Who Can Stop The Wind?

Buddhism and Christianity, two religions with distinct worldviews, are sometimes thought to be irreconcilable. Notto R. Thelle holds a different view. His life and work have been divided between the East and the West, which has given him the privilege of having to live "on the boundary," in a continual inner dialogue between his basic Christian commitment and the challenges and inspirations from the East. In Who Can Stop the Wind? he shares the thoughts and experiences generated by these encounters. With him, we come to realize that the border zone is not just "out there"; it also exists in our minds. By asking questions that engage both the Eastern and Western religious traditions, Thelle urges us to seek a larger faith.

Notto R. Thelle is a senior professor of theology at the University of Oslo, Norway. He formerly spent sixteen years in Japan, where he was involved in research, dialogue, and pastoral work. Thelle has published several Norwegian textbooks on and translations of Buddhist and Eastern traditions. But his deepest commitment is the existential search for meaning, which has primarily been expressed in preaching and teaching, various types of dialogues, and particularly in writing.