Bede Griffiths: Discovering the Feminine

The whole universe is present in each of us
Father Bede Griffiths

Although he remained a Benedictine monk throughout his life, Father Bede Griffiths adopted the way of the Hindu monastic life and was part of the Christian Ashram Movement.

One morning during meditation, Father Griffiths experienced a massive stroke. It was an event that was to cause him to surrender to the Mother and the feminine aspect of God.

Speaking of the experience, Father Griffiths explains that it was as if he had been hit on the head by a sledge hammer; and yet recuperating from the event, he says that he was subsequently bathed, quite unexpectedly, in wave upon wave of unconditional love. From a psychological viewpoint, he atrributes this to his rational, left brain being 'knocked down' into the intuitive right brain, the anima, the feminine, whereby he was able to embrace the totality of 'motherhood'.

Moreover, Father Griffiths says he was thereafter truly able to appreciate the way in which multiplicity flows into unity, where difference is sustained within the nondual Reality, a realization already known to Buddhists, Taoists, Sufis and Christian mystics alike.

Reflecting back on the physiological trauma, Father Griffiths is grateful for the insight it gave him: 'You have to be ready to die. You must face it and be ready to let go at any moment.'

Father Griffiths passed away on 13th May 1993 aged 86, having written twelve books exploring the way in which Christianity and Hinduism are paths to the same nondual God.