Raimon Panikkar facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Raimon Panikkar
|
|
|---|---|
Panikkar in 2007
|
|
| Born |
Raimon Pannikar Alemany
November 2, 1918 |
| Died | August 26, 2010 (aged 91) |
| Occupation | Roman Catholic priest, theologian, scholar, chemist, philosopher |
Raimon Panikkar Alemany (born November 2, 1918 – died August 26, 2010) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest. He was known for his work in bringing different religions together. As a scholar, he studied and compared many different religions.
Raimon Panikkar's Early Life and Education
Raimon Panikkar was born in Barcelona, Spain. His mother was Roman Catholic from Spain, and his father was Hindu from India. His mother was well-educated. His father, Ramunni Panikkar, came from a family in South India. Panikkar's father was a freedom fighter during British rule in India. He later moved from Britain and married into a Spanish family.
Raimon went to a Jesuit school. He studied many subjects like chemistry and philosophy at universities in Barcelona, Bonn, and Madrid. He also studied Catholic religion in Madrid and Rome. He earned a special degree called a doctorate in philosophy in 1946. Later, he earned another doctorate in chemistry in 1958. In 1961, he earned a third doctorate in religion. For this degree, he compared the ideas of a Christian thinker, St. Thomas Aquinas, with an old Hindu philosopher named Ādi Śańkara.
Raimon Panikkar's Career and Ideas
In 1946, Raimon Panikkar became a Catholic priest. He also started teaching philosophy at the University of Madrid.
He first traveled to India in 1954. There, he learned about Indian philosophy and religions. He met many Western monks who were looking for new ways to express their Christian beliefs using Eastern ideas. He once wrote, "I left Europe [for India] as a Christian. I discovered I was a Hindu and returned as a Buddhist. But I never stopped being Christian." This shows how he felt connected to many different spiritual paths.
In 1966, he became a visiting professor at Harvard Divinity School. In 1972, he became a professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. For many years, he taught in the spring. The rest of the year, he did research in India. Most people who studied different religions would compare them from a distance. But Panikkar liked to look at real-world problems through the eyes of two or more religions at the same time.
In 1987, he moved to Tavertet in Catalonia, Spain. There, he started the Raimon Panikkar Vivarium Foundation. This center helps people study different cultures and religions together. In 2005, he created another project called Arbor. This project helps different religions work together to fight poverty in villages in India.
Panikkar wrote more than 40 books and 900 articles. His complete works are being published in Italian. One of his important books, The Rhythm of Being, was published in English in 2009.
On January 26, 2010, he shared a message from his home. He said he felt it was time to stop all public work. He wanted to spend his last years in silence and prayer. He thanked everyone for enriching his life through their relationships. He also thanked those who continued to share his ideas. He believed that life is a gift, especially when lived in connection with others.
See also
In Spanish: Raimon Panikkar para niños
