Over the course of its history, the Christian monastic tradition has developed a desert spirituality of solitude, silence, and self-knowledge that fosters openness to the divine presence and its transformative power. Today the divine presence is manifesting itself anew in the "desert of otherness," that sacred space in which we encounter the other as one whose difference, even of religion and spirituality, can enrich us, rather than as one who must be drawn to and converted to our own "truth." The encounter of Christians with other believers will increasingly become a place of hardship and testing that leads to union with the divine. This "third monastic desert" is, in reality, the nucleus of the Kingdom that is coming into being, where communication becomes communion. Such has been the experience of monastic men and women (Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians) who have engaged in dialogue. Having discovered an unanticipated bond between dialogue and silence, openness to the other and interiority, Christian monks invite the whole Church to join them on this journey into the desert of otherness.
"Here we have the first ever slow-motion replay of the humble ongoing movement of Christian monks...to establish and perpetuate an incessant conversation with their non-Christian counterparts...as partners in a common mission rather than rivals in a conversion race. This is a facet of contemporary church history little known and scarcely mentioned."
Aloysius Pieris
"With a firm conviction that today being religious must be being interreligious, Fabrice Blée offers us a rich account of how monastic interreligious dialogue has made an indispensable contribution not only to Christian renewal but also to world peace through the sharing of religious experiences."
