Sharing wisdom, prayer: two New York monasteries—one Catholic, one Buddhist—cultivate spiritual interdependence in weekend dialogues

National Catholic Reporter, Nov 14, 2003 by Patricia Lefevere

In a religion that some deem a philosophical rather than a theological system, in which everything is passing or existing in a state of impermanence, the adage "go with the flow" is apt, said Franz Li, a Toronto engineer, who at times lectures on Buddhism in the world religion curriculum at public and Catholic high schools in Canada.

Li, who grew up Methodist in Hong Kong, left organized religion for two decades after arriving in North America. In 1989 he"chanced upon some Buddhist literature that piqued my interest," he said. He has since become a fervent student and meditation practitioner. When Li looks at Christian denominations, he finds Catholicism closest to Buddhism, especially as practiced by St. Francis and Mother Teresa, he told NCR.

So many saints strove to lose themselves, to devote themselves to others and always to question their worthiness, he said. Li admired their disciplined lives and compared them to Buddhists whose meditation practice is grounded in the dharma (doctrine).

Humility, a virtue in both traditions, asserted itself in Buddhist Jau-Fang Wu's confession: "I have only a fourth-grader's knowledge of English." Yet he managed to encapsulate Buddhist teaching about ridding the self of attachments with the simple sentence: "I want a deck." The meditation teacher showed how coveting an expanded dwelling can lead to headaches, heartaches, financial worry, envy of the neighbor's larger deck and finally possessiveness. "It's mine, all mine," he said, putting his arms protectively around the imaginary property.

Notre Dame Sr. Kathleen Deignan directs the Iona College Spirituality Institute in New Rochelle, N.Y. After much had been spoken about the meaning of the divine in a Catholic context and about the similar, but non-theist concept of "Buddha nature," Deignan spoke of the need "to unpack" many of our words so as to better understand the two faiths. Catholics speak in a language derived from myth and metaphorical images that communicates concepts far more complex than "our God-consciousness," she noted.

The difficulty of publishing a book or glossary of theological terms for a Buddhist-Catholic dialogue, or indeed for any interfaith engagement, is that the meaning always depends on the reader or listener as well as on those giving the definitions, said John Borelli, associate director for the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Don Mitchell, who had attended earlier U.S. Catholic-Buddhist gatherings, recalled an exchange with the Dalai Lama at the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky in 1996 that he said held great hope for further dialogue between the two faiths. Monastics from both traditions met at the abbey of the late Thomas Merton. In response to the Catholic assertion that "God is love," Mitchell said the Dalai Lama responded, "If you mean by God, infinite love that is present everywhere and in all, then I can believe that." Mitchell said, "What's significant is that there's been a deepening of friendship and of trust between Buddhists and Catholics since Malibu." He is a professor of philosophy at Purdue University in Indiana, a former Buddhist and a convert to Catholicism. He said he found a "real commitment on the Buddhist side to continuing the dialogue" after Graymoor. He noted that the abbot of a Buddhist school of formation in St. Louis had requested that a course on Catholicism be taught to his monks.