Unexpected Way: on Converting from Buddhism to Catholicism
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THE UNEXPECTED WAY On Converting from Buddhism to Catholicism PAUL WILLIAMS Professor of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies Co-director, Centre for Buddhist Studies University of Bristol T & T CLARK EDINBURGH & NEW YORK Published by T&T Clark Ltd A Continuum Imprint The Tower Building, 80 Maiden Lane, 11 York Road, Suite 704 London, SE1 7NX New York, NY 10038 www. contimmmbooks. com Copyright © T&T Clark Ltd, 2002 ■ All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of T&T Clark Ltd. First published 2002 Reprinted 2007 (with corrections) ISBN-10: 0 567 08830 8 ISBN-13: 978 0 567 08830 7 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available torn the British Library Typeset by Fakenham Photosetting Ltd, Fakenham, Norfolk Printed on add-free paper in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd., King’s Lynn, Norfolk For Denys Turner and Gavin D 3 Costa ‘Like me,’ [Helena| said ro them, ‘you were late in coming. The shepherds were here long before; even the cattle. They had joined the chorus of angels before you were on your way. For the primordial discipline of the heavens was relaxed and a new defiant light blazed amid the disconcerted stars. ‘How laboriously you came, taking sights and calculating, while the shepherds had run barefoot! How odd you looked on the road, attended by what outlandish liveries, laden with such preposterous gifts! ‘You came at length to the final stage of your pilgrimage and the great star stood still above you. What did you do? You stopped to call on King Herod. Deadly exchange of compliments in which began that unended war of mobs and magistrates against the innocent! ‘Yet you came, and were not turned away. You too found room before the manger. Your gifts were not needed, but they were accepted and put carefully by, for they were brought with love. In that new order of charity that had just come to life, there was room for you, too. You were not lower in the eyes of the holy family than the ox or the ass. ‘You are my especial patrons,’ said Helena, ‘and patrons of all late-comers, of all who have a tedious journey to make to the truth, of all who arc confused through knowledge and speculation, of all who through politeness make themselves partners in guilt, of all who stand in danger by reason of their talents. ‘Dear cousins, pray for me,’ said Helena ... ‘For His sake who did not reject your curious gifts, pray always for the learned, the oblique, the delicate. Let them not be quite forgotten at the Throne of God when the simple come into their kingdom.’ (Evelyn Waugh, Helena {1981), pp. 144-5) Sooner or later, the professional philosopher and the professional theologian will be forced to realise what it is that people expect of them. This expectation far surpasses the external trappings of scholarship. People expect answers to the great questions of life: deep down, what does it mean to be a human being? Theology can only be missionary when it really goes beyond all traditions, and becomes an appeal to reason itself, in complete openness to truth. (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) CONTENTS Preface xiii Acknowledgements xix Introduction i Subrllekba - A Letter to Friends 23 1 God, Buddhism and Morality 25 An argument concerning what exists (ontology) 25 Another argument, relating order - particularly moral order as understood by Buddhism - to ontology 40 God and evil 43 Meditation on a doughnut 49 Consciousness, self, morality and others 5 6 The undesirability of suffering 60 The many Buddhist strategies for mind-transformation 65 On the morality of the Pope’s craving 77 A belief in reincarnation is not compatible with belief in a good and just Creator: 80 Do we know where we are going? 84 Together forever? 87 First thoughts 87 Second thoughts 88 Can Wensleydale be saved? 89 On hell and apostasy 97 Does no one care about sinners? 99 Self-righteousness 102 ix T he Un expec ted W a y Why baptism? 103 What difference does it make? 107 Musing on relics: A theological reflection on the Turin Shroud and faith 107 Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? no A prayer on Christmas Eve: Prelude to the Mystery of the Becoming of God 112 More on drinking wine 113 On reading the Gospels: D on’t mind the truth, feel the allegory? 114 How much can one take of one’s fellow human beings? 118 2 On the Resurrection 1 2 1 The occupied tomb 123 The empty tomb 12.6 The non-existent tomb 128 3 Catholicism 137 Tell me what to think! 137 Option for Catholicism 140 Great cathedrals 150 Can one find God in shit? 155 On doing theology by numbers 162 An argument to prove hell and purgatory 167 Is Satan really wicked? 169 On contraception 171 On Christ’s corporeal presence in theMass 177 Gilt-edged guilt 180 Confession? 181 We are but lowly worms 185 x C o n t e n t s Conclusion 189 Appendix One: On Rebirth 198 Appendix Two: How to Become a Catholic 204 Selective Bibliography 211 Basic books on Catholicism 211 Works on Buddhism, including Shinran 212 The resurrection 213 On Aquinas 213 Medieval heresies (including Cathars) 214 The religious history of the late Middle Ages and Reformation in Britain 214 G. K. Chesterton and others 215 Catholicism in the contemporary world 216 Contemporary Christian theology 217 Philosophy of religion 217 Others 2 18 Notes 223 Index 239 x i PREFACE As a Buddhist I was sometimes asked, ‘When meditating what exactly do you meditate onV. In my case what I really meditate on more often than not is paper. This book is a record of my meditations during the first few months after finally deciding, following some twenty years as a Buddhist, to convert to Roman Catholicism. It was written mainly during the earlier part of my instruction in the Catholic faith. It can perhaps best be approached as a form of what Buddhists call ‘analytic meditation’, investigating carefully a topic in order to discover the truth about it. As such this is an intensely personal document, written with all the enthusiasms and ignorance of one new to an immensely sophisticated spiritual path. In it I speak first and foremost to myself. It is not apologetics. I am not seeking to defend Christianity against its detractors. Rather, it is an apologia and a confession. As an apologia I am defending myself. But to whom? To myself, to friends, and to others (in that order). As a confession it is a confession of confusion, and a confession of faith. I started writing all this down for the purpose of systemati cally explaining to myself what I had decided to do - to become a Roman Catholic. Many of the central arguments expressed here I had thought in some form or another during the years I had meditated on Buddhism and the Christian claims. I had not written them down. But I have long been convinced of something the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty noticed: that we do not really know what we think until we tell ourselves either by speaking out loud or by writing it down. Writing down these arguments has brought to them - for better or for worse - a clarity and systematic structure that had not been realised and articulated by me in this way previously. I also wanted to write down these arguments in order to prepare in advance a defence for my apostasy from Buddhism. I much admire Buddhist thought, and I have some very artic ulate and philosophically sophisticated Buddhist friends who would be sure - in the nicest possible way - to demand that I account for what they will consider an eccentric if not xm T he U n ex pec ted W a y completely crazy decision to become a Catholic. This is not a fully thought-out philosophical defence of my Catholicism. It is just a sketch, notes, my meditations. But in writing them down I have found myself immensely helped in understanding what I have chosen and, I have to say, I have found in that clarity much greater assurance of, and confidence in, the path I have now adopted. So what I have written is for myself, but what is for myself is for others too. It is offered here in this rather public form because some people may find it interesting, either as a record of the thoughts of one particular convert or because my reader shares with me some of my background, experiences, approach and interests. I am very concerned lest my Buddhist friends should read some of the things I say here as an attack on Buddhism. They are not intended to be. Please believe me when I say that I am really trying to go over and clarify my own problems with Buddhism and the attractions of Christianity, particularly Catholicism. The arguments I use are those I find helpful. This is a record of arguments that, for better or worse, persuaded me. I am sure others may well find them naive or confused. There are some very clever people out there. But one has to take a stand sometime. Arguments can go backwards and forwards for ever. I suppose inevitably, though, that in making my thoughts public I shall also be saying things that might be problematic or hurtful for some.