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Briefly: Hindu to lead St. Olaf religion department

His passions include interfaith dialogue and "fostering liberation theology in the Hindu tradition."

A Hindu professor of religion has become the first non-Christian to head St. Olaf College's Religion Department in the college's 133-year history.

"It's a great honor," Anantanand Rambachan said of the three-year appointment. "St. Olaf has one of the finest undergraduate religion departments in the country."

Rambachan, 55, has taught religion, philosophy and Asian studies at the college in Northfield, Minn., since 1985. He also has been a leading figure in Minnesota's Hindu cultural circles.

He grew up on the West Indies island of Trinidad in a devout Hindu family -- both of his grandfathers were Hindu priests. As a young man, he spent three years at a Hindu monastery in India before deciding to pursue postgraduate degrees at the University of Leeds in England.

"That time [in the monastery] was very important in my life," Rambachan said. "I was able to steep myself in the discipline of meditation and to enter into a deep sense of spirituality. There is a close relationship between those years of reading sacred texts and practicing sacred disciplines and my work now as a Hindu scholar and teacher."

His passions, both scholarly and personal, include interfaith dialogue, in particular those sponsored by the World Council of Churches, and "fostering liberation theology in the Hindu tradition in the areas of gender, caste and poverty," he said. He recently returned from participating in a papal conference in Rome about proselytizing and the tensions it can create for non-Christians, and will visit with the Dalai Lama in November.

Last year saw the publication of Rambachan 's most recent book, "The Advaita World View: God, World and Humanity." It explores "the fundamental unity of God, the world and living beings that constitutes the heart of the Hindu tradition," he said. ("Advaita" is a Sanskrit word meaning "not two," a reference to the unity of being, he said.)

"I have tried to give my students an understanding of what it means to see the world through Hindu eyes," he said.

Rambachan lives in Apple Valley with his wife, Geeta, a physician, and their children: Ishanaa, 20, Akshar, 16, and Ashesh, 12.