Pope John Paul II on eastern religions and yoga: a Hindu-Buddhist rejoinder

As its very name describes, this volume is a rejoinder to Pope John Paul’s recent book Crossing The Threshold of Hope. While repeating old claims for the Church and its dogmas, his book notices non-Christian religions without the customary derogatory epithets. It is a new thing in Christianity. In the past, other religions were simply handiwork of the devil, and it was the special duty of the Church to overthrow them. The old aim still remains but it is now stated more softly. In his book, the Pope discusses Judaism from which Christianity derives; he also discusses Islam, a sister religion. All of them have a history of conflict though doctrinally they also have many things in common: a common God, common doctrines and common hatreds etc. Pope John Paul also discusses Buddhism and Eastern yogic practices, and also of Europe’s New Age Movement in which he sees clear Eastern influences. For the purpose of this rejoinder, this part of his book is the most important one, and the rejoinder takes it the most into consideration. This volume could be regarded as author’s contribution to the dialogue. It does not accept Christianity’s view of itself and of others. It offers a different view – a Hindu-Buddhist view of both. It continues the work begun in the author’s The Word as Revelation: Names of Gods and carried on in his Hindu View of Christianity and Islam. The book is written in reply to the Pope’s but the intention is not polemical. It could even be delinked from its immediate context and read independently. The idea is not to find faults but to warn against cliches, to promote understanding of the subject and to serve truth.