Years ago I visited, together with a friend, Father Marcel Dubois (an Israeli Dominican monk and philosopher), who was well-known, among other things, for his contribution to interfaith dialogue. We spoke about the significance of the meetings he was leading between Christians, Muslims and Jews, and I asked him if he felt that profound spiritual dialogue was indeed taking place in them. He considered the question for a while and then replied that it almost never happened. Why? - I asked - and his answer powerfully stayed with me:
"Only one who walks his or her spiritual path all the way to its source, to the living fountainhead from which the path flows, and dives into it, is able to meet people from other paths without needing to justify or defend their path and prove its superiority. Anybody who has not yet reached the source itself, would always feel a need to justify, defend and prove the superiority of their path, and therefore would not be able to wholeheartedly meet people from other paths with fully open arms."
Amir Freimann
Author Spiritual Transmission: Paradoxes and Dilemmas on the Spiritual Path
