A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar by Thinley Norbu Review by- Francis V. Tiso Buddhist-Christian...

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A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar by Thinley NorbuReview by: Francis V. TisoBuddhist-Christian Studies, Vol. 28 (2008), pp. 191-199Published by: University of Hawai'i PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30152953 .

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BOOK REVIEWS

attacks became standard are n both traditions' missionalportfolios. nother mis-sion methodology, he publication of polemical tracts nd monographs, was also

initially Christian methodology, ut the Buddhists uickly ealized hepower f thewritten ord and began to publish nti-Christian racts nd books of their wn.It is unfortunate hat neither hristians or Buddhists eemedto learn from he

best of each other's eligious raditions. t is not because such were not representedin nineteenth-century ri Lanka. Harris, n fact, ites men and women representingboth. But it is safe to say that the egacyof these reciprocal ineteenth- nd twen-tieth-century ission fforts as been almost totally egative nd has created n SriLanka today very uneasyrelationship etween he two sides.One could hope thatone result f this exceptionally ell-done book would be an honest ook at what

our common history aswrought nd taking teps o restore goodwill toward neanother hatwould be more faithful othe best n both traditions hanwhat currentlyendures.

Terry . MuckAsbury heological eminary

A CASCADING WATERFALLOF NECTAR. ByThinley orbu. Boston: Sham-bhala, 2006. 312 pp.

It is important omake a number f things lear bout the work under review eforeproceeding o a discussion f the parts of the book that bear directly n Buddhist-Christian relations. n the first lace, the reader hould know the identity f theauthor, hinley Norbu. In order to make absolutely lear who the author s, thereare no less than four forewords o the book by His HolinessPenor Rinpoche headof the Nyingmapa chool of Tibetan Buddhism), Kathog Rigdzin Pema WangchenRinpoche a prominent Nyingmapa ama), Alak Zenkar Rinpoche another promi-nent Nyingmapa ama), and Tulku Thondup Rinpoche a well-knownNyingmapalama who has authored everalvaluable volumes on Vajrayana Buddhism). Thin-ley Norbu is the son of the late head of the Nyingmapa chool, H. H. DudjomRinpoche; ike his father, hinley Norbu is a very highly egarded ama with a widefollowing f disciplesboth in the Tibetan exilecommunity nd in the wider worldcommunity f Buddhist ractitioners. he purpose f this book is to provide work-ing commentary n the Dudjom Tersar gondro, well-known et of preliminarypractices romulgated y Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904), a "treasure evealer" ter-

ton) in Eastern Tibet. This particular orm f what are termed he "extraordinarypreliminary ractices" n the Vajrayana has been transmitted o a large number ofNyingmapa chool practitioners n recent ecades. t has become so widespread hatit s not unusual for hotocopies f the prayers nd practices obe given ut to inter-ested ndividualswithout ny particular nitiation r other formality. myself ave

Buddhist-Christiantudies 8 (2008).© byUniversityf Hawai'iPress. llrights eserved.

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received hetext number f times, oth as a formal ractice romhighly espectedTibetan teachers nd in this very nformal way from my personal friends mong

Nyingmapa monastics. erhaps n response othe widediffusion f this particular etof Vajrayana practices, he author of this commentary ishesto clarify he uniquefeatures f the system evealed y the terton udjom Lingpa and widely aught byhis own revered ather, udjom Rinpoche 1904-1988). I would have to say thatthe parts f the book that omment n the practices there s alsoa commentary na related antric isualization) re verywellwritten nd should be of great nspirationto thosewho haveundertaken hearduous path of practice n this radition.

On the other hand, the author makes hecommentary n occasionfor discussingother oncerns elated othe relationship f Buddhism oother eligions, oempiri-

cal science, nd to the modern world. n theseportions f the text, e continues n apolemical vein going back to his very roubling ook Welcoming lowers romAcrossthe CleansedThreshold f Hope:An Answer othe Pope'sCriticism f Buddhism, ub-lished n 1997.' It isquite clear ocareful eaders f Pope John aul II'sbook Crossingthe Threshold f Hope (New York, 1994) that there was no intention n that bookfor hePope to giveout a "finalword" on any particular ubject,much essto makeinfallible ronouncements n "faith nd morals." Rather, hebook is to be taken sthe sincere eflections f the Popeon a number f subjects hat ome up in both theChurch nd the world. Assuch, John aul II's book isa collection f essays eflectinga series f interviews ith the talian ournalist Vittorio Messori,whose outspokenpolitical nd religious iewsare well known. The chapter n the Buddha caused agreat deal of consternation n interreligious ircles ecausethe vocabulary mployedseemedto imply verynegative ssessment f Buddhism s a religion.However, t salso clear from ertain omments n that hapter hat hePope is thinking riticallyabout Buddhist eachings n salvation, topic fundamental o any Christian heo-logicalengagement ith other world religions.

The fact hat he terminology sedby the Popeis imprecise nfortunately eflectsthe state of generalknowledge bout Buddhism n the secular nd Christian world.As a direct onsequenceof that ack of accurate knowledge, he Pope arrives t anarea of legitimate oncern: the spread of Buddhist deas in parts of the world inwhich Buddhism s an integral ultural ystem asnot existed ntil uite recently. twould seem that n appropriate esponse o the Pope's comments would have beena strong esire n the part of Buddhist eaders o ensure hat non-Buddhist eadershave an accurateknowledge f authentic uddhism. Moreover, t would have beenappropriate orBuddhist nd Christian cholars ohavecometogether oassesshon-estly he impact on and reception f Buddhist eachings n non-Buddhist ultures

throughout he world.2 think hat distinguished piritual eachers f both tradi-tions would have readily greed hat ny religion prooted rom ts cultural ontexttends to spread n a fragmentary nd spiritually roblematicway in other culturalsettings. t should therefore e unsurprising hat Christian eader might ook outon the Buddhist nstitutions ecently lanted n "Western" ountries and I use thatterm, omy own annoyance, n a very mprecise ay)with ome dismay, nd expresshimself o that ffect. t would also be unsurprising or oncerned Buddhist eaders

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to observe he same phenomenon nd to make vigorous fforts o ensure that theBuddhism practiced n other ultural ettings ot drift way from what s essential

to the several raditions f Buddhism hathavesurvived nto modern imes.A recentbook that takes up this concern s Dzongsar Jamyang hyentse's What MakesYouNot a Buddhist? Shambhala2007). Thinley Norbu himself astaken up this opic nhis highly ontroversial nterview n the fall 1998 issueof Tricycle,n which he veryforthrightly ssailedthe misunderstanding f the role of the Guru among WesternBuddhistpractitioners.

It would seemthat hesocialconstruction f religious ehavior s as much a chal-lenge to Buddhists s it s to Christians, imply ecause religious eachings re basedon the conviction hat the ultimate oal of religious ife depends on engagingwith

practices nd beliefs hat transcend he mutable characteristics f human societies.And yet, o teach the traditions o real human beings t is alwaysnecessary o makeuseof historically onditioned anguage.Modernity, ecause t sessentiallymutable,allowing tself o be constructed, econstructed, nd reasserted n endless permuta-tions and combinations, will alwaysbe, to some degree, n conflictwith any peren-nialist hilosophy r revealed eligion. t would therefore eemprudent orreligiousleaders ocome together rom ime otime for "reality heck"on what their each-ings re saying othe modern world. Believers lso need to assess, hrough ialogue,those aberrations hat may be emerging mong disciplesbecauseof misunderstand-ings that rise when dramatically ifferent ultural nd religious ystems ncounterone another. ack n the 1970s,ChogyamTrungpa Rinpochewaswilling o raise hisissue n his much-appreciated ook Cutting hrough piritualMaterialism, n whichhe warned Western isciples bout the temptation opracticeBuddhism s a collec-tion of exoticbehaviors hat ne would mold to fit ne'sown ego-driven eeds.At itsbest, hinley Norbu's book (i.e., Cascade) ttempts oprovide hatkind of correctionand discernment, ut his efforts ould havebeen more persuasive ad they een bet-ter nformed hrough nterreligious ialogue.

Unfortunately, n the processof providing critical ssessment f the views ofother religions n contrast o Buddhism, hinley Norbu takes ven greater ibertieswith he ctual teachings f other eligions han he Popedid in CrossingheThresholdofHope.He goesso far s to assert hat what Buddhist extshave always aid aboutother eligions that hey re all essentially eachings hat ssert eternalism" asedona variety f erroneous otions of "deity") s sufficient or he sake of argument, ndthat t snot necessary o examine n detailwhat the various eligions ctually avetosayabout their wn beliefs.

Pope John Paul II, in Crossing heThreshold f Hope,made reference o his own

meetings ith His Holiness the Dalai Lamaand with heThai Buddhistpatriarch, tleast mplying hat ome kind of actual dialogical processhad some place in the wayhe formulated isopinions on Buddhism. hinley Norbu nsteadmakes t quite clearthat he has a position on what the correct iew of things ctually s, the nondualistposition. For this reason, he asserts hat here s no realneed for dialogue or study tall.3Of course, very eacher f a nondualist iewruns nto the problem f assertingthe view that one is asserting o metaphysical osition at all, but T. Norbu insists

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that he problem s one intrinsic o the English anguage nd not to his own style fexposition: Sometimesmaking he anguage oo correct n English svery wkward,

since n English here re no terms or subjectless, bjectless piritual tate r mma-terial penness ight, nd it s very ard for hoseusing proper nglish ounderstandthe meaning" pp. xxii-xxiii). havehad conversations ith ther Vajrayana eacherswho havepresented he amecomplaints.My claimhasbeen that heobstacles nher-ent n an English anguage resentation f Buddhism an be overcome n at east woways: one way s to make use of the classical anskrit erms-clearly defined-sincethese are based on Indo-European roots common to the original Buddhist ourcesand to the roots of the English anguage, llowing uch terms o find a home inEnglish; heother way s to acceptthe English anguage s a uniquely lexible nstru-

ment for ranslation nd to employ ranslators ho actually now the rich diversityinherent oEnglish.One of the imitations n the translation rocess asbeenthe factthat, incethe Enlightenment, heEnglish anguage has been employed s an instru-ment for hepromotion f a scientific orldview. owever,medieval nglish provedperfectly apable of expressing xperiences f the contemplative tate of awarenessin such classicworks s the Cloudof Unknowing late fourteenth entury). n fact,the veryword "contemplation" n medievalEnglishmeant omething ery loseto astate beyond ubject nd object, granted n a theistic rame f reference; t s only nsubsequent development f the anguage hat the ordinary meaning f "to contem-plate" means to "think bout something." MedievalCatholic mysticswrote exten-sively, n several anguages, n the topic of mystical xperience, nion with God,loss of the self, golessness, adical detachment, nknowing, tates beyond subjectand object, nd so forth. o ignore ll this material nd then to complain bout thelack of utility f the English anguage s a failure o make skillful seof an excellentmeans of communication. What T. Norbu needs s better nglish ranslators nd abetter cquaintance with the spiritual eritage f Christianity nd Western iterarytraditions. reater kill n using the English anguagewould have been particularlyhelpful n the discussion f "metaphysicaldeas" pp. 136-137) which n that part ofT. Norbu's book refer o superficial New Age"notions of spirituality ather han amore rigorous nderstanding f metaphysics s the study f ontology.

Now one has the sorry askof examining ome of the disedifying emarks bouttheistic eligions hat . Norbu usesto makehis casefor he uperiority f Buddhism.How anyone could put such matters n writing, nd how Shambhala Publishingcould have stooped to this evel, sa causeof great oncern or nyonewho genuinelycares about the obstacles o interreligious elations aused by misinformation. orexample:"Those who hold the eternalist iew believethat pleasing the gods leads

to happinessfor mankind, while displeasing he gods leads to suffering" pp. 4-5).Lacking background n the extensive reatment f this misperception f the bibli-cal traditions, heauthor developshis critique nto a full-scale enial of the validityof all forms f theism. However,he embraces he dentical tructure f reward ndpunishment n his discussion fkarmic etribution p. 45f.). n fact, edoesnot evenengagewith those cholars f dzogchen ho deny uch a central oleto karma n thevery ystem f which T. Norbu is a lineageholder.4

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While it may be true that ome notions of propitiating eitieshave existed ndmay even persist mong some theists, t would seem even to the averageChristian

that ome sort f propitiatory elationship ith heBlessedTrinity ould be not onlyerroneous ut alsoblasphemous.Muslims nd Jews would alsoraiseobjections oT.Norbu's descent nto caricatures f their eliefs.A footnote n page 7 confirms hatthe author s not speaking bout archaic religions, ut rather s referring pecificallyto "eternalist ods such as the creator God of Christianity, llah in Islam and deva[sic] n Hinduism." n orthodox Christianity, eity s not understood n this way atall. In fact, we specifically egate henotion of a monad-deity hose transcendenceis a barrier o relationship nd creative ynamism, nd deny that the TrinitarianGodhead of orthodox Christianity s a "deity" o be propitiated. Moreover, hegoal

of contemplative ractice n Eastern nd Western hristianity sfor hebaptized oulto discover tself ully live within hemystery f the BlessedTrinity; his s the mostcentral nd sublime gift f baptismalgrace As a gift, t cannot be earned; one canonly respond o it with faith nd love,which s exactlywhat the Christian oes inliturgy, ontemplative rayer, nd service f the neighbor.

When we come to the discussionof deity yoga (p. 58), it is clear that tantricpractice, lbeit within heperspective f "emptiness" nd absoluterelativism, odelsits own ritualism n the propitiation f deities nherited rom Hindu traditions. nfact, his ntire ody of discussion n Buddhism eems ohavenothing whatsoever odo with hosereligions ith which Buddhists ad little r no contact until perhaps)the twelfth entury, nd refers xclusively o Buddhist ssessments f the deities ofBrahmanical eligion. rom this point of view, hekind of deity hat s addressed nVajrayana practice nd polemic s hardly more complex than a Vedic deity, who isafter ll merely n ascendedhero-figure dorned with merit erived rom acrificialaction (the root concept of "karma"). Not only does the author fail to notice thedifference etweenVedic deities nd the beliefs f the Abrahamic eligions not tomention more evolvedHindu teachings), e does not consider his noticing" o bea worthwhile ursuit. n so doing, he constructs virtually mpenetrable arrier oa fruitful ncounter, much less a dialogue, between Buddhism and the Abrahamicreligions. his is made explicit n page 62, where heauthor sserts bit ferociouslythat, nce one has taken Refuge, onemust no longer efriend r associatewith hosewho hold viewsthat are not in accord with Buddhist views."Worse yet, speciallyfor dvocates f "dual practice" many f whom make useof the DudjomTersar rac-tices):"Once having gone for refuge n the holy Dharma, which s the sourceof allbenefit nd happinesswithout xception, ne should no longer hold the pervertedviewsof mistaken eligions hatpromote armful octrines" p. 62). This puts at risk

the whole project f this ournal nd the community f Buddhist-Christian ialoguethat t serves.Sincefor he author t snot necessary o take note of differing iews mong other

religious elievers, uch assertions f "difference" re entirely rrelevant; hefact hatsuch an attitude s a perfect mirror f the dogmatic ttitude hat other Buddhistscriticize n Christianity ellsus that here s a deeplyproblematic erspective t workin the nterreligious ortions fT. Norbu'sbook. "There are many different ternalist

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gods, ncluding he ods f religionshat ecognizenegod ndthe ods freligionsthat avemany ods, ut t s unnecessary oname ach nehere r to describe ach

of their octrines.t is taught n the utras nd shastras . . that ternalistsonsidertheir ods obe absolute. rom Buddhist iew, t s unnecessaryotry odecidewhich f hese ods sabsolute, incewhateverternalistshink sabsolutesactuallyjustbeings' henomenappearing ccording otime nd place nd stotally ncer-tain" p. 10).In otherwords, ince ne religion as decided hat llother eligionshave he ame rroneous iew, t s not necessaryoengagen serious eflectionnother eligions,nd t snot necessaryoengagen authentic ialogue. ather, t sthe ask f Buddhists oensure hat ooner r ater hosewho re n error re edtothe bsolute ruth. . Norbu s clearly mbracing Buddhist ersion f the exclu-

sivist" erspectiveoted n some f the heistic raditions:nly ne religions trueandthe thers refalse; hereforellhuman eingsmust eject he alsendembracethe rue n order oattain hehighest oalof a human ife. he author oesgoonto expound somewhat ore renic osition henhe admits hat ther eligionstleasthave omekind f spiritual erspective-over gainstmaterialistsnd "nihil-ists"-and may ventuallyeadto a spiritual wakening hat hould ead personstoward uddhismpp. 11-12, 127),undoubtedly ecause e s aware hat his sthetraditional eachinghat anbefound ntheAbhidharmakosafVasubandhu.

Itwould epossibleogoonatgreat ength ocite he uthor's nremitting ostil-ity ocomparativeeligion,omparativeheology,eceptiveeachers,nd empiricalscience. owever,t would eem hat hereal roblem t theheart f thepolemicalparts f hebook ieswith he uthor's oncern hatmodernitys n conflict ith heessential ruths f Buddhism. ecausemany uddhist ractitionersre nclined oaccept he uthority f modernity, ndparticularlyf mpiricalcience, . Norbu spersuaded hat here sa grave isk othepractice f uthentic uddhism. trangelyenough, . Norbu dopts wo trategiesooppose hese endencies,oth f whichareemployed y teachers n the very heistic raditions hathe so greatly islikes.Oneof hem s thewell-knownactic f relativizinghe elativizers"p. 133f.). heother soutright undamentalism,hich wouldunderstand sa religious erspec-tive hat makes mpirical ata nd religious ata o be unequally rue the eligioustruths eing ntologicallyuperior) ut pistemologicallyqual, hat s,knowablenthe ameway. or xample,n hisdiscussionf heprocess f conception, e nsiststhat here re ther, mmaterialactors resent t conception; eattacks he cientificview f conceptionunion f perm nd egg) n the tyle f reductiod absurdem(pp. 35-36), but n so doinghe misses hekey eature f ll conflicts f thiskind.On the nehand, ehasthe roblem f pistemology.irst, owdoesoneknow he

laws fkarma ndother onmaterialeaturesf onception rom heBuddhist ointof view? The traditional esponse eing: hese ruths avebeenperceived ytheEnlightened nes.) And second, owmight ne present uch aws othosewhosemethod elies ntirely n evermore efined orms f mpirical bservation,utwhohaveno means or mploying onempirical ethods f knowing? The traditionalanswer eing: hrough killful eans rising rom he ractice f ompassion.)s nthe ase fother undamentalists,he ruths nherited rom he eligiousraditionre

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taken sembodyingn enduring et f bsolute ruths hat annever e overturnedor modified yempirical ataprecisely ecause hereligious ruths re known" o

be at east qually mpirical. his s the rootproblem f all forms f fundamental-ism, ven hough heBuddhist otion f an "absolute ruth" s distinguishedroma "relativeruth" ttempts osolve heproblem. nfortunately, . Norbuuses hisapproach nskillfully.

Basically,f here s"absolute ruth," t hasto be grounded n a higher phere fobjectivityhan ny mpirical atum. f t snot ogrounded, hen t falls othe evelof comparableelativeruth hat s true r not depending n whether r not t canbefalsifiedy mpiricalvidence.5n such perspective,bsolute ruth ollapsesntorelative ruth, nd scientific ethods an either rove r disprove eligious eliefs.

WhatNorbu strying oavoid sthevery eternalism"eso eagerly ecries mongtheists: hat pistemologicallypeaking, eligiousruth, ncluding uddhist eligioustruth, sdisclosedy revelatoryrocesshat s necessarilyuperior oways fknow-ing onnected oempiricalcientific ethod. his sparticularlyignificantince hecommentarysattempting oteach bout "revealed"acred ext, hevery xistenceofwhich equireseliefnrevelationndtherefore eliefnahigher ealityhat om-passionatelyestowskillfuliberative ethods n confused uman eings. n otherwords, t sdifficult or theist ofail onotice heismnthemost rofound onvic-tions f he ext, fnot n the rotestationsf uthor f he ommentary ho ells sin several laces hat Even hough uddhism alks bout iews, ecause uddhismnever allsoany xtreme, here snocertain oint fview, hich as mmeasurablemeaning"p. 17)while t the ame imemaking nmistakablyogmatic tatementssuchas "One must hink hat he benefit f obtaining precious uman eing'srebirth s mmeasurable,ust sBuddha aid" p. 39).

Perhaps he learest xposition f a fundamentalisterspectives to be found nthe xpositionf he AccumulationfMerit hrough andalaOfferings"pp.124-144),which sa veritable reatisegainst he ncursion f cientific orldviewsntotheminds f Buddhist ractitioners.hemandala ffering ractice ntails hementalvisualizationf he niversesMountMeru urrounded y our reat nd ight esserisland-continentshilemaking mandala ffering, sually fgrainmixed ith emi-precioustones; his soneof he ssential itual racticesf heNgondropreliminarypractices).nstead f emindinghe eaderhat hese isualizationsre skillful eansdesigned oexpand hemind's apacity o realize mptinessnd compassion, e aretold mphaticallyhat [w]hoever sBuddhist ust elieven Buddhist osmology"(p. 124),bywhich smeant hat ne s to believe hat he osmologyf the Abhi-dharma exts nd of cosmologicalantric exts uch s the Kdalacakrare bsolutely

true. ecause he uthor hooses ot o make serene istinction etween mpiricaldata nd the nformation ound n philosophicalnd ritual exts, his ntire ectioncould ead to a great ealof consternationmongWestern uddhist ractitioners.Onewonders hatever appened othe notion f the aft skillful eans) hatmaybe eft n the artherhore enlightenment)nce hat hore asbeen ttained.

Of course ny follower f a mystical piritual athwouldunderstand he deathat until hespiritual ppearances evealedy the Buddhabecomeperceptible,

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onehasto believen themwith aith, nd thenwhat s imperceptibleanbecomeperceptible"p. 125); the problem sthat ven n the evel f purified erception,

the kind f knowing hat neattains hrough piritual ractices inherently iffer-ent from mpirical nowledge.ust s the ubtle odydoesnot correspond xactlyto the natomical ody, o too the mystical osmos oesnot necessarilyorrespondto the empirical osmos.No one shouldbe troubled y this. ndeed,many on-temporary ystics avebeenpersuaded hat mpirical,cientific nowledgehouldnot be treated ike omekind f spiritual bstacle.n fact, hevery apacity f thehumanmind orise oan evermore erifiable nowledgef the material osmoscanbe, to a spirituallylert erson, hint f the mmensepiritual apacitiesf themind-a conviction xplored y Teilhard e Chardin nd ater ully eveloped y

Bernard onergan.t sworth oting hat he xtremely egativeemarksbout therworld eligionsn other arts f the book re heremoderated y n appreciationfthe fact hat allreligions ecognizehat here ssomething eyond rdinary ealitythat annot eseenby veryone,nd followersre aught opray nd receive less-ings hrough elievingn what heymaynot yetbe ableto see" p. 127).It wouldhavebeenmore elpfulf heperspectivend the anguage f these ageshadbeenemployedarliern thebook.

Thegreat isappointmentf his ook,which s oexcellent hen t onfinestselfto spiritual ractice ithin he Vajrayana,s its failure n the polemicalections obedialogical ith ts pponents, ven nsome aseswith ther ajrayina uddhists.Whenever teacher ithin particular radition ttempts odescribe hebeliefs fothers ithout onsultinghose eing escribed,here sa risk fmisrepresentation.Thisbook ontains any eriousmisrepresentationshat hould ave een orrectedthrough ialogueongbefore hey hould avebeen orrected y diting. here remany urposes ointerreligiousialogue nd the tudy f world eligions,ne ofwhichwould ertainly e to enable ersonsn authority obe accuratelynformedabout hebeliefs f others efore hey lunge nto herisky errain f polemics.for ne wouldhopethat hedisedifyingortions fThinley orbu's ookdo notbecome n obstacle o interreligiousialogue. hope that ome kind f dialoguemight rise rom he ery euralgic oints eraises. good rgument salways etterthan ndifference,s ong swe eave ur hurba t home

Francis .TisoUnited tates onferencefCatholic ishops

NOTES

1. The publisher f the book (www.wisdom-books.com)makes a number of misleadingstatements n promoting hisbook as a response oofficial atholic Church teaching. Crossingthe Threshold fHopewas never ntended s an official eaching.

2. A Buddhist-Christian olloquium was sponsored by the Vatican nd by Fo Kuang Shanmonastery n Taiwan; see Pro Dialogo 90, no. 3 (1995); the official Final Statement" f thiscolloquium merits heattention f anyone nterested n Buddhist-Christian ialogue.

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3.The nherent ontradictionsn this osition renoted nn. 11,p. 8.4. I am thinking f DavidGermano'slaim hat zogchensa gnosis-drivenision f cos-

mology, ather han karma-drivenosmology.5. Raimon anikkar anassert: Thus he ermdivinity' oesnot only esignate odor

the gods s substantial eings, ut canalsobe employed s a generic erm hat ndicates llthose orces, nergies,deas, owers,nd the ike hat manate rom reality hat sabove rbeyond hehumanworld" Divinita, o.13,collana Parole i Fede" Bologna: MI, 2007],p. 21;my ranslationrom he talian). een n thisway, . Norbu's nontheism" tands ut sanother orm f heism.


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