United Nations And The New Age - Way of Life Literature

the United Nations. (Its NGO sponsor is the NationalService Conference of the American Ethical Union.)It was founded by Wayne Teasdale, a Roman Catholic laymonk who was deeply involved in interfaith dialoguewith the objective of creating a New Age.Teasdale wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on Bede Griffiths, aBenedictine priest who moved to India and became aHindu-Catholic, changing his name to SwamiDayananda, going barefoot, wearing an orange robe,abstaining from meat, practicing yoga, and eventuallybelieving in ancient goddess religion. (See the book“Contemplative Mysticism: A Powerful EcumenicalBond,” which is available from Way of Life Literature.)Teasdale visited Shantivanam Ashram and lived in aHindu ashram nearby for two years, following inGriffiths’ footsteps. In 1989 he became a “Christian”sanyassa, which refers to a Hindu monk.Teasdale was deeply involved in interfaith activities,believing that what the religions hold in common can bethe basis for creating a new world, which he called the“Interspiritual Age” -- a “global culture based oncommon spiritual values.”91