{
  "book_metadata": {
    "book_name": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
    "book_author": "M. K. Kuriakose",
    "publisher": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
    "published_on": "2011"
  },
  "chunks": [
    {
      "chunk_index": 1,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        365
      ],
      "image_paths": [
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      ],
      "chunk_title": "Ashram Establishment",
      "chunk_data": "177. IDEALS OF THE CHRISTA SISHYA ASHRAM, COIMBATORE (1936 A.D.)\nWith the assistance of the Anglican bishop Pakenham Walsh, the Christa Sishya Ashram was established by the Orthodox Syrian Church at Thadagam near Coimbatore in 1936. The description of the ideals of the ashram found here comes from a later time. From the Souvenir published by the Ashram, Bishop Walsh Birth Centenary Celebrations, pp. 9 ff.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Pakenham Walsh"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Thadagam",
          "Coimbatore"
        ],
        "event": "The Orthodox Syrian Church established the Christa Sishya Ashram at Thadagam near Coimbatore with the assistance of Anglican Bishop Pakenham Walsh.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Christianity",
          "Institutions"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 2,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        365
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00389-51969dcf97e9f93c96bc.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Community of Clergy and Laity",
      "chunk_data": "The founder-members had as their ideal a community of clergy and laity, married and unmarried, living under strict regulations. It was hoped that the members would be chiefly family units.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Founder-members"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The founder-members envisioned a regulated community of clergy and laity, with family units as its principal members.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Community"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 3,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        365
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00389-51969dcf97e9f93c96bc.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Three Vows of the Ashram",
      "chunk_data": "As a religious community we take the three vows of Poverty, Obedience and Devotion to the Kingdom of God. By the third vow we understand that every private and personal interest will be subordinated to that of preparing the way for the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Ashram members"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram community adopted vows of Poverty, Obedience, and Devotion to the Kingdom of God.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Spirituality",
          "Community"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 4,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        365
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00389-51969dcf97e9f93c96bc.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Discipleship and Common Life",
      "chunk_data": "As disciples of Lord Jesus, our ever-living and ever-present Guru, we desire to live a common life together in which we will endeavour to follow Him in worship and prayer, in faith and in love, in child-like obedience to the Heavenly Father, and in renunciation of and sacrifice for the service and uplift of all those for whom He gave His life and with the special object of making Him known to those who know Him not.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Jesus Christ"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram members sought to follow Jesus Christ through common worship, prayer, faith, love, obedience, renunciation, and service.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Spirituality",
          "Service"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 5,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        365,
        366
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00389-51969dcf97e9f93c96bc.webp",
        "raw\\pages\\00390-def24feead787095ca88.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Proclaiming Kingdom Principles",
      "chunk_data": "This we desire to do by proclaiming by life and word the principles of the Kingdom, as taught by Him and by leading both Christians and non-Christians to co-operate in applying those principles, so as to promote the well-being of the people around us and of the world in which we live.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Ashram members",
          "Jesus Christ"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram members aimed to proclaim the principles of God's Kingdom and lead Christians and non-Christians to cooperate for the well-being of humanity.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Social Action",
          "Community"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 6,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        366
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00390-def24feead787095ca88.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Sacrifice of Married Members",
      "chunk_data": "Married people who join the Sangha are called to make a sacrifice in some respects more closely than that made by the unmarried members, for they offer not only themselves but their families, they resign some of the independence of ordinary home life and they make a great act of faith in God as regards the future of their children.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Married Sangha members",
          "Their families"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "Married members offered themselves and their families to the Sangha and accepted sacrifices concerning domestic independence and their children's future.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Family",
          "Community"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 7,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        366
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00390-def24feead787095ca88.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Families in Christian Community",
      "chunk_data": "A Community in which the family shall have its due place is almost a new experiment in the Christian world, but it was an encouragement to those who had conceived this plan, to find out later that the devout and far-sighted Bishop of Durham, Brooke Foss Westcott, had the same vision and had considered it as the great experiment of the Christian Church, which in response to the needs of different ages had tried hermits, monks, nuns, mendicants, but had not yet tried families living in disciplined community life.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Brooke Foss Westcott"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Durham"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram's founders developed a Christian community experiment centered on families living together under discipline, a vision also held by Bishop Brooke Foss Westcott.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Family",
          "Community"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 8,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        366
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00390-def24feead787095ca88.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Religious Family Experiment",
      "chunk_data": "He thought that such families living the religious life together in voluntary poverty and brotherly co-operation would set an example which could be imitated, in which the ordinary temptations of social life would seem to be met and overcome...",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Brooke Foss Westcott"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Durham"
        ],
        "event": "Brooke Foss Westcott believed disciplined Christian families living in voluntary poverty and cooperation could provide an imitable response to social temptations.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Family",
          "Spirituality"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 9,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        366
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00390-def24feead787095ca88.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Holiness of Life",
      "chunk_data": "Holiness of Life:\nKnowing that we must preach the Gospel even more by our lives than by our lips we desire to use every means to become holy, to bring up the children of the Ashram in the obedience and love of God, and to influence all who from time to time live with us to offer themselves as living sacrifices to God.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Ashram members",
          "Ashram children"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram community sought holiness through its lives, the religious upbringing of its children, and the spiritual influence of its residents.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Education",
          "Spirituality"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 10,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        366
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00390-def24feead787095ca88.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Prayer and Corporate Worship",
      "chunk_data": "To this end we desire to secure and to guard by rule and custom sufficient time for prayer and meditation and the study of God's Holy Word and of other religious books as well as for corporate worship including the frequent drawing near to God in the Holy Qurbana and for occasional retreats. We also desire to observe such rules of holy living as our Church enjoin upon us.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Ashram members"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram members committed themselves to prayer, meditation, religious study, corporate worship, the Holy Qurbana, retreats, and the rules of their Church.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Worship",
          "Spirituality"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 11,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        366
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00390-def24feead787095ca88.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Forbearance and Forgiveness",
      "chunk_data": "And knowing the grievous harm which dissensions among brethren cause to the common life, we desire to be full of forbearance and forgiveness, to be frank with each other in love, to confess our faults freely when we have offended any and to foster the same spirit in all the families and residents in the Ashram.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Ashram families",
          "Ashram residents"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram community promoted forbearance, forgiveness, loving frankness, confession of faults, and harmony among its families and residents.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Community",
          "Ethics"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 12,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        366,
        367
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00390-def24feead787095ca88.webp",
        "raw\\pages\\00391-b9d039acd7ed7768b941.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Humility, Love, and Joy",
      "chunk_data": "We recognise that the three graces specially needed for such a Sangha as ours are humility, love and joy. We shall therefore strive to have the mind of the Master in these things; we shall be glad to take the lowest place and to obey the rules of the Sangha, and the orders of the Acharya or of others set over us.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Ashram members",
          "Acharya"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Sangha identified humility, love, and joy as essential graces and required obedience to its rules and leaders.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Spirituality",
          "Community"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 13,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        367
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00391-b9d039acd7ed7768b941.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Love and Joy in Service",
      "chunk_data": "We shall endeavour to love with the love of Christ Jesus, all united with us in the Sangha and with whom we come in contact, even those who wound and injure us; we shall endeavour to keep the joy of our Lord in our hearts, rejoicing in all God's creation around us, and in all that we see of His beauty in the people whom we have to serve.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Ashram members",
          "Jesus Christ"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram members pledged to love fellow members and all contacts, including those who harmed them, while maintaining joy in serving others.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Ethics",
          "Service"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 14,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        367
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00391-b9d039acd7ed7768b941.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Ashram as Home of Religion",
      "chunk_data": "We shall in these ways by God's grace make our Ashram a home of true religion, where love, peace and joy are felt as an all-pervading atmosphere by those who enter it.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Ashram members"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram members sought to create a religious home permeated by love, peace, and joy.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Community",
          "Spirituality"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 15,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        367
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00391-b9d039acd7ed7768b941.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Simplicity of Living",
      "chunk_data": "Simplicity of Living:\nHaving in remembrance the example of our Master, who, though He was rich, for our sakes became poor and of those saints of every age who for His sake renounced all they had, we will aim at such a standard of simple living as we hope will be within the reach of all the people of our neighbourhood as they learn to practise the principles of the Kingdom of God, given us by our Lord Jesus Christ. In all matters of possessions, ornaments and dress, we will endeavour to be so simple as not to cause feelings of envy in the minds of the poor...",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Jesus Christ",
          "Ashram members"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram members adopted simplicity in possessions, ornaments, and dress, following the example of Jesus Christ and seeking not to provoke envy among the poor.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Ethics",
          "Social Reform"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 16,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        367
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00391-b9d039acd7ed7768b941.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Articles of Association",
      "chunk_data": "The following extracts from the Articles of Association of the Ashram given below will give some idea of the working of the Ashram.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Ashram members"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram's Articles of Association provided an outline of its organization and functioning.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Institutions",
          "Governance"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 17,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        367
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00391-b9d039acd7ed7768b941.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Membership Eligibility",
      "chunk_data": "Membership:\nMembership is open to clergy and laity, married or unmarried, belonging to the Orthodox Syrian Church. Great care shall be taken that all who join the Sangha are suitable in body, mind and spirit for that life and work and understand what membership involves. As wives are also expected to be members of the Sangha equal care should be taken to see that they are fit persons to join the Sangha.",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Orthodox Syrian clergy",
          "Orthodox Syrian laity",
          "Wives of members"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Orthodox Syrian Church",
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "The Ashram opened membership to suitable married and unmarried clergy and laity of the Orthodox Syrian Church, including wives as members of the Sangha.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Membership",
          "Community"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "chunk_index": 18,
      "chapter_name": "177. Ideals of the Christa Sishya Ashram, Coimbatore",
      "page_numbers": [
        367
      ],
      "image_paths": [
        "raw\\pages\\00391-b9d039acd7ed7768b941.webp"
      ],
      "chunk_title": "Probation and Membership Terms",
      "chunk_data": "Normally those wishing to join will come on a long visit not less than six months and after a probation period of one year they can become members of the Sangha for one year with the approval of the Sangha. After the first year's membership, members may with the approval of the Sangha renew their vows for a period of three years. At the end of this period the Sangha can accept him or her as a permanent member if he or she so desires. Such a member can then or at a later time become a voting member of the Sangha if the Sangha approves...",
      "time": {
        "start_year": 1936,
        "start_month": null,
        "start_date": null,
        "end_year": 1936,
        "end_month": null,
        "end_date": null,
        "time_display": "1936"
      },
      "meta": {
        "people": [
          "Prospective Sangha members"
        ],
        "places": [
          "Christa Sishya Ashram"
        ],
        "event": "Prospective members underwent a six-month visit and one-year probation before annual membership, followed by possible three-year vow renewals, permanent membership, and voting rights.",
        "tags": [
          "Religion",
          "Membership",
          "Governance"
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}