Buddhist-Catholic
Retreat/Dialogue - Serra
Retreat, Malibu, October 1- 4, 1998
The
Setting: Serra Retreat rests above the Pacific Ocean
on a hilltop in Malibu. With a gorgeous ocean view in
front and the coastal mountain range behind, the retreat
house provided an excellent setting for a retreat and
dialogue between Buddhists and Catholics who came from
across the United States to this spot on the Pacific
Rim for an encounter between the spiritualities of the
East and of the West.
Sponsors: Sponsors included: NADEO, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles,
the Buddhist Sangha Council of Southern California, Soka
Gakkai International, Rissho Kosei-kai, and certain individuals
in Los Angeles, Friends of Msgr. Royale Vadakin, Sr.
Thomas Bernard, and Marisa Antonini.
Planning
and Coordination: Dr. Michael Kerze, Co-chairman, the
Los Angeles Buddhist- Catholic Dialogue, Fr. Butch Mazur,
Cochairman, NADEO Faiths in the World Committee, and
Dr. John Borelli, Interreligious Relations, NCCB, were
in regular contact from the preparatory meeting of the
Faiths in the World Committee in September 1997 until
the opening of the conference on October 1, 1998. The
Los Angeles Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue as a host devoted
more than a year to planning the logistics of the retreat
and the program for the dialogue. The Office of Ecumenical
Affairs of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Buddhist
Sangha Council of Southern California provided resources,
both financial and personnel, for the success of the
gathering. Soka Gakkai International coordinated transportation
arrangements to and from LAX. Wat Thai Temple in North
Hollywood provided the shrine constructed next to the
altar in the chapel. The Buddhist members of the Los
Angeles dialogue arranged for the Buddhist speakers. Brief
Summary: Fifty-seven Catholics and Buddhists attended
the event. About a third of the participants were affiliated
with the L. A. Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue. Among Buddhists
there were: Theravadins (both Sri Lankan and Thai lineage's),
Jodo Shin-shu (especially Buddhist Churches in America),
members of a Vietnamese lineage of Zen, Chinese Buddhists,
and members of certain new Buddhist movements (Soka Gakkai,
Rissho Kosei-kai, and Shambala). NADEO members from Honolulu,
Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington DC, Houston,
and Oakland came with Buddhist partners. Other NADEO
members attended from Buffalo, Newark, Lafayette, and
Brooklyn.
Bishop
Thomas Costello and the Ven. Dr. Ratanasara co-presided
over a program of lectures, dialogues (both in groups
and in dyads), meditation periods, and rituals. David
Kalupahana spoke on "Dhamma: Buddha's Conception
of the Moral," and Leo Lefebure spoke on "The
Christian Experience of God." Bishop Costello gave
an overview of Christian spirituality, and Heidi Singh
spoke generally on Buddhist spirituality. Sr. Margaret
Funk, O.S.B., (from Monastic Interreligious Dialogue
and who facilitated a NADEO seminar at the Richmond NWCU)
reviewed the spiritual ladder of John Cassian while A1
Albergate spoke on use of the Buddhist chant "nam
myoho renge kyo." Joan Chatfield reviewed a plethora
of projects Buddhists and Catholics have accomplished
together in Hawaii while Alan Badiner focused on common
feelings about violence. Also on hand was Donald Mitchell
who has attended both of the Holy See's dialogues with
Buddhists (1995 and 1998) and who helped engineer the "Gethsemani
Encounter" in 1996. The L. A. dialogue shared the
fruits of their nine-year history. NADEO members gained
inspiration and experience for Buddhist-Catholic dialogue
in an environment of study and recollection. Background: During the 1996 Conference of the Society for Buddhist-Christian
Studies at DePaul University, a working group on Buddhist-Catholic
relations met over four days to review the past 30 years
of dialogue and to discuss future possibilities. This
was one week after the Gethsemani Encounter (July 22-7,
1996, which several NADEO members had attended). A sizable
number participated in the four sessions at the DePaul
Buddhist-Christian conference. These sessions focused
on the involvement of the Holy See, various exchanges
sponsored by monastics including the Gethsemani Encounter,
relations in various U.S. dioceses, and cooperation between
certain Buddhist and Catholic groups. NADEO's Faiths
in the World Committee convened this working group, drawing
upon the scholar members of the committee, Fr. Leo Lefebure
and Professor Donald Mitchell. One notable recommendation
from the working group was to hold meetings in retreat
centers or similar environment so that designated times
for spiritual practice would complement conversations
on specific topics.
A
few participants in the working group had attended meetings
of the longest running Catholic-Buddhist dialogue in
the U. S. on a diocesan level--the Los Angeles Buddhist-Catholic
Dialogue. This group began meeting in 1989 under the
combined leadership of the Ven. Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara
and Msgr. Royale Vadakin and had already published one
report ('`Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue: An Early Journey," Origins
20, 44 [4/11/91]). A few weeks after the DePaul University
conference, the L. A. dialogue invited the Faiths in
the World Committee to consider a joint project to bring
Catholics and Buddhists together, in the Los Angeles
area, for some sort of extended dialogue. One goal of
the project would be to provide an opportunity for members
of the L. A. dialogue to share their experiences with
interested persons living elsewhere in the United States. Those
members of the Faiths in the World Committee who had
attended the Gethsemani Encounter (see: The Gethsemani
Encounter, edited by Mitchell and Wiseman, Continuum,
1997) wanted to host something similar to initiate Buddhist-Catholic
relations on a national level and to inspire other members
of NADEO to initiate Buddhist-Catholic relations in their
regions of the country. With sound advice from Professor
Donald Mitchell and the capable assistance of Dr. Michael
Kerze serving on the Buddhist-Catholic dialogue for the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Fr. Butch Mazur of the
Diocese of Buffalo, a decision was made to hold a retreat/dialogue
in early October 1998 for up to 60 persons, 30 Buddhists
and 30 Catholics. Serra Retreat in Malibu was reserved
from Thursday afternoon, October 1, to Sunday noon, October
4. Funding was provided from both Buddhist and Catholic
sources with NADEO providing the seed money with a generous
grant. Joint Buddhist-Catholic planning for the event
took place at meetings of the L.A. Dialogue and the 1997
meeting of the Faiths in the World Committee. Crucial
to the Buddhist contributions to the dialogue was the
unwavering support of the Ven. Dr. Ratanasara, senior
monk in Los Angeles, president of the American Buddhist
Congress, founder of the Buddhist Sangha Council and
co-chair of the Los Angeles Buddhist Roman Catholic Dialogue.
The Ven. Dr. Ratanasara has tirelessly promoted the benefits
of dialogue with the Catholic Church to Buddhists across
the United States and in Sri Lanka and Thailand. He was
also one of the 23 of official participants in the Gethsemani
Encounter. He was also one of the four official participants
in the interreligious dialogue with Pope John Paul II
during the papal visit to California in 1987. When the
Los Angeles dialogue first began imagining a regional
dialogue for Catholics and Buddhists, he led the Buddhists
in support. Dr. Michael Kerze reported to the L. A. Dialogue
that the Faiths in the World Committee of NADEO wanted
to follow up the Gesthemani Encounter with a national
dialogue event. The L. A. Dialogue agreed that joining
with the Committee in planning would be the best way
to guarantee success for the Los Angeles dialogue's hope
to spread the good news about the benefits of Buddhist-
Catholic relations. The
Conference: At the opening session, Ven. Ratanasara
and Professor Mitchell spoke about the journey of dialogue
that had brought all together for the weekend retreat.
The schedule listed paired presentations on spirituality
and life, spirituality and individual practice, concepts
of Dharma and theology, and social engagement and models
for cooperation. Speakers and facilitators included:
Dr. Heidi Singh, Bishop Costello, Sr. Margaret Mary Funk,
Al Albergate, Ven. Karuna Dharma, Dr. Kerze, Professor
David Kalupahana, Fr. Leo Lefebure, Sr. Joan Chatfield,
Alan Badiner, Kusala bhikshu, Fr. James Fredericks, and
Dr. John Borelli. The Buddhist community in Los Angeles
arranged for Buddhist speakers using the resources they
had available. Rev. Heidi Singh, a Dharma teacher at
Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles and former
Bud&sit chaplain at UCLA, addressed the retreatants
about the scope of Buddhist practice. Al Albergate, national
director of public relations for Soka Gakkai, spoke about
Bud&sit spirituality. Dr. David Kalupahana presented
on Buddhist doctrine and Alan Badiner, author of Dharma
Gaia, briefly discussed an aspect of Buddhist social
action. The Ven. Dr. Ratanasara gave the opening remarks
about the importance of dialogue. The Buddhists recognized
from the start that their resources were far more limited
than the resources available to the national Catholic
organizations and thus drew upon competent local speakers
and one well-known scholar, Dr. Kalupahana.
Approximately
one-third of the 57 participants were or had been affiliated
with the Los Angeles dialogue. Among Buddhists at this
retreat/dialogue were: Theravadins (affiliated with Sri
Lankan and Thai lineage's), Jodo Shin-shu (particularly
the Buddhist churches in the U.S.), members from the
Vietnamese lineage of Zen, two Chinese Buddhists, and
persons from "new Buddhist groups" (Soka Gakkai
and Rissho Kosei-kai). Bishop Thomas Costello of Syracuse
co- presided with the Ven. Ratanasara, and a member of
the staff of the National Council of Churches also attended.
Catholics in attendance represented 12 dioceses, and
Catholics and Buddhists attended as partners from eight
of these. Participants were urged to come as partners,
and the planners insured that each participant was paired
in a Buddhist-Catholic dyad for certain periods of individual
discussions. Every
participant received beforehand a packet of materials
including bibliographies, joint statements and reports
from dialogues, the volume resulting from the Gethsemani
Encounter, and papers evaluating Buddhist-Catholic dialogues.
Everyone received copies of all papers made available,
other resources, and a list of all participants. The
liturgies were among the most powerful of all the elements
of the retreat. These took place in the chapel whose
main adornment is a view outside of the windows which
constitute its walls, a view of a statue of Francis Assisi
at the point of the hill with the Pacific Ocean beyond.
In the chapel the gold leafed image of the Buddha seated
in meditation topped three small tables placed on each
other and was surrounded by sprays of fresh flowers.
This was positioned against a wall and to the left of
the bare altar over which hung the cross of San Damiano. An
opening service was held the first evening with prayers
and chants from both traditions. A candle was lit in
the chapel to burn throughout the conference. At various
times throughout the retreat participants reverenced
the image of Jesus on the crucifix and the image of Shakyamuni
Buddha on the Buddhist altar. Early morning, meditation
sessions were conducted in the chapel by Buddhist and
Catholic guides. These were followed by liturgy. Catholic
and Buddhist liturgy alternated in morning and evening,
each day of the conference. In a closing ceremony, the
lit candle was extinguished. The spiritual dimension
of the conference provided context, nurture, and serenity
to the proceedings. From a Catholic view, the Saturday
vigil mass for the feast of St. Francis was profound
in its symbolism. Buddhists also expressed appreciation
for the symbolism. When the congregation linked hands
for the Lord's prayer and then bowed or joined hands
for the exchange of peace, Buddhists and Catholics alike
felt a profound sense of friendship and closeness. Dr.
Ratanasara, reflecting upon the deference in liturgy,
said that the major respect shown by both groups was
totally sincere. Dr. Kerze felt that an interreligious
future which respected each tradition without compromising
them was enacted liturgically. One
session was devoted to the L. A. Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue.
Gifts were given to the dialogue founders: Ven. Ratanasara
and Msgr. Vadakin. Dialogue took place in various ways.
At one point, Buddhists and Catholics from different
regions of the country met; at other times, an assigned
dyad of one Bud&sit and one Catholic met. The whole
group interacted in many ways including at meals, in
plenary sessions, at receptions, and on one afternoon
with a box lunch and visit to the Malibu beach. Goals: The goals of the planners were successfully met. On the
one hand, the Los Angeles dialogue shared its experience
with a larger, sympathetic group as a resource for similar
dialogues. On the other hand, NADEO members wanted to
experience Buddhist-Catholic dialogue in an environment
of study, recollection and prayer. In addition, 57 persons
enjoyed one another's company following a retreat schedule
for four days and learning more about Buddhist and Catholic
beliefs and practices and how these traditions might
be mutually enriching, and ways to improve relations.
Buddhists from other parts of the country gained~information
on the interreligious activities of Buddhists in Los
Angeles. Finally, Buddhist and Catholic partners from
various cities and towns returned home with a few ideas
and experiences that might be helpful in promoting their
own dialogues.
Evaluation: An
evaluation form was prepared and mailed after the
conference along with papers and other resources resulting
from the conversations. Responses were about evenly divided
between Christians and Buddhists. All evaluations were
positive; the careful planning by the L. A. group, Faiths
in the World, and the three coordinators paid off. For
improvements, Buddhists suggested more ways to increase
the fellowship and contact at such a dialogue and also
urged that participants address the difficult matters
and lessons from the history of contact and sensitive
issues of the present. One Buddhist reported that already
she and her Christian partner were busy planning activities.
Some Christians were uncomfortable with certain questions
raised by a Catholic facilitator especially regarding
defining the relationship Buddhists have with the reality
of the church and God's continuing work in the world
through the church. Everyone liked the setting, the variations
in the schedule, and the relaxed retreat environment.
There were suggestions for more attention to detail,
particularly the range of religious orientations among
the participants and even the distinctiveness of the
rituals and practices. Personal relationships and deep
friendships are the most profound results of the ten
years the Los Angeles dialogue has been meeting. Interreligious
friendships have provided the enduring cohesion of the
L. A. dialogue and the motivation to see new dialogues
and relationships between the communities established
in other parts of the United States. Over and above the
educational dimension of the Malibu dialogue was the
creation of dyads, Buddhist and Catholic partners, for
the days in Malibu. One participant, a head priest of
Higshi Honganji temple in Los Angeles, recommended that
at the next national retreat, dyad partners be introduced
at the very beginning so that they would have more time
to know each other and their respective traditions through
the personal relationships. A Catholic member of the
L. A. Dialogue said the dyads were "a way to cheer
about the new 'things' we were discovering about our
partner's faith and experience of life." Another
Catholic pointed out that the morning meditation session,
guided by a meditation teacher from Wat Thai, created
an atmosphere which carried over well into the breakfast
which followed. The morning meditations were described
as a gift exchange between the two traditions. Everyone
agreed that the meditation on Sunday, the last day of
the retreat, was almost magical. The Director of the
Diocesan Center for Spirituality in Los Angeles had placed
an icon of the Trinity upon the altar and instructed
those present on how to meditate upon it. As the early
morning coastal clouds cleared, the sun broke through
and illuminated the icon. The sudden presence of the
new morning light seemed to be a fitting symbol of the
shared experience of the participants.
Michael
Kerze, Los Angeles Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue John Borelli,
Interreligious Relations, National Conference of Catholic
Bishops
Bulletin
of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue - Issue
Number 61 * Winter 1999
Buddhist-Catholic
Retreat/Dialogue - Malibu,
California
A
major dialogue conference between Buddhists and Catholics
was held from October 1-4, 1998, at the Serra Retreat
Center in Malibu, California. Co-sponsored by the Los
Angeles Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue and the Faiths in
the World Committee of the National Association of Diocesan
Ecumenical Officers (NADEO), the conference had presentations
by sixteen persons over the four-day period, including
ones by four persons directly connected with MID: Sr.
Mary Margaret Funk, OSB, our executive director; and
three members of the Board of Advisors: Dr. John Borelli,
Fr. Leo Lefebure, and Prof. Donald Mitchell.
Prof.
Mitchell, together with Ven. Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara,
led the opening session, Dr. Borelli joined with Ven.
Karuna Dharma in conducting the closing session (which
centered on the question "Where Do We Go from Here?"),
and Sr. Mary Margaret gave a presentation on "Spirituality
and Individual Practice" on the first full day of
the conference. Other presentations dealt with such topics
as "Spirituality and Life," "The Concepts
of Dharma and Theology," and "Social Concerns
and Models for Cooperation." The texts of only a
few of the presentations were available as the present
article was being written, but these few included Leo
Lefebure's paper on "The Christian Experience of
God." Because of that paper's intrinsic excellence
and also because of Fr. Leo's connection with MID, we
would like to summarize it for our readers: Fr.
Leo began by recalling that Christian faith did not arise
from reasoned arguments about the universe but rather
from encounters with Jesus, encounters that changed people
forever as they were freed from fears, illness, and sins.
The stories or parables that Jesus himself told helped
elicit this change, for in them the hearers were confronted
with a God who does not fit human calculations, does
not appear at our command, does not act the way we expect
God to act. In
the next part of his presentation, Fr. Leo drew on a
well-known poem by the seventeenth-century English pastor
George Herbert, "Love Bade Me Welcome." Reflecting
on the poem line by line, Fr. Leo led up to the climactic
final lines in which divine love insists on serving us,
feeding us. God is like that, "extravagant generosity,
beyond all reason or expectation." In the Christian
liturgy, this generosity is met above all in the sacrament
of the Eucharist, which configures us to Jesus and makes
present his death and resurrection. Toward
the end of his paper, Fr. Leo's reflected on the way
in which the experience of God takes shape in a Christian's
life, namely, as faith, hope, and love. Of the three,
hope is perhaps the most mysterious. Its ground is not
an attitude of optimism but rather the resurrection of
Jesus, not a resolve that "I can and I will" but
rather the recognition that "I cannot do this on
my own, Lord, but you will empower me to do this because
you promised." He then concluded with a paragraph
that deserves to be quoted in full, since it directly
relates to the theme of interreligious dialogue: "The
worldviews of Buddhism and Christianity are in many ways
very different, so different that it can be difficult
even to understand each other at times. I know that often
Buddhists find Christian language about God confusing.
Yet the values of our traditions resonate strongly with
each other. As a Christian, I have learned much from
the Four Noble Truths and the Buddhist virtues of wisdom
and compassion, loving-kindness, sympathetic joy, and
equanimity. In dialogue it is important to acknowledge
both the differences in our perspectives and also the
similarities in what we value. Then we can learn both
from what distinguishes us and also from what unites
us, so that together we may better serve this world.
OSB.
MID. Bulletin 61, winter 1999. Index. / Rev. 990318 / © Copyright
1999 by MID / http://www.osb.org/mid/news/61/61b.htm
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