Speaking of Silence: Christians and Buddhists in Dialogue

by Dalai Lama XIV

In the years since these interfaith dialogues took place at Naropa University, the world has witnessed tragic and earth-changing events. More than ever, people are searching for spiritual meaning and vision which can unite rather than divide them. In Speaking of Silence, the ancient wisdom of Christianity and Buddhism is shared in conversation among some of the leading spiritual thinkers of our time.

Genres: Spirituality

Paperback

Published March 1, 2005

About the author

Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub), the 14th Dalai Lama, is a practicing member of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and is influential as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the world's most famous Buddhist monk, and the leader of the exiled Tibetan government in India.

Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.

On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.

After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.

Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this, please. This book is too good to go on the Theology shelf, it's a delicious dialogue between contemplatives from different sects within the Christian and Buddhist traditions. It is absolutely superb in the ways that it opens up the universe and shows you new possibilities for understanding and experiencing the sacred/divine.

[Alan Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book’s eloquent writing and title are more than “silence is golden” wisdom. For me, its message is that language and its utter absence, can – in a supportive environment — help build bridges.