Christianity and Eastern Religions

The encounter between Christianity and the religions of Asia — particularly Buddhism and Hinduism — raises some of the deepest and most challenging questions in the theology of religions. Unlike the Abrahamic dialogue with Judaism and Islam, the Christian engagement with Eastern religions involves radically different conceptual frameworks: non-theistic spirituality (Buddhism), non-dualistic metaphysics (Advaita Hinduism), cyclical cosmologies, and meditative practices that have no direct parallel in mainstream Western Christianity. This lesson examines the key areas of convergence and difference with Buddhism and Hinduism, the role of mysticism as a bridge, and the pioneering contributions of Thomas Merton.

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Christianity and Buddhism

The Problem of Categories

The Christian-Buddhist dialogue is uniquely challenging because the two traditions operate with fundamentally different categories. Christianity is theistic — it affirms a personal, creator God who acts in history. Buddhism, at least in its Theravada form, is non-theistic — it does not affirm or deny a creator God but considers the question irrelevant to the central task of overcoming suffering.

Category	Christianity	Buddhism
Ultimate reality	A personal God — creator, redeemer, sustainer	No creator God; Sunyata (emptiness); Nirvana
The self	The soul — immortal, created by God, destined for eternal life	Anatta (no-self) — there is no permanent, unchanging self
The problem	Sin — alienation from God through disobedience	Dukkha (suffering) — caused by craving and attachment
The solution	Salvation — reconciliation with God through grace/faith	Nirvana — liberation from the cycle of suffering through the Eightfold Path
Cosmology	Linear — creation, history, eschatological fulfilment	Cyclical — samsara (cycle of birth, death, and rebirth)
Ethics	Love of God and neighbour; divine command	Compassion (karuna); the Eightfold Path; no divine lawgiver

Suffering as Common Ground

Despite these profound differences, suffering provides a remarkable point of convergence. Both traditions place suffering at the centre of their analysis of the human condition:

• Christianity sees suffering as a consequence of the Fall and a mystery that God addresses through the Cross. The suffering of Christ is redemptive — it has cosmic significance.
• Buddhism begins with the First Noble Truth: "Life is dukkha (suffering/unsatisfactoriness)." The Buddha`s entire teaching is oriented toward diagnosing the cause of suffering (craving) and prescribing the cure (the Eightfold Path leading to Nirvana).

While the two traditions diagnose suffering differently (sin vs craving) and prescribe different remedies (grace vs the Eightfold Path), the shared centrality of suffering creates a genuine basis for dialogue.

Meditation as Bridge

Christian-Buddhist dialogue has been most fruitful in the area of contemplative practice. Buddhist meditation techniques — particularly vipassana (insight meditation) and Zen zazen (sitting meditation) — have been adopted and adapted by many Christian contemplatives.

Key figures in this exchange include:

• Thomas Merton (1915–1968) — explored the parallels between Christian contemplation and Zen Buddhism (see below)
• Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle (1898–1990) — a German Jesuit who practised Zen in Japan and argued that Zen meditation is compatible with Christian faith
• Thich Nhat Hanh (1926–2022) — the Vietnamese Buddhist monk who engaged extensively with Christians, emphasising shared practices of mindfulness and compassion. His concept of "interbeing" resonates with Christian ideas of interconnectedness.

The Emptiness-God Dialogue

One of the most intellectually profound areas of Christian-Buddhist dialogue concerns the relationship between the Buddhist concept of Sunyata (emptiness) and the Christian concept of God.

Masao Abe (1915–2006), a Japanese Buddhist philosopher of the Kyoto School, proposed that the Christian concept of kenosis (self-emptying) — based on Philippians 2:5–8, where Christ "emptied himself" — provides a bridge to the Buddhist concept of Sunyata. Just as Christ emptied himself of divine prerogatives, so ultimate reality itself is characterised by self-emptying. Abe proposed a "dynamic Sunyata" that is not mere nothingness but creative, self-emptying love — a concept that resonates with the Christian understanding of God as self-giving love.

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Christianity and Hinduism

The Diversity of Hinduism

Hinduism is not a single religion but a family of traditions with enormous internal diversity. Christian-Hindu dialogue must therefore engage with multiple forms of Hindu thought:

• Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism) — associated with Shankara (c. 788–820), this tradition teaches that Brahman (ultimate reality) is the sole reality and that the individual self (Atman) is identical with Brahman. The appearance of multiplicity is maya (illusion).
• Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) — associated with Ramanuja (1017–1137), this tradition affirms a personal God (Vishnu/Narayana) who is the inner controller of all souls and matter. The relationship between God and the soul is one of qualified identity.
• Dvaita (dualism) — associated with Madhva (1238–1317), this tradition affirms a clear distinction between God, souls, and matter. Devotion (bhakti) to a personal God is the path to liberation.

Brahman and God

The central theological question in the Christian-Hindu dialogue is the relationship between Brahman and the Christian God.

Brahman (Advaita)	God (Christianity)
Impersonal — beyond all qualities (nirguna Brahman)	Personal — a being who loves, wills, acts, and relates
Identical with the self (Atman = Brahman)	Distinct from creation — God is transcendent
The world is maya (appearance/illusion)	The world is real — created by God and declared "good" (Genesis 1)
Liberation (moksha) is realising one`s identity with Brahman	Salvation is relationship with God — knowing and being known by a personal Other