You are here

Home

Honoring Ruben Habito’s Many Contributions to Buddhist-Christian Studies

Submitted to Program Units
1: Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

This session will be a special tribute to former SBCS president, theologian and Zen Rōshi, Ruben Habito, for his many significant contributions to Buddhist-Christian Studies. The panelists will address various aspects of Habito’s work, such as multiple religious belonging, the healing character of Buddhism and Christianity, Zen and the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, as well as the intersection between Zen, spirituality, and Christian trinitarian reflection. It will conclude with a response-reflection from Habito himself.

Papers

  • Jane Lancaster Patterson,

    Called Twice: An Experience of Multiple Religious Belonging

    Abstract

    To belong to a single religious tradition with a long textual history is to live and practice within a rich conversation across time and contexts. To make a home within two such traditions of scripture and practice multiplies the complexity, but also opens fresh possibilities for mutual interpretation and for rising to the challenge of living with integrity, commitment, and faithfulness within each. This presentation, by an Episcopal priest who is also a New Testament scholar and an Assistant Zen Teacher, is both a personal and professional exposition of how living in more than one tradition can be both a patchwork robe and a seamless garment. It is offered with deepest thanks to Ruben Habito, my teacher.

  • Paula K. R. Arai, Institute of Buddhist Studies

    A Heart-Mind that Heals

    Abstract

    Dr. Ruben Habito has the mark of an authentic intellectual: He devotes his scholarly expertise to breathe wisdom into the world. This is on display in one of his numerous volumes, Healing Breath: Zen for Christians and Buddhists in a Wounded World. Not detained by the allure of scintillating abstract concepts, he trains his keen analytical skills and insights to illuminate us to ourselves. His sense of urgency is both transcendently inspired and earthly practical. He sees the spheres of interrelatedness that affect us all and offers a guiding light to help us navigate through the fractured landscape of our world and of our hearts. In so doing, Dr. Habito walks along the ancient path of luminaries who galvanize all their intellectual and spiritual resources to spur people to care. His love for all beings is manifest in his religious vision of real-world healing.

  • Sarita Tamayo-Moraga,

    Proceeding in the Way of Zen and the Ignatian Exercises: Ruben Habito’s Legacy

    Abstract

    This paper will focus on Ruben Habito’s lasting legacy in both Zen and the Ignatian Exercises.  From leading retreats that combined both practices, to directing students in both Zen and the Ignatian Exercises, to rigorous scholarship that demonstrates the reality and possibility of dual belonging, Habito’s work in both spiritualities testifies to the power of both to transform suffering into peace, joy, and liberation.  Habito’s teaching of living Zen while loving God will be traced from its origins in his life and work up to the current period.

  • Karen Baker-Fletcher, Southern Methodist University

    Ruben Habito on Zen, Spirituality, and Christian Theology

    Abstract

    This paper reflects on Ruben Habito’s writings on the intersection between Zen, spirituality, and Christian trinitarian understandings of incarnation.

Responding
Ruben L. F. Habito, Southern Methodist University

Full Papers Available

No
Schedule Info

Sunday, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Session Identifier

P24-202