Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers [Hardcover]

Thich Nhat Hanh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 1999

Exiled from Vietnam over thirty years ago, Thich Nhat Hanh has become known as a healer of the heart, a monk who shows us how the everyday world can both enrich and endanger our spiritual lives. In Going Home he shows us the relationship between Buddha and Jesus by presenting a conversation between the two. In this unique way we learn how such concepts as resurrection and mindfulness converge. The brotherhood between Jesus and Buddha can teach us to "practice in such a way that Buddha is born every moment of our daily life, that Jesus Christ is born every moment of our daily life".

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Did you know that Jesus meditated? In Living Buddha, Living Christ, Thich Nhat Hanh delivered a powerhouse bestseller about the affinities of Buddhist and Christian ideals. In Going Home, he focuses on fundamental concepts that still drive a wedge between the two religions--such as rebirth vs. eternal life, God vs. nirvana, and so on. After praising the differences between Christianity and Buddhism, Nhat Hanh proceeds to dissolve them in virtuosic style. Not only did Jesus meditate, he says, but God is equivalent to nirvana. This effort to free us from limiting concepts is Nhat Hanh's way of paving a road back to Christianity for Christians who have been attracted to Buddhism but alienated from their original faith. In effect, Nhat Hanh is dressing up Christianity in the garb of philosophical Buddhism, which isn't too far off from what certain progressive Christian thinkers have themselves done in different terms. Mindfulness engenders concentration, concentration leads to understanding, understanding strengthens faith, and faith provides the energy to practice mindfulness. More conventional Christians may balk at this blending of traditions, but for many lost souls, it will be a beacon back to a warm hearth. --Brian Bruya

From Publishers Weekly

In this short treatise, Vietnamese Buddhist monk Hanh continues the ecumenical dialogue he began in 1995's Living Buddha, Living Christ. The chapters evolved from talks he gave at Plum Village, Hanh's Buddhist retreat center located in the heart of Christian France. In ecumenical fashion, Hanh does not encourage conversion to Buddhism or any other religion but tells followers to bloom where they're planted, cultivating a "mindfulness" in their own religious traditions. Unfortunately, Hanh often seems to imply that for Buddhists and Christians to talk to one another, they must first soft-pedal or ignore those beliefs that make them discrete in the first place. He considers it a waste of time to discuss "whether God is a person or not a person," although the Incarnation question carries profound weight in Christianity; he also asserts that "nothing can come from nothing," although creatio ex nihilo is a fundamental Christian tenet. Buddhism is better understood in these pages, but distinctive Buddhist beliefs can also stand in the way, says Hanh: individuals can become too attached to their own ideas of nirvana, forgetting that "nirvana means extinction of all notions." Despite Hanh's tendency to ignore significant differences between Buddhism and Christianity, his book speaks powerfully about the need for tolerance and love in overcoming those differences.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 202 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; 1st Printing edition (September 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573221457
• ISBN-13: 978-1573221450
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese monk, a renowned Zen master, a poet, and a peace activist. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1967, and is the author of many books, including the best-selling The Miracle of Mindfulness.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I needed!, January 4, 2004

By 

R. Newman "chenrezig68" (Orlando, FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers (Paperback)

The celebrated Vietnamese Buddhist monk writes (speaks) to all those who feel it necessary to abandon the Christianity of their childhood. Hanh explains the similarities between Jesus/Buddha and Christianity/Buddhism, hoping to convince Westerners that it is possible to bring the two traditions together in one's life.

This book is recommended for any spiritualist, but mostly for the Buddhist struggling with his/her innate sense of Christianity, or for the Christian who wishes to incorporate Buddhism into his/her life.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walks in Beauty, December 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful book that you can open to any page and wisdom is revealed. This book gives examples of how to walk in peace and compassion and gives the why to walk this way. It also explains the differences and similarities between Christianity and Buddhism. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who is seeking answers and reasons.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL, January 25, 2001

By 

Goner (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers (Paperback)

If you have any interest in comparative religion you need to read this book. Hanh is a master of poetically clarifying the parallel essence of both Christianity and BUddhism. His reverence for Jesus and his noble existence as a Vietnamese monk allow for the beauty of both belief systems to soothe you soul. It is a fluid continuation of "Living Buddha, Living Christ". It allows Buddhist to love Jesus and Christians to love Buddha. It is a very important book and subject for our world.