Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue:: Bishop Wester and Rev Heng Sure
2011 Zen/Chan Buddhist Catholic Dialogue
The Zen Chan Buddhist Catholic Dialogue is one of the longest ongoing Buddhist Christian interfaith dialogues in the country. The same group has been meeting once a year for the past nine years investigating salient issues among the traditions and discovering strong as well as weak, or forgotten, points of common interest.
Problems concerning faith and practice arose thousands of years ago; discussions on how to resolve them still resonate. Discourse among various traditions is central to important ethical issues since the moral crisis of our generation threatens the survival not only of the human race, but also of our whole planet. To paraphrase Einstein who became sharply aware of this threat:
“a human being, as part of the whole called by us the ‘Universe’, is a part limited by time and space. Individual human beings experience themselves, their thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of one’s consciousness… This delusion becomes a kind of prison for us, restricting us to personal desires and to the affection for widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Bearing the above paraphrase in mind, the dialogue concentrates on five points central to the formulation of an interfaith discussion:
The personal, individual aspect of religion as a life force that guides our existence.
The communal energy that shapes the great religions.
The psychological and spiritual aspects of religiosity.
The methodology involved in studying and teaching of religion.
The challenge of Modernity.
In January the dialogue took place at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. The topic was Conversion/Conversation. Among the twenty-two participants were teachers and monks from Dharma Realm Buddhist University, professors from Catholic Theological Schools, a representative from the American Council of Bishops and representatives from the Zen tradition on the West Coast.
Wester - Heng Sure video: Introductions [1/4]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBK9crGU_PE"]Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue: Bishop Wester and Rev Heng Sure - 1 of 4: Introductions - YouTube[/ame]
Wester - Heng Sure video: Importance [2/4]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9B-hMrlojU"]Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue: Bishop Wester and Rev Heng Sure - 2 of 4: Importance of Dialogue - YouTube[/ame]
Wester - Heng Sure video: Topic [3/4]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7mujeJRQGE"]Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue: Bishop Wester and Rev Heng Sure - 3 of 4: Topic - YouTube[/ame]
Wester - Heng Sure video: Personal Value [4/4]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weX6k2qA6kc"]Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue: Bishop Wester and Rev Heng Sure - 4 of 4: What is the value? - YouTube[/ame]
Donovan - Epstein video: Conversation
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8oMcACZILs"]Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue: Sister Mary Ann Donovan - Dr. Ronald Epstein - YouTube[/ame]
2011 Zen/Chan Buddhist Catholic Dialogue
The Zen Chan Buddhist Catholic Dialogue is one of the longest ongoing Buddhist Christian interfaith dialogues in the country. The same group has been meeting once a year for the past nine years investigating salient issues among the traditions and discovering strong as well as weak, or forgotten, points of common interest.
Problems concerning faith and practice arose thousands of years ago; discussions on how to resolve them still resonate. Discourse among various traditions is central to important ethical issues since the moral crisis of our generation threatens the survival not only of the human race, but also of our whole planet. To paraphrase Einstein who became sharply aware of this threat:
“a human being, as part of the whole called by us the ‘Universe’, is a part limited by time and space. Individual human beings experience themselves, their thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of one’s consciousness… This delusion becomes a kind of prison for us, restricting us to personal desires and to the affection for widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Bearing the above paraphrase in mind, the dialogue concentrates on five points central to the formulation of an interfaith discussion:
The personal, individual aspect of religion as a life force that guides our existence.
The communal energy that shapes the great religions.
The psychological and spiritual aspects of religiosity.
The methodology involved in studying and teaching of religion.
The challenge of Modernity.
In January the dialogue took place at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. The topic was Conversion/Conversation. Among the twenty-two participants were teachers and monks from Dharma Realm Buddhist University, professors from Catholic Theological Schools, a representative from the American Council of Bishops and representatives from the Zen tradition on the West Coast.
Wester - Heng Sure video: Introductions [1/4]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBK9crGU_PE"]Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue: Bishop Wester and Rev Heng Sure - 1 of 4: Introductions - YouTube[/ame]
Wester - Heng Sure video: Importance [2/4]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9B-hMrlojU"]Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue: Bishop Wester and Rev Heng Sure - 2 of 4: Importance of Dialogue - YouTube[/ame]
Wester - Heng Sure video: Topic [3/4]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7mujeJRQGE"]Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue: Bishop Wester and Rev Heng Sure - 3 of 4: Topic - YouTube[/ame]
Wester - Heng Sure video: Personal Value [4/4]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weX6k2qA6kc"]Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue: Bishop Wester and Rev Heng Sure - 4 of 4: What is the value? - YouTube[/ame]
Donovan - Epstein video: Conversation
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8oMcACZILs"]Chan/Zen - Catholic Dialogue: Sister Mary Ann Donovan - Dr. Ronald Epstein - YouTube[/ame]
