Shaunaka Rishi Das (born 18 February 1961) is the Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (OCHS), a position he has held since the Centre's foundation in 1997.[1] He is a Hindu cleric, a lecturer,[2] a broadcaster, and Hindu Chaplain to Oxford University.[3] Education, comparative theology, communication, and leadership [4] are his main fields of interest.
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As Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies he maintains the vision and ethos of the OCHS and encourages the Centre’s continued growth and development in all spheres.[5] In this role he oversaw the formal recognition of the OCHS by Oxford University in 2006,[6] and developed the Centre's publishing partnerships with Oxford University Press, Journal of Hindu Studies, and with the Routledge Hindu Studies Series.[7][8] He has also been responsible for forging formal relationships between the OCHS and Universities in the USA, Europe, India, and China.[9] He is the first Hindu Chaplain to Oxford University in its 800 year history.
He is a regular broadcaster, making the Hindu contribution to 'Prayer for the Day' on BBC Radio 4 since 2007.[10] He was also a participant in the popular History of the World in 100 Objects series broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and published by Allen Lane.[11][12] He has acted as a consultant for a number of documentaries on Hindu culture and traditions.[13][14] He has written articles for The Guardian[15] and The Independent newspapers, Business India,[16] and has written the Hindu entry for the Annual Register since 2004.[17]
Shaunaka Rishi Das, by way of an invitation to the International Colloquium of Christians and Jews, was introduced to the world of inter-religious dialogue, in 1985, by the then Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Rabbi David Rosen.[18] From that time he developed a personal interest, and played an active part in such dialogue. He was an early member of the Northern Ireland Interfaith Forum, acting as its Chairman from 1998 to 2002.[19][20] From 2002 -2004 he was a trustee and executive member of The Interfaith Network UK,[21] and from 1998-2004 acted as a consultant to the International Interfaith Centre, Oxford.[22]
Rishi Das has been a pioneer in promoting interfaith and comparative theological dialogue in his own community. As the first Convenor of the ISKCON Interfaith Commission (1997–2010)[23] he led the consultation which resulted in the publication of ISKCON's Statement on Relating with People of Faith in God,[24][25] which has been translated into six languages, and forms part of the course curriculum at Bhaktivedanta College, Belgium.
This Interfaith statement was a significant step for ISKCON, addressing issues of integration in a global society, as well as laying out a clear theological basis for dialogue. It has also been recognised as a pioneering statement from any Hindu tradition, advocating informed engagement with others over presenting a position of policy to others.[26] Responses to the document noted its importance in addressing modern issues while keeping with the integrity of the ancient tradition.[27][28]
But we Christians may also recognise a new factor, namely that ISKCON is the first global Vaisnava movement that is just now coming to understand its vocation to enable Westerners to understand Indian philosophy and spirituality.[29] — Rev. Kenneth Cracknell
He has also been responsible for facilitating various conferences, seminars, and symposia promoting Vaishnava-Christian dialogue at different levels.[30][31] He was instrumental, along with his colleagues, Anuttama Das, and Rukmini Devi Dasi in launching the annual Vaishnava-Christian conferences, held in Washington DC, since 1997.[32]
Born an Irish Catholic, and expressing an early interest in the priesthood,[33] Rishi Das joined a Hare Krishna ashram, in Dublin, in 1979. In 1982 he was given Brahmanical initiation - ordained as a priest - in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.[34][35]
Inspired by biblical and philosophical reading, which began when he was fourteen, Rishi Das developed a broad interest in spirituality.[36] He said of this early period:
...to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our words and all our deeds, and love our neighbour as ourselves struck me as an instruction, as a plea, and actually, as a necessity. Considering how to do to that, how to forsake all and follow God out of love has provided me my greatest challenge in life.[37]
Joining a Hindu movement in the Ireland of his time did not feel like a courageous act for Rishi Das. Of his first encounters with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) he said:
They were speaking Christianity but not calling it that. I knew I had met the people I was to practice with. My desire was to be a Christian. I had to struggle with the fact that I found it being practised to the highest standard by non-Christians.[38]
To sample his spiritual thought in the form of prayer we can refer to one of his BBC Broadcasts:
Dear Lord, my desire is to serve you, and I offer what I think is best. Please let me know what You desire, and bless me with the grace to accept what you think is best.[39]
And for a touch of his well known humour:
Over the next few years as I tried the ‘lose-weight-without-any-change’ method, as I wore ever tighter clothes, and weighed myself to depression, I felt doomed. My lowest point was the day I weighed myself after a haircut.[40]
Shaunaka Rishi Das was Editor-in-Chief of the ISKCON Communications Journal, from 1993 until 2006, and was Chairman of ISKCON Communications Europe from 1991-2003.[41][42] Currently he serves as an executive member of ISKCON's Ministry of Educational Development,[43] a founding member of the ISKCON Studies Institute, is a trustee of Bhaktivedanta College in Belgium, and is Editor-in-Chief of the ISKCON Studies Journal.[44]
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