As diversity becomes more prevalent, what really amazes us about Canada is the tolerance and understanding amongst religions. As Buddhists, we hope that we could contribute to harmony in the world by befriending and respecting people of different religions.

Prince Edward Island is predominately of Christian faith and as Buddhists, and we weren’t sure if Islanders would accept us. We saw how other religions could weave themselves into the community fabric and give back and we really wanted to learn from them.

We’ve been lucky to have had the chance to develop friendships and learn from other religions. They’ve shown us what it means to be accepting and understanding of others—by being open to learning from different religions, it can strengthen your own faith.

One of our closest friends on the Island is Sister Sue, who’s shown us how easily you can make friends with anyone, simply because of her love for God. We are very grateful to have someone like Sister Sue who can show us how we can better connect with the community.

“I do believe that diversity is the greatest gift…my world is in relation to everyone else’s world. So how do we reflect the complementary of the different faiths, the different gifts, the different understandings that people bring to the conversation. We’re better the more diverse we are!…”, says Sister Sue.

As we’ve worked together with our sisters and brothers of other faiths, we’ve felt the genuine acceptance and kindness they have towards different religions. “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” In a sense, we are very similar. Although we are of different faith, there are no boundaries. We are all on the same page, working toward a common goal: world peace.