Agree to Differ

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Coming together

Interfaith spirituality is one not informed by the commonality in the

aggregation of religious views but vice versa: religious views are informed

by the Ocean of Spirituality (or the spirit of love, of compassion, of

interconnectedness). The metaphor of rivers flowing into one ocean

has to be reversed to experience the depth and meaning of interfaith

spirituality. In the wholeness of being, the ocean is primary, not the rivers.

Interfaith beings are border beings, beings who can seamlessly move

across religious borders, compassionately, clearly and courageously.

It is the basis of coming together as one being for the benefit of the

sustainable cultures we all need for the generations to come.

Whatever

the religion we profess, we are today faced with an ecological crisis that

threatens all life and Mother Earth. We need to be together as one in

this and there is no other way. To be religiously free from this point of

view means to be responsible for nature or Mother Earth that hold us

together. And there is no use of religious freedom without a planet.

– Nadarajah Manickam, Global Centre for the Study of Sustainable

Futures and Spirituality, India

can only understand the ‘other’ by interpreting what we encounter

in the light of our own experience. However, through encounter

students discover a shared humanity and learn that common-

ality emerges through different religious stories and practices,

and that disagreement and conflict may be the result of ‘distance’

rather than ‘discernment’ at close quarters. This academic process

involves exchange and dialogue. It involves listening as well as

speaking; an attempt to understand others in their own terms, as

we ourselves wish to be understood, explained Dr Ed Kessler of

the Woolf Institute in Cambridge, UK.

Once we are aware of our own perceptions, we can begin

to engage with others more effectively. Personal encounters

foster dialogue. Through dialogue, neither participant is

required to relinquish or alter their beliefs, but both will be

affected and changed by the process. As dialogue increases,

so does understanding. There is no alternative than to build

on our commonality and face our differences.

The youth are better able than we are to do dialogue because

they are more flexible. They are less prone to be stuck in ancient

arguments. They are more open to see the good in the other and

even to see themselves

within

the other. Our youth may be

compared to sparks of light that enlighten the world – if we

make room for them. We need to encourage our young people

to shine their light onto the darkness of this world, a world that

is suffering for our sins and the sins of our forefathers.

There is a traditional legend in Judaism that teaches an

important lesson about sparks of light – sparks of divine

light, explained Dr Reuven Firestone of the Center for

Muslim-Jewish Engagement in Los Angeles, USA.

“At the beginning of time, God’s presence filled the entire

universe. At this time before creation, God

was

the universe

and the universe was God. Every microscopic portion of space

was filled with God. When God decided to bring this world

into being, He had to make room for creation. So God reduced

Himself and contracted. He withdrew from filling everything

by, as it were, drawing in His breath. This is called

TzimTzum

–

divine contraction. From that contraction darkness was created.

Then God said, “Let there be light.”

Great and powerful divine

light then came into being and filled the darkness, and 10 holy

vessels came forth. Each vessel was a container that was filled

to the brim with this primordial light which was, if you will,

the essence of God Himself.

God sent forth those 10 vessels like a fleet of ships, each

carrying its cargo of light. Had they all arrived intact, the

world would have been perfect. But the vessels were not

strong enough to contain such a powerful, divine light-force.

They therefore broke open, split asunder, and all the holy

sparks of God were scattered like sand, like seeds, like stars.

Those sparks fell everywhere, but more fell on the Holy Land

than anywhere else,” according to this Jewish legend.

Humanity was the last thing to be created. And this is

why

were created – in order to gather the sparks of divine light, no

matter where they are hidden. God created us so that we would

raise up the holy sparks. That is why there have been so many

exiles – spread universally to release the holy sparks from

the servitude of captivity everywhere in the world. In Jewish

tradition, the Jews are the most widely spread community of

exiles. It is our responsibility to sift all the holy sparks from

the four corners of the Earth. How is that done? By doing good

in the world. By helping the poor everywhere, by healing the

sick everywhere, by inventing remedies to improve the lives

of people everywhere and by preserving the natural world all

around us. We ourselves have divine sparks within us, and it is

that energy which can enliven us to our task.

When enough holy sparks have been gathered, the broken

vessels will be restored and

Tikkun Olam

– the repair of the

world, awaited for so long, will finally be complete. Therefore,

it should be the aim of everyone to raise these sparks from

wherever they are imprisoned and to elevate them to holiness.

Our youth are brilliantly enlightened – naturally, by the sparks

of God within them. We must do all in our power to preserve

the energy of their light, not to extinguish it through oppres-

Image: DICID

Dr. Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi, Chairman of DICID, presenting an honorary

shield to Lord Rowan Williams, previously Archbishop of Canterbury

gree

iffer