Christ Way, Buddha Way: Jesus as Wisdom Teacher and a Zen Perspective on His Teachings

“In this brave and beautifully written book, Tim Langdell reveals the profound connections between the vision and practice of the Buddha and Jesus. Buddhists and Christians will be immeasurably helped by this work and so will seekers on all paths who value teachings that stress non-dual union with the real. This is both an impressive contribution and a moving personal testimony to a rigorous spiritual path and I salute and recommend it unhesitatingly.” —ANDREW HARVEY, author of “Son of Man: The Mystical Path to Christ” and “Journey in Ladakh” “Written in the spirit of Thomas Merton’s Mystics and Zen Masters and Zen and the Birds of Appetite, this book brings out into the open the rich affinities between Buddhism and Contemplative Christianity.” —JAMES FINLEY, author of “Merton's Palace of Nowhere” and “Jesus and Buddha: paths to awakening” (Audio recording with Richard Rohr) “Christ Way, Buddha Way gives us a Buddhist reading of Christianity and a Christian reading of Zen Buddhism. He shares his journey of encounter and synthesis and outlines a path between that we can all walk. I recommend it.” —JAMES ISHMAEL FORD, author of “Introduction to Zen Koans: Learning the Language of Dragons” RE-VIEWING Christ’s teachings and the gospels again as if for the first time, Jesus emerges as a profound wisdom teacher, whose teachings had a lot in common with those of Buddha. This book explores Christ’s teachings on non-duality and his guidance on how to reach unity, oneness with God, through what he called metanoia--going beyond (meta) thought (noia)--through kenosis (self-emptying). What emerges is a strong connection between Christ’s teachings and Buddhism that reveals Jesus was clearly familiar with Buddhist teachings. By viewing Christ’s teachings through the lens of Zen, common themes emerge that enable the author to recreate what Christ called “The Way.” What emerges is a whole new view of Christianity for the 21st Century: Christ as wisdom teacher, Christ as a teacher of non-dual awareness, and as a guide to living fully in the present moment. Read more