Some of you may have heard of Ananda Coomaraswamy/ Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, the art historian and writer of some fine books--some which come to mind are: The Dance of Shiva, The Living Thoughts of Gotama the Buddha, The Vedas: Essays in Translation and Exegesis, Time and Eternity, and the one on Yakshas (which is awesome). AKC was the father of the Rev. Dr. Rama Ponnambalam Coomaraswamy, M.D., (1929–2006), was a cardiac surgeon, then a psychiatrist and later a Traditionalist Catholic priest and exorcist, besides being a prolific writer on Traditionalist Catholicism and Perennialist topics. RPC was AKCs son by his fourth wife.
What interests me about Rev. Dr. RPC is that he was an exorcist; and that, the issue of his conversion to Catholicism "cropped up often in his life." Below are two response from Wikepedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_Coomaraswamy. ...Let me speak to the matter of my conversion in which discussion I sense > an ad hominum intent. Conversion is both a complex and a simple matter > dependent on the grace of God. If I was taught as a Hindu to love and serve > God, why would I not continue to believe that when I became a Catholic? And > what is surprising about feeling uncomfortable in a purely secular society? > I studied the Faith for some two years before seeking baptism. > I have a somewhat unusual background, Deo gratias. My family has included > both Jesuit priests and Hindu monks. I was as young man first introduced to > the reality of God by a Tibetan monk. I have lived with Hindus and Sufi > Muslims as well as with many wonderful Catholics. Many of these individuals > feel about their religion much as I do about mine, I proffer no judgment > about their beliefs, I know they are men of prayer and love God and feel > they may well fall into those that St Pius X said belong to the soul of the > Church. But as Muslims are fond of saying, “God knows best.” This does not > mean that I am against conversion, and I am happy to preach when > opportunity arises, “Christ, and Christ Crucified.” It should be absolutely > clear that no one can be saved by error. Those outside the Church who are > saved, are saved by the divine Word (logos) which is Our Lord Jesus Christ. > Since my conversion I have never departed from the traditional Catholic > faith, though I have often fallen from grace. I think my writings bear > witness to my orthodoxy. I think any aspersions cast upon my Catholicism > are completely unjustified. (Reply of Rama Coomaraswamy to J. Christopher > Pryor's articles on Perennialism & Rama Coomaraswamy) He also said the following which is a part of an interview with Joaquin Albaicin in 2003. On Wikepedia, in the section Motives for Conversion, this extract follows the one at the top. > Joaquin Albaicin: In his letters, your father gave to you indications > regarding how to become a full member of the Hindu tradition. How was that > belonging to a Brahman family did you finally embraced the Christian path > instead of the Hindu one? > Rama Coomaraswamy: I grew up in Haridwar, one of the Holy Cities of India, > and lived for years during my youth as an orthodox Hindu. Having been > invested with the yajñopavita or sacred thread, I can state that since the > Hindu view point I am a dvija or a "twice born". But after my father's > death I returned to America, where my mother was essentially alone. As it > was impossible for me to live as a Hindu in America at that time, and as > living without any traditional affiliation was in my mind to live on an > animal level, I entered Catholicism which I found completely compatible > with my Hindu outlook. Besides sharing my interests, I am suggesting anything about RPC, or the ability among many of the Hindu faith to consider, besides directly seeing a compatibility with Catholicism; nor the Logos. Suffice to say there is a lot to know and understand. Take this post for what it is. ++++++++++++ venantius j pinto