Abstract
Buddhist thought has all the resources one might want for developing theologies of inter-communal and inter-religious friendliness. In fact, it is quite difficult to find justification for hostility towards others from the teachings of the Buddha. In the contemporary Buddhist world, there are outstanding examples of groups inspired by Buddhist teachings to promote friendly relations with the other—notably, the Engaged Buddhists. But there are also groups—Buddhist Nationalists—that are hostile and aggressive to the other, in the name of Buddhism. What thinking about self and other is behind the Engaged Buddhist and Buddhist Nationalist approaches to relations with the “other”? How should we understand this from historical and Buddhist theological perspectives? Is there a way to promote the other-friendly theologies and actions, and discourage the other-hostile theologies and actions?
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King, S.B. (2020). Self and Other in Contemporary Buddhist Inter-Communal Relations: Engaged Buddhist, Buddhist Nationalist and Buddhist Theological Perspectives. In: Körs, A., Weisse, W., Willaime, JP. (eds) Religious Diversity and Interreligious Dialogue. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31856-7_21
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