The Prophet and the Bodhisattva

Can religious individuals and communities learn from each other in ways that will lead them to collaborate in addressing the great ethical challenges of our time, including climate change and endless warfare? This is the central question underlying The Prophet and the Bodhisattva. It juxtaposes two figures emblematic of an ideal moral life: the prophet as it evolved in ancient Israel and the bodhisattva as it flowered in Mahayana Buddhism. In particular, The Prophet and the Bodhisattva focuses on Daniel Berrigan and Thich Nhat Hanh, who in their lives embody and in their writings reflect upon their respective moral type. Berrigan, a Jesuit priest, pacifist, and poet, is best known for burning draft files in 1968 and for hammering and pouring blood on a nuclear warhead in 1980. His extensive writings on the Hebrew prophets reflect his life of nonviolent activism. Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk, Vietnamese exile, and poet struggled to end the conflict during the Vietnam War. Since then he has led the global movement that he named Engaged Buddhism and has written many commentaries on Mahayana scriptures. For fifty years both have been teaching us how to pursue peace and justice, a legacy we can draw upon to build a social ethics for our time.

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Charles Strain's deep study of Daniel Berrigan and Thich Nhat Hanh comes at a time of growing terrorism, ethnic and proxy wars, economic desperation, and environmental collapse. In the decades following Vietnam, Berrigan and Nhat Hanh have embodied a prophetic Christianity and a socially engaged Buddhism that require the transmutation of hatred and anger into identification and reconciliation--'being peace.' Impeccable scholarship and personal empathy distinguish this rich contribution to Buddhist-Christian studies. --Christopher Queen, Harvard University

Charles Strain offers a beautiful synthesis of Daniel Berrigan and Thich Nhat Hanh's insights. Without glorifying or sentimentalizing these men, he shows how their roles are essential complements in peace work. The prophet exposes injustice and articulates the imperative need for social transformation; the bodhisattva offers the skills to repair social relations without falling prey to moral superiority. This book is important reading for peacemakers and anyone interested in religious social engagement. --Sharon Erickson Nepstad, University of New Mexico

Running throughout these pages is the spiritual riddle: how do we manifest what's best in these admirable spiritual traditions in our daily lives in the midst of a troubled yet beautiful world? In a gently subtle way, Strain places this question under our skin. . . . The world will be a better place as more and more people seek to merge the prophetic tradition represented by Father Daniel Berrigan with the mindfulness, concentration, and insight offered by Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh. --Jack Lawlor, Order of Interbeing

Charles R. Strain is Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University. He is the coauthor of Polity and Praxis: A Program for an American Practical Theology and the editor of Prophetic Visions and Economic Realities. He has written extensively comparing Catholic social teachings and liberation theology with Socially Engaged Buddhism, as well as writing on the role of universities in promoting social justice.