Rating: 
Summary: A response to "To clear up some misconceptions ..."
Review: In point number 2 you state "The Buddhist must reach his ultimate goal entirely on his own strength..." Yet only 2 sentences later you claim that "The idea that we can achieve enlightenment on our own is foreign to Buddhism."I'll assume that you are still a Buddhist-in-training. For everyone else, please give the book a try...it's a very accessible treatment of a very complex subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating and thought provoking
Review: In this fascinating book, the author brings Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha together for a short boat-ride, accompanying a prostitute who is dying of AIDS. Along the way, the three (four, if you include the boat driver) hold a conversation about religion and reality. I very much enjoyed this book, which reminded me a great deal of the Socratic dialogues, written by Plato. As with those books, this one was written to prove the superiority of the philosophy of one of the characters. Also, Dr. Zacharias is not an expert on Buddhism, and reports that the research for this book was conducted by speaking to several Buddhist monks, rather than widely recognized Buddhist thinkers. That said, though, I thought that this was a very interesting and well-written book, one which gave me a great deal of food for thought. If you are looking for an erudite comparison of Buddhist and Christian theology, then you *will* be disappointed by this book. But, if you are interested in a fascinating, thought provoking book, then I highly recommend this book to you!
Rating: 
Summary: Thinly veiled Contempt for Buddhism
Review: It is disheartening that such a lovely concept (Jesus and the Buddha conversing) - was so cruelly and viciously slaughtered by Ravi Zacharias. If one is truly interested in the Buddhist perspective on Christianity - I suggest they read "The Good Heart" by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. "The Good Heart" documents an historic meeting of truly open and loving minds of holy and scholarly men and women. In "The Lotus and the Cross" Zacharias shows his ignorance in the first page of his introduction. He notes that "At times there was frustration on their [the monks] faces when the questions became tough and their answers dissimilar" ... after spending so much time with Buddhists and traveling so far and wide - one would expect Zacharias to AT LEAST have learned that Buddhism teaches to the level of the student's ability to understand. If the student isn't ready to hear - nothing will make sense. The Buddha Shakyamuni himself taught in this way. (which resulted in the different schools of Buddhism). If Zacharias saw frustration on the monks's faces, it was frustration in knowing that he wouldn't understand their answer(s). A frustration maybe, in trying to find simple words to portray deep intricate concepts to a mind that was shallow and closed. His ignorance again blazing in the very first words he imagines Buddha speaking - that he could keep silent no longer. The Buddha would have seen the value and truth in the words that Jesus spoke to the woman. He would have agreed and supported Jesus, especially if he noted that the woman found peace and comfort in the words. I could go on and on in this manner - regarding virtually everything he imagined the Buddha saying. I challenge the author to allow a Buddhist with true understanding of the philosophy to re-write Buddha's parts (or even someone like me who has the understanding of a bug!) - this would at least paint a more honest picture of the Buddha and his teachings. I gave the book one star because it wouldn't allow me to give it a zero.
Rating: 
Summary: A Subject Too Big For A Book This Tiny
Review: Mr Zacharias has taken an interesting idea, but has only developed it through its baby steps. Due to the short nature of the work, it deals with many probing and deep questions in only a surface manner; that said, however, most of the questions are worth asking and discussing. In fact, my fellow students at the Nalanda College of Buddhist studies have raised some of them on their own, not to mention ones far more critical than Zacharias seems aware of, which is why I find the reviews below, that engage in name-calling and hysterical language, rather humorous. Buddhists do not need to respond like this, or engage in baseless psychologizing of others' motives, or hide behind the individualized adaptations of the Buddha's teachings when they're given an honest question. Yes, I do think the Buddha would have been more responsive if this had been a real dialogue. Yes, there are real answers for some of these questions; some of them go back to Buddhist writings thousands of years old, such as the Milindapanha. But folks, honestly, take a pill. If you can't handle or answer a few sincere and commonly asked questions about Buddhism, even by Buddhists themselves, then you need to know more about the tradition. Buddhism has a long and distinguished career of letting all questioners come and allowing all doubts to be put on the table for discussion, and this book presents such things in an honestly inquiring and polite, though edgy, manner. If you want to cut below the current politically correct shallow level of inter-religious dialogue, and see where the real flash-points are going to be between your typical traditional Buddhist and typical traditional Christian, Zacharias will quickly locate them for you.
Rating:
Summary: New Apologetic Style....straight to the heart
Review: Once again I was pleasently surprised and please with Dr. Zacharias writings. I couldn't imagine such a conversation. What Would Jesus say to Buddha?
With the accustomed elegant and insightful style, Dr. Zacharias take us to new apologetics frontiers. In a personal journey and yet with historical preciseness Dr. Zacharia contrasts two messages to humanity. More important, Jesus and Buddah themselves go beyond the rhetorical arguments to minister to our present reality. One will disembark from your journey, and the other one ....will stay trough the storms of life and go all the way to eternity.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Helped Me To Take Refuge In The Buddha!
Review: One of my Christian friends gave me this book after I announced that I would be marrying my longtime Buddhist girlfriend. After reading this book I realized that there certainly must be more to Buddhism than the simplistic, make-believe dialog of Mr. Zacharias's book, so I purchased and read several books by Thich Nat Hahn, and also the wonderful book "Radient Mind" edited by Jean Smith. My friends intentions were certainly good, and they led me to following a path that ultimately has increased my spirituality, and also strengthened my relationship with God. I can only reccomend this book to those that may be questioning Christian Fundamentalism, as reading this book with an open mind can only help one to further their search by looking beyond Ravi's incorrect, biased, disrespectful, and closed-minded viewpoints. I am grateful that through the bad taste left in my mouth after reading this book, the veil has been lifted!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: One of the things that I really liked about this book is that it points out discrepancies in Buddha's teaching without putting him down. Jesus is very respectful of Buddha and shows love and compassion to him the same as he would any other human being. This is a very thought provoking book. However, if you are a Christian trying to find out a little more about Buddhism, I would not recommend this book unless you are an intectlectual. It is written for people who know a lot about Buddhism or atleast have some understanding of things like nervana. However, it is a great book if you are trying to discover the crucial differences between the teachings of Jesus and Buddha. The book is very clear on these points and the author is able to be so without being offensive or insensitive.
Rating:
Summary: Single Edged Sword
Review: Out the outset, I would like to say that I firmly believe this author is not only very eloquent, but also very logical. The only problem is that his logic is one sided. The book proposes that it represents a hypothetical conversaion between the buddha, jesus, and a prostitute. This is true. However, the author uses this work to point out the fundamental flaws in buddhism, while not exposing the many flaws in the bible. Unfortunately, it seems as though this work is nothing more than a poorly disguised attack on buddhism, whose ultimate goal is to elevate christian thought by exposing the flaws in buddhism. It is a very poor read if one is looking for a hypothetical conversation which is unencumbered by the author's personal opinions (or should I say unexamined convictions); the buddha is portrayed as beeing constantly enlightened by jesus, whereas jesus stands high upon some superior intellectual ground. In closing I would like to say that I am an agnostic, and so I don't subscribe to either of these religions.
Rating:
Summary: The Love of God revealed
Review: Picture Jesus, Buddha and a prostitute in a boat together...sounds like the beggining of a joke. To be sure, I really do agree with most of what the other reviewers have said. It's not meant to give an entire review of Christian thought or Buddhist thought. It gives you a glimpse of the Heart of it's founders though. It's simply Jesus and Buddha in a boat together. To be sure, Jesus's power is toned down a bit for the sake of the book sice he could have healed the prostitute right away. What comes out so powerfully however is the transcending love of Christ. It was powerful the way Jesus loved this woman. He didn't just give her philosophy, he met the need of her soul. Great book for Christians and non-christians.
Rating: 
Summary: Unfair, Biased, and Disappointing
Review: Prior to this I was a huge Ravi Zacharias fan. I found in him a voice that was not afraid to tackle some of the biggest problems in theology. I was extremely disapointed with this book. Its a very quick read, which is its first major flaw. However, I was shocked at some of the glaring liberties Zacharias takes to generalize Buddhism for the sake of defending Christianity. In fact, the entire premise of his book is faulty as any Buddhist will tell you Guatama Buddha has little to do with the religion of Buddhism. Refer to any beginners text on the subject of Buddhism and you will find that "Buddha" is never used in a specific sense to signify a single person in time (Guatama for example) as Christians use the word "Jesus Christ". "Buddha", literally means "enlightened one" and is rarely, if ever, deduced to mean Guatama, the Buddha (notice it is "the" Buddha--Guatama was one of many--not even the first for that matter!). Beyond this, Zacharias fails to recognize that there are thousands of sects of Buddhism, many of which are vastly different theologically from the teachings he uses to frame Buddhism.
Please do not misunderstand. I do respect Dr Zacharias. However, he commits many gross errors and provides the reader with no real understanding of the nature of Buddhism. I worked in a Christian Bookstore for close to two years and know first hadn that much Christian literature on other religions is "filtered" and simplified to the point where the religion being denounced loses all verility. If you are a Christian and you are reading this try to see it from the other side: imagine a Buddhist writing a book about why Christianity is wrong using a conversation between A (note, "a") Buddha, and the pope--where only the rules of Catholicism are debated....or if you are a catholic imagine a book which defends Christianity from a Pentecostal, or Baptist, or Lutheran perspective. Its unfair and oversimplified.
| 
