A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus

·期刊原文
The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus
Reviewed by John B. Cobb Jr..
Journal of Ecumenical Studies

Vol.34 No.4

Fall 1997

PP.580

Copyrighy by Journal of Ecumenical Studies

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This book shows the Dalai Lama's remarkable capacity to address
diverse audiences at just the right level. Here, speaking to and
with Roman Catholic meditators in the John Main Seminar of 1994, he
responds to passages from the Gospels that evoke somewhat similar
passages from the Buddhist scriptures. The virtues advocated are
quite similar. Jesus was "a fully enlightened being or a
bodhisattva" (p. 83). Nevertheless, Buddhism and Christianity are
deeply different in their metaphysics. The Buddhist principle of
interdependence makes it "almost impossible to have any room for an
atemporal, eternal, absolute truth. Nor is it possible to
accommodate the concept of a divine Creation" (p. 82). This reviewer
wishes that a Christian respondent had pointed out that the
doctrines that so sharply contrast with Buddhism are not in the
Bible. When Christian scripture is read with the vision of
interconnectedness in mind, instead of conventional philosophical
theism, its faith in God does not violate this Buddhist vision in
the way most theology has done. In any case, the Dalai Lama does not
discredit Christian teaching but seeks to understand and affirm its
spiritual power. Diverse temperaments and personalities need diverse
traditions.
A difference that is almost absent from these conversations is the
attitude toward history. History is much more important to the Bible
and to most Christians than to the Buddhist scriptures and most
Buddhists, a difference related to the centrality and absence of
God. However, the Gospel passages selected do not bring this out,
nor do the Catholic meditators. There are other differences that do
come through clearly but are not emphasized by the Dalai Lama as
differences. E.g., he finds Jesus' call to love enemies quite
similar to Buddhist teaching, but, in order to attain the needed
impartiality toward all creatures, effective meditational techniques
are needed. These are described in Buddhist scriptures but not in
the Bible. Because the audience for these remarks consisted of
persons who practice meditation, this difference is not highlighted
in these conversations, but most Christians understand faith, not
meditation, as the requirement for love, including love of the
enemy. The Dalai Lama notes the important place of faith in Buddhism
also, but this faith is grounded in reason and leads to further
analytic reason, which leads to liberation.
In addition to the translated transcription of the Dalai Lama's
talks and the questions and comments of the other seminar
participants, the book includes glossaries of Christian and Buddhist
terms and introductions to Christianity and Buddhism. It can be an
excellent text for dialogue groups that are ready to venture beyond
the first stages of mutual acquaintance. The spirit shown by all
participants in these conversations is ideal for authentic dialogue.
Our generation is fortunate to have a spiritual teacher of the
stature of the Dalai Lama in its midst.