Proceedings of the 1998 International Buddhist-Christian Theological Encounter

Author(s): Barbara Fields Bernstein and Brian Muldoon

Source: Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol. 19 (1999), pp. 193-197
Published by: University of Hawai'i Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1390540
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 NEWS AND VIEWS

Proceedings of the

1998 International Buddhist-Christian

Theological Encounter

Barbara Fields Bernstein and Brian Muldoon

The 1998 International Buddhist-Christian Theological Encounter, the continua-

tion of the Cobb-Abe group, met in Indianapolis, Indiana, from May 1 to 3, 1998.

Following the reading of a statement from Prof. Masao Abe in which he stated his

regret at not being able to attend this important gathering and his hope that the

encounter would begin to address the global crises facing humankind today, John

Cobb provided a brief history of the encounter for the new participants.

FIRST PAPER: BUDDHISM AND ECOLOGICAL ETHICS,

BY CHATSUMARN KABILSINGH

Prof. Kabilsingh began the morning discussion by focusing on the Buddhist doc-

trine of dependent origination, which reveals the interconnectedness of all life, as the

starting place for fashioning a response to the environmental crisis. Suggesting that

the inner and outer worlds are necessarily related ("As the king is, so are the sun and

the moon"), she recommended adopting certain monastic practices to create a more

harmonious relationship with nature. This provoked a discussion about the need for

concrete action in addressing the behaviors not so much of individuals as of institu-

tions. Institutions are uniquely human, embodying human imperfection even as

they shape who we are. Noting that both traditions tended to focus on individual

awakening or redemption, the question was asked how the principles of individual

enlightenment or salvation could be applied to a community or institution. Further,

there needs to be some practical balance between the two traditions' extreme views

of civilization, one of which places it in the heart of the forest (the East) and the

other that finds it in the marbled city (the West). This balance, which must restore

the tree of life to the heart of the city, will require a new model of institutions as liv-

ing organisms rather than lifeless monoliths or random encounters. The balance of

the morning's discussion addressed the relationship between community and insti-

tutions and the "eschatological hope" of both Christianity and Buddhism.

Chatsumarn concluded the session by highlighting the principle of interrelationship

as the common ground between Christianity and Buddhism.

Buddhist-Christian Studies 19 (1999). ? by University of Hawai'i Press. All rights reserved.

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194 NEWS AND VIEWS

SECOND PAPER: "SELF AND NATURE IN CHRISTIANITY (AND BUDDHISM),"

BY SALLIE MCFAGUE

McFague's paper generated a spirited discussion about a series of paired concepts:

Self-other, individual-community, sacramental-prophetic, absolute-relative, com-

monality-distinctiveness, vertical-horizontal, thinking-feeling, and scientific-aes-

thetic. The observation that ethics must be based on empirical data led to an explo-

ration of the relationship of the relative (concrete reality that can be described) and

the absolute (that which cannot be described, but may or may not be expressed

through that which is particular) levels of truth. Interdependence, in the Buddhist

model, includes an appreciation of the particularity of each thing while also recog-

nizing the sameness of all. Speakers agreed that we must think both relatively and

absolutely (although a new way of applying language to these concepts is needed).

Meaningful environmental ethics must be grounded in the sacramental, in scien-

tific particularity as perceived through the heart of the aesthete in intimate rela-

tionship with the natural world. But how could we move from these theoretical

reflections into a closer encounter with that world? Stephanie Kaza would provide

the needed vehicle in her comprehensive overview of the environmental crisis in the

next session.

THIRD PAPER: OVERCOMING THE GRIP OF CONSUMERISM, BY STEPHANIE KAZA

It is fair to say that Kaza's paper catalyzed provocative directions for thought during

the three-day encounter, both because it provided the factual data from which an

ethical discussion might proceed and because it focused the conversation on the role

of consumerism in the environmental crisis. Prof. Kaza provided a telling compari-

son of consumerism and liberation practice as paths to self-realization and fulfill-

ment, showing how the twelve links of dependent origination are integral to both

paths. Breaking the grip of consumerism requires breaking any one of these links,

like an addiction. This generated a spirited discussion about the relationship between

enlightenment-whether "sudden" or otherwise-and consumerism and the rela-

tionship between consumerism and the more fundamental human tendency toward

the acceptance of suffering over practices that promote liberation. While education

was obviously critical for a solution, there was agreement that the problem is much

larger than any individual. The global economy creates the conditions of consum-

erism and must be met with a global response. Though daunting, we were reminded

of powerful movements such as civil rights, feminism, and the current campaign

against tobacco as examples of success at this level.

FOURTH PAPER: "ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE SYMBOL GOD,"

BY GORDON KAUFMAN

As if in response to Stephanie Kazas invitation to theologians to step into the twelve-

linked environmental fray, Gordon Kaufman's paper provided a direct critique of

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 NEWS AND VIEWS

Christian anthropomorphism and its tendency to exalt humanity above the rest of

creation and thereby justify its harmful exploitation of nature. Kaufman's recon-

structed God as "serendipitous creativity" and his "bio-historical humanity" were

then explored as a way to keep mankind within nature and in relation to a divine

"otherness" susceptible to the essential "I-Thou" relationship. It was observed that

this might be a way to reconcile the traditional rift between theology and technol-

ogy, supporting a vision of a living universe in place of earlier mechanistic models.

Both this notion of historicity and the Buddhist notion of the eternal return were

seen by some as opportunities to act in the present moment, to achieve the conver-

sion needed to alleviate the crisis, although this crisis emerged over time and not

simply in the moment.

FURTHER RESPONSE: TO KABILSINGH, BUDDHISM AND ECOLOGICAL ETHICS

Searching for common ethical ground between Buddhism and Christianity, this ses-

sion began with Rosemary Radford Ruether's exploration of the mind-body split

and ways to heal it through the insights of ecofeminist theologian Ivone Gebara's

"dialectic of interrelationality." This was followed by a discussion of the nature of

nature. Buddhism regards nature as positive, both as a stimulus to enlightenment in

some traditions and as an expression of suchness, while the Judeo-Christian notion

of the original paradise has internal contradictions. Both traditions share a "green

monasticism" ethic that includes "living naturally," embodied in Buddhist principles

of sila and reflected in St. Francis' "Canticle of Brother Sun." But, it was observed,

the crisis was not created by monks-it was created by businesses, who must bear

responsibility for resolving it.

FURTHER RESPONSE: TO MCFAGUE, "SELF AND NATURE IN CHRISTIANITY

(AND BUDDHISM)"

Sung-Bae Parks response to Sallie McFague stimulated an energized debate about

the relationship between enlightenment and action and between the absolute realm

of "mom" (where everything is just fine) and the relative "mom-chit" world (where

people are dying of starvation). Park crisply observed that enlightenment is the

essential requirement for facing the environmental crisis effectively. But, it was

asked, is personal enlightenment enough? Where does the prophetic dimension

come from? One cannot appreciate the needs of the suffering world without a

"transformed awareness" that moves us beyond ordinary self-centered love into love

of one's neighbor. Sulak Sivaraksa criticized the Buddhist world for focusing too

much on personal transformation and providing too little in the way of a detailed

strategy for resisting structural violence. The old traditions are inadequate; there

must be a way to create more skillful means for operating in the relative world.

Christians who think that "God will take care of it" are also missing the boat. What

is needed, said Judith Simmer-Brown, is the "coolness" that comes with enlighten-

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196 NEWS AND VIEWS

ment to enable us to take on the particularity of the relative world so that we are not

overwhelmed by the challenge.

FURTHER RESPONSE: TO KAZA, "OVERCOMING THE GRIP OF CONSUMERISM

Marjorie Suchocki's response immediately took up the question of how the religious

community might best respond to Kaza's challenge, with the suggestion being that

seminaries provide an excellent context for spreading the gospel of ecological ethics.

This led to a discussion about the models of education that are now being employed

to stimulate activists to confront suffering rather than escape it-which is the pur-

pose of traditional education. Again, the need to bring these values into the work-

place as well as the university was stressed so that structural violence can be treated

at the source. But there is a danger that the university might abandon its long tra-

dition of scholarship and critical thinking in order to address pressing social justice

issues. Nevertheless, at least in Europe, the churches retain the prophetic voice and

speak out critically on social issues without losing their commitment to the intel-

lectual life. But there needs to be a kind of fierceness to the educational campaign

when it comes to consumerism, drawing on, in the case of Buddhism, the protec-

tive side of Zen rather than quietistic traditions. There is a collision coming between

consumerism and both traditions, and the ugly realities of life must be confronted

if we are to make a difference.

FURTHER RESPONSE: TO KAUFMAN, ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND

THE SYMBOL GOD

A powerful synthesis occurred during the final session of the encounter. The ques-

tion Kaufman raised at the inception of the meeting was: How does Buddhism rec-

oncile the need to accept reality "as it is" yet be committed to changing the socio-

cultural reality? Further, and again, how does the change of individuals lead to social

change? Sulak Sivaraksa turned to Buddhism's identification of ignorance as the

source of bondage, both personal and social. To overcome this, ignorance of social

institutions must be defeated, as well as ignorance about the nature of reality. So far,

however, Buddhism has lacked a philosophical framework for understanding the

objective (biohistorical) world, and must create a nonindividualistic analysis that

supports action in the world. The doctrine of dependent origination should be

extended, for example, to egos of all sizes-including corporations. By understand-

ing the historical causes (mergers, etc.), the links can be deconstructed. Nevertheless,

there was a sense that neither Christianity nor Buddhism provides an adequate

framework for a theology designed to effect global redemption or liberation. The

categorical problem of ecological disaster is a new level of challenge, requiring the

transformation of demonic social structures and not merely individual hearts. Shu-

bert Ogden then suggested that a modification of the Four Noble Truths was in

order: that there are two kinds of suffering, transcendental and categorical (contex-

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tually occasioned) suffering; that the cause of transcendental suffering is ignorance

about my nature, while the cause of categorical suffering is empirical ignorance

about facts; and that suffering ceases by awareness of my true nature in the case of

transcendental suffering or of facts in the case of categorical suffering. A theology

that focuses on the nature of ultimate reality can therefore be extended to a theol-

ogy of the natural (biohistorical) world. The question of how Christian notions of

salvation might be extended to the salvation of the world was not, however, reached.

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