WORDS Ann Doyle PHOTO Bruce Miller

Discovering the many faces of religion in India.

Maryknoll missionary Max Warren once wrote that our first task in approaching people of another culture or religion is to take off our shoes, ‘else we may find ourselves treading on someone’s dreams. More serious still, we may forget that God was there before our arrival'.

We took off our shoes many times during our visit to India, the land of many religions and countless gods. We visited Hindu temples and shrines, learning about their 330 million gods. We went to Sarnath, where the Buddha first preached. We covered our heads with orange cloths and bathed our feet before meditating in a beautiful Sikh temple in Delhi. We listened to chanting and observed the activities of worshippers in a Jain temple in Mumbai and walked quietly past worshippers at the largest mosque in India, in Old Delhi.

Our travels took us to Catholic churches which praise God in all the bright colours and detailed sculptures of Indian culture, and to schools where Catholic priests and nuns are doing extraordinary work for their Hindu, Muslim and Animist students and showing deep respect for their beliefs. Clearly, God is everywhere in India. Multi-faith traditions abound and there is great tolerance for the differences in belief.

For three days we stayed at Ishopanthi Ashram in Puri on the east coast of India. This haven, run by the Divine Word Missionaries, is in a leper colony. Here, pilgrims are invited to enter into dialogue with people of other faiths and cultures by sharing their beliefs and working to support the leprosy-affected families who live there.

At Asha Niketan, the L’Arche community in Kolkata, men and women, regardless of creed, race and caste, are welcomed into a real home and encouraged to create a new form of family. People with mental illness or intellectual disabilities are given food, shelter and an opportunity to develop and express their creativity in an environment of love and acceptance.

Each morning all members of the community, both able-bodied and disabled, from many faith communities, gather in the ‘Dhyanalaya’ or Meditation Room for 30 minutes of silence, prayer and meditation. A single oil lamp, lit every day from an eternal flame, is a shining symbol of the spirit of Asha Niketan. No ritual or calamity is allowed to break its spell. It represents the coming together of all creeds in a time of peace and harmony.

To journey through India is to encourage an opening of heart and mind but also to go within to discover untouched parts of the soul which can be animated by encountering other ways of praising God. We see with new eyes that God has been in these places since long before our arrival. We see the value of exploring and sharing other forms of spirituality.
A journey through India is a journey into the sacred and, ultimately, into one’s own spirituality. We met hundreds of people of many faiths during our three weeks in this surprising and inspiring land. We were confronted by extreme poverty, deformity, illness and misfortune. But always we were met with welcoming smiles and gracious hospitality. And always we were moved to greet them with hands clasped in front of the heart and a bowed head, with the phrase ‘Namaste’: ‘I honour the divine within you as you honour the divine within me’.