Oblates of Shantivanam

The poster which we brought from Germany was signed by the following persons (from top left to right bottom):

His Holiness the XIV. Dalai Lama, exiled spiritual leader and head of state of Tibet, awarded with the “Nobel Price for Peace”

His Eminence Metropolitan Paulos Mar Gregorius, Metropolitan of Delhi and the North Syrian Orthodox Church of India, former president of the World Council of Churches

Professor Raimon Panikkar, distinguished theologian, universal scholar and world thinker, leading figure in the field of inter-religious and cross-cultural dialogues

Timothy Kelly O.S.B., Benedictine abbot of St. John’s Monastery, Collegeville/Minnesota, the largest single Benedictine monastery in the world with over 250 monks

Professor Ewart Cousins, Professor of theology, Fordham University, New York, general editor of the great series of “The Classics of Western Spirituality”, former consultant to the Vatican Secretariat on Inter-Religious Dialogue

Douglas Conlan, secular priest in Perth/West Australia, representing the Bede Griffiths Trust in Australia at “Christ by the River Hermitage”, teacher of contemplation, lecturer

James Connor O.C.S.O., Trappist monk, Abbey of Gethsemani/Kentucky, where Thomas Merton (1915 – 1968) was his fellow-monk and personal friend

Hindu Swami Jyotirmayananda, an outstanding expert of the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda and author of the most comprehensive study on Vivekananda, which carries the message of hope for an inner transformation and to pave the way for universal peace and prosperity.

Dr. Karan Singh, president of “Temple of Understanding”, former Indian ambassador to the United States; former Minister of Health, New Delhi; active in environmental and global consciousness movements and in interfaith dialogue

Samdhong Rinpoche, Director of the “Institute of Higher Tibetan Buddhist Studies”, Varanasi (Benares), India; scholar and spiritual master

Brother David Steindl-Rast O.S.B., Benedictine monk and spiritual leader, advisor to MID (Monastic Interreligious Dialogue) lecturer, author and leader in interfaith dialogue

Al Huang, Tai-Chi-Master, internationally recognised lecturer, author of “Thinking Body, Dancing Mind”.

Sister Pascaline Coff O.S.B., Benedictine nun, founder and director of “Osage Monastery, Forest of Peace”, Sand Springs/Oklahoma. Since 1976 actively involved in East-West interreligious and intermonastic dialogues, teacher of contemplation, lecturer; a close friend of the Dalai Lama and Bede Griffiths; she lived a full year in Shantivanam under the spiritual guidance of Dom Bede; Sister Pascaline was the first person who brought the Dalai Lama to the United States of America

Roland R. Ropers Obl.O.S.B., managing director of a private hospital in the Upper Bavarian Mountains/Germany. Benedictine Oblate of Sat-Chit-Ananda Ashram, Shantivanam/India; disciple of Jesuit priest and ZEN-Master H.M. Enomiya-Lassalle (1898) and Bede Griffiths (1906-1993), lecturer, author and teacher of contemplation.