“Interfaith dialogue doesn’t mean, ‘come, let me tell you something about my faith.’ Interfaith dialogue means, ‘come, tell me something about your faith – I want to learn – I want to grow’.”
– Abhijit Naskar
“The man who makes God his beloved, what more does he want? His heart becomes awakened to all the beauty there is within and without. To him, God is all-in-all; to him, God is everywhere. If he goes to the Christian church or the Jewish synagogue, to Buddhist temple, to the Hindu shrine, or to the Muslim mosque, there is God. In the wilderness, in the forest, in the crowd, everywhere he sees God.”
– Hazrat Inayat Khan
“I have learned so much, I have learned so much from God that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew.
The Truth has shared so much of Itself with me that I can no longer call myself a man, a woman, an angel, or even pure Soul.
Love has befriended Hafiz so completely it has turned to ash and freed me of every concept and image my mind has ever known.”
– Hafiz
What is ‘interspirituality’?
Interspirituality is the combined spiritual wisdom amassed across faith traditions and across time. It is that thing that so many of us now practice, the blending of several traditional practices from more than one faith center. Thus I may be as I am, a practicing Catholic (Christian), practice Tai Chi (Chinese), meditate (Hindu) all the while participating in an occasional Native American blessing ceremony.” …Interspirituality rests on a vast community of insight and experience available to humanity at all times and in all places. This community embraces the collective wisdom of the human family. Behind this vast community of collective awareness is the one Spirit, inspiring breakthroughs to its realm, opening minds and hearts, transforming attitudes and wills, and encouraging growth in compassion, love, kindness, mercy, and sensitivity.
Interspirituality includes the courageous tendency to religious and spiritual creativity, which springs from understanding how much can be gained by venturing out of one’s comfort and familiarity and into other traditions. In a sense, to pursue an intermystical spiritual life is to be a real pioneer of the Spirit. It is not an easy path to travel, because not many maps exist yet, and many people fear losing their way, but it yields rich deposits of wisdom along the way. If we trust, keep moving on, and share our experience with others, while seeking their advice, we will be fine. In fact, uncertainty can lead to even greater spiritual realizations. Without the familiar rituals and beliefs of our tradition to fall back on, we sometimes come closer to realizing the true goals of religion.
– Brother Wayne Teasdale
“While different faiths developed through specific prisms of culture and contexts in space and time, there are universal spiritual principles which are foundational to all of them. Interspirituality is the common ground, where all of the wisdom traditions meet. Interspirituality is committed to finding the spirituality both within and beyond religion.
What ties us together is a shared desire to connect with the Ground of Being in a way that fully respects our differences. The challenge is to embody what is most true and real for us without seeking to convince or convert others.
Our intention is to delve deeply into the perennial interspiritual philosophy of guidance and discernment so that we may become more fully present and capable of clear, compassionate action in the world.”
– Joan Borysenko
Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.
– Christianity
Let all mankind be thy sect.
– Sikhism
Consider the family of humankind one.
– Jainism
Radiate boundless love towards the entire world – above, below, and across – unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.
– Buddhism
O contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces towards unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. Gather ye together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is the source of contention among you. Then will the effulgence of the world’s great Luminary envelop the whole earth, and its inhabitants become the citizens of one city, and the occupants of one and the same throne.
– Baha’i Faith
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
– Judaism
All ye under the heaven! Regard heaven as your father, earth as your mother, and all things as your brothers and sisters.
– Shinto
“Peace among religions is a precondition for world peace. But religions, as religions, can never be at peace with each other. To enable religions to be instruments for peace we need to enable, first, religious communities to progress from religion to spirituality. For the world order to be one of peace and justice, for the global village to be a theater of right livelihood, it is imperative that a new and proactive spiritual vision commensurate to the challenges of the emerging world order be enunciated without delay. The challenge is to make “right livelihood” a universal goal.
– Swami Agnivesh
Visions for the Centre for Interspiritual Peace
“The Centre will be a safe, supportive and inclusive space for individuals wanting to freely explore the richness of the world’s spiritual and secular traditions, teachings and practices. Working with people of all faiths or none, opportunities will be provided to learn from diverse cultures, faiths, and from nature. We honour the Universal Truths that unite us all, while also respecting that there are different ways of expressing Compassion, Wisdom and Insight. Seeking to practice unconditional love for all sentient beings, without exception: our work is peace, our life is peace, and our foundation is inner peace.”
“The Centre will be a sanctuary for people from all backgrounds who wish to explore the depths of what it means to be a ‘fully alive human being’. It will offer the space and place to take time aside from the busyness of this world, to find peace within, connection with others, and to develop a deeper meaning to our lives. We uphold the fundamental premise that in spite of religious and cultural differences, we share a basic belonging to something greater than ourselves. We nurture the contemplative tradition, where in stillness, wherever we are, we may find our true centre, a love that knows no end. This ‘immortal diamond’ is our birthright. We draw on the perennial wisdom of prophets, saints, and sages from earliest human history to the present. And we endeavour through a range of spiritual practices to experience and live the peace and love we long to see in the world.”
“The Centre for Interspiritual Peace will embrace the perennial wisdom, the universal thread that can be found at the core of humankind’s diverse religious experiences. It will recognize the sacred work that the world’s faith and wisdom traditions have performed for centuries in developing the spirituality of the individual and providing a socially cohesive environment. Our vision encompasses the freedom to explore truth wherever it may be found – within the faith traditions, but also within the natural world and in the experience of stillness. As a community, we will strive to practice the truth of unconditional love, which alone can heal the brokenness of our fragmented world and bring us into a state of Divine Oneness.”