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PROVIDENCE - There could hardly be a more appropriate setting for interfaith dialogue than the Vedanta Society on Providence's East Side.

One of the four principles of the Hindu faith is the harmony of religions, and the acceptance of the many ways of realizing divinity.

"We consider all faiths as our faith," said Swami Yogatmananda of the Providence center. "The truth is one. Men call it by various names."

In this setting, the Attleboro area's interfaith group held their January gathering to share their understandings and practices of meditation by first hearing the approach of Vedanta, a Hindu philosophy.

The interfaith group has been meeting and expanding its membership since first being formed in the fall of 2006. The group at first met monthly at Attleboro's LaSalette Shrine, but is now traveling to various churches and centers frequented by its members.

Participants represent nearly every faith community in the Attleboro area, including Catholic, Protestant, evangelical Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Native American.

Steve Fullerton, the former Attleboro resident who helped start the interfaith group more than a year ago, said participants began as individuals who were hesitant to open up at first, but who now share a trusting friendship and a respect for each other's beliefs.

"We have been lifted closer to God," Fullerton said.

"We may have different names for God, but we are praying or meditating toward the same thing, a closeness, a communion with our creator."

Each month, the participants probe a different topic from the perspective of their own religious beliefs.

At last week's gathering at the Vedanta center, the swami led the way by noting the special place that meditation holds in Vedanta philosophy as a way of seeking the truth.

The group gathered in the center's chapel room, which has on its walls some well-known passages from the teachings of various faiths, including one from its own that says there is only one God, but many ways of naming, worshipping and knowing him.

Before the interfaith session, the swami spoke about Hindu philosophy that welcomes a variety of views.

Interfaith meetings are regularly held at the center, he said, and representatives of different faiths are invited to speak so the congregation can get to know a range of religions. "We are all exploring the truth," he said. "We want to know the truth, to experience the truth."

The center holds prayer and meditation sessions daily at 5:45 a.m. and 7 p.m. that are open to the public. Sunday services are at 5 p.m., and study groups meet at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays. Guided meditation sessions are held on Saturdays at 11 a.m.

For more information, call 401-421-3960 or go online to: www.vedantaprov.org.

Local religious leaders who are interested in learning more about the interfaith group can call Fullerton at: 508-930-7741, or e-mail him at: steve.fullerton@conformis.com.

GLORIA LaBOUNTY can be reached at 508-236-0333 or at glabounty@thesunchronicle.com.