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Dialogue as the Pathway towards Peace |
Apart from my interest in Hinduism, I have also been involved in the
Interfaith movement which could be said to have begun with the first Parliament
of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893. I presently head one of the half
dozen major world-wide Interfaith organisations, the Temple of Understanding,
which has its headquarters at 16th floor, 720 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10019
and has a separate website.
Religion has a very mixed record in human history. Much that is great and noble
in human civilisation can be traced back to the great religions of the world –
art and architecture, music and dance, literature and moral codes. However, more
people have been killed, tortured and persecuted in the name of religion than in
any other name, and history is replete with bloody religious conflicts which
continue down to the present day. If humanity is to survive in the next
millennium it is my conviction that the Interfaith movement will have to become
much more effective and active than it is at present. The Vedic dictum "The
truth is one, the wise call it by many names" has to be the keynote of the new
edifice of Interfaith harmony.