In order to speak about God in an incisive and convincing way to men and women of the XXI century, Christian theology cannot avoid a serious engagement with the immense baggage of thought and spirituality which the great religious traditions of humanity have handed on down through the centuries. The late lamented Cardinal Henri de Lubac confided to me that among these Buddhism probably represents the greatest challenge. Buddhism, a millenarian religion which shaped the culture of the peoples of the Far East, today exerts a notable fascination on the secularized Western world. Without explicitly mentioning God, it does this precisely by proposing itself as a path of existential liberation and interior wholeness. Dharma – “the Universal Law” – or the Buddha – “the Enlightened One” – constitute the objects of thought and through which one relates to Ultimate Reality. In fact, I remember that when I was preparing my Dictionary of Religions, there were some who defined it as an “atheistic religion”. This was certainly inaccurate, since the way of the Buddha does not negate the Divinity. Its point of departure is not a revelation from Above but an experience of personal awakening; essentially what is proposed is to help the person deal with existence in the correct way. In the present historical moment which we are living at the dawn of the third millennium, in which cultures and religions meet and interact at a planetary level, more than ever it’s necessary to try to understand the other’s thought categories so as to be able to share the respective patrimonies of wisdom and to witness respectfully to one’s own faith, overcoming dangerous misunderstandings and diffidence.
Cinto Busquet’s book is a valid contribution in this direction. Through the experience and the thought of Nikkyo Niwano (1906-1999), who is a very good representative of contemporary Japanese Buddhism, the Author gradually introduces the reader into the complex and articulated Buddhist vision of Reality, and suggests interesting avenues for reflection to the Western reader with a Christian background. Nikkyo Niwano who is the founder of the Japanese Buddhist lay association Rissho Kosei-kai and who is one of the principal promoters of the World Conference of Religions for Peace – an interreligious platform with which the Catholic Church collaborates since its first beginnings in 1970 – can be considered as one of the most active and significant partners in dialogue with the Christian world in the last decades of the twentieth century. As he himself wrote, his involvement in the interreligious field received a decisive impulse as a result of the personal meeting he had with Paul VI – and I remember it because at that time I was a young French collaborator in his State Secretariat – in September 1965 in the Vatican on the day after the opening of the final session of the Council. The warm welcome and the appreciation which the Pope showed towards him dissolved any preconceptions which Niwano may have had and consolidated his desire to work for peace and understanding among peoples through dialogue and collaboration among the faithful of every religious creed.
Cinto Busquet’s choice of Niwano as an object of research and reflection is not by chance. In the seventeen years that he spent in Japan he had the possibility of getting to know him personally and appreciating his spiritual depth, but above all to collaborate on many occasions with members of the association founded by Nikkyo Niwano. In fact, the Focolare Movement, of which the Author is a member, has for a number of decades maintained a strong bond of friendship with the Rissho Kosei-kai. Since the time of their first meeting in 1979, Chiara Lubich, the foundress of the Focolare, and Nikkyo Niwano, were aware of a providential syntony of heart and objectives, and resolutely involved their respective associations in a fruitful relationship. In time this developed into a promising laboratory for dialogue between Buddhists and Christians who are committed to living according to the teachings of their own faith in the day-to-day circumstances in our modern social environment. Buddhist compassion and Christian love put into practice have led each of them to mutually recognize one another as brothers and sisters, who are intimately linked by the Mystery which envelopes and vivifies each one. It involves a journey together towards the Truth which we all long for.
But is it possible to truly “meet each other”? To meet each other in Love – as the title of this book says – although starting out from different “truths”? Welcome one another in the Truth which embraces us all? In this regard the words which Benedict XVI addressed to the French bishops in Lourdes in September 2008 in his memorable meeting – at which I had the joy to participate – are illuminating: «The objective of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, which naturally differ in their respective natures and goals, is the search for and the deepening of the Truth. It’s a noble and obligatory task for every person of faith, because Christ himself is the Truth. (...) Only the Truth allows us to authentically live the dual commandment of love which our Saviour left us (...). I am convinced that it is good to begin by listening so as to then move on to theological discussion, and finally to arrive at witnessing to and announcing the faith itself (...). the multi-cultural, multi-religious and globalized society in which we live is an opportunity which the Lord gives us to proclaim the Truth and to practise Love, with the aim of reaching every human being without any distinctions, also beyond the limits of the visible Church»
Love and Truth, therefore reciprocally invite one another. Dialogue lived in love and out of love cannot but result in a greater acceptance of the Truth on both sides. The radical openness to the Truth necessarily leads to a greater communion in Love. In synthesis this is the conclusion that Busquet arrives at after having presented the Buddhist approach of Nikkyo Niwano to the Truth as a horizon in which all men and women of goodwill should converge. According to Niwano, Truth is unique, but Truth in itself cannot be possessed exclusive by any one individual. Niwano is convinced that in the measure in which they indicate a way towards the Truth, the religions – although following paths which are apparently very different – should bring men and women towards the same Ultimate Reality and, as a consequence, lead them to a deep meeting between them.
Cinto Busquet has placed himself in the position of being a humble listener to Nikkyo Niwano and also invites us to listen to him. This does not mean that he renounces his clear Christian and Catholic identity. On the contrary, it’s precisely his passionate love for Christ, intimately experienced as «the way, the truth and the life» (Jn 14,6), which pushes him to take an interest in other religions, and to recognize His Spirit as being in some way at work in them. In fact, as the Second Vatican Council reminds us, «Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery» (Gaudium et Spes 22).

Paul card. Poupard
President emeritus of the Pontifical Council of Culture
and of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue