Our twenty-first century global society is in critical condition, with intertwined symptoms inclu... more Our twenty-first century global society is in critical condition, with intertwined symptoms including ecological deterioration verging on ecosystem collapse; polarization of the human community across racial, ethnic, religious, ideological, and other lines, triggering violent conflicts on different levels; and gross inequality in economic status and opportunity, with many needlessly losing their lives due to hunger and malnutrition, and impoverished multitudes consigned to living in dehumanizing conditions. Taking the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha as a therapeutic approach to our dis-eased human condition, we examine symptoms of our Earth community’s severely disjointed condition, tracing their root causes to the three poisons of greed, ill will, and delusion, as manifested in the personal and in the collective, structural/institutional levels of our being. Eradication of these causes would usher in a wholesome and sustainable way of life for us all. The Buddha’s Eightfold Path is...
ARADOXICALLY, the proclamation recently made by a g~o u p of theologians, echoing Nietzsche in th... more ARADOXICALLY, the proclamation recently made by a g~o u p of theologians, echoing Nietzsche in the nineteenth century, that God is dead has resulted in a revival of interest in precisely what was declared to be dead. Religion and God have again become topics of lively interest not only in the rarefied atmosphere of academe but likewise in the ordinary conversations of the man in the street. Such popular magazines as Time and Newsweek have kept the many who have shown interest in the question abreast of the latest developments. 1 Bishop John A. T. Robinson, H0nes.t to God (London: SCM Press, 1964). HABZTO: DEBATE ON GOD 559 Leslie Dewart's The Futwe of Belief is an attempt of one, p r o f d y with a Catholic background, to participate in the task of reformulating "our image of God."2 "Catholic philosophical thoughtyy has heretofore meant primarily scholastic thinking, and the author sets out to expose scholasticism for the "inadequate way of thinking it is for our time, and what is more, in its own terms and in terms of its historical origin, hellenic thinking."Y Dewart thus intends to point out grounds for a broader basis of Catholic philosophical thought than that found within a scholastic framework. He goes on to stress the need for a dehUenization of Catholic philosophical thought, to liberate it from its hellenic presuppositions, and thereby lead it to a broader foundation, one capable of suppurting the contemporary reformulation of the meaning of God for the Christian, upon which he may reconstruct his image of God into one better attuned to contemporary needs.
Buddhist? Christian? Both? Neither? by Ruben LF Habito I was in my early twenties when I was intr... more Buddhist? Christian? Both? Neither? by Ruben LF Habito I was in my early twenties when I was introduced to Zen practice, under the guidance of Zen Master Yamada Koun, less than a year after I had arrived in Japan as a Jesuit seminarian prepari.
In his book Christianity Meets Buddhism Father Heinrich Dumoulin devotes a chapter to "Ultimate R... more In his book Christianity Meets Buddhism Father Heinrich Dumoulin devotes a chapter to "Ultimate Reality and the Personal," and considers aspects of the Buddhist absolute in comparison with the Christian notion of God. The chapter is suggestive of concrete
This German-language volume is based on Yukio Matsudo's Habilitation thesis submitted to the Univ... more This German-language volume is based on Yukio Matsudo's Habilitation thesis submitted to the University of Heidelberg and approved in 200. The title translates in English as "Nichiren, Practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, " echoing the Japanese title of a book by Anesaki Masaharu (Hokke-kyō no gyōja Nichiren, republished in 983), which emerged out of a series of lectures given at Harvard University and published in 96 in English as Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet. Matsudo has authored a number of books on Nichiren's thought in Japanese prior to this volume. Nichiren, der Ausübende des Lotos-Sūtra is a crystallization of Matsudo's years of work on Nichiren, calling the attention not only of scholars and adherents of Nichiren Buddhism as such, but also of students of Japanese religion and philosophy, and of comparative thought in general. This review will first give a summary of the contents, and then offer critical and evaluative comments. The introductory chapter describes the "object, method, and extent" of this study on Nichiren's life and thought. Matsudo cites a 999 work of Sasaki Kaoru on "the structure of Nichiren's thought" listing four areas that have hitherto occupied scholars studying Nichiren in Japan. These are
Adherents of a particular religion consider their own tradition as absolutely authoritative for t... more Adherents of a particular religion consider their own tradition as absolutely authoritative for them in regard to ultimate destiny and norms for human living. The author here examines three views of the Supreme Way in Japanese Buddhism, namely, of Kū kai, Dō gen, and Nichiren. He then sets these views in conversation with Catholic perspectives on key religious questions about final destiny and demands of human living. In the process, he demonstrates how engaging in comparative theology can deepen one's understanding of one's own religious tradition seen in intersection with other forms of the Supreme Way.
Our twenty-first century global society is in critical condition, with intertwined symptoms inclu... more Our twenty-first century global society is in critical condition, with intertwined symptoms including ecological deterioration verging on ecosystem collapse; polarization of the human community across racial, ethnic, religious, ideological, and other lines, triggering violent conflicts on different levels; and gross inequality in economic status and opportunity, with many needlessly losing their lives due to hunger and malnutrition, and impoverished multitudes consigned to living in dehumanizing conditions. Taking the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha as a therapeutic approach to our dis-eased human condition, we examine symptoms of our Earth community’s severely disjointed condition, tracing their root causes to the three poisons of greed, ill will, and delusion, as manifested in the personal and in the collective, structural/institutional levels of our being. Eradication of these causes would usher in a wholesome and sustainable way of life for us all. The Buddha’s Eightfold Path is...
ARADOXICALLY, the proclamation recently made by a g~o u p of theologians, echoing Nietzsche in th... more ARADOXICALLY, the proclamation recently made by a g~o u p of theologians, echoing Nietzsche in the nineteenth century, that God is dead has resulted in a revival of interest in precisely what was declared to be dead. Religion and God have again become topics of lively interest not only in the rarefied atmosphere of academe but likewise in the ordinary conversations of the man in the street. Such popular magazines as Time and Newsweek have kept the many who have shown interest in the question abreast of the latest developments. 1 Bishop John A. T. Robinson, H0nes.t to God (London: SCM Press, 1964). HABZTO: DEBATE ON GOD 559 Leslie Dewart's The Futwe of Belief is an attempt of one, p r o f d y with a Catholic background, to participate in the task of reformulating "our image of God."2 "Catholic philosophical thoughtyy has heretofore meant primarily scholastic thinking, and the author sets out to expose scholasticism for the "inadequate way of thinking it is for our time, and what is more, in its own terms and in terms of its historical origin, hellenic thinking."Y Dewart thus intends to point out grounds for a broader basis of Catholic philosophical thought than that found within a scholastic framework. He goes on to stress the need for a dehUenization of Catholic philosophical thought, to liberate it from its hellenic presuppositions, and thereby lead it to a broader foundation, one capable of suppurting the contemporary reformulation of the meaning of God for the Christian, upon which he may reconstruct his image of God into one better attuned to contemporary needs.
Buddhist? Christian? Both? Neither? by Ruben LF Habito I was in my early twenties when I was intr... more Buddhist? Christian? Both? Neither? by Ruben LF Habito I was in my early twenties when I was introduced to Zen practice, under the guidance of Zen Master Yamada Koun, less than a year after I had arrived in Japan as a Jesuit seminarian prepari.
In his book Christianity Meets Buddhism Father Heinrich Dumoulin devotes a chapter to "Ultimate R... more In his book Christianity Meets Buddhism Father Heinrich Dumoulin devotes a chapter to "Ultimate Reality and the Personal," and considers aspects of the Buddhist absolute in comparison with the Christian notion of God. The chapter is suggestive of concrete
This German-language volume is based on Yukio Matsudo's Habilitation thesis submitted to the Univ... more This German-language volume is based on Yukio Matsudo's Habilitation thesis submitted to the University of Heidelberg and approved in 200. The title translates in English as "Nichiren, Practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, " echoing the Japanese title of a book by Anesaki Masaharu (Hokke-kyō no gyōja Nichiren, republished in 983), which emerged out of a series of lectures given at Harvard University and published in 96 in English as Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet. Matsudo has authored a number of books on Nichiren's thought in Japanese prior to this volume. Nichiren, der Ausübende des Lotos-Sūtra is a crystallization of Matsudo's years of work on Nichiren, calling the attention not only of scholars and adherents of Nichiren Buddhism as such, but also of students of Japanese religion and philosophy, and of comparative thought in general. This review will first give a summary of the contents, and then offer critical and evaluative comments. The introductory chapter describes the "object, method, and extent" of this study on Nichiren's life and thought. Matsudo cites a 999 work of Sasaki Kaoru on "the structure of Nichiren's thought" listing four areas that have hitherto occupied scholars studying Nichiren in Japan. These are
Adherents of a particular religion consider their own tradition as absolutely authoritative for t... more Adherents of a particular religion consider their own tradition as absolutely authoritative for them in regard to ultimate destiny and norms for human living. The author here examines three views of the Supreme Way in Japanese Buddhism, namely, of Kū kai, Dō gen, and Nichiren. He then sets these views in conversation with Catholic perspectives on key religious questions about final destiny and demands of human living. In the process, he demonstrates how engaging in comparative theology can deepen one's understanding of one's own religious tradition seen in intersection with other forms of the Supreme Way.
Uploads
Papers by Ruben Habito