As a Christian who has spent many years practicing Buddhism, I have observed a strong parallel between the unfolding of experience that occurs in the Tibetan Lamrim (Graduated Path to Enlightenment) and in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. There is a natural and predictable arc to both (as there is in vipassana meditation), suggesting that although individual meditation experiences may vary, there is also a universal dynamic that operates when we open ourselves to God (by whatever name we call God), regardless of religious tradition. This paper will explore similarities and differences between the unfolding of the meditative experience in the Lamrim and the Spiritual Exercises, and what that comparison tells us about what is universal in the meditative experience.
