Who We Are

ACWR - An Interfaith Peace Organization combining meditation practice, dialogue and a concrete peace and social justice agenda

A Spiritual Agenda for World Peace

From a new international, decentralized security concept to massive disarmament to development for all

THE TRUTH IS ONE, MANY ARE THE PATHS THAT LEAD TO IT.

Dear Friends of Interfaith Dialogue,

New Era – Religions Unite Rather Than Divide Mankind

The interfaith movement has been thriving and growing for over a century. Ministers, theologians and laity have put their hearts in a vison of peaceful relations between the world's religions and faith communities. Wherever representatives of different faiths meet with the desire to come to a deeper understanding of other religious convictions this in itself is a blessing and very often leads to inspiring friedships across religous boundaries. Participants in interfaith dialogue often feel a boost to their own spirituality and faith when exposed to other teachings and an „exterior“ perspective. They explore common ground where mainstream teachings too often leave little or no scope for mutual understanding. Therefore it is not exaggerated to say that wherever interfaith gatherings take place in the spirit of humble exploration and spiritual quest they prepare the ground for a new era in which religion will no longer divide but unite mankind.

The Challenges

At the same time, many pioneers of dialogue concede that their energy has been drained and little progress been made on a stony path. They find the interfaith world fragmented, underfunded, often without clear agendas and poorly coordinated. In addition, the noble efforts of interfaith organizations are counterbalanced by a renaissance of fundamentalism across the religious spectrum and thus by an increase in religiously motivated violence. Those who promote peaceful co-existence and colaboration helplessly witness wars and bloodshed in the name of God and not rarely feel like unheard voices crying in the wilderness.

Dialogue Versus Authenticity?

One crucial reason behind tis difficult situation can be clearly diagnosed: In a world governed by global communication and interaction, organized religions seem to fear a loss of identity, a dilution of their specific teachings, a loss of power and influence. As a result, high-ranking interfaith activities mostly remain non-committal because no attempt is made to conduct serious comparative studies and probe common spiritual ground. Thus the old dilemma remains unsolved: Each of the world religions claims the Almighty – whether under the name of God or Allah or the Supreme Being or Truth – as the Source of its specific teachings which consequently are believed to possess timeless, universal validity. Since God or the Ultimate Truth cannot be wrong the mistake is found with the other faith traditions and their „erroneous“ or „incomplete“ or „distorted“ doctrines. Since God’s message must be kept intact any attempt to discover convergences falls under the general suspicion of tampering with sacred good. The obvious question whether or not such tampering – knowingly or unknowingly – has been taking place throughout the history of religions simply because their respective tradition has been handed down and interpreted by limited human beings is rarely seriously discussed by religious dignitaries.

In this way we are still faced with a religious landscape characterized by mutually exclusive doctrines, even within each larger faith community. Irreconcilable doctrines and exclusive claims to Truth in a sense make it more difficult for the religions to come to a common table than for states, whose territories generally are clearly defined. In addition, a number of territorial conflicts in the political arena are, to an extent, religiously motivated.

Pluralistic Theology And Spiritual Quest

Theologians and scholars of comparative religion seek to formulate a new pluralistic theology that accommodates and reconciles the divergent teachings of the world religions. They have indeed drawn the attention to similar concepts of the Divine, of the prophets or saviours, of sacred books, of the relationship between the Divine and the human being. On the other hand, they also point to the vast difference between some traditional articles of faith that simply contradict each other to an extent that, over the centuries, has been the basis for interfaith hostility. Is the divine messenger an embodiment of God or just a limited human being? Is the Holy Scripture the unadulterated Word of God? Do we live only once or re we reincarnated? Such questions seem like demarcation lines, and to many the solution seems to lie in „celebrating diversity“.

Yet, a seeker of truth cannot be satisfied with that answer because he or she has a yearning to KNOW. The great Indian seeker Swami Vivekananda haunted sages of his time, bluntly asking them whether they had SEEN God. It was the mystic Sri Ramakrishna who at long last satisfied him with as simple an answer: „Yes, I have seen Him as I see you, rather more clearly than that.“ Mystics throughout history and in all faith traditions are known to examples of tolerance, acceptance and love for all. When Mystic Kabir, a mediator between Hinduism and Islam, came to a big religious gathering he was unwelcome. In answer to the attempt to send him away Kabir symbolically took a jasmin flower and placed it on the surface of a bowl filled with water to the brim. As the blossom imparts its scent to the water without spilling a drop likewise a mystic radiates spirituality to a gathering of thousands without interfering in their turf issues.

Diversity And Unity

This attitude implies: At the level of religious culture in the widest sense diversity is indeed something to be shared and celebrated without reserve. At the transcendental level, there can only be One Reality. How we can approach that Reality is something the sacred scriptures tell us. It is also clear that some doctrines in our faith traditions mutually exclude each other: It is not possible that some of us reincarnate and others do not. It is not possible that God created the universe and that at the same time He did not. It is not possible that God sent only one mesenger for the salvation of all mankind and at the same time he left no people without a messenger of their own, and so forth. These are issues that challenge the seekers of all faith traditions to probe into. The best way, we suggest, to do so is by way of the testimonies of those who have actually SEEN.

Conjecture Is Subject To Error

The first step on the road of fruitful dialogue, therefore, is a radical one:

Each of us will have to concede a simple fact: We – and the faith tradition that we belong to – uphold certain beliefs and doctrines, but the way we arrive at those convictions is characterized by human limitation: inferences and emotions are subject to error. Even with regard to revealed scripture our understanding of what they say depends on our limited perception. The fact that in the course of centuries an article of faith may have been upheld by thousands or millions of believers in itself does not make that article of faith any truer. Dialogue confronts us with the reality that in the same period of time different faith communities have believed as fervently in concepts quite different from ours. Are they right or we?

The scholarly solution to the dilemma is simple: We describe those different concepts as a part of human history and take their limitation for granted. From that angle, religion, like philosophy or science, offers ever new answers to the central questions of human life. This approach, of course, assigns everything that is said about God and soul and where we come from and where we go to the realm of pure speculation. As such, God is made in the image of man and not, as sacred scriptures teach us, the other way round. The relationship between the Supreme Being and humanity is turned upside down.

Eternal Messages For Things Eternal - No Iron Rules For A World Of Change

A Centre for the World Religions proposes another approach, one that stears clear of both exclusive claims and a loss of authenticity: we invite you to take part in a dialogue that will explore common essence between the teachings of those Enlightened Beings or Prophets on whose messages our religions are based. We go by the premise that they each conveyed the Divine Word, the Message of the ultimate Source of Wisdom, whether they called It God, Father, Self, Oversoul, Brahman or by other names. As we accept that each such Messenger conveyed the Truth and taught the Path that leads to It we accept the imperative of mutual harmony, confirmation and supplementation of the original messages. Therefore, we propose dialogue on our primary scriptures, in an effort to trace timeless and universal spiritual essence underneath layers of exoteric, speculative interpretation and tradition. Our research so far has been confirming the conviction that those original teachings do not need updating but are timeless and thus vital to every age, as, in one way or another, each of those scriptures explicitly states. However, the material world is subject to constant change and so are human beings, civilizations and societies. For people of faith, this constant change forms a part of the Divine Plan and we suggest it is illogical to presume that the Ultimate Being should decree eternal, unchangeable laws and rules for a world of constant change. Only the Divine Itself is beyond change and everlasting, so are revelations and what they convey to the immortal soul.

Therefore, we propose to draw a sharp line between eternal divine revelation on the one hand and changing rules, regulations, attitudes and customs in the ups and downs of human societies on the other or, you might say, between the esoteric and the exoteric side of religion. The Divine Logos or Word is received through „worship in the spirit“. Therefore, meditation will be an essential source of inspiration for the dialogue proposed.

Such mutual exploration will greatly enhance our esteem for other faiths and instill a vision of mankind as a big family with so many branches but ultimately one.

We therefore cordially invite you to take part in this dialogue and thus to support the sincere effort to promote genuine respect for the divine origin of all the world religions

The Round Table

This is how we propose to organize the initiative: We have collected themes or headlines that speak to central issues of the world religions. Through our web page, which is under construction, we will collate scriptural quotes from the world religions (to be expanded to any other faith based on testimonies of revelation). The respective collection of four pages each will be distributed among an ever increasing number of addressees worldwide, representing all the religions that we study: active interfaith workers; ministers, lay people, theologians, scholars of comparative religion. We do not confine our invitation to those who promote dialogue but also extend it to individuals and organizations that stand for a more exclusive, traditional approach to religion. We invite every comment and shun none. As opportunities arise, we will make use of magazines, web-links, bulletins etc. of other organizations in order to boost this initiative. This is the only condition attached: all responses must be based on scriptural evidence so as to avoid a free-floating conversation on subjective opinions only. Every voice will be heard. While receiving feed-back on previous mail-outs, we will prepare the next issue on the next theme(s). In a second step a board of directors with equitable representation of the faiths concerned will hold regular conferences and meetings to discuss the material. That body, we are confident, will emerge from among our worldwide conversation partners. If you feel you are able and willing to contribute to those gatherings, please let us know. Such conferences will each be devoted to serious dialogue on one or two subjects only. They will serve to explore common ground, authority vested in representatives for their respective faith and not for that of others. Their findings will in turn be communicated world-wide, as the respective stage of progress made in an open-ended conversation. ACWR will further invite publication of such results through whatever media of communication so that the message is spread and the circle of dialogue partners widened.

We would highly value your help and response to those studies that you find on this web page and that deal with four major subjects:

1. The concept of an eternal, unchanging God or Ultimate Being/Essence
2. That of an equally unchanging, eternal and perfect divine law, dharma, path or religion
3. The concept of an all-conscious, omnipotent, omnipresent God or Supreme Truth
4. Divine Revelations or Manifestations: Mode of Worship of the Real God or Ultimate Reality.

Needless to say that there is nothing final about that collection of verses; in fact, for reasons of space, we had to select from a larger collection. We will also appreciate your additional quotations.