Speaking Tree - Inclusivism, Tolerance, Understanding and Love

Speaking Tree - Inclusivism, Tolerance, Understanding and Love:

With a rekindling of conflict on the Indo-Pak border, Kashmiri faces riddled with pellet gun wounds, and clashes among castes, it seems as if tolerance is on a decline. And this, although some argue that Indian thought is essentially tolerant by its disposition to the extent that its openness is the reason for the nation’s survival through the plethora of upheavals as well as influxes of different cultures and religions.

But is Indian thought essentially tolerant? And if so, can the nation retain its historic openness towards the other and itself?  At least, Hindus such as Swami Vivekananda and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan would agree.

They emphasise the tolerant side of Indian thought, particularly Hinduism, in their quest for an Indian identity they can be proud of. Even in order to contribute something genuinely Indian to their ideal of world peace. Such was also the perception of Western thinkers in the beginning of the 19th century, who were among the first Western scholars to be, after a long period, exposed to Indian thought.

They inferred their conclusion, exempli gratia, from sections in the Rig Veda where it is written: “ekam sat vipra bahudha vedanti”-- that which exists is One: sages call it by various names.

Or from the Bhagwad Gita, "Whatever deity or form a devotee worships, I make his faith steady. However, their wishes are only granted by Me". (7:21-22)

The definition of tolerance varies. For example, Radhakrishnan understands tolerance not merely as peaceful coexistence, but as “active fellowship” with fraternity as its aim. It was by means of tolerance, so one claims that different religions and groups lived for many centuries relatively peacefully in India. 

India may not have always been the epicentre of tolerance, neither towards foreigners nor amongst each other, yet, many scholars argue nowadays that what is described here is inclusivism rather than tolerance. Inclusivism is seeing the other position as identical to one’s own, yet, mostly as slightly inferior. 

Instead of saying ‘you are different’, they seem to say: ‘I accept you,  you are not that different at all; actually you believe in the same things as i do, with the difference that you are taking a slight detour on your path to truth’. The often doctrinal stand of the Neo-Hindu position fits this picture quite well. 

When Christian missionaries came to India and attempted to convince the “aboriginals” that Jesus was the prophet they should worship, apparently Indians replied, thank you for the kind offer, however, we already have a Jesus - he is a bit more bluish than yours and is called Krishna.

This does not, as the philosopher Anand Amaladass writes, necessarily have to be something negative. For whenever Hinduism adopts something from an alien tradition, it changes something in itself, leading to an attitude of openness. 

At the end of the day it does not matter, whether we are just seeing inclusivism,  tolerance or understanding, maybe even real love for the other in Indian thought. What matters is that Indian thinking contains something that teaches openness towards the other. 

In fact, every religion has this quality, whether Islam or Christianity. Texts are not fixed entities. We engage in a dialogue with them. To find the right answers to our present problems, we also have to pose the right questions. 

Indian scriptures have provided right answers over centuries. We just have to remember and re-read. Especially those exclusivists, who are eager to project Hinduism as intolerant.