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Buddhists Talk about Jesus, Christians Talk about the Buddha
What does Jesus mean to a Buddhist, or the Buddha to a Christian? What is it about the Buddha that is appealing to a Christian, or unappealing? In this volume 12 scholars, six of them Christian and six of them Buddhists, speak simply and from the heart about their personal relationship to the great religious leader from the other tradition. The diversity of views within each tradition could be a shock to the average Buddhist or Christian on the street. Buddhists argue about Buddha's nature, Buddha veneration, and the role the Buddha plays in human liberation. Christians argue about Jesus' human and divine status, his uniqueness, and the role he plays in human salvation. The contributors celebrate the family likeness between Jesus and the Buddha, but they also acknowledge the differences as well, for it is at the points of difference that potentially there is the most opportunity for growth.
160 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2000
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July 23, 2016
A few decades after its inception, the state of Buddhist/Christian dialogue might still be likened to that of a typical middle-school dance and mixer. Great ranks of the faithful cling to the sidelines in fear and error. Anxious idealists shoot across the floor, trailing streams of their personal notions. Small phalanxes of scholars venture forward, hoping to make contact yet clinging to their presuppositions. Here and there, a few brave blundering individuals begin to move together to the music. And over all shines a spotlight of beckoning truth, showing no signs of going out.
When first published in 1995, "Buddhists Talk ... " bid fair to advance this situation, and I believe it succeeded. First appearing in the U. of Hawai'i's "Buddhist Christian Studies Journal," these essays were penned mostly by academics, and their language is often specialized. There's just enough personal testimony, though, to make this a worthwhile once-over for laypeople. Four Buddhists reflect on Jesus, followed by two Christian respondents; then the format is reversed.
The four Buddhists tend to raise their intellectual scaffolding more systematically - perhaps, as one author noted, out of a need to stake out and defend their turf in largely Western and Christian territory. Immense respect is accorded Jesus by all: as teacher, as activist, even (provisionally) as God. (The God they perceive Jesus incarnating, however, is far removed from the Biblical one.) They find further common ground in outlining Jesus' and Gautama's status as religious itinerants and mystics. Doctrine's importance takes a back seat to religious practice "on the ground," as it were.
Still, the Buddhists' observations of what's lacking are fairly pointed: Given that in Buddhism each practitioner is charged with working out their own spiritual progress, how can the figure of a once-for-all Savior make sense? Might Jesus not be better recognized as a bodhisattva, assisting all beings to gain freedom from suffering? How does Jesus as an object of faith relate to Buddha as a teacher of practices? As is frequently noted, the Buddha gives the teaching; Jesus IS the teaching - how can this be squared? Rita Gross of the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire stands out as one of the more meticulous formulator of the questions to be raised.
Oddly, three of the six Christian contributors mostly sing out encomiums for the ways in which the Buddha has enriched their spiritual lives, without really engaging an exchange of views. Two do not. Marcus Borg eloquently states his opposition to exclusivistic truth-claims, instead identifying Jesus as son of God "for us [Christians]." John Dominic Crossan points up the phenomenon of particularity - "what rules us whenever we touch on anything most precious, personal, or profound" - as the great treasure of every faith, salutary for dialogue as long as we do not allow the specialness of a particular to harden into the unquestionable truth. I found myself longing that Crossan and Borg had been allowed more space. Regardless, though, a clear common thread emerged among the other four Christian voices. Christians generally experience themselves to be so compromised by sin as to feel an ever-constant need for a Savior from without themselves - one of the major rubbing points with Buddhist self-sufficiency.
Buddhist/Christian dialogue may seem like the uttermost in boutique intellectual inquiries. I beg to differ. As the stories of Jesus of Nazareth and Siddhartha Gautamaa demonstrate, mighty historical currents can be unleashed from the employment of one mere mind and heart. I believe that advancements in interreligious exchange will best be made in formats very much akin to this book, where sincere practitioners come together to share their faiths, without the slightest need to pull back, strike out, or dumb down. Individual religious imaginations have the strength necessary to pull the great wagonloads of their respective faiths down the road toward a new day.
When first published in 1995, "Buddhists Talk ... " bid fair to advance this situation, and I believe it succeeded. First appearing in the U. of Hawai'i's "Buddhist Christian Studies Journal," these essays were penned mostly by academics, and their language is often specialized. There's just enough personal testimony, though, to make this a worthwhile once-over for laypeople. Four Buddhists reflect on Jesus, followed by two Christian respondents; then the format is reversed.
The four Buddhists tend to raise their intellectual scaffolding more systematically - perhaps, as one author noted, out of a need to stake out and defend their turf in largely Western and Christian territory. Immense respect is accorded Jesus by all: as teacher, as activist, even (provisionally) as God. (The God they perceive Jesus incarnating, however, is far removed from the Biblical one.) They find further common ground in outlining Jesus' and Gautama's status as religious itinerants and mystics. Doctrine's importance takes a back seat to religious practice "on the ground," as it were.
Still, the Buddhists' observations of what's lacking are fairly pointed: Given that in Buddhism each practitioner is charged with working out their own spiritual progress, how can the figure of a once-for-all Savior make sense? Might Jesus not be better recognized as a bodhisattva, assisting all beings to gain freedom from suffering? How does Jesus as an object of faith relate to Buddha as a teacher of practices? As is frequently noted, the Buddha gives the teaching; Jesus IS the teaching - how can this be squared? Rita Gross of the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire stands out as one of the more meticulous formulator of the questions to be raised.
Oddly, three of the six Christian contributors mostly sing out encomiums for the ways in which the Buddha has enriched their spiritual lives, without really engaging an exchange of views. Two do not. Marcus Borg eloquently states his opposition to exclusivistic truth-claims, instead identifying Jesus as son of God "for us [Christians]." John Dominic Crossan points up the phenomenon of particularity - "what rules us whenever we touch on anything most precious, personal, or profound" - as the great treasure of every faith, salutary for dialogue as long as we do not allow the specialness of a particular to harden into the unquestionable truth. I found myself longing that Crossan and Borg had been allowed more space. Regardless, though, a clear common thread emerged among the other four Christian voices. Christians generally experience themselves to be so compromised by sin as to feel an ever-constant need for a Savior from without themselves - one of the major rubbing points with Buddhist self-sufficiency.
Buddhist/Christian dialogue may seem like the uttermost in boutique intellectual inquiries. I beg to differ. As the stories of Jesus of Nazareth and Siddhartha Gautamaa demonstrate, mighty historical currents can be unleashed from the employment of one mere mind and heart. I believe that advancements in interreligious exchange will best be made in formats very much akin to this book, where sincere practitioners come together to share their faiths, without the slightest need to pull back, strike out, or dumb down. Individual religious imaginations have the strength necessary to pull the great wagonloads of their respective faiths down the road toward a new day.
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