Cambodian Buddhist Encounters

Contributed by: Leo D. Lefebure

After I spoke about Buddhist-Christian relations to the Buddhist Studies and Dialogue Group of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific last June, the Ven. Dr. Vy Sovochea of Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University in Battambang, Cambodia, invited me to come to speak to his community.  When I arrived in Phnom Penh late in the evening of December 27, 2023, I was welcomed by In-gun Kang, S.J., the director of the Jesuit Research Service in Cambodia who is  an adjunct faculty member of the Royal University of Phnom Penh and the Catholic seminary in Phnom Penh, as well as a longtime friend and collaborator with the Buddhist community.  The next day we traveled to Battambang, where on December 29, the Buddhist community of Preah Sihanouk Raja University welcomed me warmly, giving me a shawl as I entered an auditorium filled with monks and students.  I spoke about my personal journey in Buddhist-Christian relations, noting how the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha and the friendship of many Buddhists have enriched me life. 

I described my experiences of Buddhist meditation practice in Thailand and the US, and also my encounter with the late Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism, Maha Ghosananda, at the first Gethsemani Encounter at Gethsemani Abbey, Kentucky, in 1996, where Buddhist and Catholic monastics from around the world gathered together.  I recalled how the great patriarch presented the Buddhist path of non-violence even in situations of violence; after his talk, he led us in silent walking meditation to the grave of Thomas Merton, where he stood behind the cross marking the gravesite, and we stood in a semi-circle around him.  Many of the monastic community in Battambang had known Maha Ghosananda personally and had benefitted from his teachings. 

After my lecture at Preah Sihanouk University, the students had so many eager questions that the organizers decided to skip the scheduled break so that they could have more time for discussion with me.  After a delicious lunch, I was shown the archives of Maha Ghosananda in their university library.

Interfaith Youth Group meeting at Mahayana Buddhist temple in Battambang

The following day I participated in an interreligious youth group’s visit to a number of interreligious sites.  We began the morning at a Mahayana Chinese Buddhist temple, where most of the people came from Taiwan.  I spoke about Catholic approaches to interreligious relations, and other speakers shared the views of their traditions.  We visited a Baha’i temple and a mosque, as well as a Won Buddhist community that offers valuable support to those going through difficult times.  The day concluded with a visit to the Catholic compound where I was staying, where the local bishop in Battambang engaged the students.  It was wonderful to see young people nurturing interreligious friendships in an atmosphere of friendship and cordiality.

I also lectured at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, where Ven. Yorn Seng Yeat, the rector of Preah Sihanouk Raja University in Phnom Penh, together with many of his monks, attended my lecture.  He knows the American university system well from his years as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, and he is instituting reforms to upgrade the quality of university instruction in Cambodia.  Later Ven. Seng Yeat invited me to come to his university for an informal conversation with faculty and students.

Cambodian society continues to suffer the aftereffects of the violence during the regime of Pol Pot in the 1970s.  While the academic resources for Buddhist and interreligious studies are limited, I met a number of persons very interested in improving educational opportunities and participating in Buddhist-Christian conversations.

Leo D. Lefebure is the inaugural holder of the Matteo Ricci, S.J., Chair of Theology at Georgetown University.  He is the author of the award-winning Transforming Interreligious Relations: Catholic Responses to Religious Pluralism in the United States.  His other award-winning books include Revelation, the Religions, and Violence; True and Holy: Christian Scripture and Other Religions; and The Path of Wisdom: A Christian Commentary on the Dhammapada, coauthored with Peter Feldmeier. Lefebure is a former president of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, a research fellow of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a trustee emeritus of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions.