John Donne’s Divine Poems:Buddhist-Christian Dialogue

John Donne(1572-1631)is a famous English Metaphysical poet during the Renaissance period.Compared with researches conducted in China,studies on Donne’s divine poems abroad are extensive.However,researches adopting the approach of Buddhist-Christian dialogue on Donne’s divine poems are limited.The main objective of the dissertation is to shed light on the feasibility of taking Donne’s divine poems as resources for a Buddhist-Christian inter-religious studies.The dissertation argues that John Donne’s divine poems express a spiritual pursuit of union with God through "self-emptying" and exhibit religious practices that are similar to those of Buddhism yet unique to the Christian origin.Based upon the theoretical framework of parallel study in comparative literature,this dissertation adopts the approach of Buddhist-Christian dialogue to discuss the similarities and the differences between the spiritual pursuit and practices of Buddhism and those of Christian mysticism reflected in Donne’s divine poems.Buddhist-Christian dialogue was initiated in the last half of the twentieth century.Its focus is on the comparison and conversation between the doctrines and practices of Buddhism and Christianity,with a focus on mysticism.Donne’s divine poems exhibit many thoughts and practices of Christian mysticism.This provides a cornerstone on which a Buddhist-Christian dialogue approach to Donne’s divine poems can be operated.This dissertation is divided into three chapters with an introduction and a conclusion.Introduction reviews the literature at home and abroad on the topic.It clarifies the object and the contribution of the dissertation.In addition,it provides the theoretical framework and an explanation of the feasibility of the approach.Chapter one traces the development of Christian mysticism from Pseudo-Dionysius to St.John of the Cross,discussing the two important aspects in Christian mysticism:via negativa and Christian meditation.The author also argues that Donne is influenced by Christian mysticism by examining a few evidences from his works for the connection between the two.Chapter two attempts to establish that divine poems provide resources for a dialogue between Christian mysticism and Buddhism on the negative way.The first section discusses via negativa in Donne’s divine poems by analyzing the connection between the silence of God,infirmity of human intellect,kenosis in his poems and the notion of ineffability of via negativa.The second section examines sunyata in Buddhism and discusses its meaning through the doctrine of Two Truths,sunyata and language,and the negative way.The third section attempts to construct a dialogue between Christian mysticism and Buddhism through the discussion of silence,limitation of human faculties,and negation of self.Chapter three endeavors to establish that divine poems also provides resources for a dialogue between Christian mysticism and Buddhism on meditation.The first section discusses Christian meditation in Donne’s divine poems through the threefold structure,self-examination,and meditation on death.The second section examines Buddhist mediation from the perspective of its structure,meditation on breathing and on body.The third section attempts to construct a dialogue between Christian mysticism and Buddhism through the discussion of the structure of meditation,ordering the inner-self,and meditation subjects.Conclusion summarizes the findings of the dissertation,assesses its contribution and suggests directions for future studies.