Hi Narrowpath-
As you probably already know, Father Kennedy is also a psychotherapist as well as a priest and seeks to bridge the gap between the Buddhist and Christian faiths.
Although you message is not very detailed, I can only guess what might be some of your reasons for pursuing an interest in Buddhism. I don’t want to second-guess you or put words in your mouth, as to your interest. Drawing from my own past experiences, with some people it’s just a curiosity to learn more about other faiths, or possibly with the idea that we can meld all faiths into a “universal faith”. With some its’s just “chiche”. However, I think in most cases, we Christians sometimes see in our faith a lack of mysticism that we yearn for. Sometimes this also leads to all kinds of New Age propaganda that is out there.
In years past, and for quite a long time I read quite heavily into the eastern faiths( Buddhism, Hinduism), along with a lot of the New Age writers. There is a lot of feel good stuff there and along with the meditation that is generally involved you may feel as if you are getting “enlightened”. Unfortunately, these faiths are not “Christ-centered” and I found when you really need support, these beliefs leave a person empty ( at least they did me). For me all paths led back to Christianity and the Catholic faith. In time, I pretty much lost my interest in the eastern faiths when I learned more and more what our own faith had to offer. I think the Christian faith, particularily Catholicism should be able to answer all our questions. The scary part of pursuing an interest with these other religions is that you can without your knowing it be pulled more and more away from the Christina faith.
In regard to learning from Buddha, I am convinced he was an incredibly gifted and spirtual man as evidenced by his teachings. Many of those teachings parallel very closely those spoken by Jesus. However, the big difference is that Buddha was not 'God" as we believe Jesus Christ to be.
There are several notable Catholics who have tried to bridge between the faiths along with Father Kennedy. Bede Griffiths and his involvement with Hinduiism comes to mind, as well as Thomas Merton with Buddhism in his later years. To a lesser degree John Main and Basil Pennington.
If you are looking for a mystical element to your faith you might want to read about the Eastern Orthodox monks on Mount Athos or more about the eastern Catholic Churches. In the western wing of the Catholic Church the writings of John Cassan, St. Therese of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Francis of Assisi, Padre Pio or St. Faustina should help fill the gap.
With that said, I think some of us have to experience things first hand, be they right or wrong rather than just accepting what some one else says. That was sort of the case with me. I hope your pursuits come easier for you.
Well JMJ_coder, I never said I was becoming Buddhist, simply that we can learn certain things from the Buddha. As I said, I would never accept many of their teachings. JW55, thnx for the reading suggestions I will definatly look them up.