BR The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on

The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus

His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Introduction and Christian Context by Laurence Freeman, OSB. Translated from the Tibetan and Annotated by Geshe Thupten Jimpa. Edited with a Preface by Robert Kiely. Boston: Wisdom Publications,

1996.

This book represents the proceedings of the John Main Seminar which met in September 1994 at Middlesex University in London. The Dalai Lama has been presented with eight texts from the Christian scriptures (two from each of the four gospels) and invited to comment on them in light of Buddhist teaching and spiritual practice. For those unfamiliar with those texts, Laurence Freeman's contextualization of the gospel passages toward the end of the book provides helpful background. (Helpful too are the two brief glossaries of major Christian and Buddhist terms.) Those familiar with the Christian texts under discussion will be disappointed if they look to the Dalai Lama's comments for insights into those texts, or even for providing a considered Buddhist response to selected teachings of Jesus. The texts serve instead as jumping off points for an exposition of Buddhist teaching and practice which a Christian reader could find both illuminating and religiously stimulating.

After reading what the Dalai Lama had to say about on the Sermon on the Mount, for example, it is hard to find any basis in his comments for responses· such as the following: "I speak for myself, and I think for all of us here, when I say that it was very moving for me as a Christian to hear you read the words of Jesus with such purity and deep understanding of their meaning" (p. 56), or "It is a Christian belief that when Scripture is read by someone with a good heart, it comes to life for all of us again. For me, and I think for many of us here, hearing you read those words did that
for us" (p. 57) . Or again, the Dalai Lama hears in the text of Mk 3:31-35 ("Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother" [Mk 3:35]) an affirmation cin Jesus' part of the fundamental unity and equal ity of all human beings (p. 69).

But he does not advert either to what doing the will of God concretely entails in the context of Mark's gospel, or to the implied criticism in this passage of Jesus' biological family.

Its excessive enthusiasm does not further the cause of ecumenical dialogue, neither does inaccurate presentation of one ' s own tradition. One of the Christian respondents noted: "But one of the miss ions of Jesus was to shift our way of relating to God from that of fear or mere doctrine to one of a relationship of love and intimacy" and "we are called to become one with the same consciousness that Christ had" (p. 78). The first point is wrong, if it means to suggest that devout Jews before and during Jesus' lifetime did not enjoy a relationship of intimacy with God; and the second point is deeply problematic, if it implies that one can somehow know the consciousness of the historical figure of Jesus.

The various responses to the Dalai Lama's remarks which followed during the question and answer period may indicate among the Christian participants for yet deeper engagement with their sacred texts on the Dalai Lama's part.

Could he say more? The book teases the reader into wondering about the enormous possibilities within inter-religious dialogue, especially for those on the Christian side who share the contemplative sensibilities of their Buddhist counterparts. One would like to hear more from the Dalai Lama about his spiritual experience as he was drawn to pray in front of the image of Mary in the cave at Lourdes .

Finally, the fact needs to be continually underlined that while Buddhists meditate on and put into practice the Four Noble Truths without much preoccupation over the historical figure of the Buddha, Christians do not allow for the same detachment between the preaching and the person of Jesus. It would be a mistake to regard the figure of Jesus as an ascetic, a world-transcending contemplative, or a guide for deepening the interior life. Their respective stories reveal more contrasts than similarities, and the religious messages of their lives move in different directions.

In the end the book proves unsatisfying for two reasons, at least for this reviewer. First, the remarks of the Dalai Lama concerning the eight gospel passages are too impressionistic; they do no take into account current developments within Christian exegesis and scriptural study .

The remarks miss the deep Christian engagement with history and the
world. Second, dialogue is by its nature unfinished. When dialogue is fruitful, one always seeks more. Yet it sometimes appears that the desire for deep, lasting inter-religious conversation and the desire to learn about the religious other are markedly Christian than, say, a pressing concern among Buddhists. The Christian participants in the seminar appear to be more conversant with Buddhist teaching than the Dalai Lama is with theirs .

William Reiser, S.J. Department of Religious Studies College of the Holly Cross