ABSTRACT
This article introduces a specific form of dialogue called the “contemplative dialogue”—often called “the dialogue of religious experience” in Catholicism—developed at Naropa University in the 1980s. The contemplative dialogue was so named by Naropa’s founder, Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, a lama who fled his beloved Tibetan homeland in 1959 to escape Chinese oppression. Influenced by Tibet’s Ri-me “non-sectarian” school, Rinpoche fostered a Buddhist-Christian dialogue that foregrounds interreligious communication inspired by prayer and meditation, exploring the common ground of inner reflection, spiritual development, and the contemplative journey that diverse people may share. This dialogue nurtures the inner life outside the monastery or church and encourages deep listening, personal disclosure, and resonance between practitioners of different faith traditions. The article concludes with six guiding principles of the contemplative dialogue with the aspiration that dialogue itself can be a practice that opens us to the deeper dimensions of the spiritual life that can be shared among Buddhists and Christians and beyond.
