Buddhist and Roman Catholic nuns hold their first inter-religious meeting in Taiwan

It comes as no surprise to this blogger that the link that unites Buddhist and Roman Catholic nuns is the practice of contemplative spirituality. Those who claim to be Christians and who practice contemplative spirituality--Eastern meditation disguised as Christian--head first in the direction of Roman Catholicism and then in the direction of universalism. They start to read and follow the practices of "Christians" such as the Desert Fathers, which leads them toward Roman Catholicism. They then discover that followers of other religions have the same spiritual experiences, which leads to the natural conclusion that the experiences come from the same source for the non-Christian as for the Christian. Lighthouse Trails Research Project is the best source I know for information on contmplative spirituality.

As reported by La Stampa, October 17, 2018:

“Contemplative Action and Active Contemplation: Buddhist and Christian Nuns in Dialogue” this is the theme of the first joint international conference between the consecrated women of the two religions which is taking place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan from 13 to 20 October. As a note from the Vatican Press Office informs us, this is a joint initiative of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, the Association of the Major Superiors of Taiwan and the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Monastery, site of the work and place where the first formal Buddhist-Christian conversation took place in 1995.

Seventy Buddhist and Catholic nuns, mainly from Taiwan, but also from other countries such as South Korea, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Cambodia, the Philippines, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Norway and the United States, took part in the international dialogue.

Representing the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue are Bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, Secretary of the Department, and Monsignor Indunil Janakaratne Kodithuwakku Kankanamalage, Undersecretary with responsibility for Buddhism. Father William Skudlarek Osb, Secretary General of the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (MID) and also consultant to the Pontifical Council, will lead a delegation of fourteen Catholic women from Asia and Europe and the Americas. A European delegation from the World Council of Churches in Geneva, led by Lutheran Simone Sinn, was also present.

The agenda of the First International Buddhist-Christian Dialogue for Nuns - explains the Vatican note - includes the following items: The Origin, Evolution and Present-day Situation of Monastic Religious Life for Women in Buddhism and Christianity; Buddhist and Christian Approaches to Active Contemplation and Contemplative Action (Right Mindfulness and Right Conduct); Buddhist Meditation and Christian Contemplation; The Service of Buddhist and Christian Nuns to Humanity; Religious Women Promoting the ‘Feminine Genius’; Sharing Stories of Buddhist-Christian Solidarity and Envisioning Future Possibilities.

The international dialogue seeks to achieve two main objectives: to promote the dialogue of spiritual or religious experiences and to create more space for women to participate in interreligious dialogue. The work of these days is marked not only by discussions in plenary sessions, but also by visits to sacred places in the region, individual conversations and small groups, testimonies of stories of solidarity.

In his speech, delivered on Sunday 14 October - and reported by L’Osservatore Romano - Bishop Ayuso stressed in particular the need to create more space for women to participate in inter-religious dialogue, strengthened by the encouragement of Pope Francis who - the prelate recalled - on more than one occasion stressed that many women are well prepared to face dialogue meetings at the highest levels and not only from the Catholic side. For this reason, he added, their presence today is more necessary than ever.