Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue (review)

Abstract

124 SHOFAR Spring 1999 Vol. 17, No.3 Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue, by Masao Abe, edited by Steven Heine. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995. 245 pp. $28.00. Masao Abe's Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue, described by the publisher as "part one of a two-volume sequel to Zen and Western Thought," contains a variety of essays and papers previously published in journals or presented at lectures and conferences. In the midst of this variety a central question is repeatedly asked: "How can we fmd a common spiritual basis in this pluralistic world without marring the unique characteristics of each ofthe cultural and spiritual traditions?" (p. xv), in particular the cultural and spiritual traditions ofmonotheism in the West and Buddhism in the East. Abe hopes to both affirm the two religious traditions and, at the same time, avoid any vicious relativism or self-defeating skepticism by fmding the spiritual basis common to them both. He calls upon himself and his readers to surpass the traditional doctrine formulations of one's religion and achieve "a radical reinterpretation of each religion's own spirituality " (p. 5), hopefully revealing this common spiritual basis. Abe poses the question of a common spiritual basis not only from an academic but from an urgent existential standpoint as well. His concern is not only achieving intellectual harmony between these two different religious traditions, but defending religion in general against modernization, secularization, and "religion-negating ideologies " (p. 5) which are undermining all religions equally. By finding the common spiritual basis within the plurality ofworld religions, one would be able to elucidate the authentic meaning of religion in general and thereby combat those anti-religious forces that seek to inauthenticate it. The writings contained in Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue are divided into three parts. In Part One, Abe presents the reader with his general position that will be further developed throughout the book. Part Two brings this position into a dialogue with the philosophy of Paul Tillich. Part Three opens the discussion to a wide range of issues, from meditation, faith, and self-understanding, to world peace, ethics, and liberation theology. Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue presents the reader with an almost inexhaustible mine for thought and reflection. Nonetheless, a central theme stands out. Throughout this work, Abe presents Buddhism not only as one of the interlocutors within this interreligious dialogue but as the paradigm upon which an interreligious dialogue may be founded. He argues that Buddhism embodies the common spiritual basis ofreligion in general, a basis that in turn is able to preserve the unique characteristics of each religious tradition. This common spiritual basis Abe refers to as "Boundless Opermess" or "Formless Emptiness." Formless Emptiness is "a dynamic activity constantly emptying everything including itself. It is formless by negating every form, and yet, without remaining in formlessness, takes various forms freely by negating its own formlessness" (p. 33). It is through this activity that Formless Emptiness dynamically reveals itself in terms of a personal God or central historical religious figures. Topical Book Reviews 125 Abe contends that he is not reinterpreting monotheism, within Buddhist categories. Rather, he is deepening the innermost spirituality of monotheism, thereby revealing its common spiritual basis with Buddhism. Abe seeks to transform monotheism from within its own claim that "God is Love." Abe writes, "IfGod is really an all-loving God, He is not self-affIrming but self-negating, not self-assertive but self-emptying" (p. 130). In this way, Abe finds the true nature of God as identical with the Buddhist notion of Formless Emptiness. While this may not be the traditional understanding of God, Abe argues that it nevertheless arises directly from a reflection on the innermost spirituality of monotheism itself. Throughout Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue Abe seeks to learn from monotheism as a positive and informative manifestation of Formless Emptiness, particularly with its concern for justice and its emphasis on personhood, ethical responsibility, and socio-historical action. Nevertheless, Abe presents monotheism with two fundamental challenges. First, he challenges us to understand the innermost nature of God in a way that surpasses the God of the I-Thou relation "while yet serving as the transcendental ground for the very possibility of all...