From Deus in Adiutorium To Maranatha: Colonialism and Reform in John Main’s Hindu Encounter

Abstract

John Main, OSB (1926-1982) taught a method of Christian meditation that was notably developed from the synthesis of two major sources: his encounter with Swami Satyananda (1909-1961) in British Malaya in 1955 and the tradition of the “prayer formula” of John Cassian (circa 360-435 CE). Although Main’s interpretation of John Cassian has been the subject of some scholarship, few have been able to place his meeting with Swami Satyananda in its proper context. In order to appreciate how John Main arrived at a modern, universalistic, and lay-oriented understanding of Christianity with the practice of meditation at the very center, their meeting must be contextualized within the religio-political context of Malayan Hindu reform during the British colonial period.