£15.00
This illuminating eight-part course explores the rich and evolving dialogue between two great contemplative traditions—Buddhist meditation and Christian contemplation. Drawing on a lifetime of scholarship and interfaith engagement, Dr Elizabeth Harris guides us through key texts, figures, and moments of mutual influence, resonance, and misunderstanding.
Total length: 3 hours 59 min
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Taught by Dr Elizabeth Harris
This illuminating eight-part course explores the rich and evolving dialogue between two great contemplative traditions—Buddhist meditation and Christian contemplation. Drawing on a lifetime of scholarship and interfaith engagement, Dr Elizabeth Harris guides us through key texts, figures, and moments of mutual influence, resonance, and misunderstanding.
Session Overview
Session One: The place of meditation in Buddhism and contemplation in Christianity
Explores how meditation is embedded in the Buddhist path to enlightenment, and how contemplation has developed within Christianity—particularly the evolving use of these two terms in the Western Christian tradition.
Session Two: Developments within Buddhist meditation and Christian contemplation
Covers classical and modern forms of Buddhist meditation—including Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga, visualisation practices, and Zen—alongside an introduction to the Christian mystical tradition.
Session Three: The encounter between Buddhism and Christianity
A historical exploration of how the two traditions have met, misunderstood each other, and been shaped by colonial legacies—especially regarding the interpretation (and misinterpretation) of contemplative practice.
Session Four: Case Study: Buddhist meditation in the Pali texts and St John of the Cross
A comparative deep dive into Theravāda meditation and Christian mysticism, drawing on Dr Harris’s original published research.
Session Five: Case Study: The appeal of Meister Eckhart to Buddhists
Examines why the thought of the 14th-century Christian mystic Meister Eckhart, once charged with heresy, has struck a chord with many Buddhist thinkers.
Session Six: Contemporary Dialogues – Buddhists encountering Christian contemplation
Looks at the interfaith journeys of Ven Ayya Khema and Thich Nhat Hanh, and Buddhist reflections on the Rule of St Benedict.
Session Seven: Contemporary Dialogues – Christians encountering Buddhist meditation
Traces the paths of Thomas Merton, Pierre-François de Béthune, and Ruth Furneaux as they engaged with Buddhist meditation, raising the question of dual Buddhist-Christian spiritual belonging.
Session Eight: Looking into the future
An open-ended reflection on emerging directions in the spiritual dialogue between Buddhism and Christianity.
Dr Elizabeth Harris is an internationally respected scholar in the fields of Buddhist Studies and interreligious dialogue, with particular expertise in Buddhist-Christian encounter. She currently serves as President of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies and is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion at the University of Birmingham.
Her academic and spiritual journey has taken her across the globe—from teaching in Jamaica, to living in Sri Lanka for over seven years, where she earned her MA and PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of Kelaniya. Her work integrates rigorous scholarship with deep personal engagement in interfaith dialogue and conflict transformation, particularly in postcolonial and religiously plural contexts.
Dr Harris’s research spans Theravāda texts, women in Buddhism, Buddhist responses to conflict, and the colonial encounter between Buddhism and the West. She is also a leading voice in comparative contemplative practice, with a special interest in how Buddhist meditation and Christian mysticism can mutually enrich one another.
Her many publications include Theravāda Buddhism and the British Encounter, Religion, Space and Conflict in Sri Lanka, and Meditation in Buddhist-Christian Encounter. She is regularly invited to speak at international conferences, has contributed to BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, and serves on the advisory boards of several interfaith and academic organisations.
