When East Meets West: Toward a New Matrix for Buddhist - Muslim Dialogue

Syafaatun Almirzanah

This paper is a study of the role that mystical discourse and experience can play in Buddhist-Muslim dialogue. It will concentrate on the mystical teachings of Buddhist and Islamic thought that have the greatest relevance to questions of religious diversity and interfaith dialogue. The teachings I have selected are the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta in Buddhism and the theory of perpetual creation in Islam. The main objective of the research is to place the mystical discourse of these two religious traditions in conversation with one another for the purpose of articulating "conversation points" that might serve as a new matrix for Buddhist-Muslim dialogue.

The methodology of the project is an under-explored mode of comparative mysticism that brings the thought and related experiences of Buddhism and Islam into contextualized conversation with each other. The aim of this methodology is not to reduce or ignore important differences between the two teachings, but rather to identify the ways in which the teachings of each speak to the content, context, and experience of the other. The point is to suggest that the process of comparing ideas about any aspect of human experience assumes a basis of commonality upon which a common discourse of analysis can be built.

The motivating premises of the research are three. First, because much dialogue gets "stuck" on irreconcilable theological propositions, a new matrix for dialogue is necessary. Second, many people in the world today – both Buddhists and Muslims – are disposed toward dialogue as a way of reducing conflict and the rich intellectual resources of their respective traditions can be drawn upon to legitimize, support, and encourage dialogue. Third, if practiced with intelligence, sincerity, and care, dialogue and encounter with people of other faiths can significantly enrich religious individuals’ identity, as they articulate, in a pluralist context, what it means to be a Muslim, a Buddhist, or the adherent of any other religious tradition.