"This is a remarkable volume, not just for its documentation of the conferences that brought together Buddhist and Christian contemplatives for conversation at Naropa University in 1981-1988. These conversations were without precedent and so marked a new stage in interreligious dialogue. Because they arise from the participants' own experience, they also sparkle with insights that engage the reader's own understanding of the contemplative life. Participants often invoke voices from the long Buddhist and Christian traditions of contemplation, but they do so in a way that makes these ancient masters virtual participants in the conversations. The result is a rare contribution to the deepening of spirituality in the twenty-first century."
-- Thomas Coburn, President, Naropa UniversityIn the years since these interfaith dialogues took place at Naropa University, the world has witnessed tragic and earth-changing events. More than ever, people are searching for spiritual meaning and vision which can unite rather than divide them. As Reginald Ray says in his introduction:
"...all of us are confronted on a daily basis with differences of race, nationality, culture, and belief. These differences could be a cause for offense...or they could be viewed in an entirely different way -- as invitations to step beyond the identities that we each have and to enter into a place where communication is penetrating and genuine, and from which we emerge, again and again, with a larger view of who we are and what it means to be human." In Speaking of Silence, the ancient wisdom of Christianity and Buddhism is shared in conversation among some of the leading spiritual thinkers of our time. Contributors include:
Tenshin Reb Anderson
Sister Benedetta
Tessa Bielecki
Lodro Dorje
Jack Engler
Joseph Goldstein
Thomas Hopko
Thomas Keating
His Holiness Dalai Lama
Judith Leif
William McNamara
Reginald Ray
Eido Shimano
David Steindl-Rast
Tai Situpa
George Timko
Chogyam Trungpa
John Yungblut 332 pages. Paperback.
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