The Intrareligious Dialogue

5

7633

995>

iII

Copyright C 1999 by Raimon Panikkar Wustrations C 1999 by Jordi Gumi rights reserved. No part of this book may be tepaoduced or trans­ in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval All

mitted

system, without

permission in writing from the publisher.

Ubrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Panikkar, Raimon, 191� The

intrareligious dialogue I Raimon Panikkar. - Rev. ed.

p. em . Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8091-3763-1 (alk. paper) 1. Religions-Relations. 2. Christianity and other religions. I. Title. BU10.P36

1999

291.1'72-dc21

98-49313 CIP

Published by Paulist Press 997 Macarthur Boulevard

Mahwah, New Jersey 07430

www.paulistpress.com Printed

and bound in the United States of America

Contents

Ust of Abbreviations

VII

The lntrareligious Dialogue

ix

Preface to the New Edition

xi

A Note to the Reader

xiii

Preface

XV

THE SERMON

ON

ntE MOUNT Of INTRAREUGIOUS DIALOGUE

1. THE RH£TORJC OF ntE DIALOGUE

1 3

1. Five Attitudes

5

Ezclusivism

5

lnclusroism

6

Paralltlism

7 9

lnt�ttration Pluralism

10

2. Five Models

11

(Aogrtlplric/Jl: 1M Ways to IM Mount11in Pftlk

12

PhysiaJJ: The RsJirrbow

15

GftJmdriaU: 1M TopologiciJllnVIIrillnt

17

Anthropologia�l: I.Angw�g�

19

Mystiall: Silmct

22

2. THE DIALOGICAL DIALOGUE

23

1. Background

23

2. Thesis

26 iii

iv

CONTENTS

3. Dialogue and Dialectics

27

4. Dialectical Dialogue

29

5.

Dialogical Dialogue

29

6.

Thinking and Being

32

7. S ubject and

Object

8. land Thou

9.

35

Myth and Logos

3. FAIDt AND BEUEF: A MULTIREUGIOUS ExPERIENCE

1.

33

Introduction

37 41 42

2. Ecumenism Today

42

3. The Province and the Parish

43

4. An Objectified Autobiographical Fragment

44

5. Universality and Concreteness

45

6. The Encounter of Beliefs

46

7. liisam uccaya XIV, 242 and the stlnyablwtah (void of being) of the MaitU VI, 23. 54. The simile of the other shore is recurrent in buddhist literature. Cf. Angu ttara-nikii ya II, 24; IV, 1 3; IV, 1 60; Itivuttaka 69; Satizyu tta-nikii ya I V, 1 75; Prajfiiipiiramitii-sutra IX; et a!.

�UNYATA AND PLERC'>MA

1 35

55. Cf. Nagarjuna, Mrilamadhyamakakilrikil XXV, 19. 56. Were there any difference between the two, this would be samsara or nirviltJa of some third thing, each of which is contradictory. 57. Cf. Lalitavistara XIII, 1 75 sq. Majjlrima-n ikilya I, 297, stresses that the world is empty (in pali, smitia) of self and of what pertains to the self (alta and attaniya). Cf. also Sanryutta-n ikilya IV, 54 and 296; et al. 58. Cf. Sariryutta-n ikilya III, 1 89. 59. Cf. Eph. IV: 1 3; et al. 60. God sent his Son at the fullness of time (chronos) (Gal. IV:4), but in the fullness of times (kairos) he will gather all things in Christ (Eph. 1 : 1 0). 61 . Cf. Eph. 1 :23. 62. Cf. Jn. 1 : 1 6. 63. Col. 11:9. 64. Cf. Eph. III:19. 65. Cf. Acts III:21 . 66. Cf. 1 Cor. XV:28. 67. Cf. Mt. V:48. 68. Cf. Jn. XV:1 sq. 69. Cf. Jn. Vl:56-57; XVII:23; et al. 70. Cf. Gen. 111:5. 71 . Cf. Jn. 1:12 (and, with qualifications, X:34-35); et al. 72. Cf. Jn. XIV: 1 7; XV:26; et al. 73. Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Proptrepticus I, 9 (here using theopoiein which generally referred to the making of idols); Gregory of Nazianzus, Oralio theologica III, 19 (P. G., 36, 1 00); Athanasius: Auto� yap £v'lv6pcimt]aEv. "iva iuJEi� 6Eonot'16liltJEv; "Ipse siquidem homo factus est, ut nos dii efficeremur," (For he was made Man that we might be made God) De lncamatione Verbi 54 (P. G., 25, 1 92); Oralio 4 con ­ tra arrianos VI (P. G., 26, 476); Augustine, Sermo 1 28 (P. L., 39, 1 997); Sermo d e Nativ­ italt' 3 and 11 (P. L., 38, 99 and 1 0 1 6); "Propter te factus est temporalis, ut tu fias aeternus," says Augustine in his lapidary style, Epist. Io. II, 10 (P. L., 35, 1 994); "Quod est Christus, erimus christiani," repeats Cyprian, De idoloru m van itate XV (P. L., 4, 582); et a t . 74. Cf. Rev. XXI: l . 75. Cf. 1 Cor. XV: 1 2 sq. 76. Cf. Jn. 111:3 sq. 77. Cf. Mt. IV: 1 7; et al. 78. Cf. Mt. 111:2; et al. 79. Cf. Santideva, Bodhicaryilvatilra IX, 49. 80. Cf. Candrakrrti, Prasamrapadil XVI, 8 (ed . La Vallee Poussin, p. 293). 81. Prajiiii, simyatii, pratityasam u tpilda, nin•iitJa. 82. Udilna I, 10. 83. Cf. the famous saying of Pascal, Pensees, 358: " L'homme n'est ni ange ni bete, et le malheur veut que qui veut faire l'ange fait Ia bete."

1 36

SUNYATA AND PLEROMA

84. Cf. the oft-quoted passage, "Agnosce, 0 christiane, dignitatem tuam, et divinae consors factus naturae, noli in veterem vilitatem degeneri conversarione redire. Memento cuius capitis et cuius corporis sis membrum," Leo I, Senno 21, 3 (P. L., 54, 1 92-93) . 8 5 . Cf. the famous augustinian "irrequietum est cor nostrum donee requi­ escat in te. " Confess. I, 1, 1 . 86. Cf. Maxim us Confessor, Ambigua, "God has inserted i n the human heart the desire of him" (P. G., 91, 1 3 1 2); or, accepting the idea that a purified epithymia (consupiscence) can become the burning desire of him, Quaest. ad Thai. (P. G., 90, 269). Cf. the christian commentary on Jn. VI:44: " Nemo te quaerere valet nisi qui prius invenerit," Bernard of Clairvaux, De di/igendo Deo VII, 22 (P. L, 1 82, 987); also, "Console-toi, tu ne me chercherais pas, si tu ne m'avais pas trouve." Pascal, Pensees, 553. 87. Cf. 2 Pet. I:4; et al. 88. Cf. Rom. VIII :29; et al. 89. Cf. Heb. Il:11; et al. 90. Cf. Gal. IV:S; et al. 91 . Cf. I Jn. 11:29; et al. 92. Cf. Jn. III:S; et al. 93. navtoov xru..Latoov J.iEtpov iiv9poo�to.;. Protagoras, Frag. 1 . 94. Cf. Plato, Cratylus, 386a; Thcatetus, 1 52a. 95. Cf. Plato, Laws IV (716 c). 96. Cf. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics X, 7 ( 1 1 77 b 3 1 ) . 97. Literally: �eo.; av9pOOrc(!) OUlJ.IOOV-"The ethos t o Man ( i s his) daimon. " Heraclitus, Frag. 1 1 9 . 9 8 . Cf. Gen. I:26-27. 99. This could be said to be the theological justification of all humanisms of a biblical origin. 1 00. Cf. Jn. I : 1 4 . 1 0 1 . Cf. J n . XIX:S. 1 02. Cf. the famous avyakrtavastuni, or unutterable things, which the Buddha refused to answer. Cf. the vacchagotta sari1yuttam (Sari1yutta-nikilya III, 33), m>yakata sari1yuttam (Sari1yu tta-n ikilya IV, 44), culamiilunkya sutta (Majjhima-n ikiiya 63), the aggivacchagotta sutta (Majjhima-n ikiiya 72), etc. 1 03. Cf., for instance, Buddha's refusal to elaborate on the nature of karma because the only thing that matters is getting rid of it. Cf. A nguttara-n ikiiya II, 80; Digha-nikiiya III, 1 38; Smi1yutta-n ikiiya III, 1 03. 1 04. That the Buddha "has no theories" (Majjhima-n ikiiya I, 486) is a constant idea in the buddhist canon, later converted in the Madhyamika into the central message of buddhism. 105. RV X, 90, 2. 1 06. Cf. SU Ill, 8 sq.; et al. 1 07. This reference to the chinese world is meant to signify that no complete

�UNYATA AND PL�R6MA

1 37

and valid discourse on humanization can take place today without including what is perhaps the most humane of all cultures, whose ideal has always been the per­ fect Man. Cf. a single example, which may well be considered representative of more than one tradition: "Therefore the Perfect Man makes his spirit and mind penetrate the limitless and cannot be impeded by limits, pushes to the utmost the sight and hearing of eye and ear and cannot be con trained by sound and forms­ because he identifies with the self voidness of the myriad things. Thus, things can­ not hinder his spirit-intelligence . " Seng-Chao, Emptiness of the Non-Absolute (Chao-lun III; tr. R.H. Robinson). 108. No point in giving here a bibliography that would cover more pages than our entire chapter. 109. Cf. the well-known splmdida vitia of Augustine for the "virtues" of those not reborn in baptism; and again, " Bene currunt; sed in via non currunt. Quanto plus currunt, plus errant; quia a via recedunt," Sermo 1 4 1 , c. 4, nr. 4 (P. L., 38, 777) ; or again, "maius opus est ut ex impio justus fiat, quam creare caelum et terram," In loh. tr. 72, nr. 3 (P. L, 35, 1 823), commented upon by Thomas, "Bonum gratiae unius maius est quam bonum naturae totius universi" (Sum. theol. 1-11, q. 1 1 3, a. 9, c. et ad 2); and again, developed in his own way by Meister Eckhart in his Sem1 . lat . II, 2 (Latein ische Werke IV, 1 6,n. 10); et al. 110. Cf. the etymological hint: Saeculum is certainly not the kosmos, but rather the a ion , the life span (d. the Sanskrit iiyus), i.e., the temporal aspect of the world. 1 1 1 . We say one-sided because it cannot be denied that the traditional answers have not taken into account the whole of the human horizon; in our kairo­ logical moment, this is imperative. 1 1 2. Needless to say, we can only indicate in a general way how fundamen­ tal research on this problem could be started . 113. In point of fact, karw.1ii and sti nyatii are the two pillars of mahayana, and many texts l ink them . 1 1 4. Cf. the well-known " tu autem eras interior intimo meo et superior summo meo" of Augustine (Confessions III, 6, 1 1 ) . Cf. also Thomas, S u m . theol. , I, q. 8, a. 1; l,q. 1 05, a. 5; Calvin, Jnstitutiones christianae religionis III, 7: "Quod si nostri non sumus, sed Domini . . . ergo ne vel ratio nostra, vel voluntas in consiliis nostris factisque dominetur ( . . . ) Nostri non sumus: ergo quoad licet obliviscamur nosmetipsos ac nostra omnia. Rursum, Dei sumus: illi ergo vivamus et moria­ mur," (Opera Calvini, ed . Brunsvigae, 1 864, vol. 2, col. 505-6); not to mention the mystics. 115. Cf. Acts XVII :28. 1 1 6. Cf. Jn. XVII:22-26; et al. 1 1 7. Cf. 2 Cor. V: 1 7; Gal. Vl: 1 5; Eph. IV:24; Col. III:10; et al. 118. Interestingly enough, the buddhist intuition of nairiitmyaviida tallies in an astounding way with the christian doctrine of the periclu)resis (circumincessio). 1 1 9. Cf. Thomas, Sum. theol., I, q. 1, a. 8 ad 2; I, q. 2, a'. 2 ad 1 ; although Aquinas does not use the literal words of this later famous principle.

1 38

SUNYATA AND PL�RCMA

1 20. Any humanism entails an affirmation of Man that transcends the "Man" who affirms it. 1 2 1 . Cf. R. Panikkar, "Some Notes on Syncretism and Eclecticism related to the Growth of Human Consciousness" in Religious Syncretism in Antiquity. Essays in Conversation with Geo. Widengren, edited by Birger A. Pearson (Missoula, Mon­ tana: Scholars Press, 1 975), pp. 47-60. 1 22. A recurrent theme of the Buddha's teachings is that they do not have authority of their own, but only inasmuch as the hearer experiences them as con­ veying a real message of liberation. Cf. the buddhist tradition: "Those who fanta­ size about the Buddha, who is beyond fancies and imperishable, are all slain by fancy and do not see the Tatlriigata " (Candrakirti, Prasamrapadii XXII, 15 [ed . La Val­ lee Poussin, tr. R.H. Robinson, p. 448) ) . 1 23. This goes t o the extreme of: "Kill the Buddha if you happen t o meet him ! " Taisho Tripitakl1 47,500b (apud K. Ch'en, B uddhism in China. Princeton: Prince­ ton University Press, 1 964, p. 358). 1 24. Cf. Mk. 11:27. 1 25. Cf. Rom. VIII:2 1 ; et al. 1 26. Cf. Jn. VIII:32. 1 27. Cf. the Sermo I of C.G. Jung's VII Sermones ad mortuos printed privately in 1 9 1 6 and published as Appendix to his Autobiography: Erin neru ngen, Triiume, Gedanken edited by A. Jaffe, (Olten-Freiburg: Walter, 1 972), pp. 389 sq. Some excerpts: " Das Nichts oder die Fi.ille nennen wir das Pleroma [where the greek­ christian terminological bias is apparent). Dort drin hort denken und sein auf, denn das ewige und unendliche hat keine eigenschaften. " [sic with the capitals)

10 Toward a Hindu- Christian Dialogue

if F T

H l \l l l L - C i l R I