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 J. Stabile is the Robert and Marion Short Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where she also serves as a fellow of both the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership and the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law and Public Policy. Trained as a spiritual director and in retreat ministry, she offers individual spiritual direction and conducts retreats and other spiritual formation programs at the law school, in parishes and in other venues. She is the author of the blog Creo en Dios.

Introduction
Part I: How We Think about Other Faith TraditionsChapter 1: The Value of Interreligious DialogueChapter 2: Core Truths that Operate Across Faith Traditions
Part II: Adapting Prayer Practices from Another Faith TraditionChapter 3: The Importance of Contemplation and Affective ExperienceChapter 4: Why Look to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation?
Part III: Analytical Meditations and CommentaryIntroductionChapter 5: Friend, Enemy, StrangerChapter 6: Tong-lenChapter 7: Kindness of (M)other Sentient BeingsChapter 8: Exchanging Self and OthersChapter 9: The Four ImmeasurablesChapter 10: Meditation on CompassionChapter 11: Giving the Four ElementsChapter 12: Perfect Human RebirthChapter 13: DeathChapter 14: ImpermanenceChapter 15: Overcoming Anger/Developing PatienceChapter 16: The Worldly ConcernsChapter 17: Taking RefugeChapter 18: Becoming the DeityChapter 19: Meditating on the "I"
Part IV: Other Meditations and PracticesChapter 20: Meditations to Develop Concentration and MindfulnessChapter 21: Other Practices
NotesGlossarySuggestions for further reading