The inner voice of peace: the spiritual dimension of dialogue

by Sister Maureen Goodman

Published in Interreligious Insight April 2007

“The trouble is that no-one knows too much about their own religion. If people knew more about their own religion, there would never be violence. But it is too convenient not to know too much about one’s own religion.” This was said by the former prime minister of India, Mr Narasimha Rao at the celebrations in Delhi of 1993 – the year of interreligious understanding and co-operation.

Our great religions teach us the root causes of suffering in our world; these are not religion, politics or economics, but arrogance and greed that seem to have gripped so many people on our planet. Leaders in all fields, including religion, seem to have succumbed to this ‘disease’ of the spirit.

Why is it that with all the attempts at dialogue, religion and religious leaders have not fulfilled their role as peace makers in our world? Somewhere we have a missing dimension. I believe that dimension is linked to a deeper exploration of spirituality and of course I am not alone in that view. In many ways we have lost the connection between spirituality and religion. Religion without spirituality becomes meaningless. True spirituality is religion; it is living by the highest principles of divinity in life which our manifold religious rituals and practices help to uphold.

Professor Harvey Cox, Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, in his World Congress of Faith annual lecture in 2005 talked about ‘the devil’s triangle’: dialogue that takes into consideration the political context, dialogue between the more liberal and conservative wings in one’s own tradition (intra-religious dialogue) and dialogue with other traditions. He suggested that it is only possible to face in all three ways if we also face a fourth way - to face within, within ourselves as persons, within the deepest spiritual resources of our own traditions. We need to try and sort out what part of our tradition is the gift of the spirit and what part is the packaging that generations and generations of us have wrapped it in.

In November 2006, I travelled to Beirut to represent Dadi Janki, Co-administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris, in an interreligious dialogue of the religions of the Middle East and the religions of the Asia. In the Middle East, dialogue is mostly between the three Abrahamic faiths, and the organiser, Dena Merriam of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, felt that the religions of the East – Hinduism and Buddhism – would have much to offer. Lebanon is a country still in a state of shock following the war with Israel. Having just picked itself up from a bitter civil war in the 80s and 90s, the recent war has left people demoralised. In fact many, especially young people, have simply left as they no longer see a future in the country that was once called ‘the Paris of the Middle East’.

The dialogue was at the invitation of HH Aram I, the head of the Armenian Orthodox Church with the theme of ‘A Recommitment to Spirituality’. He explained the concept of the dialogue: “Despite our long history and contact with the people in Asia, we in the Middle East have not sufficiently related to the religions born in Asia – Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, and Taoism. We have not made an effort to understand their vision of this fundamental principle of "love your neighbour". Now that religions are becoming global because of population movements and migration, it is our responsibility to speak together and announce our common commitment to life-giving values through love and spirituality….. The ability to love and be compassionate is a spiritual act, and it is our common responsibility to reclaim our moral, ethical and spiritual values in order to build peace with justice.”

Despite this call to all religions of the region, it was acknowledged that it was too sensitive a time to invite representatives of Judaism. This indicates how long the road is to realising the ‘engaged spirituality’ that was spoken of in the dialogue.

In the discussions, Emir Hares Chehab, General Secretary of the Islamic-Christian National Dialogue Committee (Lebanon) shared some of the complexity in separating spirituality and religion. “Spirituality means so many things to so many people, even sometimes within oneself depending on the experience of the moment, so that what we have offered remains a partial definition of it, one of its aspects. Many believe it is even in opposition to religion, or at least there is an important distinction between the two. They consider spirituality to be more personal, less dogmatic, more open to new ideas, so more capable of adapting to new situations in pluralistic societies. Nevertheless, there is now a growing interest in spirituality in the world, and because matters of the spirit are so divisive and conflict producing, we have to make a real distinction between spirituality and fundamentalism in religion which is a destructive form under the cover of spiritual interest. And while the first seeks a sensitive, sometimes contemplative relation, capable of sustaining levels of uncertainty, the second seeks certainty, clear answers and rapid solutions, sometimes in an aggressive and even bloody way, and the sacred is being invoked by warring parties who are absolutely sure that God is on their side. It is clear here that fundamentalism can arise in any of the spiritual traditions, Christian, Muslim or other and even in modern ideologies or philosophies.”

This points to the need to remove religion and spirituality from the influences that have corrupted them. As another speaker said, “Loyalty and devotion, not spirituality makes the fanatic and leads to pointless violence”. He was referring to devotion to a person, an ideology or a group.

The need for spiritual exploration was expressed in a variety of ways. Aram I gave us a deeply spiritual definition of dialogue: “Sincere dialogue is a source of strength and a purifying process.” Through true dialogue we not only learn and understand, we also grow and change. Another common thread was the need for a return to the culture of respecting life and its sacredness.

Ven Guo Yuan from Dharma Drum Mountain in Taiwan expressed the Buddhist teaching that, “The sacredness of life lies within the difficulty that we face right now. From the gifts of difficulty and suffering, we have the material which will help us cultivate spiritual practice – which is the uplifting of our human character – the transformation of suffering and the realisation of wisdom and compassion. With this realisation, we see life as sacred, as a tool to help all others to come to know wisdom and compassion – peace of mind, peace of the world and the vow to help all others realise the same truth.”

The head of the Armenian Church in Iraq, spoke of the current situation in his country: “Iraq has lost its spirit of toleration …. It is wounded spiritually, psychologically and physically. Hundreds are dying every day. Prayer is an answer. Prayer is a dialogue with God. The Almighty always listens and in His own way He answers our prayers.” He continued, “Do not be afraid but be careful. Fear paralyses our everyday living. The rule of love will triumph.”

My own contribution was on the theme of ‘Prayer: The heart of spirituality’. Through my opening statement that “Prayer is at the heart of spirituality, and at the heart of prayer is silence” I wished to explore the place of silence in dialogue. I referred to the experience of bringing together religious leaders from all around the world to the Headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris in Mt Abu, India, in October 2005. Those who gathered for ‘The Inner Voice of Peace’ dialogue were prepared to risk opening themselves to real change through dialogue. Together we discovered that dialogue is not really about words - the external form – but at the heart of true dialogue is silence.

The silent inner journey prepares us for dialogue. The deep feeling of our own gifts from the Divine brings us the inner security and freedom to truly listen to and learn from others. While we are interacting with ‘another’ the awareness of an inner state of peace will enable us to listen with an ear that will hear not only the words but also the deepest feelings of the heart.

So the first step is to move away from any conflict in our own mind: to have love for peace in our heart, and to be able to let go and listen with love. This is not a small demand, when attitudes and feelings are entrenched in centuries of history. This is why, in Mt Abu we spent time in silence, in deep contemplation together. We discovered for ourselves, the importance of the inner preparation for dialogue.

In an almost parallel way, in Beirut, HH Aram I also spoke of the kind of silence which is needed for dialogue:

“Silence that calls for dialogue with the self and with God – this is more difficult than dialogue with others.

Silence that generates real spirituality - we live in a world of false spirituality.

Silence that conquers the visible and invisible forces.

Silence that empowers us by the presence of the transcendent.”

‘Whatever is within is reflected without’ is a spiritual truth which is a basic principle of living. It tells us that the inner state of human beings creates the outer state of the world. This is why real dialogue depends upon the awareness of the inner being. It enables us to reach deeper into our own being so that we realise something more about our own selves and our relationship with the Divine. In silence we can experience our own innate goodness and qualities. In fact the first violence that we all commit is to suppress our own inner goodness. And it is from this that all other forms of violence arise. The way of non-violence is found in inner peace.

It is about living in a spiritual way, which in turn helps us deal with the immense confusion about religious identity today. I would put it this way; first I am a spiritual being, a soul, then I am a human being - a soul in the costume of my body acting and interacting in this world, and only after that do I define myself through my religious expression. There are many rich and diverse religious expressions in this world, but it is our spiritual identity that brings us together.

The effect of this goes far beyond our immediate surroundings. Rev Marcus Braybrooke, one of the dialogue co-chairs in Mt Abu shared, “Every time we open ourselves in real dialogue to another person, we set in motion vibrations which can help to heal a divided world. This is why dialogue helps to build a culture of peace. But our dialogue should not be confined to personal sharing, but include our vision and hopes for the world. In this way those who seek a new world society, based on deep spiritual awareness, strengthen each other by coming together and multiply the life giving vibrations of reconciliation.”

Dadi Janki echoed this in her closing remarks at Mt Abu, “Silence enables a shift to take place: we go from worldly, externally based thinking to internal, elevated thoughts of the self and others. Silence also enables the link with the Divine, and we are removed from fear, disturbances and confusion. We are filled with faith. The feeling is that it is not just me or even gatherings like this that want to make the world a better place, but it is God’s desire too.”

As we toured the recently bombed areas of Beirut, I reflected on how far we have gone from God’s desire for the world. Several sections of the city and nearly all the bridges had been bombed. There were still signs of the civil war too. As always in such situations, people are amazingly resilient. Life and hope continues.

And as with all dialogues, it was the outings and shared meals that brought us close to each other in informal conversation and friendship. Perhaps one of the most refreshing scenes was seeing monks from the three traditions: the Armenian Church, Hinduism and Buddhism laughing uncontrollably as they took their meals together, or learning about the life of a remarkable Danish woman who dedicated her life to looking after 4,000 Armenian orphans in Lebanon in the early part of the 20th Century. The orphanage still exists today with only 60 boisterous children from difficult homes in the Armenian Community.

The final statement of the Beirut dialogue expressed the spiritual perspectives of our current situations. “Bridges of faith can provide hope and healing to wounded nations and pain-filled people, of which there are too many in our world today. During the dialogue, we heard serious concerns from both Asia and the Middle East regarding the world situation. We heard of the need to recommit ourselves to the spiritual core of our religious traditions so that people and societies may translate into daily life the spiritual and moral values cherished by our traditions. We also heard of the need for religion to provide us with the strength, vision and understanding for reconciliation among individuals and communities based on truth and justice. We heard of the need for an engaged spirituality, where the deeper meaning of our traditions, moral teachings and values can be experienced. And we heard of the need to foster a deep respect for the differences that give us our distinctive identities, while recognising the universal values that bring us together as a human community.”

I returned to London from Beirut feeling that I had heard the genuine call from the heart for a freedom from conflict and fear. If we have the courage, living in a truly spiritual way can move us far beyond words, peace treaties and ideologies – it can lead us home to inner and outer peace.

Sister Maureen Goodman is the Programme Director at the International Centre of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University in London. She has worked in inter-religious dialogue for nearly 30 years, serving on several committees. She helped convene the Inner Voice of Peace, an international dialogue for religious and spiritual leaders, in India, exploring the spiritual dimension of dialogue; is an Advisory Board Member of Women Working Towards Excellence: The Our Lives Project, an initiative to capture the voice of Muslim women in Britain; and the International Co-ordinator for BK Youth Activities.