Raimon Panikkar, 91, Dies

The entire New York Times Obituary can be found here.

Raimon Panikkar, a Roman Catholic theologian whose embrace of Hindu scriptures and Buddhism made him an influential voice for promoting dialogue among the world's religions, died on Aug. 26 at his home in Tavertet, Spain. He was 91.

His death was announced on his Web site, raimon-panikkar.org.

Mr. Panikkar was a Roman Catholic priest and a professor of philosophy at the University of Madrid when he made his first trip to India in 1954. It was a turning point in his spiritual life and a homecoming of sorts: his father was a Hindu from the south of India who had married a Spanish Roman Catholic.

While studying Indian philosophy and religion at the University of Mysore and Banaras Hindu University, Mr. Panikkar befriended several Western monks seeking Eastern forms for the expression of their Christian beliefs. It was an eye-opening experience.

"I left Europe as a Christian, I discovered I was a Hindu and returned as a Buddhist without ever having ceased to be Christian," he later wrote.

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Professor Panikkar was a good friend and supporter of the Inter Religious Federation for World Peace.

Perhaps Panikkar's most magical occasion with IRFWP was his on stage debate with Huston Smith at the IRFWP New Delhi Congress:  Seeking Global Harmony through Inter-Religious Action, New Delhi, India, February 1st to 7th, 1993, commemorating the centenary of the 1893 Chicago Parliament.