THIRD EUROPEAN ECUMENICAL ASSEMBLY , Sibiu, Roumania, September 4–9, 2007
It was a privilege to be a participant at the Third European Exumenical Assembly, organised jointly by the Conference of Catholic Episcopal Conferences and the Conference of European Churches, held in Sibiu 4-9 September 2007. One of the differences from earlier Assemblies (Basel 1987 and Graz 1997) was a greater focus on migration into Europe and the consequent plurality of religions believers living together in our continent. What should be the response of the Churches to this phenomenon?
Many of the speeches in the plenary sessions at Sibiu (as in any gathering of this kind) were long, sometimes abstract and sometimes repetitive. So it was quite a relief to hear a simple testimony from a religious sister who spoke of what she had personally learned from a visit to a Buddhist monastery in Japan. This is the testimony of Sr Katrin Amell, OP, given at Sibiu on 6th September:
ROUND TABLE – WITNESS TO INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
Sr Katrin Arnell, OP
Many years ago I had the opportunity to spend some time in Japan for field studies for a thesis. During that time I also got the chance to share the life in some Zen Buddhist monasteries as a guest. The first monastery I came to was a training house for Zen nuns. It is called Aichi Senmon Nisodo and is situated in Nagoya. It still exists. The Abbess in the monastery is called Aoyama Roshi, a remarkable woman. I stayed in that place for a week. It was an exciting and intensely inner experience that still has its importance in my life.
Before coming to the monastery I knew that the condition for staying there was to participate in everything and do what I was told to do. Among other things this meant many hours each day in common zazen, the special meditation position where you sit on your legs—not to easy for Westerners. I was scared about this kind of physical effort. When I arrived I had the possibility to talk with the Abbess through an interpreter. I asked her about my worries. Just through her radiation of warmth and calmness I also became calm and I wasn’t scared any more.
The schedule in the monastery was similar to the one in a Catholic Benedictine monastery, but more intense and with less personal liberty. We did everything together and we were never alone. We got up at 4 0’clock and started our day in the Buddha hall with a ceremony where the sutras were recited. After this we continued with meditation in the zendo, the meditation hall. We had breakfast at 7o’clock, and after that we did cleaning an important duty. The day continued like this with lessons, manual work, meals, zazen and ceremonies, which also included a short tea ceremony. In the evening we had a refreshing hot bath also in common. We went to bed before 9.00 p.m. Most of the time was passed in silence.
I could not understand Japanese, but when something was said, I understood the gestures quite well, because they were very similar to those I had experienced in Catholic monasteries. These gestures were many and they became like a language through which we communicated. We went from one activity to another in processions that developed the spirit of community. We were on our way together to a spiritual goal. I was included in that stream. The nuns opened their space for me. I was one of them in the community, but still I was myself with my Christian identity. They appreciated when I wore my Dominican habit in the Buddha hall. Nobody tried to make me a Buddhist. The nuns were very attentive, kind and generous to me. I appreciated very much being one of them but still myself. I was happy to be with them, and happy together with them.
At the end of the week I got a chance to talk with two English-speaking nuns, one from North America and another from Brazil. They explained their Buddhist choice of life to me and I explained by Catholic one to them. This was a kind of monastic interreligious exchange.
Later on I shared the life in other Japanese monasteries but this first experience was the most impressive one, maybe because it was my first one and together with women, some kind of religious colleagues. The experience was both challenging and deepening for my own faith.
Challenging: in what way? The nuns’ commitment to their religious life was indeed very challenging. The exterior signs of it were physical. I asked myself certain questions. Why do they get up so early in the morning, exposing themselves to this hard life? Clearly it is not for Jesus Christ.. Could it be for the Buddha, or for their work on losing their small egos, or to gain enlightenment? What am I doing myself in my religious life for Jesus Christ? Do I really love him?
In order to be less egoistic, they are together the whole day, obeying orders from the senior nuns. Am I really available for other people or do I prefer being alone with my own projects?
I also learned many useful things from them, for example the exercise of being present here and now, to be as present as possible in what you are doing at this very moment. This makes life much richer.
When I left Aichi Senmon Nisodo the experience continued to work in me. It was like a kind of purification. It came to deepen my Christian faith as I saw my faith with a light from outside. Like the Buddhist nuns, I also follow a religious way, the Dominican spirituality. Without knowing it the Buddhist nuns made me more committed to my own way.
It I try to summarize my experience in the Buddhist monastery with a word from the new Testament, it will be from Luke 9:23-24, a word that my Buddhist friends also understand and like. Jesus said, “If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”