Diploma thesis "Prayer in St. Benedict's monastic rule and interreligious dialogue" is focused on the St. Benedict prayer presentation and its importance in the interreligious dialogue. The prayer should be considered as an essential parts of each Christian religious life. Christian life represented and described by St. Benedict, is the life of prayer. Benedict monastic rule has application, however, thanks to the generally applicable principles outside the monastery and should be suitable part of the spiritual experience of every Christian. The main goal of this thesis it to show the importance of real prayer and way of life in prayer for interreligious dialogue by Benedictine monks in the time of Bede Griffiths, Thomas Merton, John Main and Laurence Freeman, representing experience regarding interreligious dialogue with Hindu and Buddhist monks about the contemplation, prayer and different religious traditions. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

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The French Benedictine monk Henri Le Saux (Abhishikt.ananda) sought to establish an Indian Christian monasticism, emphasizing Hindu ad1•aitic experience. He understood advaita as both nondual and non-monistic. Using phenomenology and comparative philosophy. this thesis explores his understanding and experience of advaita, comparing it to both traditional Hinduism and neo-Vedanta, as well as to Christianity and Zen Buddhism. Abhishiktananda's description of his experience is examined in relation to perception, thinking, action. ontology and theology. Special attention is given Lo comparing the views of the Hindu sages RamaQa Maharshi and Gnanananda, both of whom influenced Abbishiktananda. Abhishiktananda believed that advaita must be directly experienced; this experience is beyond all words and concepts. He compares Christian apophatic mysticism and Hindu sannyiisa. This thesis examines his distinction between experience and thought in relation to recent philosophical discussions. Abhishiktananda radically reinterprets Christianity. His affirmation of both nonduality and non-monism was influenced by Christian Trinitarianism, interpreted as an emanation of the Many from the One. Jesus' experience of Sonship with the Father is an advaitic experience that is equally available to everyone. Abhishiktananda believes that the early Upanishads report a similar experience. A monistic interpretation of advaita only developed later with the "dialectics" of Shankara's disciples. In non-monistic advaita, the world is not an illusion. Using ideas derived from tantra and Kashmir Saivism, Abhishiktananda interprets mayii as the .fakti or power of Shiva. He compares .fakti to the Holy Spirit. Abhishiktananda distinguishes between a pure consciousness experience (nirvikalpa or kel•ala samudhi) and a return to the world of diversity in sahaja samiidhi. Ramar:ta and Gnanananda make a similar distinction. Sahaja samadhi is the state of the jf11anmukti, the one who is liberated while still in the body; it is an experience that is referred to in tantra and in Kashmir Saivi.\'m . Abhishiktananda never experienced nin•ikalpa samiidhi, but he did experience sahaja sam&lhi. The appendix provides one possible synthesis of Abhishiktananda's understanding of advaita using the ideas of C. G. Jung. / Religious Studies / Thesis (D.Litt. et Phil.)

The French Benedictine monk Henri Le Saux (Abhishiktananda) sought to establish an Indian Christian monasticism, emphasizing Hindu advaitic experience. He understood advaita as both nondual and non-monistic. Using phenomenology and comparative philosophy, this thesis explores his understanding and experience of advaita, comparing it to both traditional Hinduism and neo-Vedanta, as well as to Christianity and Zen Buddhism. Abhishiktananda's description of his experience is examined in relation to perception, thinking, action, ontology and theology. Special attention is given to comparing the views of the Hindu sages Ramana Maharshi and Gnanananda, both of whom influenced Abhishiktananda. Abhishiktananda believed that advaita must be directly experienced; this experience is beyond all words and concepts. He compares Christian apophatic mysticism and Hindu sannyasa. This thesis examines his distinction between experience and thought in relation to recent philosophical discussions. Abhishiktananda radically reinterprets Christianity. His affirmation of both nonduality and non-monism was influenced by Christian Trinitarianism, interpreted as an emanation of the Many from the One. Jesus' experience of Sonship with the Father is an advaitic experience that is equally available to everyone. Abhishiktananda believes that the early Upanishads report a similar experience. A monistic interpretation of advaita only developed later with the "dialectics" of Shankara's disciples. In non-monistic advaita, the world is not an illusion. Using ideas derived from tantra and Kashmir Saivism, Abhishiktananda interprets maya as the sakti or power of Shiva. He compares sakti to the Holy Spirit. Abhishiktananda distinguishes between a pure consciousness experience (nirvikalpa or kevala samadhi) and a return to the world of diversity in sahaja samadhi. Ramai:ia and Gnanananda make a similar distinction. Sahaja samadhi is the state of the jivanmukti, the one who is liberated while still in the body; it is an experience that is referred to in tantra and in Kashmir Saivism. Abhishikta:nanda never experienced nirvikalpa samadhi, but he did experience sahaja samiidhi. The appendix provides one possible synthesis of Abhishiktananda's understanding of advaita using the ideas of C.G. Jung. / Religious Studies and Arabic / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 378-404).

The French Benedictine monk Henri Le Saux (Abhishikt.ananda) sought to establish an Indian Christian monasticism, emphasizing Hindu ad1•aitic experience. He understood advaita as both nondual and non-monistic. Using phenomenology and comparative philosophy. this thesis explores his understanding and experience of advaita, comparing it to both traditional Hinduism and neo-Vedanta, as well as to Christianity and Zen Buddhism. Abhishiktananda's description of his experience is examined in relation to perception, thinking, action. ontology and theology. Special attention is given Lo comparing the views of the Hindu sages RamaQa Maharshi and Gnanananda, both of whom influenced Abbishiktananda. Abhishiktananda believed that advaita must be directly experienced; this experience is beyond all words and concepts. He compares Christian apophatic mysticism and Hindu sannyiisa. This thesis examines his distinction between experience and thought in relation to recent philosophical discussions. Abhishiktananda radically reinterprets Christianity. His affirmation of both nonduality and non-monism was influenced by Christian Trinitarianism, interpreted as an emanation of the Many from the One. Jesus' experience of Sonship with the Father is an advaitic experience that is equally available to everyone. Abhishiktananda believes that the early Upanishads report a similar experience. A monistic interpretation of advaita only developed later with the "dialectics" of Shankara's disciples. In non-monistic advaita, the world is not an illusion. Using ideas derived from tantra and Kashmir Saivism, Abhishiktananda interprets mayii as the .fakti or power of Shiva. He compares .fakti to the Holy Spirit. Abhishiktananda distinguishes between a pure consciousness experience (nirvikalpa or kel•ala samudhi) and a return to the world of diversity in sahaja samiidhi. Ramar:ta and Gnanananda make a similar distinction. Sahaja samadhi is the state of the jf11anmukti, the one who is liberated while still in the body; it is an experience that is referred to in tantra and in Kashmir Saivi.\'m . Abhishiktananda never experienced nin•ikalpa samiidhi, but he did experience sahaja sam&lhi. The appendix provides one possible synthesis of Abhishiktananda's understanding of advaita using the ideas of C. G. Jung. / Religious Studies / Thesis (D.Litt. et Phil.)

The French Benedictine monk Henri Le Saux (Abhishiktananda) sought to establish an Indian Christian monasticism, emphasizing Hindu advaitic experience. He understood advaita as both nondual and non-monistic. Using phenomenology and comparative philosophy, this thesis explores his understanding and experience of advaita, comparing it to both traditional Hinduism and neo-Vedanta, as well as to Christianity and Zen Buddhism. Abhishiktananda's description of his experience is examined in relation to perception, thinking, action, ontology and theology. Special attention is given to comparing the views of the Hindu sages Ramana Maharshi and Gnanananda, both of whom influenced Abhishiktananda. Abhishiktananda believed that advaita must be directly experienced; this experience is beyond all words and concepts. He compares Christian apophatic mysticism and Hindu sannyasa. This thesis examines his distinction between experience and thought in relation to recent philosophical discussions. Abhishiktananda radically reinterprets Christianity. His affirmation of both nonduality and non-monism was influenced by Christian Trinitarianism, interpreted as an emanation of the Many from the One. Jesus' experience of Sonship with the Father is an advaitic experience that is equally available to everyone. Abhishiktananda believes that the early Upanishads report a similar experience. A monistic interpretation of advaita only developed later with the "dialectics" of Shankara's disciples. In non-monistic advaita, the world is not an illusion. Using ideas derived from tantra and Kashmir Saivism, Abhishiktananda interprets maya as the sakti or power of Shiva. He compares sakti to the Holy Spirit. Abhishiktananda distinguishes between a pure consciousness experience (nirvikalpa or kevala samadhi) and a return to the world of diversity in sahaja samadhi. Ramai:ia and Gnanananda make a similar distinction. Sahaja samadhi is the state of the jivanmukti, the one who is liberated while still in the body; it is an experience that is referred to in tantra and in Kashmir Saivism. Abhishikta:nanda never experienced nirvikalpa samadhi, but he did experience sahaja samiidhi. The appendix provides one possible synthesis of Abhishiktananda's understanding of advaita using the ideas of C.G. Jung. / Religious Studies and Arabic / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

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The establishment of a new concept of intercessory prayer, from an activity sought of the individual holy man to an occupation characterizing an entire monastic community, has recently received much attention; historians have shown that the function of intercession had become, by the Carolingian period, the pre-eminent feature of early medieval monasticism. The role of early medieval monasteries as powerhouses of prayer has encouraged scholarly attention along two particular areas of interest: intercession within the system of medieval patronage and gift exchange, and monastic ritual elaboration. Missing in the main historiographical approaches is discussion concerning the place of intercessory prayer within the monastic ideal. This study therefore asks the central question, ‘What was the relationship between the intercessory function of monasticism and the ascetic concern for moral conversion in the time of the reforms of Benedict of Aniane, c. 750-820?’ The writings of Carolingian monastic reformers demonstrate that the chief concern of the monk was to seek and find perfection in God; it is the argument of this study that the elaborate liturgical intercession which characterized early medieval monasticism was coherent with this goal. The Introduction sets out to establish the continuity of the ascetic pursuit in the Carolingian monastic ideal with earlier monasticism. We then order our investigation by: i) proposing that monastic liturgical organization was meant to address the fundamental problem of human sin which impedes fruitful prayer, and that the additions of intercessory liturgy made by Benedict of Aniane should be seen as part of his pastoral concern for the holiness of monks (Chapter 1); ii) situating the specific intercessory performances of monastic communities – namely, the intercessory Mass and the Divine Office – within Carolingian monastic theology (Chapters 2 and 3); iii) examining how the prayer directed toward two groups of beneficiaries of intercession – fellow monks and rulers – was grounded on the the ascetic goals of moral conversion and pilgrimage toward the celestial kingdom (Chapters 4 and 5); and iv) addressing the question of what role Carolingian monastics meant for their intercessory prayers to play in society at large, and the extent to which general social concern was a priority in monastic intercession (Chapter 6). This study provides a detailed description of the ascetic ideal required for understanding the formalized ritual and patronized prayer of monasteries within its proper sphere of monastic spirituality. I conclude in particular that the increasing importance of monastic intercession was related to a heightened emphasis in Carolingian spiritual thought on the teleological theme of transformation both individual and cosmic. The intercessory function of early medieval monasticism suggests an incorporation of the spiritual pilgrimage of the wider world into the monk’s own individual discipline, and tied the monk’s ascesis to the larger story of the conversion of the world to God.

This thesis examines the relationships between royal convents and rulers in Saxony from 852 to 1024. The spate of female monasteries founded in Saxony in the ninth and tenth centuries, alongside the close relationships of major convents to the Ottonian dynasty, has led to Saxon female monasticism being described as unique. As such, Saxony's apparently peculiar experience has been used to make comparisons with other regions about the nature of female monasticism, commemoration and the role of women in early medieval societies. This thesis interrogates these ideas by tracking the development of two major royal convents: Gandersheim and Quedlinburg. By reassessing the origins of these convents, and their later rewriting in sources produced by these monasteries, we can consider how their relationships with the rulers of Saxony developed over time, and how their identity and function as royal monasteries evolved as the tenth century progressed. In doing so, this thesis challenges the dominant understanding of these convents as homes of the Ottonian memoria and provides a detailed view of how these institutions became so prominent in Saxony. The thesis is divided into four sections. After introducing the historiographical importance of this topic in the first chapter, in chapter two I assess the origins of the convent of Gandersheim in Carolingian Saxony. Chapter three turns to the rewriting of these origins by Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim in the 970s. Chapter four reconsiders the early history of the convent of Quedlinburg from 936 to 966. Chapter five tracks how the origins of Quedlinburg evolved into a new narrative across the tenth century, culminating in the version provided by the Quedlinburg Annals in 1008. Finally, the concluding section outlines the significance of this thesis for our understanding of early medieval female monasticism and the history of the Ottonian Empire.