Buddhism And Interfaith Dialogue

Like all other religions, Buddhism is deeply involved in the religiously pluralistic situation of the world today, and is also involved in inter-religious dialogue. However, the Buddhist view of inter-religious dialogue is significantly different from, say, that of Christianity. In Christianity Jesus Christ, being the only incarnation in history, has an inexplicable uniqueness. It must be maintained even in interfaith dialogue. By contrast, in Buddhism Guatama Buddha is not the only Buddha (an awakened one) but one of many Buddhas. His uniqueness is realised in the fact that he is the first Buddha in human history. Furthermore, the Buddhist teaching of dependent co-origination and emptiness not only provides a dynamic common basis for various religions but also will suggest a creative cooperation amongst world religions. This book clarifies such a Buddhist view of inter-religious dialogue from various perspectives, and it shows a leading Buddhist thinker of the twentieth century engaged in ongoing dialogue with a variety of Western theologies and theologians.

Masao Abe is Professor Emeritus of Nara University of Japan, and has taught Buddhism and Japanese philosophy at Columbia University, University of Chicago, Princeton University, Claremont Graduate School, University of Hawaii, Haverford College, among others.
Steven Heine is professor of religious studies and history and director of the Institute for Asian Studies at Florida International University. Heine's research specializes in the life and thought of Zen master Dogen (1200-1253), the founder of the Soto sect in Japan, and he has published twenty books and dozens of articles on Japanese culture. His publications include Did Dogen Go to China? (Oxford, 2006), The Zen Poetry of Dogen (Tuttle, 1997), Dogen and the Koan Tradition (SUNY, 1993), Shifting Shape, Shaping Text (Hawaii, 2000), and White Collar Zen (Oxford, 2005), which has been reviewed in USA Today, The Washington Post, Harvard Business Working Knowledge, and elsewhere.