Now back to the regular review.
Every Christmas there is at least one really great gift that you immediately love and that becomes an important part of your life. This book was one of those gifts. My mom and I are both huge fans of the Dalai Lama, so when she found this book, she knew it would be perfect for me.
As I said before, I immediately loved this book, but as I looked at the table of contents, I was kind of disappointed. Of the 200+ pages in the book, only about 100 were actually the transcripts of the John Main Seminar where the Dalai Lama spoke. The rest of the pages were introduction, context, and glossaries of Christian and Buddhist terms. I thought about just skipping to the main chapters, but the "read every word on every page in the right order" part of my OCD kicked it, so I started at the beginning. And I'm so glad I did. The "other" stuff was every bit as good as the main part of the book.
The Introduction by Laurence Freeman, OSB set the stage for the main body of the book, but also explained some concepts in ways that were new to me and that I found to be very helpful and beautiful. I particularly loved his words on friendship. Freeman also wrote the section on the Christian context of the readings. I'm interested in reading more of his work in the future.
For the 1994 John Main Seminar, the Dalai Lama was asked to give his perspective on several New Testament passages. His response reflected his character and integrity.
He accepted without hesitation, remarking only that , of course, he knew little about the Gospels. His comment struck me as a most impressive sign of his self-confidence, and of his humility. (page 4)As the Dalai Lama discussed these various teachings of Jesus, he brought new insights to how similar our beliefs are, but also emphasized that there are important differences and we shouldn't try to make a "one size fits all" religion (my description, not his.)
One of my favorite sections was his discussion of John 12:44-50 and faith. Sometimes these concepts that seem very simple to other people are not simple and easy to understand for me. The Buddhist perspective here helped me to understand my own faith a little better.
In the Buddhist tradition we speak of three different types of faith. The first is faith in the form of admiration that you have toward a particular person or a particular state of being. The second is aspiring faith. There is a sense of emulation; you aspire to attain that state of being. The third type is the faith of conviction. (page 112)He then explains each type further. He includes information about testing faith that reads almost like Mormon scripture. He also talks about how faith and reason are both necessary.
In addition to hearing the Buddhist perspective from the Dalai Lama, this book also provides other perspectives that give voice to ideas that I did not grow up with. Freeman's comments, both in the extra parts of the book and within the dialogue of the seminar, helped me learn more about what contemporary Catholics believe. Other participants in the dialogue brought not just their Christian faith experience with meditation, but their academic knowledge and background in history, literature, and psychology.
This book and the seminar it represents are exactly the kind of thing that I would like to participate in more. I love the idea of conversing with people who have different beliefs but can respect and learn from each other. This book is one that I will definitely be returning to in the future.
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