Crucified Wisdom

Christ and the bodhisattva are often compared superficially in Buddhist-Christian discussion. With the increasing participation of Christians in Buddhist practice, larger numbers of people are seeking a deeper understanding of the way the two traditions and their practices might interface. Crucified Wisdom intends to provide important background material for this discussion, as well as a constructive proposal. Heim covers a great deal of ground, combining a rich exposition of the bodhisattva path with detailed reflection on it from a Christian point of view. Two chapters of the work use Śāntideva's classic work the Bodicaryāvatāra to expound the bodhisattva path. Many books and articles in Buddhist-Christian study discuss correlative terms (God and emptiness, say). And, a number of comparative theology studies compare a text or a figure from one tradition with a text or figure from the other. Crucified Wisdom lays out the root tensions constituted by basic Buddhist teachings on the one hand, and Christian teachings on the other, and the way then in which the bodhisattva and Christ each embody and resolve these respective paradoxes. Christian theology can take direct instruction from Buddhism in three respects: in developing its understanding and practice related to creaturely no self, in doing the same in regard to the bare awareness of divine immanence, and in appreciating the non-dual dimension of Christ's incarnation and human redemption.