Welcoming Flowers from across the Cleansed Threshold of Hope: An Answer to Pope John Paul II’s Criticism of Buddhism

A response to the Buddhism chapter of Pope John Paul II’s best-selling book Crossing the Threshold of Hope.

In 1993, an Italian reporter asked Pope John Paul II to speak on the subject of Buddhism, especially its doctrine of salvation and its relationship to Christianity. The Pope’s answer, which was published as part of a book the following year, grossly misrepresents the Buddhist worldview, claims respected Buddhist teacher Thinley Norbu. Welcoming Flowers is Norbu’s attempt to identify and correct such errors.
In responding to the false charges of Buddhists’ indifference to evil and disengagement from the world, Norbu clarifies the Buddhist doctrines of detachment, or nonclinging, and enlightenment. In addition, he covers the topics of sin, human nature, karma, and compassion, bringing them into conversation with the Christian perspective.