Today it is not uncommon to encounter some Catholics and other Christians who have incorporated eastern meditation into their Christian prayer practices. An example of this is “Zen,” a form of Buddhist meditation that is popular in Chinese Buddhism.
By F. K. Bartels
29 January 2010
Anthony E. Clark and Carl E. Olson, in their article titled “Catholicism and Buddhism,” observe that “Today there is a proliferation of resources and retreats dedicated to combining Zen Buddhism and Catholicism, suggesting that the Catholic Church has finally ‘awakened’ from its ‘outdated’ and ‘exclusivist’ ecclesiology.”
Robert Kennedy S. J., Roshi, is a Jesuit priest and Zen master. On his website, Morning Star Zendo, he tells us that “people, leaning toward a deeper form of prayer, are often attracted to studying Zen.” He writes that “Zen gives us a method to put contemplation into practice. Zen training does not allow us to analyze or theorize about prayer or life. Instead, it plunges us at the outset into the contemplative act in which there is no subject or object.”
Several questions come to mind: First of all, is it an accurate assessment to say that the contemplative act is an act “in which there is no subject or object?” Second, what would motivate Catholics to practice Zen or other forms of eastern meditation, and why should some Catholics find it necessary or helpful to incorporate non-Christian meditative elements into their Christian prayer tradition? If it is indeed advantageous to bring in Zen Buddhism, then the logical conclusion is that Christian prayer is insufficient. Could that be so?
Yamada Roshi, a Zen teacher Robert Kennedy studied with in Kamakura Japan, addressed the following questions to his Christian Zen students: “First, why did you not just continue doing meditational practices following your own Christian tradition instead of coming to Zen? Was there something lacking in Christianity that led you to seek something in Zen, or did you have some dissatisfaction with Christianity that led you to Zen?” (quoted from innerexplorations.com; Ruben Habito, Total Liberation, p. 87).
Those are telling questions that cut right to the heart of the matter. It appears that Roshi has drawn the conclusion that Christians who are led to Zen are dissatisfied with Christianity. As serious as that is, there is a deeper problem at work here: one which is a reflection of not only western culture and the modern mindset but the depths of the heart as well. Why would a Christian find Christian tradition dissatisfying? Asked another way, why would a follower of Christ find what God’s Son has revealed to be insufficient? There is a whole host of possible explanations: there is the insidious prevalence of religious relativism and indifferentism; there is the widespread spirit of self-serving gratification; and there is, too, the temptation to constantly seek after new fads, “breakthroughs,” or ancient “wisdom” that is hoped to bring about the expeditious attainment of some sought-after spiritual goal. Others are simply overly curious and, perhaps unconsciously, let curiosity get the best of them.
What Does it Mean to Advance in Prayer?
Many Zen adherents believe that they are advancing in the spiritual life, and feel that, through Zen, they have trained themselves to engage more fruitfully in the contemplative act. But what has led them to draw these conclusions? First, is contemplative prayer something which can be learned as a matter of technique, or, on the other hand, is it a gift that God gives to whom he so chooses? Second, what does it mean to advance in prayer, what some would phrase as becoming more “spiritual?”
Fr. Thomas Dubay, in his book Authenticity: a Biblical Theology Of Discernment, observes that “If one does not live gospel humility, detachment, love, obedience and all the rest, he cannot grow in prayer. He is not authentic. He is not listening to the Holy Spirit no matter how convinced he may be that the Spirit is speaking to him (and he is only too often unshakably so convinced).”
Further, Fr. Dubay points out that those who are truly advanced in prayer, those who are indeed listening to the Holy Spirit, will display in their lives evidence of the state to which they have been raised by God’s grace; that is, they will be living the gospel life with joyful dedication. Those who love Christ do not miss Mass through their own fault; they do not refuse to support the Church financially, physically, and spiritually, they are not dissenters; nor are they slothful in their duty and interest toward learning the Faith and adhering to what they’ve learned.
When we read from the saints, those spiritual leaders whose lives were spent marching at the forefront of the cause for Christ, we find that, over and over again, a common theme develops. That theme is one of love, detachment and humility; it is one of fasting and almsgiving; it is one of constant prayer. Further, we find a profound dedication to and love for the Bride of Christ actively displayed by these spiritual leaders. They knew the meaning of obedience, and they accepted with pure heart the teachings of the Magisterium. They were acutely aware of the fact that the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit and, therefore, cannot err in her teaching on faith and morals. If we truly desire to advance in prayer, the lives of the saints show us the way.
Contemplative Prayer: Gift or Technique?
Contemplative prayer seeks “him ‘whom my soul loves’. It is Jesus, and in him, the Father”. Therefore contemplative prayer is not merely a process of emptying or quieting the mind, nor is it attained through a self-induced meditative state. Contemplative prayer “is a gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility and poverty”. One must fervently live the gospel life in order to receive the gift of contemplative prayer. Thus, it is a “covenant relationship established by God within our hearts”; it is a “communion in which the Holy Trinity conforms man, the image of God, ‘to his likeness’”; it is a “gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus”; it is silence and “silent love”; it is a “union with the prayer of Christ”; it is a “communication of love” (cf. CCC No. 2709-19).
It should be clear that advanced prayer is a gift from God, granted to whom he chooses, and is prayer that is fixed on Jesus. It is prayer with a definite and specific object: The Holy Trinity. Further, the Father grants advanced or mystical prayer to those who live the gospel life. The Father shares his mysteries with the little ones, not with the proud and conceited (Lk 10:21); and God reveals his wisdom to the humble only (Ps 25:9). The gospel life is the way to advanced prayer.
“There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ.” Our prayer “has access to the Father” only through Christ. “The sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father” (cf. CCC No. 2664).
When reading from Sts. Teresa of Avila or John of the Cross or Catherine of Siena, one will not discover any hint of Zen Buddhism in their descriptions of contemplative prayer. Far from emptying themselves of any subject or object during their prayer, they fervently gazed upon the Person of Christ on whom they modeled their lives.
One of the Church’s greatest authorities on mystical union and the contemplative life is the Doctor of Prayer, St. Teresa of Avila, who writes: “I clearly see . . . that if we are to please God and He is to grant us great favours, it is His will that this should be through His most sacred Humanity, in whom His Majesty said He is well pleased. I have learnt this indeed by repeated experiences; the Lord has told it me. I have clearly seen that it is by this door we must enter, if we wish His sovereign Majesty to reveal great secrets to us. Therefore . . . even if you are at the summit of contemplation, you must seek no other way; this one alone is safe” (The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself, Penguin Classics, p. 156).
Read about advancing in prayer and St. Teresa of Avila’s metaphor of a garden and its gardener.
Incorrect Interpretation of Nostra Aetate
The Vatican II declaration Nostra Aetate was issued on October 28, 1965. In paragraph two we read that “throughout history even to the present day, there is found among different peoples a certain awareness of a hidden power, which lies behind the course of nature and the events of human life.” Hinduism and Buddhism are mentioned, as well as some aspects of truth found in them. Vatican II states that “the Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. She has high regard for the manner of life and conduct, the precepts and doctrines which, although differing in many ways from her own teaching, nevertheless often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men” (NA 2).
While the Church has high regard for those rays of truth which may be found in other religions, mixing Buddhism with the Christian religion as if both are of equal value has never been sanctioned. Some unduly extrapolated from Nostra Aetate, taking it as a license to mix Catholicism with eastern religions. However, if we read further we find that Vatican II insists Catholics are obliged to proclaim that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. “Yet she [the Church] proclaims and is in duty bound to proclaim without fail, Christ who is the way, the truth and the life (Jn. 1:6). In him, in whom God reconciled all things to himself (2 Cor. 5:18-19), men find the fullness of their religious life. . . . The Church, therefore, urges her sons to enter with prudence and charity into discussion and collaboration with members of other religions. Let Christians, while witnessing to their own faith and way of life, acknowledge, preserve and encourage the spiritual and moral truths found among non-Christians, also their social life and culture” (Ibid.).
The Beauty of the Church
In an age in which religious indifferentism is common, perhaps we need reminding of the importance and beauty of the Catholic Church Christ founded two-thousand years ago. It is that Church who contains the fullness of truth; it is that Church who is the gateway to salvation, in which Christians receive the words of truth and the sacraments of life, that they may be led securely toward their end, which is eternal unity with Christ the Lord.
The Church “is called ‘that Jerusalem which is above’ and ‘our mother’ (Gal. 4:26; cf. Apoc. 12:17), [and] is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb (Apoc. 19:7; 21:2, 9; 22:17). It is she whom Christ ‘loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her’ (Eph. 5:26). It is she whom he unites to himself by an unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly ‘nourishes and cherishes’ (Eph. 5:29). It is she whom, once purified, he willed to be joined to himself, subject in love and fidelity (cf. Eph. 5:24), and whom, finally, he filled with heavenly gifts for all eternity, in order that we may know the love of God and of Christ for us, a love which surpasses all understanding” (Lumen Gentium 6).
Christian Prayer is Sufficient
St. Teresa of Avila advanced to the heights of contemplative prayer, experiencing the sublime wonders of raptures and ecstasies. We find that she was profoundly dedicated to Christ and the Church he founded. She sought no other way than the way of Christ, which is the gospel life of love, humility, poverty, and obedience. She held a deep love for Eucharist, the body and blood of our Savior, and for the Mass, the highest form of Christian prayer:
“At times I feel such a longing for Communion that I cannot express it in words. . . . When I came to the church, I fell into a deep rapture. I seemed to see not just a door into the heavens such as I have seen on other occasions, but the whole heavens thrown wide open. I beheld the throne, . . . and above it another throne, on which I understood, in a way that I cannot explain, the Godhead sat” (Ibid., p. 303).
Undoubtedly, Christian prayer is the way to a deeper prayer life. It is Christ, in his sacred Humanity, that lights the path before us. It is Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life (cf. Jn 14:6). Let us not look for shortcuts. It is not possible to follow the way of the world and, at the same time, advance in prayer through the use of meditative techniques alone.
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Deacon Frederick Bartels is a member of the Catholic clergy who serves the Church in the diocese of Pueblo. He holds an MA in Theology and Educational Ministry, is a member of the theology faculty at Catholic International University, and is a Catholic educator, public speaker, and evangelist who strives to infuse culture with the saving principles of the gospel. For more, visit YouTube, iTunes and Twitter.
I recently went to a retreat house where zen and other forms of budhist meditation were done, as well as Christian meditation. It was a very inspiring place and accepting of all traditions. There was depth and peace in the contemplative prayer we practiced. But at home, I realized that I hadn’t seen a single cross exhibited there, indicating Christian presence. I have been reading St. Theresa of Avila’s book regarding prayer, and truly, this is unlike what I experienced at this retreat. I am praying for guidance from Christ because I question this tendency of Catholics I know to be drawn by budhist practices, as though Christian prayer isn’t deep enough to allow them to grow spiritually. Your website explores a very important and not so subtle point.
I am so glad you saw that there was not a Christian symbol of any kind there. I believe the Holy Spirit will tell us if we are open to Him , what is not of God. Centering Prayer is another trap that a lot of Catholics fall in to. God bless you for not returning to the retreat. I just turned down a great job possibility in a flower shop because they show how to do feng shui and zen in their floral arrangements. We are going to find this type of worship in every aspect of our lives but should take serious note when we see it and not succumb to it . I believe God will direct me to aother job possibility because I did not complete the application at that place. I also believe Catholics are not given enough guidance from their parishes like in the bulletins. or maybe from the pulpit about avoiding these dangers. We should have more upfront guidance from our pastors even then , some of them do not realize the dangers. Listen to Johnnette Benkovic on EWTN and ask her about New Age. She is an expert on it.. God Bless. Beatrice
Why some catholics are attracted to other faiths or their way of worship/ meditation? It is because these catholics’s knowldge about catholicism is very shallow. Their catholicism is just sunday Mass or at the most contribution to church. Catholics rarely care to learn more deeply the faith, the founder, the real core. As there is some vacuum in their minds and as they are good hearted, they find something new and get attracted. Some of the film celebrities like Julia Roberts converted to Hinduism. They neither know any thing in detail about Hindusim or Christianity. The temples or a stanza of a religious text or the pomp the customs and show during cereminies like marriage might have attracted them
Christians don’t have to be drawn to Zen because of any insufficiency. One couldn’t say Thomas Merton found Christ or Catholicism insufficient for contemplation, yet he studied both Zen and Taoism. Why? Because he saw deep continuities between these expressions of faith and his own. Remember: Jesus, in the Gospel of John, doesn’t judge potential Apostles by their outward appearance. The Master’s look penetrates them deeply, and this is the way they’re known. Looking deeply is the work of love, the commandment for Christians.
In Zen, we find a humility and a self-emptying that should be familiar to us. We also see, if we look closely, that Zen arts mean to recognize, welcome and cultivate the presence of the Holy Spirit, even if the Zen’s terminology is a little different. There are many places where we find overlap, and others have said these things better than I can.
For myself, I find Jesus embodies, sharpens and brings to fruition ideas that are only latent in other religions, like a lamp held behind the page. This is just one of the ways I interpret his assertion that he is the Way. As both Alpha and Omega, Jesus should be a path one could take through any religion.
I’m not insisting that anyone has to go looking for Jesus elsewhere, but I agree with Origen that his wisdom can encompass the wisdom of other traditions. Whether you’re looking at the Upanishads, the Tao Te Ching, or the sayings of the Buddha, you’ll find sparks that are eventually assembled into one divine being, the Christ who belongs to all humanity, as if the work of many traditions had called him down with their prayers. This might be an unorthodox view, but it’s hard for me to look at the texts I mentioned without seeing traces of Jesus in every one.
David,
Your comment begs the question: If Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6), who instituted the Church by his deeds and actions (Mt 16:17-19), why should one try to find and follow Jesus through another religion? That the fullness of truth and the fullest means of salvation subsists in the Catholic Church is the claim of Catholicism, as it has been for twenty centuries. St. Paul preached that there is but one body and one Spirit, one faith and one baptism in the Lord (Eph. 4:4-6). He was no advocate of syncretism.
Given all of that, while the Church indeed holds dear whatever truth is found in other religions, she nevertheless professes that the Church, as the sacrament of salvation, is the Father’s plan for humankind.
What is your opinion of contemplative prayer as practices by St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, the Desert Fathers and Mothers, Thomas Merton, Meister Eckhart, and St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, just to name a few? In my practice and experience, there is nothing heretical with what individuals like Fr. Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O and Robert E. Kennedy, just to name two more – along with the others, who all seem to continue to act, and had practiced ex cathdra. Being someone who grew up in the church post Vatican II I am not nostalgic about the pre-Vatican II world and from I know of it, perhaps all I might miss is the liturgy. Anything else I can do without as it seems for the longest time, the bishops, cardinals, and Holy Fathers all kept what is essential to Christian spirituality from the members of the Body of Christ – intentionally or not. For me Buddhism is not something my faith is threatened by. Nor is any other faith for that matter. Let’s not get into the tendency to make ourselves God by thinking we know with a modicum of certainty how He acts in the hearts of ALL His children down through the ages. To do so might cause us to make the Incarnation and the Resurrection impotent by implying that God did not, does not, and will not work with humanity in the past, the present, and in the future.
Matteo,
I can’t agree with your statement that the bishops and popes of past “kept what is essential to Christian spirituality from the members of the Body of Christ.” That is unquestionably false. As for what I think of the contemplative prayer practices of St. Teresa of Avila or St. John of the Cross, they are certainly models of prayer for the faithful of the Church (St. Teresa is the Doctor of Prayer). As for what contemplative prayer is, the Catechism offers an excellent explanation (CCC 2713).
As for Buddhism adding to our prayer life, I fail to see how that could possibly be the case. Buddhism is non-Christian. If we are Christians and believe in the truth of the Holy Trinity, if we believe that Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church, as he most certainly did, then we have no reason whatsoever to look to advance in prayer through any other means than Jesus Christ and what he teaches through the Church. Jesus Christ is the way to the Father. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). Why would we look for some other way? The Christian who seeks to advance in prayer through the use of non-Christian practices is feeding a disordered curiosity. Having been given the fullness of truth in the Church, it would be unwise to think that Buddhism somehow offers something more with regard to prayer. And none of this has anything to do with the fact that God works in the hearts of every person. That God moves Buddhists says nothing about the truth of Catholicism or its importance.
Let me start with this: My study of Buddhism and practice has lead me back to being a practicing Catholic. Without learning Buddhism, which allowed me to accept the shortcomings of the Catholic Church and teachings, I would have continued as a non-practicing Catholic and most likely would have stopped.
I treasure the ability of Buddhism to teach me how to “See things as they really are.”
Without this gift, I would still be living in the “World of opposites,” and becoming
frustrated with Catholicism. Who am I to question or assume I know what is right and wrong with regard to how ones path to God should or shouldn’t be?
I just listen now, and proceed without fear.
Thanks
I am glad to year that you have returned to the Catholic Church, Patrick. However, I cannot agree with your statement about the “shortcomings” in the “teachings” of the Catholic Church. Can you provide a written, documented example of one of these? The Church is Spirit-guided and possesses the ability to teach infallibly on matters of faith and morals; that is, teach without error. That is no “shortcoming.” Nor will you find any doctrinal contradictions or errors in what the Church presents for belief as divinely revealed by God.
Buddhism does not teach you how to “see things as they really are.” On the contrary, many of its tenets are in stark opposition to the Christian religion, such as, for example, reincarnation. It is the truth transmitted in its fullness by the Catholic Church that allows you to see reality as it is. There is no reason whatsoever for a Catholic to ascribe to Buddhism.
The Church is not simply one means of salvation among others, as if all are of equal value. All religions are not created equal, as Pope Benedict XVI emphasized. The notion that one may believe what he wants, and ascribe to whatever type of religion he desires, since it is incorrectly assumed that all are of the same salvific value, is known as religious indifferentism, which is a form of atheism identified by Vatican II.
In any case, you’re in my prayers. But I urge you to reconsider your views about the Church and the practice of Buddhism.