Within three houses of the home where I grew up in Colombo, Sri Lanka, lived a Buddhist family, a Hindu family, a Sunni Muslim family, a Shiite Muslim family, and a person with New Age beliefs. All of them were our friends.

As a child, I would go to the Buddhist temple in our neighborhood and chat with the monks there. In my late teens and early twenties, I met almost every Saturday night with six other people—five were Muslim, another was an atheist. We spent hours talking about various issues, including religion and philosophy.

The pages that follow, I share with you what I’ve learned as I have attempted to relate to people of other faiths from within a multifaith context. My hope is that this booklet will help you to understand and relate more wisely and lovingly with those of other faiths.

Ajith Fernando