Bede Griffiths Trust

Biography

Bede Griffiths (Alan Richard Griffiths), 1906-1993, was born near London, England, December 17, fourth and last child of Walter Griffiths and Harriet Lilian Frampton-Day Griffiths. Because of reduced circumstances due to business losses, Alan was sent to Christ Hospital, a government school for poor boys, at which he ranked first in his exams, earning a scholarship to Oxford. Alan was at Oxford, 1925-29 studying English Literature and Philosophy. During his third year, C.S. Lewis became his tutor. The two became close, the friendship lasting until Lewis' death in 1963.

Soon after graduation, Alan and two friends, Martyn Skinner and Hugh Waterman, purchased a cottage in the Cotswalds and began "an experiment in Common Life," a life immersed in nature, a protest against contemporary life. Here they read the Bible together as literature. Though this lasted just short of a year, the experiment had a profound effect on Alan's life. He applied for ministry in the Church of England, and was sent to work in the London slums, an experience which left him crushed and confused. Returning to the Cotswalds to live with a farm family, he fasted, prayed, and read Cardinal Newman.

Alan visited Prinknash Abbey, a Benedictine monestary. In 1931, he was received into the Roman Catholic Church, and entered the Abbey a few weeks later. He was clothed as a Benedictine in 1932, receiving the name, Bede. He offered his Perpetual Vows in 1937, and was ordained 1940. He served as guestmaster until 1947 when he was sent to be prior first at Farnborough, then Pluscarden in Scotland. His first book, an autobiography, The Golden String, was published in 1954.

While at Farnborough, Bede met Fr. Benedict Alapatt, an Indian priest. They requested permission to start a Benedictine house in India, arriving there in 1955. They settled in Kengeri, Bangalore. In 1958, Fr. Bede joined Fr. Francis Acharya in Kurisumala, staying there until 1968 when he took over the Saccidananda Ashram. The ashram had been founded in 1950 by Fr. Jules Monchanin and Fr. Henri LeSaux. Fr. Bede immersed himself in the study of Indian thought and Hinduism, attempting to relate it to Christian theology. He continued to write and publish, give conferences and lectures, daily teachings on the Vedas, and homilies at Eucharist and Vespers, and maintain a voluminous correspondence.

He suffered a first stroke in January 1990, and near death had an intense experience of divine love. Returning to his life, he suffered a final stroke in December 1993. Surrounded by much love and care, he died May 13, 1993.

(Taken from, Bede Griffiths: The Man, the Monk, the Mystic, by Sr. Pascaline Coff O.S.B., ca. 1994. See Box 10, ff 13. See also: A Sense of the Sacred: A Biography of Bede Griffiths, by Kathryn Spink, 1988 (Box 14); Beyond the Darkness: A Biography of Bede Griffiths, by Shirley du Boulay (Box 14); and A Human Search: Life of Father Bede Griffiths, 1993, Videotape 3).

From the guide to the Bede Griffiths collection, 1932-2002, (The Graduate Theological Union. Library.)