Buddhist Responses to Religious Diversity: Theravada and Tibetan Perspectives

This volume discusses contemporary Buddhist responses to religious diversity from Theravadin and Tibetan Buddhist perspectives. Buddhist attitudes toward other religious traditions (and its own) are unquestionably diverse, and have undergone changes throughout historical eras and geographic spaces, as Buddhists, and traditions Buddhists have encountered, continue to change (after all, all conditioned things are impermanent). The present time is a particularly dynamic moment to take stock of Buddhist attitudes toward religious others, as Buddhist identities are being renegotiated in unprecedented ways in our increasingly globalized age. Is it true that Buddhists are tolerant of other religions? To what extent are Buddhists tolerant? Is nirvana held to be attainable through Buddhism alone? If so, through which Buddhist tradition? This volume approaches these questions and others from perspectives representing Theravadin and Tibetan traditions of Buddhism. The chapters herein bring together a spectrum of views that are not often found side-by-side in a single volume or in a meaningful dialogue with each other, needless to mention with other religions. This volume seeks to remedy this situation, and break new ground to enable further dialogue, understanding, and constructive encounters across Buddhist traditions and between other religious traditions and Buddhists.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Douglas Duckworth, Abraham Vélez de Cea and Elizabeth J. Harris Section One: Buddhist Paths: One or Many? 1. The Buddha and the Diversity of Spiritual Paths Bhikkhu Bodhi, Chuang Yen Monastery, Carmel, New York 2. Was the Buddha an Exclusivist? Abraham Vélez de Cea 3. Paths of Liberation? Theravāda Buddhist Approaches to Religious Diversity Perry Schimidt-Leukel, University of Münster 4. Openness towards the Religious Other in Buddhism Carola Roloff, University of Hamburg Section Two: Buddhist Identity Politics 5. Buddhism and the Religious Other: Twenty-First Century Dambulla and the Presence of Buddhist Exclusivism in Sri Lanka Elizabeth J. Harris 6. The Contemporary Tibetan Buddhism Rimé Response to Religious Diversity Rachel Pang, Davidson College 7. How Nonsectarian is ‘Nonsectarian’?: Jorge Ferrer’s Pluralist Alternative to Tibetan Buddhist Inclusivism Douglas Duckworth 8. Buddhism and Beyond: The Question of Pluralism Douglas Duckworth Section Three: Constructive Dialogue with Other Religions 9. The Dalai Lama and Religious Diversity Abraham Vélez de Cea 10. Thoughts on Why, How and What Buddhists Can Learn from Christian Theologians John Makransky, Boston College 11. Suffering and its Relief: A Buddhist Approach to Religious Pluralism Christopher Ives, Stonehill College 12. Religious Diversity and Dialogue: A Buddhist Perspective Asanga Tilakaratne, Independent Scholar 13. Finding the Right Questions about Religious Diversity: What Buddhists Could Contribute to Discussions of Religious Diversity Rita Gross, University of Wisconsin

About the Author :
Douglas Duckworth is Associate Professor at Temple University and the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Religion. Abraham Velez de Cea is professor of Buddhism and World Religions at Eastern Kentucky University. Elizabeth Harris is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow within the Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion, University of Birmingham.