Proceeding in the Way of Zen and the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises : Ruben Habito’s Legacy

abstract: This article focuses on a key aspect of Zen master Ruben Habito’s legacy as both a scholar and practitioner of Zen and the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. In particular, the article focuses on how Habito builds bridges between the two spiritual practices in order to encourage the spiritual practice of others, with a special focus on using Zen to inform the Spiritual Exercises , and vice versa. This interreligious approach to the transformation of suffering into peace, joy, and liberation provides a way for both scholars and practitioners to understand how becoming places of peace or divine dwellings and thus sources of the transformation of suffering of self and other can happen through having a foot in each tradition. By focusing on Habito’s teachings on the divine dwelling of equanimity, the Zen practice of no preference, the unconventional wisdom of koans, and Jesus Christ in the Gospels, I hope to highlight Habito’s tremendous legacy in interreligious spiritual practice and the way it can bring peace and stability to practitioners no matter their belief system.