At the outset of Zen and the Spiritual Exercises, Ruben Habito asks: “Can a guidebook to the spiritual path from a late medieval to early modern European and pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic world have anything relevant and meaningful for a globalized, postmodern, post-Christian, multicultural, and multi-religious twenty-first-century society?” (xiii). Habito begins to answer this question by reframing the understanding of “spiritual exercises” from the dichotomous view that separates body and soul to a “view that considers our human be-ing in all its dimensions as an integral whole” (27). Moreover, as the book title suggests, the author primarily does this through dialogue with another tradition, Zen. In so doing, he opens the Spiritual Exercises beyond its traditional Christian readers. As the author writes, he offers this book to two sets of audiences: first, to “seekers of different backgrounds and religious (or no religious) affiliation” (4); and second, to those familiar with Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, in the hope that “they may be able to see already familiar territory in a new and even fresher light” (5). In this way, the book joins other current endeavors to bring Christian manuals of practice into the twenty-first century and into dialogue with religious and nonreligious seekers alike. In particular, the author teaches readers about the art of interreligious spiritual practice, of how one's own practices can be enriched through dialogue with the texts and practices of another tradition. This is the exciting and rich contribution of Habito's book.

For both audiences, but especially for those who are not well versed in either the Spiritual Exercises or Zen, the author takes pains in the first few chapters to introduce key principles and themes in both traditions, and continues to deepen these themes throughout the whole book. For this reason, this book could serve as a good introduction to both topics. The book could also serve as a good resource for a course on interreligious dialogue or interreligious spirituality, giving a clear example of a method for a dialogue of prayer/religious experience. The author does this, first, by inviting his readers to “sit in stillness and allow our hearts to open to a dimension that our human language can never adequately capture” (17). Then the author begins each chapter with a koan or verses from Buddhist texts in order to reflect more deeply on the Spiritual Exercises. This becomes an important practice of learning to read sacred texts interreligiously so that they may offer their spiritual and transformative powers for readers. Along the way, Habito also invites readers to practice Ignatius’ exercises using Buddhist practices, such as meditations on our interdependence in Week One (66) or thinking about forgiveness in Week Three through the Tibetan practice of the exchange of self and other (187–88).

Finally, the book is a great example of learning through interreligious dialogue. Without collapsing the differences between the two traditions, the author skillfully demonstrates the resonances in both. For example, he makes parallels between the life of Jesus, the Buddha, and our spiritual life. In the end, though readers are asked to “empty” out their concepts of “God” or “Jesus” that may become obstacles to their spiritual journey, Christian readers in particular may be surprised to encounter in a new way the Trinity experienced as unconditional love. In contemplating Jesus, the author writes how Jesus’ own life came from a freedom grounded in love. “This love is both the Love he himself receives from an unconditional Source . . . as well as the unconditional love he freely offers to all those who come to him” (168). We, on the other hand, are called to participate in this same kind of life, and soaked and empowered by this divine love, we offer ourselves as an “instrument for the healing of our wounded world” (209). This image of the triune God as Love is deeply Christian but also allows the practice to be experienced and encountered by other religious and nonreligious seekers. This is the gift of the author, who demonstrates in this book his own deep commitment to Zen and the Spiritual Exercises: a way of encounter with the other and with each other through the riches of our spiritual traditions.