Forgiveness - A Comparative Look at the Works of Chogyam Trungpa and Thomas Merton

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis will be to take a comparative look at the idea of forgiveness in two different traditions: Christianity and Buddhism. In order to keep the scope of the work both focused and manageable, we will narrow it down to one individual from each religion. The people whose works were chosen are Fr. Thomas Merton (1915-1968), who comes from the Catholic Christian tradition, and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987), who was a Tibetan Buddhist. The first section will deal with Merton's writings and ideas on forgiveness, the second will tackle what can be found in reference to forgiveness in Chogyam Trungpa's works. Finally, in the third section, we will compare and contrast the two men's ideas.