Engaging the Other: The Dalai Lama and the power of dialogue

A belief in the power of dialogue must be at the center of our understanding of social change. As Hildegard Goss-Mayr said, "Interaction with the Other is .... not a menace but an enrichment. When we reach this state, we will be able to recognize the revelation of Hod in the other and to accept the gift of their truth."

Last week, this was in evidence in an unusual setting — a meeting betwee the Dalai Lama and a group of Chinese leaders in New York City. As this article by my friend Matt Weiner of the Interfaith Center of New York reports, while many Chinese have resisted efforts by Tibetans for self-determination, some now are open to hearing out the spiritual leader — or at least to engaging in conversation about their differences.

This hopeful story, which has serious political consequences, leads us to consider the prospects for engagement between countries with tense relations. In the case of Iran and the United States, which have had no formal relationships for three decades, today brought exciting news that the Iranian court system has released the young journalist Roxana Saberi. This creates an opportunity for the U.S. to reciprocate, by releasing one or more Iranians (such as the three diplomats who have been held in Iraq without charge for the past two years by the U.S. military) and/or by proposing a formal face-to-face meeting between governmental authorities.

Goss-Mayr's voice is again relevant here (both quotes drawn from Richard Deats' biography of this nonviolence activist, Marked For Life, published this year by New City Press and available from FOR's Bookstore): "Believe and affirm that the adversary has a conscience that can be reached, can open, can be changed." This week is a good time to call on the Obama administration to support a policy of engagement with our country's so-called enemies. Many are calling for punishment, sanctions, and military options "on the table" against Iran (and others); let us seek to create change through dialogue.