Catholicism vs. Buddhism: reading recomendations?

[OneSmallFlower]

Hello again, all!

So as some of you might know, I’m an aspiring Catholic writer; currently I’m trying to write a story set in 1600’s Japan (yes, Tokugawa shogunate persecution era; no, I’m not trying to copy Silence). My main character happens to be a priest and a Japanese convert.

Now, one of my other main characters is a young Buddhist monk. Problem is, I know next to nothing about Buddhism except what I know from watching animes, and as you can imagine, I wouldn’t exactly call those reliable sources of information. The priest and the monk are good friends, and each is openly trying to convert the other. (Spoiler: the Catholic priest succeeds in the end.)

The long and short of it is, I’m looking for a book or number of books which will help me compare and contrast Catholicism and Buddhism (and, ideally, prove why Catholicism is right).

What I don’t want is an inaccurate representation of either religion or a “dialogue” book, by which I mean a book that waters down either religion to make it more “compatible” with the other. Both the priest and the monk are very devout, and, unlike many people in the modern era, have a firm grasp on the principle of non-contradiction: each thinks the other is wrong and is trying to save the other’s soul.

I didn’t post this in the non-Catholic religions area because I’m not interested in having the well-intentioned Buddhists on the site try to convert me (God bless them). I’m just looking for book suggestions. Any thoughts?

–1SF

 

[OneSmallFlower]

Read The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Sōhō. He was the Zen teacher of Miyamoto Musashi and a friend of the Christian daimyō, Kuroda Nagamasa.

amazon.com/Unfettered-Mind-Writings-Master-Swordsman/dp/1590309863

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takuan_Sōhō

You might want to rethink your premise, though. If they were friends, the Buddhist wouldn’t care about trying to convert the Christian. He would care about him not dying at the hands of persecution, but saving his soul wouldn’t be a motivating factor.

Hn? Why not? I may have stated it a little badly, but wouldn’t he have cared about the Christian achieving spiritual perfection and release? And I imagine he wouldn’t think that would be possible for a non-Buddhist. Or am I misunderstanding some fundamental premise of Buddhism that would make it a non-issue?

Thanks for the recommendation! That seems like exactly what I was looking for!

 

[OneSmallFlower]

Mahayana Buddhism (which includes Japanese Buddhism) is syncretic. It’s not an either/or prospect, and it freely borrows concepts from other religions. And if the the Catholic priest is a native convert and friends with the monk, he would already be familiar with Buddhism, and there would be no need for the monk to enlighten him. If this is going to be a conversion story, it’s not going to happen through theological discussion between the two characters. Though I can see it with persecution as part of the backdrop, with the monk advising his friend to publicly renounce Christianity so he can survive.

Thanks for the information. (In response to one of your comments, the priest was indeed originally Buddhist/Shinto but, unlike his late wife, not very devout in practice).

Thanks again and God bless!
–1SF