January, 2004

First Anniversary Issue

Contents

Items with links can be viewed online or downloaded in a printable PDF version. To use the PDF version you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader which can be downloaded absolutely free from this web site.

| editorial |
Alan Race, Seshagiri Rao, Jim Kenney
Worldcentrism
globalization from the bottom up?

| creative encounters |
Elizabeth J. Harris
Discerning the Holy Spirit in Encounter with Buddhism
Norman Solomon
Jewish Orthodoxy and Dialogue: the case of
Joseph Dov Soloveitchick
Hasan Askari
From Interreligious Dialogue to Spiritual Humanism
Eleanor Nesbit
Worship as Gateway to Truth
Seshagiri Rao
Thanksgiving: World Uniting and Healing
Andrew Redhead
The Dynamics of Spiritual Life: Reflections on the Locations of the Pure Land

| sacred spaces |
Dharam Singh
The Golden Temple: The Source of Spiritual Inspiration for the Sikhs

| voices of youth |
Sr. Maureen Goodman
Respect: Contemplation, Communication and Co-operation Interfaith Youth
Retreat, Global Retreat Centre, Oxford: 19th -21st, September 2003

| practically speaking |
Brian Walker
Effective Interfaith Dialogue in West Africa
Riane Eisler, Barbara Fields Bernstein, and
Jim Kenney
Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV)

| focus on the interreligious movement |
Travis Rejman
2003 Goldin Institute for International Partnership and Peace: Building Social Cohesion in the Midst of Diversity and Migration
Daniel Gómez-Ibáñez
The International Interreligious Peace Council

| in review |
David Cheetham
Review Article: John Hick: A Critical Introduction and Reflection
Reviews

| poetry |
Billy Collins
Shoveling snow with the Buddha | 62
Tamar Bronstein
Tzuri-Almukit

| prayers and meditation |
Prayers of St. Francis

| patrons and editorial board members |

The Golden Temple, Amritsar, India;
photo, Alan Race

The Golden Temple or Harimandar, situated in Amritsar, Punjab, is the most sacred temple for Sikhs.

Emerging from the shimmering waters, the golden structure with its unending designs diaphanously merges with sunlight. We suddenly come upon this expansive panoramic view after walking through the narrow and busy streets of Amritsar city – and the limitless brilliance sonorously playing with the transparent light and transparent waters sweeps us into a sensory swirl. Here infinity is virtually encountered.

We then go down a few steps. Unlike other monuments where one climbs upwards, the entry into the Harimandar motions our bodies downwards. The physical descent was Guru Arjan’s architectural device to ensure that we enter the sacred precincts with a sense of humility. Guru Nanak said, "Haumai marai gur sabad pae" ("Getting rid of ego, we receive the word") [Guru Granth Sahib, p. 228].

Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh,
Colby College, Waterville, Maine, USA