Paris, France—"Cultivating Curiosity" was the theme of the 23rd interfaith meeting of the UPF-France initiative Dialogue & Alliance.
For the meeting on March 19, 2023, three groups participated: 17 people gathered in Paris, six in the town of Loos in northern France, and four in Bienne, Switzerland. In addition, there were 58 online connections in 18 countries: Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, France, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, North Macedonia, Republic of the Congo, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, and the United States.
The moderator was Brigitte Wada, president of the French chapter of Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP), an organization that is affiliated with UPF.
The first reading brought a Christian perspective. It was Luke 2:43-52, which tells of an episode of Jesus' life, at the age of 12 in the temple. Solène Colombel, an author and teacher, was invited to comment on this passage.
The second reading brought a Buddhist perspective. It was a text explaining the seven factors of Awakening according to the Mahasatipatthanasutta. The commentary was offered by Nuria Ringetsu Roca, a teacher at the Zen Dojo of Paris which was created by the Japanese master Taisen Deshimaru.
We had a short cultural break with a video from Les Enfantastiques, a children’s musical project launched in 2004 by the singer-songwriter Jean Nô (“Monsieur Nô”), in which pupils and teachers of elementary schools create songs together. Their song "Tout Goûter" (“Taste Everything”) reminded us that curiosity concerns all fields, including the culinary field.
The last reading brought a Unificationist view; it was a passage from Exposition of the Divine Principle, p. 5. Dr. Laurent Ladouce, a researcher for the Universal Peace Federation and director of the website www.culture-et-paix.org, offered a commentary.
The meeting concluded with a question-and-answer session moderated by Yves Massey of Dialogue & Alliance.