When we walk the path of love, differences cease to be obstacles and become opportunities for encounter, understanding, and spiritual enrichment. This was precisely what an interreligious gathering of people from more than ten countries around the world demonstrated. The gathering in Turkiye from October 5th to 16th was organized at the invitation of the American organization Threshold Society, under the guidance of Kabir Helminski.
Representing the TPO Foundation, Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak addressed issues of peacebuilding and gender equality, emphasizing the importance of connecting spiritual values with social responsibility. Peace is not merely the absence of conflict but a daily practice of respecting the dignity of others, particularly those whose voices are often marginalized because of gender, religious, ethnic, or other differences.
The gathering of people from diverse religious, cultural, and national backgrounds created a space for reflection on how identities shape us, but also on how often they become boundaries that we ourselves construct between ourselves and others. The journey and shared experience demonstrated how deeply the differences we grow up with shape our sense of self, our understanding of the world, and our relationships with others. Yet identity does not have to be a wall that separates us; it can become a bridge that enables us to understand ourselves more deeply through encounters with others.
A particularly important dimension of the gathering was Sufi ethics, at the heart of which lies adab – refined conduct that goes beyond outward politeness and encompasses inner discipline, humility, attentiveness, compassion, and responsibility toward others. Adab teaches us that speaking about love, tolerance, and peace is not enough unless these values are reflected in how we listen, communicate, and treat people who think and believe differently.
At a time when religious and national identities are often used to deepen divisions, gatherings such as this remind us that spirituality can provide a powerful space for connection. Different paths do not have to lead to mutual exclusion; instead, they can open up opportunities for a shared search for meaning, truth, and love.
Perhaps one of the most important lessons of this journey is the realization that encountering the other does not require us to abandon our own identity, but rather to have the courage to open it to different experiences. Love does not erase differences; it teaches us how to live with them, respect them, and recognize in them the richness of human existence.
For the TPO Foundation, which continuously promotes interreligious dialogue, gender equality, and peacebuilding through its programs, this gathering offers yet another affirmation that meaningful change takes place not only through institutions and formal dialogue, but also through direct human encounters in which we learn to listen to, understand, and accept one another.
