2/24/2023 0 Comments Shusaku endo![]() J: Yet I believe that you yourself have the basic answer. Are we saying the same thing or are we saying different things? There are endless questions. Again, Buddhists claim that the Buddha is working dynamically at the core of our being, and we say that the Holy Spirit is working at the core of our being. Moreover, the Buddhist approach to evil is quite different from ours.Then there is the question of reincarnation versus resurrection. It talks about getting rid of all attachments and it even claims that love is a form of attachment. Buddhism talks about abandoning the self. I would like to hear something about that.Į: There are vast differences between Buddhism and Christianity. After all, when we Christians talk to Buddhists and leam from them, we must know where to draw the line. I have no doubt that dialogue is a very fine thing. In fact Japanese Catholics are now very happy with the idea. Anyhow, I'm joking.Thanks to people like you, we can talk freely about dialogue with Buddhism. There can be no inculturation of Christianity in Japan without dialogue with Buddhism.Į: Yes, but my efforts at inculturation got me into trouble with my fellow Catholics. But you yourself are known for your interest in inculturation. Was it because of the Second Vatican Council? But you seem to have done away with that idea. But aren't modern people attracted by danger? Don't they like risk?Į: There was a stage in the Japanese church when we thought we had to avoid all risks. Often they don't find it in their own religion.Į: But when Lassalle began, it must have seemed heretical for Christians to practice Buddhist forms of meditation.Į: But what did the other missionaries think? I suppose they were indifferent. J: Meditation is highly developed in Buddhism and modem people are looking for meditation. What makes people interested in Buddhism today? But apart from Lassalle there wasn't much interest before the council. He influenced me a lot.Į: He built the Zen center outside Tokyo. But tell me, when did you first get interested in Buddhism? Was it before the Second Vatican Council? If that had happened 20 or 30 years ago, there would have been an awful rumpus. ![]() ![]() A while ago in Sophia University I heard Buddhist monks chanting the sutras during Mass instead of Gregorian chant. ![]() ![]() Dialogue between nations, dialogue between capital and labor, dialogue between husband and wife-and dialogue between Buddhism and Christianity.Į: Little by little the dialogue is getting under way. J: Dialogue is the great discovery of the 20th century. In Europe and America scholarly studies of Japanese Buddhism keep appearing. Aren't you interested in that?Į: I certainly am. J: The meeting of Buddhism and Christianity. I don't think I'll ever lose my interest in Buddhism.Į: What aspect of Buddhism interests you most? The text was translated from Japanese by Father Johnston and appears by permission of its Japanese publisher, Bungeishunjusha.Įndo: Are you still interested in Buddhism, Father? The following conversation took place in Tokyo between William Johnston, S.J., who has written extensively on Zen and Christian contemplation, and the Japanese Catholic novelist Shusaku Endo, recipient of America’s Campion Award in 1990. ![]()
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