Richard De Smet

[2] Shaivism/Tantra/Nath New movements Kashmir Shaivism Gaudapada Adi Shankara Advaita-Yoga Nath Kashmir Shaivism Neo-Vedanta Inchegeri Sampradaya Contemporary Shaivism/Tantra/Nath Neo-Advaita Hinduism Buddhism Modern Advaita Vedanta Neo-Vedanta Returning to India in March 1954, De Smet began to teach at the newly opened centre for philosophical studies of the Jesuits at De Nobili College, Pune.

But he also introduced a course on Samkhya, and began inserting "large doses of Indian philosophy"[This quote needs a citation] into the traditional treatises.

After an initially suspicious reception (a Dr Chubb roundly accused him of excessive missionary zeal at the Kandy session of the Indian Philosophical Congress in 1954), his competence and self-possession won the day and he soon found himself being invited to lecture or give courses at universities and colleges across the country.

He participated in the pro-dialogue meetings organized by Swami Abhishiktananda (the French Benedictine monk Dom Henri Le Saux) under the patronage of the Swiss Ambassador, J.-A.

He also engaged willingly with Christians of other denominations, teaching in their universities and seminaries, participating in their conferences, meetings and seminars, and even giving retreats to staff and students, far before the word ecumenism became popular in the Catholic Church.

And once the notion of creation is purified of anthropomorphism, it is possible to speak of Brahman as creator and cause of the world, without detriment to its oneness, immutability, perfection and freedom.

Julius J. Lipner, professor at Cambridge, student and friend of De Smet, called him one of the "unsung pioneers" of the interpretation of Indian thought, and his death "the end of an era in the annals of Indological scholarship in India," the era of "the foreign missionary scholar who made India a home over many years, loved its peoples and its cultures, empathetically studied rich strands of its religious inheritance, and sought in a spirit of enlightened appreciation to enter into a dialogue at depth.

"[7] Early in his career, De Smet made the option to meet requests arising from his dialogical activity inside India rather than produce pieces of Indological research.