I ONCE WAS A BUDDHIST NUN
By Esther Baker
IVP. 156 pages. £7.99
ISBN 978 1 844 743 841
Some years ago, on an airport bus in Toronto, I listened to Richard Cunningham (UCCF) engage an English Buddhist in conversation.
What attracts a Western graduate to this spirituality? What are they searching for? What do they think Christianity is, that they’ve rejected? I Once Was a Buddhist Nun will equip our Christian witness to friends influenced by Eastern thought — meditation, yoga, or Buddhism.
In a reflective biography, ‘Esther Baker’ tells of her anti-Christian upbringing, realisation of a spiritual side and search for truth. Buddhism’s atheism and perceived peacefulness led Esther to join a Theravada Buddhist monastery. She shares how Christians lovingly reaching out to her sowed seeds of dissatisfaction with her Buddhist faith, until she fled to Christ.
Esther doesn’t write dismissively of her former Buddhism. She sympathetically recounts its appeal, and persuasively points out its errors. Her delight in God’s word is infectious; her account of gradual growth in faith and discovery of God’s grace disarmingly honest. While non-charismatic readers may have reservations regarding aspects of Esther’s discipleship and mission work with addicts, her emphasis is on patient love and confidence in the gospel.
Esther Baker’s heartfelt story will both inspire and equip us to reach out to our neighbours, to ‘hear’ them and to share Christ. As to whether it’s a helpful read for someone from a Buddhist background, I’ll let you know when I hear back from my Buddhist neighbour!
Rosemary Grier,
Birmingham; Deacon of Oak Tree Church, Bournville (FIEC)
