Samantha and Michiko
Christianity and Pure Land Buddhism
in Dialogue
co-authored by Jay McDaniel and ChatGPT
Introduction
Buddhist-Christian dialogue is not just an academic pursuit or personal hobby aimed at personal fulfillment, it is a transformative practice that can help Christians and Buddhists learn from each other and create a better world in concrete, practical ways. The theologies of John Cobb and Bruce Epperly, two process theologians, help point the way.
Sometimes such practice happens of necessity, as when two women, one Christian and one Buddhist, find themselves roommates as first year college students. Samantha and Michiko, for example. Their respective stories are co-created by Jay McDaniel and ChatGPT, but these two imagined persons have their real life counterparts: Christians influenced by Buddhism, and Buddhists influenced by Christianity.
Here's hoping the Christian-Buddhist dialogue can become a context for real-world activity aimed at building what the Cobb Institute calls "just and compassionate communities" and "ecological civilizations." Scroll down for a slideshow on what these two phrases mean. Scroll down as well for an essay by John Cobb on Christ and Amida, and a Buddhist introduction to "The Nature of Amida" by independent scholar and practicing Buddhist, Nicole Bea Pastoukoff. Scroll down also for more resources in Open Horizons on Christianity and Buddhism understood in a process-relational way. But first, and perhaps most importantly, two examples: Samantha and Michiko.
- Jay McDaniel
Sometimes such practice happens of necessity, as when two women, one Christian and one Buddhist, find themselves roommates as first year college students. Samantha and Michiko, for example. Their respective stories are co-created by Jay McDaniel and ChatGPT, but these two imagined persons have their real life counterparts: Christians influenced by Buddhism, and Buddhists influenced by Christianity.
Here's hoping the Christian-Buddhist dialogue can become a context for real-world activity aimed at building what the Cobb Institute calls "just and compassionate communities" and "ecological civilizations." Scroll down for a slideshow on what these two phrases mean. Scroll down as well for an essay by John Cobb on Christ and Amida, and a Buddhist introduction to "The Nature of Amida" by independent scholar and practicing Buddhist, Nicole Bea Pastoukoff. Scroll down also for more resources in Open Horizons on Christianity and Buddhism understood in a process-relational way. But first, and perhaps most importantly, two examples: Samantha and Michiko.
- Jay McDaniel