abstract: This article addresses three issues that those who profess belonging to more than one religious tradition confront and are called to take stock of. First is the question of doctrinal consistency and integrity: are those who profess dual (or multiple) belonging being inconsistent and/or sacrificing integrity in professing adherence to different religious systems that appear to be incommensurable? Secondly, are they not dividing their loyalties between different traditions and are therefore being unreliable in their profession of loyalty? And thirdly, are they falling into a shallow pick-and-choose-what-you-like kind of spirituality that serves only their own egoic desires or needs? Each person who seeks to engage in earnest spiritual practice in more than one tradition needs to take stock of these questions and find one’s way of being consistent, loyal, and coherent in one’s spiritual life.

abstract: The doctrine of “universal salvation,” or apocatastasis, most famously formulated by Origen of Alexandria (185–253 ce), is controversial within Christian theology. It is commonly (and mistakenly) viewed as a modern idea that derives from so-called liberal theology. In fact, the idea that everyone will eventually be saved was adhered to by quite a number of early Christian philosophers, theologians, and Church Fathers who saw that the idea of an all-loving God who became human to save, yet who simultaneously allows people to be tortured eternally, constitutes a logical contradiction. Apocatastasis is currently undergoing somewhat of a resurgence in contemporary Christian theology, with thinkers from various denominations writing both in favor and against it. It is also acting as a means of facilitating interfaith discussion, with similar doctrines to apocatastasis being observed in other faiths such as Islam and Zoroastrianism. This paper will join such discussions from a Mahāyāna Buddhist perspective, comparing its two main universalist currents—that of the figure of the Bodhisattva and the Buddha himself—with the Christian doctrine of apocatastasis. The purpose is not only to discover more common ground and therefore increase understanding between Christians and Buddhists but also to demonstrate that the Buddhist tradition is also more than capable of addressing serious social, philosophical, and theological issues and thus deserves a place in such interfaith dialogue alongside other traditions.

abstract: This paper uncovers similarities and differences between Zen Buddhist and Christian understandings of contemplative practice through a comparison of the writings of the Japanese Zen master Bankei Yotaku and the contemporary Christian contemplative writer Martin Laird. Though both claim that human beings are fundamentally connected to their spiritual goal, Zen emerges from the comparison with a more radical version of nonduality. The paper concludes by asking whether Christians can adopt such a radical nonduality within their own religious framework.

abstract: Xiao Yan, also known as Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty (464–549, r. 502–549 ce), was one of the first Chinese emperors to utilize Buddhism to improve his political position. Recent studies have shown how Emperor Wu orchestrated his own ordination as a bodhisattva in 519 so that, as savior of the people, he could rise above the great families that threatened his supremacy. In practice, Emperor Wu's role as bodhisattva was that of a leveler who distributed karmic merit in egalitarian fashion among his subjects, breaking the monopoly of karma claimed by his aristocratic rivals; and he also volunteered to take his subjects' sufferings upon himself, further solidifying his role as universal uplifter. This article examines the mechanics of Emperor Wu's policy by analyzing a manuscript preserved in the Dunhuang cave complex that shows the emperor-bodhisattva in action. A full transcription and translation of the document are included at the end of this article.

Laudatory Note:Carol Anderson and Thomas Cattoi SBCS Executive Committee Congratulations to Carol Anderson and Thomas Cattoi for completing their ground-breaking edited work, The Routledge Handbook of Buddhist-Christian Studies (Routledge, 2022). It is truly a monumental contribution to the field of Buddhist-Christian studies. [End Page 277] Copyright © 2023 University of Hawai'i Press

The Japan Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies:Report on the 39th Annual Meeting August 18–19, 2021 Kunihiko Terasawa The 2021 annual conference of the Japan Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies was held online by Zoom. Five presentations were given on the theme of "Religion and Literature." August 18 (Three Presentations) First, President of the Japan-SBCS and professor emeritus at Sophia University, Yutaka Tanaka, presented "Hosokawa Garasha (Gracia)," which was about a Kirishitan (Christian) woman martyr in the sixteenth century (1563–1600 ce) in Japan. Garasha was a wife of the feudal lord Hosokawa in Kyushu. The enemy attacked Garasha's castle. Instead of being killed by enemies, for the sake of honor, she chose to be killed by ritual suicide by her own vassals. Garasha's servants wanted to die with her according to tradition, but she let them run away. The servants testified about her death to Jesuit missionaries. According to the missionaries, Garasha chose to be killed by her vassals because it was honorable as the wife of Lord Hosokawa. If she would have chosen to run away, her husband would have become anti-Christian, persecuting missionaries, and believers. In this way, she became a martyr. According to missionaries, Garasha always loved reading the Imitatio Christi longing for the experience of Christ's cross. Tanaka explained the story of Garasha was spread in the sixteenth–seventeenth-century Europe through Jesuit missionaries. This story was composed to become an opera of Mulier Fortis (a brave lady) and played at the palace of Vienna in 1698. Second, Kunihiko Terasawa, an associate professor at Wartburg College, presented about his research in South Korea and Hong Kong during his sabbatical in 2019–2020. Terasawa's research project was titled "Interreligious/Transnational Solidarity of Religion as Resistance to Ultranationalist Populism in East Asia and Pacific Rim." In South Korea, he was a visiting professor at Sogang University, a Jesuit college, focused on how reconciliation could be possible between Korea and Japan through Buddhist-Christian dialogue. Terasawa visited churches, temples, Christian/Buddhist universities, and Seoul National University for discussions with youth and scholars, and presented four times during his time. He also interviewed comfort women and visited the Sodemon prison that the Japanese' occupation government built. Terasawa was [End Page 389] eventually interviewed by a national daily newspaper for their piece, titled, "The Improvement of Korea-Japan Relationship through Repentance and Forgiveness." Terasawa was also a visiting professor at Hang Seng University of Hong Kong and taught a course on "Asian Religions and Society." Terasawa interviewed students, scholars, and religious leaders, and found that many Christians students are involved in democratic movements. However, it has not been easy to create solidarity between Christianity and Buddhism for democratic movements. Hong Kong Buddhists have had resentment toward Christianity due to the British Hong Kong government's leniency toward Christianity. The Buddhists, therefore, are more inclined to support the current Hong Kong government backed by the Chinese Communist government. The Buddhists appear to be politically indifferent, focusing on inner mindfulness or meditations. Thus, Hong Kong students and professors are focused less on past resentments and more on the future, and thus are vital in creating solidarity among Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims for democracy and human rights. Third, Yoshio Tsuruoka, a professor emeritus at Tokyo University, presented "How to read the poems of St. John the Cross with reference to the 'language' philosophy of Shizuteru Ueda." Ueda was a professor at Kyo to University, specializing in the philosophies of Nishida Kitaro and Meister Eckhart. Tsuruoka explained St. John the Cross'sjourney, most notably, how he became a mystic in his relation to Teresa de Ávila and ended up writing poems during his confinement time. His poems are "songs of love,""dark night," and "fire of love," and symbolize the romantic relationship between lover and loved without particular nouns. This love relationship of "I"–"Thou" implies his love relationship with God. Tsuruoka explored the love language of "I"–"Thou" of John the Cross which indicates the essence of language. Language is not just a written word or descriptive one, but an utterance from a human subject of person to the "other" person in relationship. That is why...