Towards Deepening Hindu-Christian Maitri: The Meaning of Interreligious Dialogue

We thank the author, who is under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, for giving us permission to publish part of the talk he delivered in June 2003 in Rome on the occasion of a Hindu-Christian meeting organised by the Focolare Movement. The full text is published in Pro Dialogo, no. 115, 2004.)

What do we understand by interreligious dialogue? It is not just discussion among university professors, although that might be an important aspect of interreligious dialogue and a precious contribution to the human family at large. Although being engaged only in doing that might appear to be the most convenient and the safest thing to do in the name of dialogue, nevertheless it might be a betrayal of the very tradition of tolerance, dialogue, and interreligious harmony which is upheld by both our religions. For behind the expression “interreligious dialogue” there is hidden a tested history, a sacred reality, and a profound spirituality. The goal of dialogue, said Pope Paul VI, is to manifest Christ’s love for people. A Church document states: “In God the Father we contemplate a pervasive love unlimited by space and time... Every reality and every event are surrounded by God’s love” (PCID, The Attitude of the Catholic Church towards the Followers of Other Religions, no. 22).

The Buddhist understanding of the word maitri might be of help for us to become aware of the broad and the profound meaning of “interreligious dialogue.” Maitri (metta) in Buddhism means “loving kindness, aspiration for the well-being and happiness of all living beings, including friends and foes, those who are feeble or strong, tall, medium, or short, big or small, seen or unseen, those dwelling far or near, those who are born and those who are to be born. The thoughts of the boundless love should pervade the whole world, above, below, and across. There should be no place for hatred or for enmity. As a mother would protect her child at the risk of her life, one should cultivate a boundless loving heart for everybody. Identification of oneself with all living-beings is the culminating point of loving kindness” (Kala Acharya, Buddhanusmrti, Somaiya Public, 2002, p. 167).

The first and most important step in interreligious dialogue is to foster and deepen friendship. When there exists “relationship” we can begin to share deeper concerns with regard to our respective religious life. Experience teaches us that when there is friendship, one begins to feel at ease in talking about common concerns and shared responsibilities. We need to meet often and regularly, not only when things are not going well for us but even more when things seem to be going very well; we need not wait for crises to arrive. It is important to inculcate a “Culture of Dialogue” in normal times. It is my conviction that people of religion, rooted firmly in their respective religious traditions, need to “stay” together; they need to spend more time in each other’s company. Maitri or friendship signifies openness. To be closed in on oneself, exclusiveness, is contradictory to the spirit of friendship. We need to meet with our own religionists. We also need to meet with people of other religious traditions.

When people of many religious traditions come together it is called a multi-religious dialogue. When people of two or three religious traditions agree to meet, these are respectively called bilateral or trilateral meetings. The bilateral meeting has its own advantages. For instance, adherents of our two religions can hope to deepen mutual ties by treating questions which are of common interest. In this kind of dialogue, partners of two different religious traditions can pay attention to their common history, points of convergence and differences, etc. The disadvantage of bilateral or trilateral dialogue is that we may get blocked by having only our two or three points of view. Although multi-lateral dialogue can tend to be superficial, it has the advantage of having views from several religious traditions and that at times helps to resolve certain problems. Multi-lateral dialogue is necessary also for peace in the world, because the contribution of all religions is indispensable today for harmony in our society and peace in the world.

Religion is not a monolithic reality. Although they are all called religions, Hindu Dharma is different from Islam, Islam is different from Christianity, and Christianity is different from Buddhism. Thus Hindu-Christian dialogue is not the same thing as Muslim-Christian dialogue, nor is Buddhist-Christian dialogue the same thing as Sikh-Christian. I agree with Prof. Rambachan who states that “Hinduism has deep and relevant insights for helping us to understand the phenomena of religious pluralism and for building bridges of understanding and engagement among people of different religious persuasions.” This is why it is good to practice both multilateral as well as bilateral or trilateral dialogues.

Rooted in our respective religious traditions, that is, representing honestly our own religious tradition with all its integrity, we should open ourselves to one another in order to be mutually enlightened and enriched. In other words, it is important to respect the integrity of religious traditions and their institutional self-understanding. It is also true that sincerity demands that I come to the dialogue table with my integral faith, for I cannot put the essentials of my faith into brackets. This, we hope, will stand us in good stead to help enlighten and enrich Hindus and Christians throughout the world. We need patience and perseverance in the practice of interreligious dialogue.

Whatever theme we may choose to discuss, for us to meet is principally an occasion to grow together in genuine friendship and brotherhood. We should not stop with ourselves, neither should we stop with the theme we have chosen. Interreligious dialogue is always an unfinished task.

We should therefore, through our dialogue with individuals and communities, help make way for all positive and constructive interreligious relations which are directed towards building a harmonious society and a peaceful world. If we succeed in doing this we would perform a great service not only to our two ancient religious traditions but also to society at large, particularly in the present situation in which it finds itself.