“Everything begins with dialogue. Dialogue is the initial step in the creation of value. Dialogue is the starting point and unifying force in all human relationships.”

Daisaku Ikeda

My journey as a mentor in the Dignity Project has been one of the most insightful experiences of my life. I learned the importance of dialogue and how to practice it in an interfaith context. Specifically, the project is designed to teach the conceptual and practical levels of concretizing dignity for interreligious individuals and groups. Through the six-month fellowship with people from various backgrounds and religious groups, I got a sneak peek into a variety of faith cultures—how they are similar and how they are different. 

With this process emerged a shared and collective consciousness of the importance of faith in the lives of human beings, especially at this time when we witness an immense amount of hate and polarization in the world. As I learned about different religions and the perspectives of fellows, I realized  what may be the aim of each religion is the happiness of human beings. The Dignity Project is a perfect example of a harmonized community and valuable coexistence of individuals from different religions —one motivated by the desire to help our individual communities become nurturing and peaceful.

The five values we learned as a community—Hospitality, Empathy, Authenticity, Interconnectedness, and Humility—truly captured the essence of carrying out interfaith dialogue. As we strove to embody these values in our interactions—how we prepared for our gatherings, arrived, and engaged in discussions—I was able to discover the personal, interpersonal, and structural layers of manifesting dignity from an interreligious and human lens. I learned that in order to carry out interreligious dialogue, we need to be open and always ready to learn, rather than make assumptions or form judgments about a certain individual or group of people. I noticed that we practiced demonstrating these components, and that imbibing these practices in our lives is a continuous process and a learning journey. My hope is that the Dignity Project acts as a springboard for each one of us to launch into our respective contexts, taking these practices with us to act as role models for our friends and families.

The essence of the Dignity Project connects closely with the teaching of interdependence from my religious practice, SGI Nichiren Buddhism. The teaching of interdependence highlights that each person and situation is unique; we engage with different people and a variety of surroundings we find ourselves in to fulfill our mission or purpose in this world. Through this process of mutual and symbiotic engagement, we learn and grow as human beings. These actions help with carrying out our inner change, or what we refer to as “human revolution,” that puts us on the path to enlightenment in this present lifetime. When we understand that all our lives are intertwined, we come to respect the dignity of life and strive to learn from each other. Underlying this teaching of interdependence is the belief that each entity—sentient and insentient—possesses boundless wisdom, courage, and compassion, also called “Buddhahood.” When we as individuals manifest Buddhahood, we bring forth Buddhahood in the people around us and our surroundings.

Now that my time with the Dignity Project is finished, I hope to practice respect and openness in my own life, and be curious to engage with individuals from a variety of backgrounds. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve as a mentor for this unique project, and I hope to stay in touch with this community.