Every once in a while, as I go about the reading and research that are part of my job, I come across a statement or a passage that touches my Buddhist-Christian heart. Here’s one of them, from literary critic Terry Eagleton. It captures, at least for me, the unitive, non-dual understanding of God as “no-thing,” [...]
Posts under ‘Interfaith Dialogue’
Master and Disciple — Buddhist & Christian
Everyday I receive via email from a Tibetan Buddhist organization a “Glimpse” for the day. Today’s “Glimpse” helps me, I think, come to a deeper sense of what it means to be a Christian, or of what it means to call Jesus Christ my savior. Tibetan Buddhism understands the relationship between the disciple and the [...]
A Buddhist-Christian Reflection on Pentecost
“To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. …. we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” I Cor 12: 7, 13 The Spirit is real. The Spirit is given as drink. Drink the Spirit. And let the Spirit manifest in me, as me. The Spirit needs me to [...]
The Miracle of Mindfulness and the Miracle of “Being in Christ Jesus”
Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of “the miracle of mindfulness.” Indeed, as so many people are discovering, the practice of mindfulness does have what seem to be miraculous powers. Something happens when we succeed in really being mindful of the thoughts and feelings and reactions that crowd into and try to take possession of how we [...]
Obama and Interfaith: Multi-Religious Literacy through Multi-Religious Activity
President Obama has often been accused of not carrying through on promises or projects. That criticism would not apply to the promises he has made to make the White House’s “faith-based initiatives” into “multi-faith-based initiatives.” Back on June 8, 2010, I did a blog titled “We’ve Got a Friend: Obama and Interfaith.” It summarized a [...]
Guest Blogger: John Thatamanil on “Binocular Wisdom”
With this Guest Blog, I’m delighted to introduce the newest addition to the Union Theological Seminary faculty, a close friend, and a fellow “comparative theologian” and “double-belonger.” These are his reflections on “Learning from Multiple Religious Participation.” I am a Christian theologian who loves Buddhism. Unlike some who turn to Buddhism because of trauma from [...]
The Sitting Buddha and the Crucified Christ
One of the most difficult, and therefore one of the most promising, topics that came up in my recent conversations with Korean Buddhists a couple of weeks ago was embodied in the central images of our traditions: the Buddha sitting in quiet contemplation under the Bodhi tree and the Christ agonizing on the cross. There [...]
A Buddhist Response to Christian Fanaticism (written on a return flight from Seoul, Korea to New York)
For the past eight days, my wife Cathy and I have been rushing – or better, have been gently rushed – around the peninsula of South Korea as part of a project aimed at promoting a more fruitful dialogue between Buddhists and Christians. The seed of this venture was planted, and then nurtured, by my [...]
Where the Heck Am I?
In a deep sense, that may be considered the key religious question: not so much, “Who am I?” but “Where am I?” The first question asks about the very nature of the self. The second seeks to understand the positioning of the self, suspecting that if we know where we fit in, or what we [...]
The Passing of a Giant: Raimon Panikkar, RIP
Read this beautiful commentary on a man who was one of the greatest influences and inspirations in my life. For me and for my wife Cathy, one of the most telling tributes to the kind of person Panikkar was came from our kids, John and Moira. We visited him in 1991, on the long trip [...]