Buddhism and HinduismFor quite some time the Society of Jesus has been a promoter of Buddhism. Such support became apparent with the landmark books of Fr. Henri de Lubac, Aspects of Buddhism, [1951] and La Recontre du Bouddhisme et de l’Occident [The Meeting of Buddhism and the West, 1952]. De Lubac gave a special emphasis to the Japanese Amida Buddhism and wrote another book entitled simply Amida, published in 1955.
Now then, before his election Fr. Arrupe had been a priest in Japan for a long time and assimilated many customs of Buddhism there. Even after becoming the General of the Jesuits, it was common to find him pictured in photos barefoot and seated cross-legged in Buddhist meditation. Again, this direction didn’t change under Fr. Kolvenbach, who was also Buddhism-oriented. In the 25 years of his term, the Jesuits were allowed or even encouraged to mix Buddhism with Catholicism. I offer two examples that came to the public attention:
Now then, before his election Fr. Arrupe had been a priest in Japan for a long time and assimilated many customs of Buddhism there. Even after becoming the General of the Jesuits, it was common to find him pictured in photos barefoot and seated cross-legged in Buddhist meditation. Again, this direction didn’t change under Fr. Kolvenbach, who was also Buddhism-oriented. In the 25 years of his term, the Jesuits were allowed or even encouraged to mix Buddhism with Catholicism. I offer two examples that came to the public attention:
Fr. Anthony de Mello, who was born and lived in India, taught a kind of mystical syncretism between Catholicism, Buddhism and Hinduism. There is no indication that he was ever censured by Fr. Kolvenbach. In 1998 the Vatican made a posthumous condemnation of de Mello’s works. Shortly after, however, the censure was lifted and changed into a simple warning.
Fr. Jacques Dupuis, a Belgian who also lived and taught in India, wrote many works proposing the assimilation of Buddhist and Hinduist principles into the Catholic Faith. He was invited by the heads of the Society of Jesus to teach in the Gregorian University in Rome and became director of its prestigious magazine Gregorianum. He was then invited by the Vatican to be a consultor at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. After all this, one of his works was placed under suspicion. But in the end, there were no practical consequences.
John Paul II shortly would praise him publicly for his “pioneering” work, and lay any lingering suspicion to rest.
Link to the blog Tradition In Action this is an excerpt from a post entitled, JESUITS: HIGH OR LOW SPEED?
How can we forget Fr. Robert Kennedy, S.J., Roshi, Is A Jesuit Priest and Zen Teacher In The White Plum Lineage, Buddism
Photo of Shiva the destroyer of the world.
Hat Tip MDV
2 comments:
Really interesting post, especially since I just purchased W. Johnston's "Christian Zen" published by FORDHAM UNIVERSIY PRESS in 1997.
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I could understand if de Mello et al. were taking elements of Buddhism to show how they are fulfilled in Catholicism, but it seems like they go the other way and try to Buddhasize Catholicism.
Meanwhile, if I remember correctly, St. Francis Xavier first used Buddhist terms, (such as dainichi for God) in Japan to preach Christ. When these caused grave misunderstandings he abandoned them and started using Latin and Portuguese terms (ex. Deusu for God) to avoid any confusion in presenting the Faith. Also, Nobunaga promoted the Catholic missionaries to tear the people away from slavery to Buddhism.
In China, Ricci saw Confucianism not Buddhism as congenial to Christianity.
These early Jesuits saw that Buddha's core principles are opposed to Christian principles. Buddha holds all desire causes suffering and must be snuffed out and that the human person is nothing but an aggregate of 5 material elements. The goal in erasing desire is to erase oneself. This leaves no room for God as the fulfillment of desire,and the creation of man in God's image with an immortal soul.
Ask a Buddhist who created him? He can not give you an answer.
Viator, Great post!
JMJ
Joe
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