Law professor to speak at Saint John’s about Buddhist meditation and Christian spirituality

University of St. Thomas law professor Susan Stabile will present the lecture "Adapting Buddhist Meditation Practices to Christian Spirituality" at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12, in Quad 264 at Saint John's University.

The lecture is sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning in collaboration with the Buddhist Meditation Club of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. It is free and open to the public.

Drawing from her book "Growing in Love and Wisdom: Tibetan Buddhist Sources for Christian Meditation," published this month by Oxford University Press, Stabile will explore common values that underlie Christianity and Buddhism and how interreligious engagement can offer mutual enrichment for people of both traditions, giving special attention to how Buddhist meditation practices can enrich Christian spirituality. 

After the program, Stabile's new book will be available for purchase and signing.

Stabile holds the Robert and Marion Short Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where she also serves as a fellow of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership and offers retreats and other programs of spiritual formation for students, faculty, staff and alumni. 

Raised as a Catholic, Stabile devoted 20 years of her life to practicing Buddhism and was ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun before returning to Catholicism in 2001. She is a spiritual director, trained in the Ignatian tradition, and one of the leading scholars in the United States on the intersection of Catholic social thought and the law.