An expanded and updated edition of a classic by one of the giants in this field. Faith and belief in a multireligious experience are discussed, with emphasis on understanding one's own religion and tradition before attempting to understand someone else's.

Religious philosopher Panikkar sees wisdom as our universe, our world, our Mother Earth, and as a source of happiness and joy--a dwelling place where people are blessed. Here he discusses wisdom in the context of four different areas: an existential feminine approach; a less fragmented anthropology; its most ancient meaning in philosophy; and the preservation of its identity.

Copyright date 2010, with "the Gifford lectures" as subtitle.

The Cosmotheandric Experience is not a Christian, or an Indic, or a Buddhist study, but an interdisciplinary study with a firm foundation. It aims at an integration of the whole of reality: We have to reconstruct the body of Prajapati, even if some of the parts feel unworthy, are shy or run away ... We have to think of all of the fragments of the present world in order to bring them together into a harmonious--though not monoliithic--whole. The Cosmotheandric principle, which the author advocates, could be formulated by saying that the divine, the human and the earthly are three irreducible dimensions which constitute the real.

"Today's search for spirituality and authenticity leads ultimately to the question, and the experience, of God. In this profound meditation from one of today's most renowned religious voices, theologian Raimon Panikkar offers a way to reflect on the perennial quest for God, its significance in many religious traditions, and its connection to our own deepest purpose and meaning. .... " [from back cover]

"In The Intercultural Challenge of Raimon Panikkar, sixteen men and women steeped in the multi-layered, multi-cultural texture of Panikkar's unique gifts are gathered to consider his profound contributions to philosophy of religions and interreligious dialogue. Born in Spain of a Spanish mother and Indian father, Panikkar is a Catholic priest who considers himself a practicing Hindu and a secularist as well as a Catholic. Professor Emeritus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Panikkar holds doctorates in chemistry, philosophy, and theology and has given lectures worldwide, including the prestigious Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh (soon to be published by Orbis as The Rhythm of Being.) Panikkar's many books include The Unknown Christ of Hinduism, The Silence of God: The Answer of the Buddha, and The Cosmotheandric Experience."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Raimon Panikkar: A Companion to his Life and Thought is a guide to the life, work and thought of Raimon Panikkar, a self-professed Buddhist-Christian-Hindu philosopher and theologian. A man of deep and wide learning and an extremely prolific author, Panikkar is equally at home in various religious and cultural traditions and embodies in himself the ideals of intercultural, intrareligious, and interreligious dialogues. This book explicates Panikkar's basic vision of life as the harmonious rhythm of divinity, humanity, and the cosmos, which he terms cosmotheandrism, and shows how it permeates and illumines his articulations of the central Christian doctrines. Given the complexity and difficulty of Panikkar's thought this book is a welcome companion for a course on Panikkar and for a general reader who wishes to understand one of the most profound and orginal thinkers of our time.