Dr Eva Natanya is a contemplative and scholar who has studied and practiced meditation and philosophy in both the Christian and Buddhist traditions.  In December 2019, Eva came to Australia to assist Dr B. Alan Wallace, the renowned Tibetan Buddhist teacher, lead  a 7 day urban retreat in Sydney.

The day before the retreat began, Eva gave a public talk at the Buddhist Library in Sydney.  During this talk, Eva reflected on questions such as:

• What might the theological interpretation of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection have been like if he had been born in India?
• How, today, might we understand the central declarations of Christian faith from the perspective of a Buddhist worldview — especially the Middle Way view of emptiness?
• What would it mean to follow a genuine path of devotion to Christ, while immersing oneself in the precise demands of meditation practices taught within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition?
• How might we understand the meaning and imperative of the sacramental life of the Christian Church according to the logic of Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayāna?

Eva drew upon decades of her own experience as a person of faith in both the Christian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, seeking to explore new ways of thinking about the conundrums that arise when one tries to practice a contemplative path while steeped in two very different religious traditions simultaneously.

We hope this talk will be of interest to Contemplatives from both Christian and Buddhist traditions.