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." This
meeting was the start of a life-long friendship.

The Temple of Understanding continued its focus on summit
meetings that brought the leaders of the world's religions
together to examine international and domestic problems
of intolerance, injustice, and persecution for religious beliefs.
Domestically, the TOU held summit meetings at Princeton,
Harvard, and Cornell Universities.

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. awakened American students to a
broader scope of religious possibilities. Consequently, these
conferences created a buzz on college campuses—resulting
in thousands of students walking out of the classes in order
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 was recognized as a pioneer
in the interfaith movement.

The TOU owned land near Washington, D.C. and intended
to construct a building that was based on Juliet's vision-a
single-story facility with wings to house libraries for each of
the world's religions and a central pool and flame for meditation
and prayer.  This goal was never realized because of the
pressing need for programs and the rising cost of materials.

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