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The Interreligious Peace Dice was born as a result of a fraternal dialogue between representatives of
various religions and spiritual traditions/ beliefs, friends of the Focolare Movement in Mexico, who in
May 2020 got to know the Living Peace project in depth committing to live this path of education to
peace with its global network. Each sentence corresponds to a thought of the five beliefs to which we
belong: Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity. We hope that this dice will be a path for
building a culture of peace in interreligious dialogue. It is the fruit of a deep reflection on the values
that can generate in us and in our communities. The Dice of Peace is one of the instruments of the
Living Peace International project of peace education that was born in Cairo in 2012 and is present
today in more than 150 countries, involving more than one million children, adolescents, youth and
[Link] the sides of the dice there are different sentences that help build peaceful relationships
between all persons. They are inspired by the points of the "Art of Loving" that Chiara Lubich proposed
to the members of the Focolare Movement and that she offered on a dice, to help us live daily both
young people and adults, peaceful relationships.

"The Dice is a playful, didactic and educational

proposal (...) aimed at everyone: families, schools
and groups (...). Its main objective is to promote
positive relationships in the environments that
adopt it, enhancing the pro-social capacities of
children and adults (Cf. Josep M.C.I. Arxer, The
origins and history of the die and the art of loving,
Castel Gandolfo, 2017).

It is a useful pedagogical technique to develop the potential of each person, creating cooperative
learning contexts, based on the sharing of and co-construction of knowledge.
The dice is thrown every morning - or with a certain frequency - and everyone commits to live the
phrase that the dice fell on during the day and to share their own experiences, writing them down, for
example, in a Peace Diary, in a chat with friends, or on a mural with peace testimonies in the corridors
of the house/school/association. The Dice model can be adapted or personalized according to the
culture, the religion to which one belongs, the age of the participants, etc., if it stimulates the concrete
living of peace.
In this booklet you will find the explanation of the phrases of the Interreligious Dice and some
experiences of how to put its phrases into practice.

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Cf. Teresa Boi, La pedagogía del dado – Castelgandolfo, 2017

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 AUTHOR
Phrase attributed to Vietnamese Zen master
Thich Nhat Hanh, committed Buddhist, global
spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist.
CONTEXT
is contained in the training of full
consciousness, the fundamental teaching of Zen
Master Thich Nhat Hanh, explained in his book
"Happiness", chapter: "Deep Listening and Kind
Speech" and in the book "True Love: Practices
for Renewing the Heart".

HOW TO PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

We know that lack of communication always brings disunity and suffering, so we are committed to
listening with compassion and speaking with love. We will listen to others without judgment and always
be free from prejudice. Since words can create both happiness and suffering, we commit ourselves to
speak truthfully and constructively, using only words that inspire hope and confidence. Practice
compassionate listening so the other person feels free to say what is in their heart. Even if we disagree,
we can continue to listen to the other without judgment, because by doing so we offer the other person
the opportunity to lighten one’s burden of suffering. It is best not to interrupt even if we later want to
suggest ideas that will help. At that time, it is better to be silent and concentrate on listening to the
other person with compassion and then speak with love.
TESTIMONIES
Paty Barragán «I set out to live to the fullest this phrase that touched me today. I am in
Washington working in my niece's restaurant with many people. I had many opportunities to live it out
because, since the mask is mandatory, people get annoyed and rude when we must tell them that they
cannot come in if they do not have it on. I was patient and tried to love and the truth is that it was very
different from the other days. Also, after 11 hours of non-stop work, all I wanted was to finish cleaning
up my part and leave, but when I heard what the others were asking me to do to get out together, I
gave up on my idea to leave and started helping them. Back home I felt super tired, but with a lot of
inner happiness ».

Vasu Bandhu « On my way I find many opportunities to listen carefully and talk with love. When
I am at home with my family, I devote my attention to compassionate listening, and it is a peaceful
experience. Paying attention to the words we exchange allows me to speak more clearly and
constructively, according to family love, valuing our family as an eternal blessing.

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 AUTHOR AND CONTEXT

King David said in the Psalms -chapter 34- "Who is

the man who desires life and longs to see good in
his days? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips
from speaking wrong, turn away from evil and do
good, seek peace, and go after it. When asked by
King David, surely, we would all reply that we
desire life and long to see good in our days.
However, we are not always willing to apply the
formula given to us by King David.

HOW TO PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

If we really want to have a quality life, let us follow that wise advice. First, by trying not to lie, cheat,
insult or speak ill of anyone, we will avoid having problems with others. King David continues to say,
"turn away from evil and do good". When we commit negligent actions or act incorrectly, we have
negative consequences and lack inner peace because of remorse of conscience and, consequently, we
have emotional and spiritual burnout. On the contrary, when we behave decently and seek to do good
to others, we gain great inner satisfaction and improve our quality of life. By "seeking peace and going
after it" and achieving personal harmony, we can extend it to the family and people around us. In this
way we will be able to see the good in our days as King David assures us.
Testimonies
Noemí Grobeizen « It's been a long time since I made such good cookies for the family. I baked them and
put a cookie in a brown paper bag and wrote on it TO SHARE and another DECIDE HOW TO USE IT.
Yesterday my grandchildren and my nephews and nieces came to greet me as they do every Sunday. I
shared with them the Psalm and its reason for being and my surprise was that today the 6 grandchildren told me
that they were so happy by sharing the cookie. One of them gave it to his dog Kat who was very upset and
another one to a neighbor with whom he was fighting. Three of them gave the optional one away and three ate
it, but then they thought about who they could have shared it with.”
Sara Cherem « These days a lady was asking for something to eat and rang the bell. She was given only
a liter of milk and when I realized this I ran and asked if we could give her more food and some money. I realized
that thinking of others is to anticipate their needs and help alleviate the suffering of others by offering food,
medicine, and comfort.

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 AUTHOR

This phrase is found in chapter 12, verse 10

of the Letter to the Romans, which is
attributed to the apostle Paul, of Jewish
origin, belonging to the Pharisaic school. He
explains how Christian should behave as an
active member of a community.

CONTEXT

St. Paul wrote from Corinth, where internal

divisions fragmented a community he had
founded. In Rome there were also
confrontations and the apostle explain that
Christian life must be a daily service of
unity.

HOW TO PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

As members of a community we need to take responsible care of our relationships with each other,
doing good for each other, without distinction of race, sex, religion, convictions, or any other condition.
Brotherly love is the basic commandment. So, anything goes if it is an expression of sincere brotherly
love, because God is a father and always has all his children in his heart.
To love each other with brotherly love as good brothers, means to love each other from the heart, to
give unconditional support to each other in difficult moments: of mistakes, of anger, of sadness, of pain;
support that translates into a companionship, with tenderness and humility. To be in solidarity, to listen
attentively to the one who needs to vent, to console the afflicted, to accompany the one who is alone,
to advise the one who desires words of encouragement, to visit the sick, to understand each other and
to unite in the solution of all conflict. These are all examples of how to make this phrase concrete.
Testimonies
Tomás « I have a taekwondo teacher who also works as a soccer referee. Many times, on weekends taekwondo
classes are at the same time of the soccer refereeing. So, with a group of students, we decided to help him give
the classes so that he could go home and quietly prepare for his next activity. »

Ana Victoria « Yesterday my sister asked me to accompany her to buy tortillas and I didn't want to, but I
remembered the phrase to love each other and since my sister always helps me, I did accompany her".

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 AUTHOR

Mahatma Gandhi, "known as the Hindu apostle of

Nonviolence," promoted popular pedagogy and
was the architect of India's political independence.

CONTEXT

Rama (God) was the word on Gandhi's lips as he

left his body in January 1948 when, on his way to
community prayer, he was hit by bullets. This
shows his peace and communion with God even in
the greatest difficulty and how one's self and faith
in God produce the unique and true change.

HOW TO PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

” You can be the change you want to see in the world” a famous phrase of Mahatma Gandhi,” is an
invitation to transform in ourselves what we want to see reflected in others. It means to seek the
internal change before asking the external, to speak through example and not only with words.
Our message to the outside must be in tune with our inner life. If there is coherence between what
we think, say and do, our ideas and objectives are communicated more clearly and credibly to others.
Being the change, we want to see in the world implies commitment, discipline, perseverance, and
consistency. It is not an easy task, nor is it achieved overnight, but if we want to improve our
environment and each person collaborates, little by little, person by person, a great change will be
generated and we will be able to contribute to create a more friendly and peaceful world.

Testimonies
Carlos Palma « A bread vendor used to stand in front of my door with his car. At night he would
leave the place very dirty. This bothered me and even though I made him aware of it several times, he
would not change. Angry, I stopped greeting him, which made things worse. One day I decided to
change my attitude and I prepared two bottles of cold water to offer him every morning, since it was
very hot that summer. Little by little his face was transformed until he started to greet me with a smile.
Later, he started offering me bread every morning and cleaning the sidewalk at the end of his workday.
My biggest surprise was when one day he invited me to his house to meet his whole family».

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 AUTHOR

The Holy Quran is the word of God (Allah) revealed

to mankind through the Angel Yibril (Gabriel) to
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon
him). Although the Quranic revelation is known to
us by Prophet and Messenger Muhammad (PB), the
author is God Himself, Allah in the Arabic language.

CONTEXT

The Quran encourages us to practice good works

with all humanity, without distinction of ethnicity
or religion and with all of God's creation. It is an
invitation to guidance from Allah, the Highest,
practiced with total humility, calling for forgiveness
and mercy.
HOW TO PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
"Above all, choose to forgive, prescribe what is good, and stay away from those who behave wrongly” It is
essential to forgive, to prescribe the good, and to turn away from any behavior that is at odds with how God has
created us. Forgiving someone raises one's status and honor with Allah. The Prophet (PB) said: "When the servant
of Allah forgives, Allah increases him only in honor. No one humbles himself for the cause of Allah, without Allah
raising his status.
As humans, we must expect and accept the fact that failures accompany us. Sometimes, we do or say things that
we would later like to go back and erase. Although we cannot go back to undo our actions, we can make things
better by being willing to forgive and move on.
Keeping in mind some occasions when we have needed to be forgiven helps us to put ourselves in the other's
shoes. Remembering the times when we may have hurt someone, intentionally or unintentionally, and how good
it feels to be forgiven prompts us to be humble and generous in forgiving. Forgiveness cleanses the heart and
erases the memory of the event. To avoid obstacles that prevent us from moving forward, we should not bring
up the subject again. Only by completely forgiving can resentment and anger be eliminated, and we can forget.
It is always important to keep this in mind.
Testimonies

Luna (teacher) "Tamara, 8 years old, has managed to take another step towards peace. A few days ago,
she had fought with her best friend because she had broken her favorite pencil. She was so angry that she decided
to stop talking to her. But she remembered the phrase in the Dice that says: forgive without expecting anything
in return and in a few minutes, she reconciled with her friend by forgiving her and loving her as only she knows
how to do”.

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 AUTHOR
The "golden rule" is contained in most of the
sacred books of the great religious and cultural
traditions. It is in the Old Testament. It was
known to Seneca and in the East, it was
repeated by Confucius.
CONTEXT
It is a rule written on everyone's heart. There is
condensed what we must do in life,
summarizes the law written in the heart of
each person so that we all become the rule of
our life.

HOW TO PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

The Golden Rule applies to everyone. It has the principle for the solution of many conflicts. Let us love
each person that we meet during the day, imagining that we are in their situation and let's treat them
as we would like to be treated: Are you hungry? I am the one who is hungry and let us feed that person.
Are they suffering from an injustice? Are they in darkness and in doubt? Let us give words of comfort,
let us share the sorrows and let us not rest until one is enlightened and encouraged. Does one have any
special need? Let us love until we feel in our body and heart that pain and let us be united in caring.
And so, with everyone, without exception: young or old, friend or foe, countryman or foreigner. If we
persevere, hope will be reborn, and we will slowly see the world around us change.
Testimonies

Marco (13 yrs. old) «One day, one of my friends was absent from school and didn't have his notes or
homework. So, I thought, if I were in his place, I would like to have what they did that day happen to me. So, I
passed him all the material and explained the assignments to him. He thanked me very much and told me that
when I was absent from class, he would pass all the stuff to me too».

Joachim (15 yrs. old): «My grandmother has Alzheimer's. She cannot stand being away from the geriatric
ward for a long time, she cannot be understood when she talks, and she gets into a bad mood when someone talks
to her. One day I decided to live the Golden Rule with her. I told my parents that I would stay and take care of
Grandma while they went to do what they had to do. Then I put on some music from her time and stood next to
her just smiling. She looked at me and started to smile. It had been a long time since she had smiled. It struck me
that she did not complain about asking to go back to the nursing home as she always did. I did not talk to her at
all, I just smiled at her.

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The phrases that the Interreligious Dice of Peace offer generate many interesting life experiences. We ask
you to share those experiences with us so that we may publish them in a book to give testimony that peace
is possible. To share your experience, please contact us at one of the following email addresses:

[Link]@[Link]
from the Focolare Movement in Mexico

[Link]@[Link]
Living Peace International.

For more information and to register for Living Peace InternacionalProject click on:
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To know more about the Focolare Movement click on ::

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