In mid-January representatives of the Anglican communion, Lutheran church, and Buddhist faith met in Myanmar to discuss ongoing interfaith relations. The meeting was initiated by the Anglican Interfaith Network, NIFCON, the Lutheran World Federation (of which the ELCA is a member), and others, and included representatives of the Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Roman Catholic traditions, and Buddhists from the Theravada and Mahayana traditions. The Anglican Communion News Service has more coverage here.
The discussion centered around two key scriptures:
“Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is an eternal law.” Dhammapada v.5
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” Luke 10:27
In a statement released by the participants, the importance of interfaith dialogue was acknowledged. “We recognize that interreligious dialogue can enrich, challenge and energize our faith through the questions and experiences shared when Buddhists and Christians encounter one another. We also recognize the importance of not imposing negative interpretations of each other’s beliefs.” The full statement can be found here.