CHAPTER 25
“I feel like I’m a hundred,” groaned Andre as he stretched his tan arms and legs on his metal bed under the mosquito netting.
Francis laughed loudly. “I don’t have one ounce of compassion for you Andre. You are half my age and I managed.”
“Yes, but you do yoga, qigong, run, power walk, take only God knows how many nutraceuticals and herbs!”
“Try it my friend. You will love it! Now pull that mop of black hair back and get your pony tail in gear! Brother Prasad, the Abbot, is giving class shortly. I understand that he is an expert on world religions and has a gift for communicating the heart of the various belief systems he teaches about in a very clear fashion.”
“Let me get a quick shower first. Did any living creatures manage to crawl into our shower during the night, Bro?”
“No, I was just in the bathroom and its all clear.”
Andre wobbled toward the shower, entered, turned on the water, and began to yell. The water was cold so he yelled during the entire course of every shower.
Francis spied a little cardboard box, about two inches high and one inch square. It had contained a bottle of Yunnan Bai Yao powder, a Chinese medicinal powder for soft tissue damage. Both had taken some mixed with water the night before to help ease their traveler’s aches.
The monk impishly threw the little box into the shower through the partially opened metal door. Andre stopped his yelling just long enough to scream.
“I’m sorry my Canadian friend. The devil made me do it!”
“Well, I’m wide awake now,” is all Andre said over the sound of rushing water.
Soon they were seated on the floor of an octagonal cinder block building with about twenty other men and women from all over the world. Many of these visitors were writing master’s theses and doctoral dissertations on Shanthivanam and / or the late Bede Griffiths, OSB Cam., Benedictine monk of the Camaldolese or hermit branch of the Benedictine order.
Brother Prasad was dressed in orange and spoke softly. He was lecturing on the human search for God—transitioning from nature worship all the way to Jesus.
“You see, the Pharisees had bound up Judaism with so many laws and interpretations thereof that some Jews felt like their spiritual nest had been turned into a cage. Jesus came along to invite us to the nest of inner freedom. Eventually some Christians felt like birds caught in a cage once again.
“And so the cycle goes. Religion, along with its applied experience called spirituality, is essentially an invitation to grow. We walk a fine line between true freedom and license—not caring what the rules say.”
After the monastic class many of the students shared their views on the deceptively simple monk who had them all re-thinking religion and their love or dislike of it. Many remarked that Jesus had probably taught in a similar fashion.
Brother Francis could eat just about anything, and was grateful for everything, but he couldn’t eat curry. The guests would wash and cut up vegetables after breakfast for the main meal at noon and by the time the vegetables got to the guests they were covered with curry in one form or another. One day one of the guests slipped Francis an apple on the way out of the refectory. The gift in all of this for him is that the monk completely lost his appetite and was in no way sick or ill at ease over the situation. He simply did not want the monks to discover his plight and be uncomfortable. Fortunately that did not happen.
The chapel was captivating. Like the other common buildings, it was made up of a wall about three feet high on top of which were wooden posts about ten feet high which held up a thatched roof. The front of the chapel contained a large concrete room which opened into the chapel proper. Within that room was a tabernacle, a sacred box about two feet square, which contained the Blessed Sacrament—the body and blood of Christ in the form of consecrated bread. An oil lamp warmly flickered in one corner of this sanctuary.
Any Hindu who entered such a chapel would immediately understand that God was present in that place. Such a “holy of holies” was present in every Hindu temple and customarily contained a statue of a Hindu deity in some form of manifestation.
Evening meditation in the chapel was a bit of a challenge. Mosquitoes liked to meditate also it appeared. Those who chose to use the chapel for evening meditation often lit incense sticks nearby in order to keep the insects away. Morning Prayer and Eucharist were easier. Mosquitoes liked to sleep in.
One evening the community was treated to a video, the story of the first few people who journeyed to South India. Their efforts eventually turned into the Christian ashram known throughout the world as Shanthivanam, and which spawned other smaller ashrams with a similar philosophy. Some Christian hermits populated the area also.
These early pioneers really went into a kind of twilight zone. Church law and civil law had no real place for them. Many were already monks, nuns, or clergy. Some were able to stay affiliated with their monasteries or dioceses; others were eventually released from their religious orders or dioceses. Today, fortunately, since Canon 603 has resurrected the vocation of hermits, individuals can live a monastic life alone rather than in community. If a community forms around such a person so be it, but it is not essential.
The Bishops of South India want their seminarians to visit Shanthivanam in order to be exposed to deep meditation and interreligious dialogue. They are well aware that clergy need to be formed in ways that go beyond the classroom setting.
After the seminarians, and other visitors, found out that Brother Francis was a naturopathic doctor, a small line would form each morning after veggie prep outside the cinder block hut he shared with Andre. He did what he could with the limited supplies he had with him to treat them. All left the hut grateful for his care.
One seminarian asked if Francis would be his uncle. The Indian custom is to adopt such aunts and uncles as the Spirit leads. A monk who wants to be a brother to all is now also an uncle to someone in India. God is truly the God of surprises.