Drawn toward Indian philosophy


Shaunaka Rishi Das was just 12 when a friend of his, who had just discovered atheism, argued that there was no God. “I was a Catholic, and had never read the Bible. So I went to a library to find some material to back up my friend’s claims. But instead, I found books on Biblical stories, and liked them for their morals, and for the idea of service they spoke of,” says Das. And so he began to believe in God.

What is interesting is that Das is an Irishman, who has embraced Gaudiya Vaishnavism. And ironically, it was this atheistic argument with that friend that led him to religion. Some years later, he chanced upon Hindu literature, and was drawn towards Lord Krishna. 

“My heart belongs to Krishna,” he says. He would worship at the Krishna temple in Dublin, and later moved to an ISCKON ashram. Years of engagement with Gaudiya Vaishnavism meant that when the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, a recognised, independent centre of Oxford University, was established in 1997, Das was included in the board of governors, and has been its director since then.............Read more

 

Source web page: The Hindu 


Comments (0)



Please Login or Register to join groups