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 [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Interfaith Dialogue’
A Buddhist-Christian Take on the Financial Crisis II
“If you want to find the causes of the financial crisis that we are in, and if you want to come up with solutions for it, you’re going to have to deal with GREED.” That was the opening Buddhist contribution to our conference here in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Buddhist-Christian dialogue about the global economic [...]
A Buddhist-Christian Take on the Financial Crisis
I’m here in Chiang-Mai, Thailand, at Payap University for a rather extraordinary – some would say strange – gathering. We are a group of some 30 Buddhist and Christian scholars, leaders, and activists from around the world (mostly Asian; I’m one of two Americans). We’ve come together to talk about the financial tsunami that moved [...]
Please, Mr. President, speak your mind!
Dear President Obama, On Aug 3, your press secretary, Robert Gibbs, speaking for your administration, said that you did not want to take a position on the controversy surrounding plans to build a Muslim Center near Ground Zero. When asked what was the opinion of your administration, Mr. Gibbs replied that it was “a matter [...]
“We’ve Got a Friend” – Obama and Interfaith
That’s what I felt as I rode the train back from Washington, D.C. the night of June 7, after attending a meeting at the White House on “Advancing Interfaith and Community Service on College and University Campuses.” It was organized by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. It made clear to [...]
Where Buddhism Helps: Action with Equanimity
When I ask myself the question: “How has Buddhism helped me in the practice of my Christian ideals?” I realize immediately that there is no one answer. But amid all the ways in which the teachings and the practice of the Dharma have enabled me to clarify, confirm, correct and enliven my efforts to live [...]
Passion Allergy?
I came across a statement in Terry Eagleton’s Reason, Faith, and Revolution (highly recommended!) that rang true to my experience here at Union Theological Seminary: “Some postmodernists suspect that all certainty is authoritarian. They are nervous of people who sound passionately committed to what they say.” (p. 136) What Eagleton is saying applies, I think, [...]
Coming Soon
Watch for a coming blog from Union Professor Paul Knitter on topics of interfaith dialogue and understanding.