Growing in Love and Wisdom

Although raised Roman Catholic, Susan Stabile was ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun and devoted 20 years of her life to practicing Buddhism before returning to Catholicism in 2001. In Growing in Love and Wisdom, she draws on this unique dual perspective to explore the value of interreligious dialogue, the spiritual dynamics that operate across faith traditions, and how Buddhist meditation practices can deepen Christian prayer. She begins by examining the values and principles shared by the two faiths and shows that both traditions seek to effect a fundamental transformation in the lives of believers. Both stress the need for experiences with deep emotional resonance that goes beyond the level of concepts to touch the heart. The center of the book offers 15 Tibetan Buddhist contemplative practices, adapted for Christian use. Stabile provides clear instructions on how to do these meditations and helpful commentary on each, explaining its purpose and the relation between the Buddhist original and her Christian adaptation of it. Throughout, she highlights the many remarkably close parallels between the teachings of Jesus and the Buddha. The meditations offered in this unusual book will be extremely useful to thoughtful Christians, to those responsible for giving spiritual direction, and also to Buddhist sympathizers who will be intrigued and pleased to see familiar contemplations handled so skillfully by a former Buddhist practitioner who has gratefully learned so much from her former religion and now introduces the riches of that tradition to her fellow Christians.

Susan Stabile is the Robert and Marion Short Distinguished Chair in Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law, Minneapolis. She is also a spiritual director, trained in the Ignatian tradition.

- Introduction
- Part I: How We Think about Other Faith Traditions
- Chapter 1: The Value of Interreligious Dialogue
- Chapter 2: Core Truths that Operate Across Faith Traditions
- Part II: Adapting Prayer Practices from Another Faith Tradition
- Chapter 3: The Importance of Contemplation and Affective Experience
- Chapter 4: Why Look to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation?
- Part III: Analytical Meditations and Commentary
- Chapter 5: Friend, Enemy, Stranger
- Chapter 6: Tonglen
- Chapter 7: Kindness of (M)other Sentient Beings
- Chapter 8: Exchanging Self and Others
- Chapter 9: The Four Immeasurables
- Chapter 10: Meditation on Compassion
- Chapter 11: Giving the Four Elements
- Chapter 12: Perfect Human Rebirth
- Chapter 13: Death
- Chapter 14: Impermanence
- Chapter 15: Overcoming Anger
- Chapter 16: The Eight Worldly Concerns
- Chapter 17: Taking Refuge
- Chapter 18: Emanating as the Deity
- Chapter 19: Meditating on the I
- Part IV: Other Meditations and Practices
- Chapter 20: Meditations to Develop Concentration and Mindfulness
- Chapter 21: Other Practices
- Notes
- Glossary
- Suggestions for further reading