Christians Talk about Buddhist Meditation, Buddhists Talk About Christian Prayer

(Paperback)

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This book adopts the format of the editors previous book, Buddhists Talk about Jesus, Christians Talk about the Buddha. In that book eight scholar-practitioners--four of them Buddhist and four Christian--explored their relationship to the great religious figure of the other tradition. Then the remaining contributors, two from each tradition, addressed themselves, rebuttal fashion, to the views expressed. In the new book the subject is the differences and similarities between Buddhist meditation and Christian prayer. What can a Christian, for example, learn from the mental and physical rigor of Buddhist meditative practice What can a Buddhist learn from traditional Christian prayer Can one mix distinct religious identity (Christian) with practice techniques associated with another religion (Buddhist) without compromising the religious specificity of either the identities or the techniques Christian contributors include Frances S. Adeney, Mary Frohlich, Paul O. Ingram, Ursula King, Terry C. Muck, Yagi Seiichi, and Bardwell Smith. Buddhist contributors include Robert Aitken, Grace Burford, Rita Gross, John Makransky, Ken Tanaka, Robert Thurman, and Taitetsu Unno.

Reviews

Praise for Buddhists Talk About Jesus, Christians Talk About the Buddha: "This is one of the most intriguing books that I have read for a long time....[I]t has a great depth, and deserves to be read by anyone who has ever wondered about the relative messages of two of the greatest teachers who ever lived."--Pure Land Notes
"Thought-provoking enough for specialists, these articulate views from informed followers of the 'other' faith are also accessible to general readers. This book is an excellent follow-up to Thich Nhat Hanh's Living Buddha, Living Christ and the Dalai Lama's The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus."--Library Journal
"In commending not only this book, but also the commitment to dialogue that it invites all to participate in, I simply quote from Rita Gross's conclusion to the book: 'In these times it is imperative as it probably has been in all times, for people to talk to each other, within traditions and across tradition lines, about how they find the resilience and confidence to continue to work for peace and justice..." -Father Patrick, Monos magazine
"...[T]his work is valuable...[T]he book is highly recommended for those interested in the interreligious discussion of Christian-Buddhist spiritual practices." -Religious Studies Review, 01/04 -- Ken Alan Jung * Religious Studies Review *

Author Bio

Rita M. Gross was Professor of Comparative Studies in Religion at the University of WisconsinEau Claire, USA.