OLLI0144 - Meditating with the Living Buddha and the Living Christ

Course Description

This is a meditation class, open to both beginning and experienced meditators, that invites a conversation between Buddhist meditative practice and Christian contemplative practice. Toward this end, the instructor will use the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh’s lovely little book, Living Buddha, Living Christ. For people following in Buddha’s path, Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, is not simply an historical figure, however remarkable and world changing his teaching. The Buddha is a living and vital presence, a refuge and inspiration for the cultivation of deep compassion and vast wisdom. For those who follow the Jesus way, Jesus of Nazareth is both a Jewish teacher who lived at a particular time and place, and the living Christ whose presence embodies a love that knows no boundary and finds expression in works of justice and mercy. Bede Griffiths, a Catholic Benedictine monk who lived in a Christian ashram in India in the last century, once said about interspiritual dialogue, “Acknowledge the differences, and emphasize the similarities.” He would point to the differences between each of the fingers on his hand, and then invite his listeners to note that these very different fingers grow from a common palm. How are the teachings of the Buddha and the Christ both different and similar? How does meditative practice bridge these two traditions? This is the territory we’ll explore in this class. This course will be recorded.