Francis Clooney, Entitled Hindu Wisdom for All

¶ … Francis Clooney, entitled Hindu Wisdom for all God's Children, the author begins his Christian journey into the Hindu religion by noting that when he first arrived in Katmandu, India, he felt a profound sense of disappointment that the place he visited was not more 'different' than where he had left. (Clooney 1) Clooney, a Jesuit Professor of Theology at Boston College, thus stresses the similarity between the Christian and Hindu traditions, rather than their fundamental dissimilarity in his approach. His main desire in writing his book was to create a sense of dialogue and connection between these two faiths, separated by geography as well as philosophy. He does not deny that there are core and key differences between Christianity and Hinduism. However, he sees these differences in approach as sites of theological discussion between Christians and Hindus to grow in wisdom, rather than excuses for disharmony between the members of these two traditions, one Western and one Eastern.

Clooney structures his book around three core themes of difference or dialogue. The first is that of the creation myths containing in their essences the core value differences common to Christianity and Hinduism, respectively. One myth focuses on the 'I', the other upon God's relationship to that 'I,' created by God. The second is that of the syncretism or the blending of religions that is key to understanding Hinduism's development in relationship to Buddhism. Here originates the focus upon love and harmony in Hinduism, a focus that Hinduism shares with Buddhism and Christianity. The third is that of the contemporary state of dialogue between Christianity and Hinduism that is rooted in both religions' pacifism. Clooney believes that the wisdom found in Hinduism can be spiritually beneficial not only to Hindus, or even to secular individuals seeking spiritual solace in 'Eastern' rather than Western religious traditions, but even to Christians willing to create for themselves a more holistic form of global spirituality. Hindu wisdom can be beneficial to those of any faith, he stresses, expanding the philosophy and practice of any sectarian form of devotion.

Clooney begins his discussion with the core Hindu creation myth, a myth over twenty-five hundred years old. However, rather than stressing the alien quality of this myth, of the names that might be strange to a Western ear, Clooney asserts that the myth's core is that the universe began with a sense of 'I' and a sense of self. He contrasts this with the Genesis account, where God, rather than the 'I' of humanity, is at the beginning of the universe as human beings know and understand it. In Genesis, God creates the 'I,' in Hinduism, the 'I' is present from the beginning. From this, he takes the message that in Hinduism there can be no understanding of the world unless there is an understanding of the 'I,' of the core self, rather than of the self's relationship to a transcendent god. (Clooney 4-5)

However, despite this apparent difference there is also reference in the Hindu creation myth to this fundamental, core self's first fissure, from an 'I' into the two halves of male and female, paralleling the creation of the genders in the second phase of the Genesis myth common to Christianity. Although in Hinduism, the self's quest as opposed to God's creation may be paramount, this does not mean that pure solitude is humanity's highest state. Rather, pure solitude is a stopping-off place to the loneliness of self-discovery. Both creation myths, Clooney implies, contain a certain sense of incompleteness and division from first cause, from what is primary and whole. Both Christianity and Hinduism, albeit in different ways, force human beings to recognize their state of loneliness and incompleteness in the world. Christianity traces this break back to God's first creation of the world (of which humans are a part), Hinduism to the creation of the first self. Still, both practices require religious observers to reconcile themselves to this early break of humanity with the eternal state of creation. Hinduism and Christianity both exist in cycles of birth and renewal, in the latter case that of the self's renewal, in the former that of the renewal of the soul through God's participation in the world.

Buddhism's influence upon Hinduism further intensifies this focus upon the Hindu self. Although this may sound paradoxical, given that Buddhism denies the existence of a core, unchanging soul, in Clooney's terminology, Buddhism and Hinduism share in their stress not upon the individual relationship with God, but upon the individuals' obligation to engage in intense self-examination of his or her spiritual state. Although Hinduism is the dominant religion of India, India still is Buddhism's birthplace, and thus both religions have had a codependent relationship, with one philosophy affecting the other and vice versa. Clooney believes that the Buddha's thoughts injected powerful insights about peace and spiritual liberation into Hinduism's theological fabric. Moreover, he stresses the similarity of Jesus' core teachings with that of the Buddha. (Clooney 48) Just as Jesus taught through parables about man or woman's relationship with God with the telling of tales as that of the "mustard seed," the Buddha also taught through stories and the illumination of paradoxical statements that forced the listener to look more closely at his or her own life. (Clooney 46-48) Clooney sees the core philosophies as thus different, with Buddhism-influenced Hinduism directing its focus upon the seeker's sense of self (or non-self), and Christianity upon the religious seeker's relationship with the creator. Still both contain a fundamental similarity in approach and focus upon peace and liberation from the materialism of the world.