritual, she is a good writer to begin with! There is
none of the usual turgid and superlatively naïve belief in a benevolent disposition
of the universe. This is a book written by a person who is grounded as much in reality
as in her faith, the two not being always the same thing.
Let it be said right at the outset that all her striving has only deepened her Christian
faith. She is not a proto-Hindu, not by a long shot, though I feel any Hindu would
claim her as one of their own instantly. Nor is this book a display of erudition
so that one's chosen faith can be triumphantly vindicated at the end. She has learnt
and practiced many paths, seeking any thing that would make her faith come alive.
She is a rare bird in being a scholar whose faith is vibrantly real. Most eggheads
know so much that they really cannot believe in anything. I do not presume to critique
her theology, or her understanding of Hindu myths. The first is impeccable, if you
have a turn of mind that way, and the second is a matter of personality determining
taste. She does not find, for instance, anything but the tedium of constant bloodshed
in the Avatar of Parashurama, whereas in our myths section I have demonstrated its
great psychological importance in Indian notions. The fact that she has engaged
with other aspects of the tradition and made seminal contributions there is more
than enough. See our reviews section for her book, Banaras,
City of Light
What is most important in the book however is not the fact of Eck's faith or its
evolution but her ceaseless quest to find meaning in the spirit of turbulence and
seeking that characterizes most genuine seeking today. Why is there so much cross
fertilization, so much borrowing - acknowledged, unconscious, unknown - between
those who would like to avoid organized religion but thirst for a faith of their
own? She tries to provide a universal perspective to these questions, and her own
journey is in a sense only illustrative narrative to these vital questions. Her
words in the preface set this out clearly. "My encounters with Hindus has enabled
me to understand my own faith more clearly and required that I understand my own
faith differently. It would only be honest to say my faith as a Christian has been
shaped by several religious traditions. This book is an attempt to articulate the
ways in which this has been so. While I use my own experiences as illustrative,
I am convinced there are a great many people, Christians and others, who have similar
experiences and who share these concerns - in their own ways, in their own keys,
and in their own lives."
While I would not like to single out any section of the book as being more important
in any way than any other, Chapter 7 deals with a larger issue, the challenge of
religious diversity. She analyses the three main responses to it and the chapter
is worth perusing many times over. The exclusivist is the face we are all familiar
with, the one who believes he and his kind have the sole truth, with the others
languishing in outer darkness. The inclusivist sees his tradition as including all
others and possibly being the most sensible option available. The pluralist should
actually have been called the realist, for he accepts that where religion is concerned
an infinite variety of views are inevitable. He seeks dialogue and trust in interfaith
encounters so that we can learn more about each other as well as deepen our own
faith. It would seem to be the only sane way forward, but belief has always been
a form of temporary insanity.
The other sections of the book (especially Chapter 8) which try to offer some sort
of resolution to all these issues are equally worth perusing. This book is recommended
not only without reserve but also with extravagant enthusiasm.
Reviewed by Rohit Arya
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