2020-01-28T11:03:15-04:00

Are you interested in exploring the richness of dialogue and interspiritual practice between Christianity and Buddhism? If so, then here’s enough literature to keep you going for a while. Each of the books on the following list has some sort of connection with both Christianity and Buddhism. Some of these titles are academic studies, some the writings of monastics, others geared toward the laity. Some are books by Christians about Buddhism, or by Buddhists about interfaith dialogue; by Christians who... Read more

2018-12-21T19:56:30-04:00

Pick up any edition of The Cloud of Unknowing, and you are likely to find the following language a bit intimidating: Whoever you are possessing this book, know that I charge you with a serious responsibility, to which I attach the sternest sanctions that the bonds of love can bear. It does not matter whether this book belongs to you, whether you are keeping it for someone else, whether you are  taking it to someone, or borrowing it; you are... Read more

2016-04-24T21:49:52-04:00

This post is aimed at people who blog, or have a podcast, or in some other way like to express themselves online. If you are not such a person, feel free to skip this, unless you’d like a peek into how book marketing works… My irrepressible friend Mike Morrell is a publicist who promotes progressive Christian books. One of the ways he does this is by seeking bloggers who would be willing to read his client’s books and write reviews on their... Read more

2018-11-26T07:45:56-04:00

A relatively new offering from Orbis Books provides a very nice overview of the history of contemplative spirituality within Christianity. Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation Through the Centuries, edited by Kim Nataraja, features an anthology of writings by some of the most respected writers on Christian spirituality today: Laurence Freeman, Esther de Waal, Kallistos Ware, Shirley du Boulay, Andrew Louth, among others. Nataraja is a meditation instructor with the World Community for Christian Meditation (which is based on the... Read more

2018-03-04T23:25:53-04:00

As our nation reeled in shock and dismay after the mass killings at the premiere of The Dark Night Rises last week, I was preparing for a retreat I will be co-leading with a monk this coming weekend. Our topic: the French movie Des Hommes et Des Dieux (Of Gods and Men). As my wife and I sat down to watch the movie, the irony of it seemed obvious: trying to make sense of senseless violence in a movie theatre,... Read more

2017-12-20T11:56:22-04:00

A reader writes: I love reading your articles but am new to the terminology. What is “non-dualism” and is it compatible with Biblical truth? Also, why did non-dualism get marginalised? Great questions, both of them, and both point back to Richard Rohr, one of the most dynamic contemplative teachers alive today. Rohr calls Jesus the first nondual religious teacher in the west, and also speaks of how nondual wisdom teachings have been lost in the west since the late middle ages (I... Read more

2018-11-24T17:06:26-04:00

A reader of this blog writes to me: Hi Carl.  I was reading Richard Rohr’s The Naked Now and in one of the footnotes he lists a number of “non-dualistic” writers he thinks are worthwhile.  Some of the names I know, others I’m not familiar with.  For instance: Bede Griffiths, Bruno Barnhart, Laurence Freeman, Ruth Barrows, Bernadette Roberts, Eckhart Tolle, Jean-Yves Leloup, Sebastian Painadath, Hugo Enomiya-Lasalle, and Ken Wilbur (I’ve heard of him, just haven’t read anything by him).  Who on this... Read more

2018-11-24T17:00:25-04:00

…there are other, deeper indicators of a loss of vitality in the American church. The accommodation of the church to the consumerism, competitiveness, and individualism of postmodern culture is pervasive, from the opulent lifestyle of prosperity gospel preachers to the ubiquitous “worship wars” to pseudoevangelistic “transfer growth” as churches cater to Christians who shop around for a better deal. The fruitlessness is experienced by renewal-minded pastors who are appointed to dysfunctional congregations, where they experience abuse and contempt; by evangelistic... Read more

2018-11-24T16:57:04-04:00

But now see what it is to adore God: it is, in the Christian faith, with great reverence and above reason, to gaze in the spirit upon God, the Eternal Power, Creator and Lord of heaven and earth and all that in them is. — John Ruysbroeck, The Seven Steps of the Ladder of Spiritual Love The Anglican contemplative Maggie Ross is well known for her advocacy of beholding as a core element of contemplative practice, as seen in the title... Read more

2018-11-24T16:55:00-04:00

In the summer of 1992, I was in a rather nasty car accident. It left me with a jaw broken in several places, a few missing teeth, lacerations along one arm, and a totaled vehicle. After surgery (leaving my mouth wired shut for six weeks — no easy feat for this enthusiastic speaker) and the purchase of a shiny new Saturn sedan, I met with my spiritual director to sort out my feelings. There I was, a young man who... Read more

Follow Us!



Browse Our Archives