Advaita and Theosis: The Spiritual Encounter between the Spirituality of the Upanishads and the Experience of Being in Christ

This article explores the mystical convergence
between advaita and theosis. Five elements of the
Upanishadic advaitic tradition are located fi rst: the Divine 
as mystery, and as the ultimate subject, the divinisation of
the human, the immanence of the Divine in cosmos, and
the resultant freedom. Then the three-fold dimension of the
divine consciousness of Jesus is articulated: being sent by
the Father, being in the Father and being one with the Father.
John´s Gospel shows that Jesus wanted to communicate
this threefold experience to us. This is what Church
Fathers called theosis, the divinisation of the human; this
is a birthing process. Having explained the terms advaita
and theosis, the convergence and divergence between the 
two are explored. The article concludes with the proposal
that Hindus and Christians could move on as spiritual
co-pilgrims, who share their deep mystical experiences with one
another and get enlightened and enriched by each other.