The Integral Message
The Leading Integral Theologian
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Raimon Panikkar: His Significance
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The vision of Raimon Panikkar stands in the tradition of numerous Christian theologians down through history, who have framed their writings to include a non-dual explanation. Panikkar challenges all theologians of our time with his comprehensive non-dual vision which is described in his integral vision of reality.
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All is an interactive, inter-dependent perichoretic dance of Creator, Creation and Creature. To capture the essence of this vision he has coined the term, Cosmotheandric intuition, the human capacity to know of such reality. His term is formed of the three concepts, the cosmos (creation), theos (Greek word for God) and andros (referring to humanity).
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The status of Panikkar as one of life’s spiritual luminaries is highlighted by several scholars. In the introduction to Panikkar’s book, 'The Rhythm of Being', Joseph Prabhu affirms the description of the late Ewert Cousins, one of the pioneers of interfaith dialogue in the twentieth century, who regards Panikkar as ‘one of its paradigmatic and pioneering thinkers’[1] of our time.
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As Ewert Cousins identifies, Panikkar is not only one who perceives but one who lives the reality of which he speaks. From the Rhythm of Being introduction Joseph Prabhu writes.
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In calling Panikkar one of the pre-eminent thinkers of the dawn of the Second Axial Age, Ewert Cousins was claiming both that we are living in a mutational moment in human history, a moment of inter-religious convergence, and that Panikkar is a spiritual mutant, “one in whom the global mutation has already occurred and in whom the new forms of consciousness have been concretised.”[2]
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Whereas Panikkar provides a comprehensive explanation of the theory that undergirds all of his work; his purpose is the shaping of a new way of life for the well-being of all humanity. His vision is practical. His teaching embraces the vision of the transformation of people to accompany his new mythos for a world of peace. Such a vision depends upon a people of peace.
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Panikkar: Background and Multi-talented
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Born to a Spanish mother and Hindu father on November 2nd, 1918, in Barcelona, Spain, he was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1946. In 1955, he moved to India to explore his cultural roots and study Indian philosophy and religion.
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Panikkar, the Catholic priest and academic holds three doctorates; philosophy, science, and religion has lived at the coal face of the globalising world. Standing at the crossroads of the Western and the Eastern worlds, Christianity and the Asian religious traditions, mysticism and science, he had many influences which stimulated his journey as a leading thought pioneer of the twenty-first century. A Spanish mystic, who spent considerable time in India, it was there where he developed his interfaith expertise. Prabhu speaks of Panikkar’s depth of knowledge in four traditions: Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Modern Science.[1]
Gerard Hall, Australian Roman Catholic theologian, reflects a similar respect for Panikkar’s contribution to contemporary insight into the interdisciplinary, inter-religious, multi-cultured world. He states, 'My own interest in Panikkar was aroused when I first read on the back of a book-cover the words of Panikkar: “I left (Europe for Asia ) as a Christian; found myself a Hindu; I returned as a Buddhist, without having ceased to be a Christian.”
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Panikkar studied at universities in Barcelona, Bonn, Madrid and Rome through the mid-40’s to 1961. The final doctorate was in Theology with his dissertation on the relation of Christianity and Hinduism.[2] This theme has been a focus of his lifelong ministry. In 1967, he became Visiting Professor of Comparative Religion at the Centre for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University. From 1971 he became Professor of Comparative Philosophy and History of Religions in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. While in these posts he was able to lecture extensively throughout the world. Most years he was able to spend many months of the year continuing his involvement in India. After his retirement, he lived in Tavertet near Barcelona. His involvement in conferences as guest speaker was continuous throughout these years.[3]
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Of his writings which include some thirty books and approximately 700 articles, his presentation at the Gifford lectures in 1989[4] might be regarded as the pinnacle of his work. The lecture highlights his standing as an international thought leader in his primary topic of interfaith studies and Philosophy of Religion. The work of this lecture has finally been published in his book The Rhythm of Being [5] A final note on the nature of his work would be to say that his task has been to interpret Christian Doctrine in an interfaith context.
Prabhu emphasises that the potency of Panikkar’s work is heightened by the knowledge that he was a man who not only spoke insightfully of this new world but who lived fully within it as well.
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Supported by this strong message of the quality of his living is a powerful and specific message of warning. He declares that the world must note that it is on the verge of a global crisis. The conflict of our worldviews is a cause of great angst, particularly with the strength of the dominant worldview. He identifies that the root of this concern is found at the level of humanity’s underlying mythos. He sees that the crisis created by our disparate views means we have lost a unifying mythos that we can believe in.[7]
[1] Panikkar., The Rhythm of Being: The Gifford Lectures, xvi.
[2] Cousins, Christ of the 21st Century, 74.
[3] ibid., 74f.
[4] Panikkar, xvii.
[5] ibid., xiii.
[6] Cousins, 73.
[7] ibid., 100.