Jesuit ‘A’ swami’s of India

The Times article – Jesuit Swamis of India, throws more light into who these Missionaries dupes naive Hindus

But perhaps the most engaging of the Indian Jesuits are the handful who have chosen to adopt the life-styles and manner of Hindu sanyasi-holy men-while continuing their work as Roman Catholic priests. Two such Jesuits are Swami Amalananda and Swami Animananda, who work in remote, poor villages in the state of Mysore. The 70-year-old Animananda, whose chosen name means “devotee of the small,” turned sanyasi in 1947. Now he travels by bullock cart to five small villages talking about religion with clusters of interested listeners in Hindu temples. Because the villagers are monotheists, Lingayat Hindus who worship the God Shiva, Animananda preaches “less about Christ and more about God the Father.”

Swami Amalananda, 54, whose name means “taking joy in the immaculate, “is building a small stone church at Deshunur in the style of the Hindu temple, the mandir. But it will have Stations of the Cross carved into the outside wall and ten windows symbolizing the Commandments. Sitting on a small cement platform in the holy man’s traditional style, he dispenses advice to reverent villagers. The advice is often practical as well as religious, perhaps warning them about such practices as thatching their cow sheds because of the danger of fire. He has also started both a savings bank and a seed bank for the villagers.

Read full article at : http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945244,00.html#ixzz1baZyxqpp

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