Religious Tolerance with examples from Hindu-Buddhist, Chinese and Abrahamic Monotheism

Religious Tolerance with examples from Hindu-Buddhist, Chinese and Abrahamic Monotheism

Introduction

The basic meaning of religion which is explained by many, and is also agreed upon by a number of scholars is that religion in its true sense is a discipline that has the capacity to enable a person to respect and to uphold the beliefs of one's own self. This has to be done by keeping in mind one very essential fact that any kind of disrespect or discourtesy should not be directed towards any other religion. To this element, one basic mutual understanding that should be established is that mutual and shared cooperation with responsiveness as well as a certain level of sensitivity towards the religion of others in order to accomplish religious harmony. The following paper discusses religious tolerance taking examples from a few religions.

Discussion

Religious tolerance in Hindu-Buddhist

Buddhism is known to be a very tranquil and peaceful religion that teaches its followers to live and to let the others live as well. Throughout the history of humankind, no such evidence could be found that would be able to prove that the followers of Hindu Buddhism had ever tried to interfere in any way or to do any kind of damage or harm to any religion that is practiced in any corner of the world with the purpose and intention to introduce their own religion (Dhammananda, 2009). The Buddhists are also known due to their quality that they had never regarded or considered the existence of any other religion as an obstruction or obstacle to the peace and progress of the world. Instead of trying to convert the followers of other faiths into their own religion, what the Buddhists really do is that they encourage the followers of other religions to practice and to follow their own religion with all the freedom. Other than that, they are also known for promoting and supporting the well-being and betterment of all the humans in the world (Dhammananda, 2009).

The primary and basic message of the Buddha was actually an open invitation to everyone to join and to be a part of the universal brotherhood in order to work together with each other in harmony and strength for the betterment, welfare as well as for the happiness of all mankind. He had no selected or chosen individuals. Moreover, he also had never regarded his own self as the chosen one (Dhammananda, 2009). Buddha always used to teach that the only path which led to the ultimate goal of this life can only be known by searching deep into what he teaches.

Religious tolerance in the Chinese Religion

It is very likely that a lot of the followers of other religions would not be able to understand the position of China on this matter, and more specifically the people of West. China actually never had much hand as far as the style and approaches of organized religions are concerned, at least not as much as the Westerns would ...