In this regard, the Human Right’s Charter of Cyrus the Great at the conquest of Babel reads: “I ordered that no one is permitted to abuse anybody or to damage the cities. I ordered that no house should be damaged and no one’s property should be violated and ransacked. I ordered that everybody should keep to his/her belief system and be free to worship his/her own God. I ordered that all the people should be free in their thoughts, choosing the place of their residence and no one should violate the rights of others.” Quoted after: http://www.zoroaster.net
You shall resort to pardon, maintain compassion, and be tolerant of the ignorant. Quran 7:199
(...) And say, "I believe in all the scriptures revealed by God, and I am commanded to treat you amicably, God is our Lord and your Lord; we have our deeds and you have your deeds. There is no argument between us and you. God will gather us together; to Him is the ultimate destiny." Quran 42:15
Beware lest ye offend the feelings of anyone, or sadden the heart of any person, or move the tongue in reproach of, and finding fault with anybody. Abdu'l-Baha
Jesus said, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned; give, and gifts will be given to you. (...) Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, with never a thought for the plank in your own? You hypocrite! First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's. Luke 6:37-38, 41-42
Jesus heard them and answered, "People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. Go and find out what is meant by the scripture that says: 'It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.' I have not come to call respectable people, but outcasts." Matthew 9:12-13
Tolerance is the virtue of devotion. When not a leaf can be turned without Lord's Will, then why lose patience? Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 787.
No matter from which saint you have sought initiation, do not revile against any spiritual aspirant, saint or religion. This may cause tremendous harm. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 2031.
So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12
They have experienced only one way of living - their own - and can imagine no other. Besides, when I recall the ways I have failed through ignorance, I feel I should have a kindly tolerance for others. The Cloud of Unknowing, P.74.
What is important is that you attend to your own calling and do not discuss or judge God's designs in the lives of others. (...) Be at peace in your own calling. (...) The Book of Privy Counseling, P.178.
My heart has opened unto every form: it is a pasture for gazelles, a cloister for monks, a temple for idols, the Ka'ba of the pilgrim, the tablets of the Torah and the book of the Qu'ran. I practice the religion of Love (...). Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240), a Sufi mystic, quoted after: Novak Philip, The World's Wisdom, P.325.
The real spiritual person - everywhere - is broad minded. His love forces him to be so. They to whom religion is a trade are forced to become narrow minded and mischievous by their very introduction into religion of the competitive, fighting, selfish methods of the world. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.90.
It is the law of nature. That is the way with all founders of religion. Without persecution superior ideas cannot penetrate into the heart of society. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.169.
Ambition and unscrupulousness have waxed so powerful that religion is thought to consist not so much in respecting the Holy writings as in defending human commentaries, so that religion is no longer identified with charity, but with spreading discord and propagating intense hatred disguised under the name of zeal for God and eager ardour. To these evils we must add superstition, which teaches men to despise reason and Nature. Barukh Spinoza (1632-1677, Holland), Theological-Political Tractate, Ch.7, quoted in: Michael Shire, The Jewish Prophet, P.78.
I will be a better Catholic, not if I can refute every shade of Protenstantism, but if I can affirm the truth in it and still go further. (...) So, too, with the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists, etc. This does not mean syncretism, indifferentism, the rapid and careless friendliness that accepts everything by thinking of nothing (...). If I affirm myself as a Catholic merely by denying all that is Muslim, Jewish, Protestant, Hindu, Buddhist, etc., in the end I will find that there is not much left for me to affirm as a Catholic: and certainly no breath of the Spirit with which to affirm it. Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, P.144.
The basic sin, for Christianity, is rejecting others in order to choose oneself, deciding against others and deciding for oneself. (...) This is the exact opposite of everything Jesus ever did or taught. Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, P.175.
The elder said to him: Never despise anybody, never condemn anybody, never speak evil of anyone, and the Lord will give you peace. Thomas Merton. The Wisdom of the Desert, P.46.
You too must reach the point where you no longer take offence at anything. Thomas Merton. The Wisdom of the Desert, P.62.
Whoever honors his own sect and condemns other sects... injures his own more gravely. So concord is good: Let all listen and be willing to listen to the doctrines professed by others. Ashoka, Mauryan emperor, quoted in: Jack Maguire. (2001). Essential Buddhism. P.33.
Last modified: 2006/07/30
See the related subjects: Compassion, Conversion, Forgiveness, Harmony, Humanism, Justice, Mercy, Patience, Righteousness, Transcendence, Unity, Wisdom.