Abstract
Parallel to Christianity, the Buddhist canon developed over time and was not preserved in writing until 300 to 400 years after Buddha’s death, about 100 years before the time of Christ. Thus, the author appropriately covers various sects of Buddhism.
The Buddha died at 80 years old, and the Lotus Sutra (of Theravada) states:
In order to save living beings . . . I appear to enter Nirvana but in truth I do not pass into extinction. I am always here, preaching the law . . . but through my transcendental powers . . . I tell all living beings that I am always here. (14)
Thus, devotion to Buddha and karmic consequences are highlighted throughout the history of Buddhism. This leads to questions of eternity, the Absolute, and liberation. Feldmeier explores these in the context of the persistent emphasis in Buddhist belief of taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha (197).
There is an infinite number of Buddha-fields, without beginning or end. Buddha’s mission never ends. The embryo or womb (garbha) in Mahayana indicates seeds of awakening in the innermost being that begins with an acknowledgment of emptiness and leads to the realization of the Buddha nature and to Absolute Reality: “The true Mind is eternal, permanent, immutable, pure, and self-sufficient; therefore it is called non-empty” (94–6).
Buddha was reluctant to speculate on whether the world is eternal, finite, or infinite, as well as on existence of the soul. Yet the Buddha nature accompanies a liberation “profound, immeasurable, unfathomable like the ocean” (32). Thus, “Nirvana is real . . . an ultimate truth that cannot be conceptualized . . . ultimately transcendent, and transcendental” (197). Therefore, one cannot save oneself since Nirvana is “beyond the world . . . beyond karma formations . . . it cannot be caused” (197).
Vital to Buddha and all Buddhist traditions, Ultimate truth is acknowledged, and faith (Sadhha) entrusts oneself or places one’s heart on something. The ultimate trust and entrusting to Nirvana is the absolute Ultimate. Mahayana tradition seeks to move outside of delusion to the inexpressible realm of “nondiscrimination, the Unconditioned, Nirvana, Buddhahood, Wisdom, and Enlightenment” (198). The author thus argues that Buddhism is closer to theism than atheism: “What else would one make of these terms that are posited to be eternal, unchanging, the core of reality, the Ultimate, the Absolute? This certainly sounds like God” (114).
Furthermore, the sole existence of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas is for compassionate service. The author is convinced that Buddhist traditions cannot be disconnected from faith, grace, and from “the Absolute working in and through them.” The term “atheism,” therefore, does not fit this striving for liberation and flourishing in an Ultimate Existence (199).
Feldmeier compares Christian love to Buddhist compassion: “Both act as agents of transformation and both define something essential about ultimate reality” (208). The Buddhaghosa canon includes Four Divine-Abidings: meditations on lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity (44). “Nirvana is attained by giving all . . . Everything therefore must be abandoned, and it is best to give it to all others” (Bodhicaryavatara). Emptying oneself elicits universal compassion (122, 127).
Acknowledging the incomparable differences between Christianity with a religion that does not explicitly believe in God or in a soul, the author still finds an important intersection of the pathways for each religion, despite differing goals. Both depend on a certain dying to the self.
Impermanence, non-self, and dissatisfaction are seeds to liberation: Zen master Dogen Zenji said, “To study the self is to forget to self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things” and “when you trace the source of the Way, you find that it is universal and absolute” (144). While goals and results differ, here we find a key intersecting point for religious dialogue with Buddhism when Jesus says, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it” (Lk 9:24, NRSV).
Whether pursuing the Absolute through the Buddha-nature or through God, one becomes “utterly humble, selfless, and free” (191). Both lead to the expression of compassion and wisdom for loving service to others. “All phenomena, once negated, are now affirmed” (185). Mahayana sutra passages speak of great compassion with the ultimate goal that “I shall become a savior to all those beings. I shall release them from all their sufferings” (91).
The author of this profound and highly recommended book typically does not force the issues but leads the reader into a certain autonomy to engage in inter-religious connections. Throughout, Feldmeier explores intersections of Catholic fathers and mothers, and their meditations, with Buddhism.