The Unexpected Way : On Converting from Buddhism to Catholicism PDF
Preview The Unexpected Way : On Converting from Buddhism to Catholicism
THE UNEXPECTED WAY On Converting from Buddhism to Catholicism PAUL WILLIAMS Professor of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies Co-director, Centre for Buddhist Studies University of Bristol T&T CLARK EDINBURGH & NEW YORK Published by T&T Clark Ltd A Continuum Imprint The Tower Building, 80 Maiden Lane, 11 York Road, Suite 704 London, SE1 7NX New York, NY 10038 www. contimmmbooks. com Copyright © T&T Clark Ltd, 2002 ■ All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of T&T Clark Ltd. First published 2002 Reprinted 2007 (with corrections) ISBN-10: 0 567 08830 8 ISBN-13: 978 0 567 08830 7 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available torn the British Library Typeset by Fakenham Photosetting Ltd, Fakenham, Norfolk Printed on add-free paper in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd., King’s Lynn, Norfolk For Denys Turner and Gavin D3 Costa ‘Like me,’ [Helena| said ro them, ‘you were late in coming. The shepherds were here long before; even the cattle. They had joined the chorus of angels before you were on your way. For the primordial discipline of the heavens was relaxed and a new defiant light blazed amid the disconcerted stars. ‘How laboriously you came, taking sights and calculating, while the shepherds had run barefoot! How odd you looked on the road, attended by what outlandish liveries, laden with such preposterous gifts! ‘You came at length to the final stage of your pilgrimage and the great star stood still above you. What did you do? You stopped to call on King Herod. Deadly exchange of compliments in which began that unended war of mobs and magistrates against the innocent! ‘Yet you came, and were not turned away. You too found room before the manger. Your gifts were not needed, but they were accepted and put carefully by, for they were brought with love. In that new order of charity that had just come to life, there was room for you, too. You were not lower in the eyes of the holy family than the ox or the ass. ‘You are my especial patrons,’ said Helena, ‘and patrons of all late-comers, of all who have a tedious journey to make to the truth, of all who arc confused through knowledge and speculation, of all who through politeness make themselves partners in guilt, of all who stand in danger by reason of their talents. ‘Dear cousins, pray for me,’ said Helena ... ‘For His sake who did not reject your curious gifts, pray always for the learned, the oblique, the delicate. Let them not be quite forgotten at the Throne of God when the simple come into their kingdom.’ (Evelyn Waugh, Helena {1981), pp. 144-5) Sooner or later, the professional philosopher and the professional theologian will be forced to realise what it is that people expect of them. This expectation far surpasses the external trappings of scholarship. People expect answers to the great questions of life: deep down, what does it mean to be a human being? Theology can only be missionary when it really goes beyond all traditions, and becomes an appeal to reason itself, in complete openness to truth. (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger)
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