Suchergebnisse

1. Concerning the Christian understanding of Buddhism -- 2. God in four parts -- 3. Love : Christian and Buddhist -- 4. Christian guilt and Buddhist Dukkha -- 5. Christian prayer and Buddhist meditation. -- 6. The conquest of self -- 7. Grace and faith in Buddhism.

There is now in America a considerable scholarly and existential interest in Asian religions. A number of fea tures in the contemporary cultural scene suggest the possibility of a genuine openness to Eastern religious influences : break down of militant Christian missionary attitudes; uncertainty concerning the classical Christian teleology of a coming King dom of God on earth, as well as concerning that belief's secular form—confidence in present progress toward an American utopia; distrust of the cerebral-intellectual, and a leaning toward the visceral, values and powers; and alienation from the natural environment. The Eastern flexible (nonliteral) use of religious language, sense of organic relationship with nature, and emphasis upon the visceral-intuitive apprehension of truth by direct experience thus have a strong appeal. However, the question of whether potentiality will become actuality remains. Eastern religiosity has now become one possible option for Americans, and its study is probably a permanent part of the academic scene. But it would seem that both those supporting the dominant Christian tradition and those rejecting it still find Eastern religiosity too strange to be relevant. And it may well be that before any genuine cross-fertilization of Eastern and Western religio-cultural styles can take place, traditional East ern religiosity will have been destroyed.

There is now in the US a considerable scholarly & existential interest in Asian religions. A number of features in the contemporary cultural scene suggest the possibility of a genuine openness to Eastern religious influences: breakdown of militant Christian missionary att's; uncertainty re the classic Christian teleology of a coming Kingdom of God on earth, as well as the belief's secular form-confidence in present progress toward an Amer utopia; distrust of the cerebral-intellectual; & alienation from the natural environment. The Eastern flexible (nonliteral) use of religious language, sense of organic relationship with nature, & emphasis upon the intuitive comprehension of truth by direct experience thus have a strong appeal. Therefore Eastern philosophy & religions have now become one possible option for Amer's & their study is probably a permanent part of the academic scene. However, it seems that both those supporting the dominant Christian tradition & those rejecting it still find Eastern religiosity too strange to be relevant. It is projected that Eastern religion is more likely to join the Western spiritual flow in the psychiatric & existentialist, rather than in the religious sphere. Existentialist philosophy & behavioral disciplines have less doctrinal structure to encumber their contact with the East than does Amer religion. The basically psychic, humanistic, meditational discipline of the East, which is somewhat independent of doctrinal positions, is a natural point of meaningful contact, investigation, & even practice for pragmatic psychotherapy. This presumes a degree of willingness to shed some of the cultural-doctrinal elements of the Eastern religions & to combine their inner-organic spirituality with Western technical civilization & historical-rational sensibilities. Some forms of Eastern religion might become corrupted in the process. Their fate depends as much upon what happens in Asia as upon what happens in the West in the next 50 yrs. Modified HA.