M. Darrol Bryant

Hi. My name is M. Darrol Bryant and I was raised on the prairies of North Dakota on the edge of the Turtle Mountains -- the First Nations thought they looked like a herd of turtles moving across the prairie -- and the Canadian border. I went to college at Concordia College where I discovered the world of philosophy and religion. Then I studied at Harvard Divinity School with Christians from all streams of Christianity and scholars of Islam and Hinduism. It broadened my understanding of Christianity and awakened an interest in world religions. In 1967 I went to Canada to teach and I've been there ever since. In the summer of 1968 I participated in the Poor People's Campaign in Washington DC, Dr. Martin Luther King's last project. In 1969-70 I worked for the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, Switzerland, organizing the World Encounter of Luther Youth (WELY). It took me to every country in Latin America except for Paraguay & the Guyanas. I encountered Latin American liberation theology that championed social transformation as the heart of Christianity. It was a trans-formative year for me. I then returned to Canada to finish my doctoral studies at St. Michael's in the University of Toronto. I was the first Protestant to graduate from this Catholic institution. In 1973 I became a Professor of Religion & Culture at Renison University College in the University of Waterloo. I remained there until my retirement in 2007. Then Renison allowed me to establish a Centre for Dialogue & Spirituality in the World Religions. It's aim is public education in the dialogue of religions. I am still there.

In the 1980s I went to India on sabbatical with my family, including our 4 kids. When they asked me what we were going to do, I said: we are going to hang-out in the different religious traditions of India! And we did. We stayed in a Muslim University and had our meals with Dr. Ali, the Director of the Indian Institute of Islamic Studies and his family, for 2 months. We visited Sikh Gurdwaras, Hindu Centres, especially in Vrindaban, the heartland of Krishna/Radha devotion, and in Madras, in Tibetan Buddhist centres in Dharamsala, where HH the Dali Lama resides, and Indian Christians in Kerala who trace their beginnings back to the Apostle Thomas. We were welcomed into all these communities. It changed my approach to the many sacred pathways of humankind. Since then I have visited India more than 25 times and taken groups of students to India for a semester to Encounter the Living Religious Traditions of India.

I have been fortunate to travel the world and spend time in Buddhist monasteries in Japan, Korea, and India. To visit mosques in Turkey, Israel, Europe, and the USA & Canada. To participate in Hindu temples & festivals including the Kumbha Mela (KM), the world's largest gathering of human beings. Invited by Shrivatsa Goswami of Vrindaban, I joined 14-15 million pilgrims in 1989, 20 million in 2001, and 30 million in 2013. This is a remarkable event... And I have visited China and Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian centres...

I've edited and written many books including A World Broken by Unshared Bread, Religion in a New Key, God, the Contemporary Discussion, A Guide to Religion in the Modern World (750 pgs), Compassion: An Exploration and Experience and now Out of Galilee: Christian Thought as a Great Conversation.

It is now more than 55 years since I first awoke to the world of philosophy and theology and I still find it endlessly fascinating.