Philosophy

This is a book that I really enjoyed reading and respect some of the following quotations…

One should not honour one’s own religion and condemn the religions of others, but one should honour others’ religions for this or that reason. So doing, one helps one’s own religion to grow and renders service to the religions of others too. In acting otherwise one digs the grave of one’s own religion and also does harm to other religions. Whosoever honours their own religion and condemns other religions, does so in devotion to their own religion thinking “I will glorify my own religion”. But on the contrary, in doing so, they injure their own religion more gravely.

So concord is good: Let all listen, and be willing to listen to the doctrines professed by others.

This spirit of tolerance and understanding has been from the beginning one of the most cherished ideals of Buddhist culture and civilization. Violence in any form, under any pretext whatsoever, is absolutely against the teaching of the Buddha.

The question has often been asked: Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy? It does not matter what you call it. Buddhism remains what is whatever label you may put on it. The label is immaterial. Even the label “Buddhism” which we give to the teaching of the Buddha is of little importance. The name one gives it is inessential.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as Sweet.”