15.1: Chapter Summary

This chapter offers some concluding reflections on the experience of comparing Buddhism and Christianity by means of the framework of ways of being religious in the preceding eight chapters. First, one should not limit one's imagination to the correlations made in Chapters 9 through 14; other correlations are suggested. Second, application of the framework has brought out how diverse and complex the traditions of Buddhism and Christianity are and how this diversity and complexity are similar in each tradition. Knowing the generic complexity in one tradition puts a student in a good position to recognize and comprehend it in another. Third, the similarities between expressions of Buddhism and Christianity highlighted by the framework in Chapters 9 through 14 give evidence of practical lessons and insights that can be shared in the dialogue between religious traditions, despite the theological differences between them. Fourth, recognition of praiseworthy historical examples of each way of being religious within Buddhism and Christianity, serving functions specific to that way, indicates that each way has at least some claim, however limited, to a place in filling out the whole of each tradition. Fifth and finally, given the deep structural similarities the framework has uncovered between expressions of Buddhism and Christianity, the significance of the differences that remain must not be overlooked. Although the framework itself makes no pronouncement on their significance, it facilitates in-depth exploration of the significance of these differences in depth through inter-religious dialogue.