The Dream of a Visionary In 1960, a visionary named Juliet Hollister (1916-2000) created the Temple of Understanding (TOU). Her vision came to her with the recognition that the world was in grave danger unless the gifts, wisdom, and insights of religious traditions could be recognized and cultivated to promote positive social change. Juliet began to develop her idea by appealing to former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and making a trip around the world to gather support for what would become the Temple of Understanding.

When Juliet shared her plans with Mrs. Roosevelt, she saw the power of the vision immediately. "You must meet religious and political leaders from around the world. I will write letters of introduction for you," she told Juliet. Mrs. Roosevelt wrote as an endorsement for the project, "May this greatly needed Temple of Understanding come into realization soon, for our world surely needs the inspiration and leadership of such a 'Spiritual United Nations." That year, Juliet and her 11-year-old son Dickerman set out around the world to enlist support from such luminaries as President Nassar, Anwar-el Sadat, President Nehru, Pope John XXIII, and Albert Schweitzer who wrote back, "Come at once and I will send a canoe." The response was overwhelming. "My hopes and prayers are with you in the realization of the great Temple of Understanding, which has a profound significance ... The Spirit burns in many flames," Dr. Schweitzer wrote in the travel log. In the December 1962 issue of Life Magazine, the feature article was about Juliet Hollister's "Wonderful Obsession" to draw people together to build a movement embracing all faiths. In response, the organization received donations from all over the world. It seemed that the idea to achieve understanding and harmony among the people of the world's religions had a universal appeal. Connecting Religious Leaders, Creating Cultures of Peace The TOU opened an office in Washington, D.C. and began organizing local and international conferences. In 1968, the first Spiritual Summit Conference was held in Calcutta, India through the generosity of Sarala and BK Birla. Many influential religious leaders, such as Catholic theologian Fr. Thomas Merton, attended. At the time of the Calcutta Conference, a young Tibetan woman spoke to Mrs. Hollister about her brother, H.H. Tenzin Gyatso the XIVth Dalai Lama (who was listening to the conference by radio) and extended an invitation to her to visit his home in Dharamsala. Juliet met H.H. the Dalai Lama before leaving India and asked him for support. He wrote in return, "I appreciate any organization or individual people who sincerely make an effort to promote harmony between humanity, and particularly harmony between the various religions. I consider it very sacred work and very important work." The Temple of Understanding focused on summits that brought the leaders of the world's religions together to examine problems of intolerance, injustice, and persecution for religious beliefs worldwide. Soon the TOU organized regional conferences in the United States at Princeton, Harvard, and Cornell Universities. This was in the 1970s-D.T. Suzuki, Alan Watts, Chogyam Trungpa, Chitrabanu, and Swami Satchidananda were introducing Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism to Americans. This influx of Asian religions in the U.S. opened up the scope of religious possibilities for American students. Consequently, these conferences created a buzz on college campuses-- an average of 1500 students walked out of their classes to "sit-in" on the TOU conferences. Clearly, a spiritual hunger in the United States welcomed the arrival of religious teachers from Asian countries, and the TOU was perfectly situated to translate this into an interfaith movement. The TOU thereby became one of the pioneering organizations of the interfaith movement. Although the TOU had bought land near Washington, D.C. and intended to construct the building of Juliet's vision-a building with wings representing the world's religions, libraries for learning and a central pool and flame for meditation and prayer- the priority turned instead to programs. The Emerging Field of Interfaith Education Drawing from the origins of the interfaith movement, the TOU began to articulate a model of religious education that placed great value on empirical knowledge. Once inter-religious literacy within the interfaith movement was established, we began to focus our attention on the most effective methods and pedagogies for teaching others about different religions. Thus, the field of interfaith education began to emerge. The traditional conference model was soon joined by more personal and experiential models of community visits, service learning and immersion experiences. As part of our efforts to develop the field of interfaith education, the TOU recently initiated a multi-year endeavor, the Consultation for Interfaith Education (CIE). Beginning in 2002, the TOU came together with other like-minded organizations to map this emerging field. The result of our initial collaboration was a conference series. The CIE has comprised a pioneering effort to navigate the complex landscape of interfaith education, identifying both its problematic and promising features, with the goal of reaching new horizons in practical problem solving, peacemaking, and tolerance through education. The TOU uses its local educational initiatives as models for continued research into exceptional interfaith educational programs for a variety of settings. Today, the organization's mission and work continues to evolve as we strive to serve a new global climate where interfaith understanding is vital in the effort to create a culture of peace. The TOU maintains a commitment to excellence in developing the emerging and important field of interfaith education. United Nations NGO Status After the founding of the TOU, one of Juliet Hollister's first actions was to make sure the organization was affiliated with the United Nations. The Department of Public Information (DPI) soon accredited the TOU as a Non-Governmental Organization. In the mid 90s, TOU Representative to the UN, Fr. Luis Dolan secured NGO Consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The Juliet Hollister Awards In order to honor our founder Juliet Hollister's achievements and to support and affirm those secular and religious people whose life work has helped to create interfaith understanding, the Board of Trustees of the TOU established the Juliet Hollister Award in 1996. Past awardees include such luminaries as Swami Satchidananda, H.H. the XIVth Dalai Lama, Mary Robinson, Maestro Ravi Shankar, and Nelson Mandela. To learn more about the many events that the TOU has organized and supported over the years, see our Chronology (coming soon). To learn more about our current initiatives in interfaith education, our work at the U.N. and our most recent Hollister Award recipient, see the programs section of our website, What We Do.