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 [...]
Posts under ‘Dialogue’
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 [...]
We Need Some “Cold-Blooded Kindliness”
In these times of the clatter and clash of opposing views – on the international, national, and local levels – there is an ever greater need for what William James might have called “a cold-blooded kindliness.” Yes, we have to speak our mind clearly, represent our ideas forcefully, and, depending on our socio-political location, speak [...]
What is the “Something” that does not die?
Every day, the Tibetan school of Buddhism that I practice sends a “Glimpse of the Day” – a word from Buddha, you might say. The Glimpse for Oct. 14 deals with death – with the big question of what happens when I die: The fear that impermanence awakens in us, that nothing is real and [...]
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 [...]
A Buddhist-Christian Take on the Financial Crisis III
Last night, we brought our “Buddhist-Christian Dialogue on Global Greed” here in Chiang Mai to an end with the formulation of a “Common Word” on the economic mess the world is in and what we might do about it. That’s quite an achievement. Finding a common word about the economy between Buddhists and Christians who [...]
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 [...]
