The growing pluralization of religion and culture in Europe means that we encounter an increasing number of Buddhist immigrants as well as ‘Western’ converts. Against this background, in June 2018, the Academy of World Religions and the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg (Germany), invited scholars of Theravāda, East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism. The questions discussed referred to: - Does Buddhism matter today? What can it contribute? - Must Buddhism adapt to the modern world? How can Buddhism adapt to a non-Asia context? - When Buddhism travels, what must be preserved if Buddhism is to remain Buddhism? The contributions in this volume show not only that Buddhism matters in the West but that it already has its strong impact on our societies. Therefore, universities in Europe should include Buddhist theories and techniques in their curricula.

Scholars of Buddhism, themselves Buddhist, here seek to apply the critical tools of the academy to reassess the truth and transformative value of their tradition in its relevance to the contemporary world.

This book tries to clarify a Buddhist view of interfaith dialogue from various points of view. It discusses how the Buddhist notion of Sunyata (Emptiness) works dynamically for mutual understanding and transformation of world religions. It also analyzes dialogue between Buddhism and Contemporary Christian theology, especially that of Paul Tillioh and Langdon Gillay.

This volume explores the ways that leading scholars of Buddhism are updating, revising, and correcting widely accepted understandings of, and instruction on Buddhist traditions. Each essay presents new insight on Buddhist thought in such a way that it can be easily applied to university and monastic courses.

Responding to plurality is a demanding task. Nonetheless it is one of the challenges that European countries are facing today. Over the past decades, the social and religious make-up of Central Europe has changed, and this has led to resentment and fears of mass immigration, social disintegration and the emergence of parallel societies. However, we also find empirical proof that prejudice is lowest where there is direct contact. Therefore, there appears to be an increasing need for more dialogue in order to make the stranger less strange, the unknown known, the other no longer entirely other. This is equally true in academic research: There is a definite need, yet research on questions of interreligious dialogue remains in its infancy throughout the various disciplines engaged in it. The project 'Religion and Dialogue in Modern Societies' (ReDi) that started at the Academy of World Religions at the Hamburg University in 2011 seeks to contribute to remedying this deficit. Like the ReDi-Project, this book looks at dialogue from different perspectives. It includes both theoretical and empirical approaches as well as a variety of theological viewpoints on a theology of plurality and dialogue from the perspective of different religions.

This book contains a collection of dialogues written in honor of the late Frederick J. Streng, the former President of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, by well-known Buddhist and Christian scholars on subjects that were of primary interest to Streng. A group of outstanding scholars and dialoguers have written essays from a Buddhist or a Christian point of view on a subject in which they are established scholarsÐsubjects including inter religious dialogue, ultimate reality, nature and ecology, social engagement, and ultimate transformation or soteriology. Questions examined by the authors include: What is the role of religious practice in interrelgious dialogue? How does each faith's present historical situatedness affect its priorities in dialogue? In what way do the metaphysical beliefs of Buddhism and Christianity affect their behavior on ecological and social issues? Are their fundamental incompatibilities or incommensurables between the two faiths? Are the personal God of Christianity and the emptiness of Buddhism simply diametrically opposed? What can Christianity learn from Buddhism and Buddhism from Christianity? The book reflects real dialogue and not simply side-by-side presentations from two points of view, in that each author responds to the statements of his or her dialogical partner. The dialogical aspect is further strengthened by the contributions of two senior scholars, one Buddhist and one Christian, who reflect upon perspectives in the Epilogue. The contributors to the volume are: David W. Chappell, John B. Cobb, Jr., Paula M. Cooey, Malcolm David Eckel, Ruben L. F. Habito, Thomas P. Kasulis, John P. Keenan, Sallie B. King, Winston L. King, Alan Sponberg, Bonnie Thurston and Taitetsu Unno.