NEWS AND VIEWS

Benedicts Dharma

James WisemanMonastic Interreligious Dialogue Bulletin

The book Benedicts Dharma: Buddhists Reflect on the Rule of Saint Benedict was pub-lished by Riverhead Books in the late summer of 2001. Several years in the making,the volume was edited by Patrick Henry, director of the Institute for Ecumenical andCultural Research at St. Johns Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. It contains thereflections of four Buddhist authorsNorman Fischer, Joseph Goldstein, JudithSimmer-Brown, and Yifaon selected parts of the Rule of Saint Benedict and hasalready met with such success that plans are underway to have it translated intoseveral foreign languages.

To coincide with the publication of the book, the Monastic Interreligious Dia-logue (MID) board decided to hold a conference at Our Lady of Grace Monasteryin Beech Grove, Indiana, from September 2123, 2001. Originally all four of theBuddhist authors had intended to come, but in light of the terrorist attacks of Sep-tember 11, Norman Fischer and Joseph Goldstein felt it was more important thatthey remain with their own communities during those days. However, Judith Sim-mer-Brown and Yifa did attend, along with more than a hundred other persons. Theattendees included Father Patrick Barry, the former abbot of Ampleforth Abbey inEngland, who is currently residing at St. Louis Abbey in Missouri. His sensitive trans-lation of the Rule of Saint Benedict is included as an appendix to Benedicts Dharma.

On the opening evening, Father William Skudlarek, OSB, the chair of the MIDboard, extended a warm welcome to those attending and then introduced PatrickHenry, who served as moderator of the entire conference. Brother David Steindl-Rast, OSB, who had worked closely on the project from its inception and had writ-ten an afterword to the book, spoke on the Rule of Benedict as a trellis, which isthe root meaning of the Latin and Greek words translated as rule. Just as a trellis ina garden provides a structure for the plant climbing on it, so does the Rule of SaintBenedict establish a framework on which a life can grow. Brother Davids talk wasfollowed by the assigning of dyads, groups of two participants each; the pairs woulduse allotted times during the conference for dialogue about matters raised in the gen-eral sessions.

The next day, Saturday, September 22, began with sitting meditation in the mon-astery chapel, followed by the service of Morning Praise with the resident commu-nity of Benedictine sisters. Various other activities were in the conference schedule,

Buddhist-Christian Studies 22 (2002). by University of Hawaii Press. All rights reserved.

06_180-208 9/28/02 6:51 PM Page 199

public.press.jhu.edu

200 NEWS AND VIEWS

but especially prominent were talks given by Christian monastics as their responsesto the book out of their own experience of living according to the Benedictine Rule.The first of these talks was given by Sister Sarah Schwartzberg of the BenedictineSisters of Perpetual Adoration. Her assigned topic was the section of the book Ben-edicts Dharma dealing with the themes of freedom and forgiveness. Following alate-morning Eucharist and lunch, two presentations were made in the afternoon:Abbot Francis Cline, OCSO, of Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina, reflected on dis-cipline and spontaneity, and Father Columba Stewart, OSB, of Saint Johns Abbey,Collegeville, Minnesota, spoke on the part of the book focusing on tradition andadaptation. Those attending the conference again joined the resident communityfor vespers in the monastery chapel and then, after dinner, heard Father James Wise-man, OSB, of Saint Anselms Abbey in Washington, D.C., speak on the themes ofleadership and humility as these had been treated by the Buddhist authors in thelast section of the book.

The Sunday schedule began in a way similar to that of Saturday, with morningtalks by the Buddhist scholar the Venerable Heng Sure and the MID chair FatherSkudlarek. After Eucharist, Judith Simmer-Brown made some extemporaneous clos-ing remarks to thank persons who had worked so hard to make the entire project asuccess. She also expressed pleasant surprise at how positively the book had beenreceived. In her own words, I think I speak for all the Buddhist commentators insaying that we are astonished at the kind of response we have received to reflectionsthat we did out of our own pleasure and a desire to deepen our understanding of ourown practice, traditions, and contemplative lives. . . . If it is a benefit to others, thatswonderful, but I find myself still astonished that there could be benefit from some-thing that was such an enjoyable process.

The entire conference then concluded with an outdoor ceremony called dedica-tion of merit. While some who had registered found themselves unable to comebecause of flight cancellations in the aftermath of September 11, all those presentexpressed deep appreciation for what they had experienced during their days together.Further details about the conference, including the complete texts of the varioustalks, may be found at the MID Web site: .

06_180-208 9/28/02 6:51 PM Page 200