Benedict’s Dharma: Buddhists Reflect on the Rule of Saint Benedict

Saint Benedict's Rule is a set of guidelines that has governed Christian monastic life since the sixth century. Those who live according to the Rule, which regulates daily life in a monastery, feel great affection for the text itself and for its writer, a monk whose humility and extraordinary insight into human nature are legendary. The Rule has fascinated lay people and monastics alike, including Buddhist monks and nuns who are intrigued by the similarities between their traditions and those of their Christian counterparts.Now, for the first time, four prominent Buddhist scholars, Norman Fischer, Joseph Goldstein, Judith Simmer-Brown, and Yifa, have turned their attention to this seminal text. The fruit of their discussion is Benedict's Dharma. In this thoughtful and lively book, full of personal anecdotes, they reveal how the wisdom of each monastic tradition can revitalize the other -- and how their own spiritual practices have been enriched through familiarity with the Rule. Benedict's Dharma will appeal not only to Buddhists and Christians but to anyone who is interested in what the ancient disciplines of monasticism have to offer a materially glutted and spiritually famished culture.