Unexpected Way: On Converting from Buddhism to Catholicism

Paul Williams is a rarity;he's a Buddhist convert to Catholicism.He's very well-spoken,and knows his subject.At the Pacific Zen Center in Santa Rosa,a meditation leader made the observation,"Catholics are more open to Buddhist practice than fundamentalists." The Sisters of Mercy in Burlingame engage in Zen meditation. Paul Williams tells his conversion story,then tackles the issues of what set Buddhism & Catholicism apart.He goes into a fascinating exploration of the issue of reincarnation.Can you have the same "self" if you are reborn?Rebirth is important to many Buddhists,especially with the choosing of the Dalai Lama,the Panchen Lama,and there are books centered on being reborn well. This book is perfect for Catholics curious about Buddhism,and it's an inspiring conversion story.

A very interesting and unusual book. Paul Williams was a Buddhism for 20 years, a noted scholar who wrote the standard English text on Buddhism. "The Unexpected Way" explores the questions that led him away from Buddhism and towards Christianity. Here are the questions that troubled him. First, that the Buddhist believe that a moral order is built into the fabric of the world. Although Williams agreed, he wondered why "There is no explanation of why it is" (P 42). What plan, Logos, being made the universe this way? Furthermore, if evil exists, what are we to do about it? Buddhist seek retreat from and suppression of desire, even of response. What that right? Buddhist soteriology emphasized avoidence of desire, sensation, and community. In the end, Williams found these questions led him to Christianity.

Paul Williams has written a masterful account of his conversion to Catholicism. From a unique perspective of being a world authority on Mahayana Buddhism, he compares key aspects of the two religions and offers solid rationale for his choice. The book represents his journey of faith and records his thoughts and experiences as he (re)discovers the Church. The clarity of his thinking and his willingness to offer personal anecdotes and insights make this journey with Dr. Williams extremely rewarding. He includes much relevant philosophy and theology without his writing ever becoming dry or losing the reader's interest. For myself, as a former Buddhist using this book during RCIA, its greatest value is as a work of apologetics -- a coherent, rational, original, convincing, and not to mention quite beautiful argument for and defense of the Christian and Catholic faith, warmly and lovingly written. One need not start from a Buddhist perspective to benefit from Williams' well-reasoned arguments. Anyone who seeks Truth, considers "religious" questions or enjoys theological or philosophical writing should read this book. Hopefully, that doesn't leave anyone out.

The intellectual rigor of many Buddhists must be comparable to that of Catholics; that is to say, there are many supposed adherents, but few with the level of knowledge and understanding necessary to any real understanding of their faith. Mr. Williams is the rare bright light in both constellations. His writings on Buddhism are highly respected and continue to be widely read within his narrow discipline. His conversion to Catholicism displays the curiosity and clarity of thought that he brought to his academic ventures in theology and Buddhism as a whole, and The Unexpected Way proceeds with a startling and defining logic. He describes the work as more of an intellectual exercise than an attempt to elucidate the core principles of Catholicism; that is, more an attempt to understand and clarify those principles for himself. In the process he has written a fascinating and, for many, useful account of what had to appear to his friends and colleagues as something of a delusion, rather than merely an unexpected path. In his work, he outlines not only the tenets of the Catholic faith, but the rationale, the intellectual basis for believing in them. He concludes, as he must have known he would, by understanding that while the practice of faith cannot proceed from pure reason or logic alone, faith and reason can be complementary or even symbiotic -- logic and reason can assist one in discerning the truth, but in the end, the truth must be what someone believes. Mr. Williams' truths are ones in which he believes, consistent with his faculties of reason, deduction, inference and consistency. He is a Catholic who walks by both faith and conviction, and his lively and witty account of his unexpected journey to this destination is an example to anyone who attempts to answer life's fundamental question: why there is something, rather than nothing.

`The Unexpected Way' is a fascinating and thoughtful account of the author's conversion from Budhism to Catholicism, approaching it not only from a personal point of view, but also from a philosophical perspective. He explains what led his to Buddhism in the first place, the important spiritual and philosophical differences between it and Christianity, and why he ultimately decided that the Christian claims and view of life was preferable. In the course of the book he tackles the nature of God in the theistic religions; the nature of the `self'; animals and reincarnation; the problem of evil; and the claims of a historical Church. Williams is a long-standing Budhist scholar, and his perspective on these issues, while personal, is heartfelt and profound. The book is well written and often humorous. The attractiveness of Eastern religions has never been greater in the west, and anyone interested either in them or in their growing role in western culture would do well to read this book.