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<\/a>Photo \u00a9 Donald Dsouza<\/p><\/div> \u201cI left expecting to encounter mystery. <\/strong>I return with the feeling of having encountered a far greater mystery than I had imagined.\u201d \u201cMy impressions in these first hours . . . on one side, a greater desire for the Absolute and the inner life . . . on the other, a stronger liking for pluralism and less fear of diversity . . . finally the beautifulness of the people especially the young who are the future.\u201d These were some of the first impressions shared by Maria Voce and Jes\u00fas Mor\u00e1n <\/strong>on <\/strong>a February 13th telephone link-up<\/a> with Focolare members across the world, following their long visit to the Focolare communities in India<\/a>. It was a complex, month-long visit <\/strong>with stops in New Delhi, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Trichy and Mumbai. Interreligious dialogue<\/a> is a major feature of the sub-continent, and the Focolare has been engaged in this dialogue since it first arrived in the 1980s. The paths that were opened in 2001 and in 2003 during two visits by Chiara Lubich<\/a> to Mumbai and Coimbatore have, over the course of the years, led to a growing relationship that was both academic, and Gandhian. Even though they had many common experiences such as symposiums in 2002 and 2004 in Italy, and 2011 in India, they developed their own unique characteristics that led to diversified types of dialogue that were all the while animated by the same spirit. The definition given by several Hindu friends to describe the dialogue between the Focolare and the Hindu world \u2013 as a dialogue of hearts and minds \u2013 <\/em>remains true for all. In 2001 Chiara told a group of Hindus in Mumbai:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019ve come to India, especially to listen, to learn from you, to possibly begin a cordial dialogue with you in whom I see many brothers and sisters.\u201d When someone asked her what attitude was needed for dialogue, Chiara responded: \u201cWe focus on the so-called Golden Rule that is found in all religions, also Hinduism: \u2018Do not do to another, what you would not want done to you.\u2019\u201d Another time, during that same period, in an interview with Vatican Radio: \u201cDialogue first of all means placing yourself on the same level, not having a priori notions, of being better than the others; opening yourself to hearing what the others have inside, putting everything aside in order to enter into their souls and then, naturally, asking them to listen to us. This process allows us to embrace our commonalities that are there \u2013 and then agreeing to live those together. That\u2019s concrete dialogue.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>