Overview: Elijah the Bodhisattva: An Interspiritual Exploration is as if you were reading the Bible through Buddhist eyes. Elijah the Prophet’s journey to enlightenment.

Verdict: This is an interspiritual commentary -- largely though not exclusively Buddhist-inspired -- on the life of Elijah as recounted in the Bible. It treats the externals of his life as metaphors for internal mind-states, his story as a labyrinth-like journey toward enlightenment, an unfolding realization of the non-duality of himself and God.

Elijah begins with a henotheistic conception of God as a national deity connected to the land of Israel and progresses to a realization of God as the ground of being, being-itself, the God of those who struggle with God, which is the deeper meaning of the name Israel.

While the inner dimension is emphasized, there is also a focus on the political dimension of the story, which liberation theologians call God’s preferential option for the poor, and here it is called the politics of anatta -- the core Buddhist principle of not-self.

With not much said before about Elijah the Bodhisattva, author Malcolm David Brown’s reflections on the life of this Elijah in a way that makes it palatable for all readers to not only understand, but moreover take on board, digest and become one with.

The forefather of monasticism in the West and one of the great Hebrew prophets, Brown’s prose here seamlessly weaves its way in and around both Christianity and Buddhism, as well other traditions, whilst at the same time never once leaning too hard in one direction over another.

In a way that breaks down existential and existing traditional boundaries, the spiritual nature of the book is never far from the author’s thoughts, and that, my friend, is a good thing.

In conclusion, books like these can quickly become bogged down in their own inner message, but here, Brown walks us through interspirituality, new monasticism, spiritual practice, comparative theology, the essential interdependence of our contemplative traditions, and even just striving to be a better Christian or Buddhist, as if it were his life’s journey (and maybe it is).

About the Author - Malcolm David Brown is an ex-sociologist and interspiritual writer. He has a PhD in the sociology of Islam and lived experience of different strands of Christianity and Buddhism. He lives near Pisa, Italy.

Official Book Purchase Link