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WAYNE TEASDALE
and sannyasin is the female-is beyond religion, is beyond dogma, is beyond doctrine--and is beyond all theological formulations. God is always infinitely more than that, no matter what tradition one comes out of.
L.M.: Sannyasa does not initally come out of the Christian tradition. It is not limited to the Christian tradition.
W.T.: Yes, a sannyasi is a sannyasi. Most of them are Hindus, some may be Buddhists and some are Christians--each one of them with their respective culture, background, identity, and tradition. Being a Christian sannyasi, I think what characterizes it is this quest for contemplative experience, and to live the intense mystical life. For the Christian sannyasi, there are the demands of the gospel, and the demands of love, that are very profound.
In their seeking the divine and being a fully formed contemplative mystic, the Christian sannyasi is always available to the demands of compassion, love, service, kindness, and mercy; and to the demands of prophetic witness and sticking one's neck out for justice. The sannyasi makes an absolute commitment to spiritual practice and to a life of simplicity—what we call poverty in the Christian tradition. There is an absolute commitment to love and mercy, and kindness and sensitivity; there is a commitment to awareness—to an ever-expanding awareness. A sannyasi seeks a closeness to creation and nature that includes an attitude of reverence, and being a healing presence to other species.
L.M.: Nature is sacred, and all sentient beings.
W.T.: Nature is sacred, all sentient beings are sacred. Sannyasa brings an attitude of nonharming; and also an attitude of the preciousness of all of this—and one's active communion with creation. The sannyasi works to break down the barriers that separate religions, cultures, peoples, and nations. A sannyasi must be fundamentally rooted in dialogue with them.
L.M.: They are almost a kind of messenger.
W.T.: They are messengers of the transcendent dimension, the sacred dimension.
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