Rumi discovered a language above all languages, a common language of humanity, and spoke in this language.  IDI brought winds of Rumi’s thoughts to Canada through the Symposium called “Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi and Inter-cultural Dialogue”.   The goal of this symposium is to put forward Mevlana’s thinking, which develops along the axes of compassion and tolerance, and to reflect on its contemporary implications for the benefit of all humanity.  This symposium was organized in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.  Some of the notable presenters included Prof. Nathan Funk, Dr. Jill Carrol, Prof. Dimitri Kitsikis, Prof. Dale M. Schlitt, Prof. Lynda Clarke, Prof. Bilal Kuspinar, Prof. Samir Salha, Prof. Kenan Gursoy and Dr. Yavuz Zeybek.

The symposium was an intensive intellectual tour and exploration of Rumi’s fundamental ideas in the areas of human nature, knowledge, love, peace, ecology, human values, interfaith dialog, cross-cultural understanding, and global problems. Rumi’s legacy offers a goldmine of resources, models, new thinking, hope, and inspiration for the 21st century. Rumi’s trans-disciplinary ideas and legacy on ecology, existential philosophy, psychology, psychotherapy, social work, epistemology, aesthetics, music, arts, and morality deserve deeper inquiry and investigation for scholars.