St. Ignatius of Loyola and Sāntideva As Companions on the Way of Life Tomislav Spiranec
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Santa Clara University Scholar Commons Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations Student Scholarship 4-2018 Virtues/Pāramitās: St. Ignatius Of Loyola and Sāntideva as Companions on the Way of Life Tomislav Spiranec Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/jst_dissertations Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Spiranec, Tomislav, "Virtues/Pāramitās: St. Ignatius Of Loyola and Sāntideva as Companions on the Way of Life" (2018). Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations. 17. https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/jst_dissertations/17 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VIRTUES/PARA.MIT .AS: ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA AND SANTIDEVA AS COMPANIONS ON THE WAY OF LIFE A dissertation by Tomislav Spiranec, S.J. presented to The Faculty of the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate in Sacred Theology Berkeley, California April, 2018 Committee ------===~~~~~~~j_ 't /l!;//F Dr. Eduardo Fernandez, S.J., S.T. 4=:~ .7 Alexander, Ph.D., Reader lf/ !~/lg Ph.D., Reader y/lJ/li ------------',----\->,----"'~----'- Abstract VIRTUES/PARAMIT AS: ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA AND SANTIDEVA AS COMPANIONS ON THE WAY OF LIFE Tomislav Spiranec, S.J. This dissertation conducts a comparative study of the cultivation of the virtues in Catholic spiritual tradition and the perfections (paramitas) in the Mahayana Buddhist traditions in view of the spiritual needs of contemporary Croatian young adults. The comparison is carried out through the exploration of two key texts: The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, a sixteenth-century Basque Catholic, and the founder of the Society of Jesus, and The Way ofth e Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryavatara) of Santideva, an eight-century Indian Mahayana monk. The study links the central teachings of the Catholic faith to the daily life and identity of young Catholics through the cultivation of the virtues/ paramitas, re-imagined for the modem sensibilities of today's Croatia. Such practice understands the cultivation of the virtues/paramitas as intentional, deliberate, and cognitive behavioral activity through which one shapes one's life according to a particular vision of ultimate reality. The primary objective of this study is to fill a vital need within the Catholic community in the small but culturally and rel igiously complex nation of Croatia. The general problem facing Croat Catholics today is the clash of Catholic pre-modernity with modem and post-modern ideas and institutions. In this encounter, pre-modern Catholic religious forms no longer satisfy the needs and expectations of modem young adults in a society increasingly marked by cultural and religious pluralism. The immediate context of my study is the "3D Formation Program," a three-year long systematic program for young adults organized by the University Students Catholi c Academic Center (SK.AC), which belongs to the Jesuit university chaplaincy at Zagreb University. The name "3D" is an abbreviation of the Croatian words, Duh, Dusa, and Drustvo, meaning "Spirit, Soul and Society." My study argues that a fruitful synthesis between Ignatius and Santideva with regard to the cultivation of vi1tues/pararnitas may contribute to a form of Catholic spirituality that is intellectually and behaviorally challenging, relevant, and compelling for today's Croatian young adults. Buddhism is attractive for Catholics because of its practicality, immediately pragmatic effects, monastic institutions, and ritual richness. It therefore serves as a good dialogue partner for lgnatian spirituality in the cultivation of a contextualized spiritual practice. Though the two traditions differ radically on the level of doctrinal assumptions and consequently, ultimate goals, they share a great deal on the level of the practice of virtues/paramitas, which assumes a common, human, biological-intellectual substratum. The theoretical framework of this study is the comparative theological method developed by Francis Clooney, complemented with Judith Berling's interreligious learning. The reason for merging Clooney's and Berling's methods lies in the nature of my work, which involves studying each text in its own context (Clooney) as well as considering contemporary interpretations within "living" communities (Berling). The work is interdisciplinary in nature. In addition to comparative theology and interreligious learning, the study applies an historical and sociological framework to an analysis of the political, economic, ideological, religious, and cultural dimensions of the Croatian context. This analysis fonns the foundation of a contextualized spiritual practice for young adults who are seeking genuine encounter with God in the complex historical reality of Croatia. ---=~~~1- Dr. Eduardo Fernandez, .. , S.T.D., Director ii Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 Scope and nature ......................................................................................................... 5 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 10 Significance............................................................................................................... 13 Chapter Overview ..................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER ONE: The Geographical/Historical Context .............................................16 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 16 Spatial Location ............................................................................................................ 17 Historical/ Geographical Development of Croatian Territory: A Small People between the Great Empires ......................................................................................................... 21 Population: A Mosaic ................................................................................................... 29 Settlements: from the Rural to the Urban ..................................................................... 34 Economy in Transition .................................................................................................. 34 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 35 CHAPTER TWO: The Historical Development of Croatian National and Religious Identity ..............................................................................................................................37 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 38 The First Historical Period (7th-12th Centuries): The Foundations of Identity Formation .................................................................................................................... 39 The Second Historical Period (12th-19th Centuries): Preservation of Identity ...... 42 The Third Historical Period (19th-20th Centuries): Renewal or Recreation of Identity ......................................................................................................................... 49 The Fourth Historical Period (20th Century): Being Different among Similar Identities in a Multi-Slavic Community .................................................................... 52 Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1941): Mixing Identity, Politics and Religion ......... 52 The Second World War (1941-1945): Identity between the Black and Red Extremes ................................................................................................................................... 55 Communist Yugoslavia (1945-1990): National Identity in the Supranational State 58 The Fifth Historical Period: Post-Communist Croatia (1991-Present): A Mosaic of Many Identities ....................................................................................................... 63 Summary: Religion and Identity in Transition ............................................................. 69 CHAPTER THREE: Croatian Young Adults ...............................................................73 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 73 iii Overview ....................................................................................................................... 75 The Sociological Profile of Croatian Young Adults ................................................. 79 Demographics of Croatian Young Adults ................................................................. 79 Education of Croatian Young Adults ........................................................................ 81 Economic Levels of Croatian Young Adults ............................................................ 83 Civil, Social, and Personal Behavior of Croatian Young Adults .............................. 84 Values of Croatian Young Adults .............................................................................. 86 Summary ......................................................................................................................