ABSTRACT
Raimon Panikkar (1918–2010) may be regarded as one of the epochal figures of the 20th century Hindu-Christian experience as Catholic priest, scholar, and spiritual teacher. Panikkar’s legacy is the problematizing of language used to describe the meeting between Hinduism and Christianity in light of his distinctive Hindu-Christian understanding of advaita. This entry will begin with the intertwined theological and interior foundations of Panikkar’s approach to Hinduism and Christianity, followed by a critical consideration of his person as the site of an advaitic reimagining of the relationship. It will also explore Panikkar’s distinctive contribution to Hindu–Christian relations with special attention to his mysticism and metaphysical, Trinitarian pluralism. Panikkar’s idiosyncratic approach to Hindu–Christian relations will be critically examined in the conclusion, with an eye toward re-contextualizing Panikkar within the very traditions that he wrote in during his career.
