I'm very interested in inter-faith dialogue and looking for the similarities and differences in faith traditions. Having been raised in the Bible belt, I'm particularly interested in the Christian/Buddhist comparasions. Having been on the wrong end of a fist for not loving Jesus, and being offended by some of the rabid evangelicals and their smugness, it's been harder for me to develop an appreciation for Jesus. Especially when it has always seemed to me that his teachings are basically Buddhism, just without the depth afforded someone who studies the sutras.

But I do think that these teachings which have informed, even if in name only, a huge following and a doctrine that has affected the world in both positive and negative ways. To that end, I have read some of the books written about the comparasions.

Going Home: Jesus and Buddha As Brothers and Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh, are both excellent works, filled with the compassionate peace found in Thich Nhat Hanh's voice. My son understood the title of this book in a unique way, when one morning as he was getting in the car, he saw the book in the back seat and teased "Mommmm! Buddha is on my side - he's touching me!", "Jesus, you little twit! I am not!" - at that moment, I saw the title in a very different way; it's true way. And I realized that I wasn't ready to see the Buddha or Jesus as a brother - I was still seeing each of them as larger than life figures. For me, the most important part of the New Testament is the teaching of Jesus to see him as a brother - that has power that I want to explore further.

Another wonderful book is The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I love HHDL's writing style - it's like sitting down to listen to him speak. He gives many wonderful examples and commentaries on Biblical passages, then compares them to Buddhist thought.

I ran across this article the other day in Christianity Today - a review of the above three books and another I haven't read, The Zen Teachings of Jesus by Kenneth S. Leong. As I read the article, I really enjoyed what the author had to say. I have to admitt that as I read, I wondered when the other shoe would drop and how "wrong". While he did qualify that these Buddhist authors don't quite get Christianity "right", but he's very complimentary and understands that each author is writing from his own perspective, and that we can learn from each other, making a richer portrait of Jesus in the end.