[Dialogue] United Religions Initiative

[LAURELCG at aol.com]

Forwarded by Jann McGuire from our D.Min. list.  

Dear ones,

 

Below is a letter from the executive director of United Religions  Initiative 

(a global grassroots gathering of local circles devoted to interfaith  

understanding & peace), describing a recent meeting between the Dalai Lama  & 
a 

group of moderate Muslim leaders.  This event is certainly a  wellspring of 
hope 

for further reflection & action!

 

Our Interfaith group in Charlottesville, VA (working together for the  past 2 

1/2 years) has just been officially recognized as the Interfaith  Cooperation 

Circle of Central Virginia, URI.  I want to invite those of you  who live 

nearby to join us for our meetings on the 1st Sunday of each month, 5 -  6:45 

p.m.  I'd also love to hear from any of you who are or have been  involved in 
a 

URI cooperation circle.  We can learn from your  stories.

 

Blessings,

Margery

 

 

Letter from Rev.  Charles Gibbs, Exec. Director of URI, after a meeting with 

the Dalai  Lama.  


Dear  Friends,


Greetings of love and peace.


A week ago I was privileged  to represent URI as part of an interfaith 

community supporting an historic  meeting of His Holiness the Dalai Lama with 
a 

group of moderate Muslim leaders  from different parts of the world


The event, A Gathering of Hearts  Illuminating Compassion, was the result of 

an invitation to His Holiness from Imam Mehdi Khorasani, originally from 

Karbala, Iraq, but now the leader of  the Islamic Center of California, 
Fairfax, 

CA. Though I don’t know Imam  Khorasani well, I have met him through the 
annual 

symposium of the International  Association of Sufism, and, in fact, bought 

Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s wonderful  translation of and commentary on the Koran 
from 

him a year ago. 


In Imam  Khorasani’s words, "The main issue of this conference is to provide 

a platform  to teach that there is no room today to say or invest in anything 

but love. We  are happy and grateful for His Holiness' decision to lend his 

energy to this  cause." 


>From the beginning, it was clear that this gathering was a  priority for the 

Dalai Lama because of the importance of supporting moderate  Muslim leaders. 

These leaders simultaneously must battle with violent extremists  within 
Islam 

who distort and deface the religion they love, and live with  constant 

challenges from and sometimes persecution by people outside of Islam.  


The most moving moment in the day came when His Holiness proclaimed  himself 

to be a “defender of Islam,” a powerful statement from someone of his  

stature. He went on to say, "Some people have an impression that Islam is  
militant. 

I think that is totally wrong. Islam is one of the world's great  religions 

and it carries, basically, a message of love and compassion." In  recognizing 

the present of some Tibetan Muslims as the gathering, he noted that  
Buddhists 

and Muslims have lived together in peace for centuries in Tibet. 


The Dalai Lama acknowledged that every religion has its  extremists, which 

makes it all the more urgent for people of goodwill from  different 
traditions 

to come together to deepen mutual understanding and find  ways to work 
together 

for a better world. This was a core theme of the  gathering, as expressed in 

the following from the conference  organizers:


His Holiness the Dalai Lama is  reaching out in an historic event, embracing 

his Muslim brothers and sisters,  and friends of other faith traditions, to 

foster mutual understanding and to  celebrate our common humanity. We gather 
to 

represent the vast majority of the  people of faiths who live moderate and 

normative lives of service, mercy, and  compassion. 


The purpose of this gathering is to speak about the  challenges the world 

faces today, giving voice to the commonality of our core  faith traditions in 
the 

face of the deafening cacophony of voices highlighting  the differences 

portrayed by extremism. This is the beginning of an ongoing  dialogue, with 

thought, reflection, discussion and contemplation about a Middle Way, 
reflecting core 

values central to all faiths and  traditions.


We ask you to reflect upon and  address these questions:


1. What has been considered the moderate or Middle Way in your tradition?


2. Why and how can actual practice of  these traditions illuminate and bring 

balance to some aspects of faith that are  now unfairly weighted by ignorance 

or extremist views?


3. How can this  balance contribute to openness in dialogue, understanding, 

respect, harmony,  compassion and peace amongst all people of the world in 

which we live?   


I  invite members of URI’s community around the world to offer their answers 

to  these important questions.


Another question that many people attending  the event and since the event 

have asked is, “Where was URI at this gathering?”  or “Don’t they know 
about 

URI?” 


First, I’d like to say that many members  and friends of URI attended this 

event, including Global Council trustees Sam  Srinivasan, Don Frew and Heng 

Sure, former trustee Bob Walter, and friends of  URI like Swami 
Prabuddhananda, 

Dr. Eboo Patel of the Interfaith Youth Core,  Houston Smith and Dr. Ali 
Kianfar 

of the International Association of Sufism. We  all took advantage of the 

opportunity to share with others about URI’s  work.


Second, in the spirit of our principle of seeking and offering  cooperation 

with other interfaith efforts, URI, through our office in San  Francisco,  

provided behind the scenes support for this important event.


Third, a key  moment for me came when Imam Khorasoni suggested that the 

creation of a United  Nations of Religions in San  Francisco was needed to 
bring 

together top level religious leadership from around  the world. The Dalai 
Lama 

responded that the time was not yet ripe for such an  organization. What was 

needed, he suggested, was countless small steps being  taken on a grassroots 

level all over the world. He couldn’t have offered a  better endorsement of 
URI.


Fourth, I intend to set up a meeting with Imam  Khorasoni in the near future, 

perhaps when I speak at the International  Association for Sufism’s annual 

symposium early in May. I want to let him know  what has blossomed through 
the 

URI over the past several years and find ways our  work and his vision might 

travel together.


I’ll keep you posted. In the  meantime, I look forward to your answers to the 

questions posed above.


I  pray this finds you all well and your work of interfaith cooperation  

flourishing.


Love,


Charles


The Rev.  Canon Charles P. Gibbs

Executive Director

United Religions  Initiative

P.O. Box  29242

San  Francisco, CA  94129