This article was written by Lee Parish-Butler, iACT’s 

Development and Communications Director

I have driven past the large golden Budai statue at the Buddhist temple on highway 360 many times over the years and thought, “I really need to go check that place out.”  So, I was delighted to learn that the first Red Bench: Interfaith Conversations that Matter event I would attend was at the Xiang Yun Temple.

The experience of simply entering into a holy or revered site set my mind in to a place of calmness.  First we gathered for a simple and delicious meal in the temple’s dining hall, including a salad made by the nuns who live at the temple.  Over dinner I made new acquaintances, including a young man in his 30s currently without a particular spiritual path, a temple member, and one of the nuns.  After dinner the abbess of the temple gave a brief talk about their tradition and practices.

After dinner about ninety people of varied faiths, traditions and perspectives gathered in the temple’s main space at tables of 6-8 people.  Each table’s trained moderator guided us through the structured format of dialogue carefully designed to foster a comfortable, safe and respectful environment for all participants to be able to freely express, hear, learn and grow.

At our table were individuals of Baha’i, Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Unitarian, Methodist and Buddhist traditions.  The topic for June was ‘Contemplation’ which we generally discussed in terms of meditation but we also considered that ultimately anything we encounter in our experience of reality can be an object of contemplation. We were also treated to the particularly keen insights of one gentleman who I later learned serves as an instructor of advanced meditation at the temple.

I took two principal ideas from the event. First, that is important to give time to contemplate the world around us, particularly with the recent ground shifting events in our nation, and our individual and collective places in it.  Second, I was struck by all of the good, kind-hearted people who gathered with others in sincerity, humility and vulnerability to listen and learn, share and enlighten.  These interfaith conversation events are fertile ground where true change can take place.