This book engages the reader with its story-telling style as it illustrates the principles of Buddhism with concrete examples. Paying special attention to the rise of Buddhist practice in the West, Habito introduces the novice to Buddhist experience in its historical unity and the variety of traditions that reflect its essence.

Integrated into Habito's text are five personal accounts by practicing Buddhists: on being a Therevada Buddhist by the Venerable Dhammananda, Dr. Chatsumarn Kabilsing; on being a Zen Buddhist by Jan Chozen Bays; on being a Tibetan Buddhist by Judith Simmer Brown; on being a Pure Land Buddhist by Kenneth Tanaka; and on living the Lotus by Virginia Straus.

Faith Meets Faith series

Experiencing Buddhism: Ways Of Wisdom And Compassion, Ruben L. F. Habito, Orbis Books, Paperback, 2005, 192 pages, $22.00

Habito started out as a Jesuit priest doing missionary work in Japan. There, he began practising under Yamada Koun, a Zen roshi who taught Christian students, which was unusual for the time. In 1988, Habito received dharma transmission from Yamada. Ruben subsequently left the Jesuit order in 1989, and in 1991 founded the Maria Kannon Zen Center, a lay organization in Dallas, Texas. Habito has been a faculty member of the Perkins School of Theology at the Southern Methodist University since 1989. He is married and has two sons.

Preface	xi
Acknowledgements	xii
Texts, Translations, and Technicalities	xv
Introduction: Varieties of Buddhist Experience	1
Part I: The Root Experience and the Three Treasures
1. Buddha	7
2. Dharma	35
3. Sangha: Companions on the Path of Awakening	68
Part II: Varieties of Buddhist Experience
4. Experience of Theravada Buddhism	93
5. The Zen Experience	108
6. The Experience of Tantra and Tibetan Buddhism	131
7. The Experience of Pure Land	151
8. The Experience of Lotus Buddhism	172
9. Prospects and Challenges for Buddhism in the Twenty-first Century	190
Bibliographical Essay	204
Index	207