Professor Malkovsky begins by noting that “non-duality” is a term used variously by Hindus, Buddhists, and Taoists to express some fundamental insight about the unity of reality. In Hindu Sanskrit literature, the most commonly used term for this is advaita, the negation of duality. Several Christians living in India in the twentieth century sought to build bridges between Advaitic and Christian experience. A Jesuit scholar, Richard De Smet (1916-1997), did so primarily on a conceptual level and, in recognition of his work, found himself increasingly accepted as a Christian philosopher at international philosophical meetings attended mostly by Hindus.

On the other hand, Abhishiktananda (1910-1973) was wary of this approach because of the danger of conceptual reductionism. His writings are still valuable today in the dialogue between Advaitic Hindus and Christians precisely because of their relentless reminder that the experience of non-duality escapes all attempts at articulation and objectification. He affirmed that “advaita is already present at the root of Christian experience. It is simply the mystery that God and the world are not two.”

Malkovsky concludes his article by saying that the major Christian figures involved in this dialogue are convinced that “the conceptual and spiritual encounter that has progressed thus far has done so under the influence of the Holy Spirit” and are hopeful that “the Spirit will continue to guide both Christian and Hindus to an ever-greater awareness of truth in the future.”