Sacred Visions Project

Sacred Tradition and Ethical Practice

Coordinated by Dr. Harlan Stelmach of Dominican University and Dr. Ellen Hammerle of the International Association of Sufism, this project brings two faith communities together to explore the ways in which Zen Buddhist and Sufi sacred traditions, practices and ethical discourses contribute to building a social vision of sustainability and justice.  The International Association of Sufism and the Zen Buddhist Green Gulch Center, both nationally recognized leaders in their faith communities,  are cooperating to share each other’s faith practices around the environment, justice and human community, and to reflect upon the visions these generate for the wider society.   The program and research involves action-reflection groups that develop individual and corporate narratives of their collaboration, focusing on the way that their own faiths motivate such involvement, and the way these faith visions are transformed by working alongside others of a different faith. Individual interviews and surveys will also be conducted.    The researcher will focus on what “intra-faith” practices lend themselves to “inter-faith” collaboration, and how the discourses and practices of each community are transformed by such collaboration.  One question of the research will be how cross-fertilization between the two communities takes place, and if signs of a new, “hybrid” set of practices or discourse might emerge