What happens when a Tibetan Buddhist lama and a Christian clergyman sit down to talk? And not just any lama and clergyman, but a renegade Catholic priest silenced by the Church for his progressive and inclusive beliefs and an American born secular Jew who once embraced Tibetan Buddhism as a student, and now is embraced as a teacher. These conversations between Lama Tsomo and Matthew Fox over the past years explore the essential principles shared by their traditions and the differences that distinguish them. The Lotus & The Rose includes three public dialogues between Matthew and Lama Tsomo during weekend workshops at Stanford University, The Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, and The Jung Center in Houston. Also included is a more personal conversation with no audience except each other. And, finally, individual interviews with both of them, revealing more about their own lives and worldview. Also available to the reader are video excerpts from the presentations, conversations, and interviews. Buddhists, Christians, followers of other spiritual traditions and perhaps no spiritual tradition at all will be intrigued by the range of ideas, and impressed and enlightened by the knowledge and experience that Matthew and Lama Tsomo bring to their exchanges. In this perilously contentious world, all viewers will be heartened by the admiration, respect, humor, and warmth that flows between these two friends who celebrate their common ground and delight in their differences.
The Lotus & The Rose A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism and Mystical Christianity, Lama Tsomo- Matthew Fox, Namchak Publishing, Paperback, 480 Pages, $18.95
Lama Tsomo (Lama Sangak Yeshe Tsomo) brings her unique perspective to Why Is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling? Born into a Midwestern Jewish household, she followed a path of spiritual inquiry that ultimately led to her ordination as one of the few American female lamas teaching Tibetan Buddhism. I have been involved in celebrating Cosmic Masses throughout North America for the last 24 years. We have sponsored more than 100 of them in various cities and have people to lead them around the country. Two years ago, we sponsored a Cosmic Mass at the World Parliament of Religions in Salt Lake City. Our most recent Mass was at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., and the theme was Healing Racism.We are pleased to be invited to lead a Cosmic Mas. Matthew Fox is a spiritual theologian, an Episcopal priest and an activist for gender justice and eco-justice. He has written 37 books that have been translated into other languages over 70 times. Among them are Original Blessing, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, A Spirituality Named Compassion, The Reinvention of Work, The Hidden Spirituality of Men, Christian Mystics and The Pope�s War. He has contributed much to the rediscovery of Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart and Thomas Aquinas as pre-modern mystics and prophets. Fox holds a doctorate in the history and theology of spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris. The founder of the University of Creation Spirituality in California, he conducts dozens of workshops each year and is a visiting scholar at the Academy for the Love of Learning.
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