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The Concept of Religious Freedom,
Communal Harmony and Peace
Shri M. K, Dharma Raja
"Friendliness towards all" was the clarion call given by the Tirthankara Mahavira more than 2,500 years ago. It was a call for tolerance to appreciate the points of view other than one's own. This attitude of tolerance and catholicity of outlook characterised the Jain doctrine from the earliest times. Constant interaction and dialogue with those professing other faiths, had always been a salutary practice among Jain thinkers, the object, all the while, was an effort to understand various viewpoints.
A synthesis of different viewpoints is an imperative necessity according to the principles of Jain logic This method enabled the Jain philosopher with catholicity of thought convincing him that truth is not anybody's monopoly with tariff walls of denominational religion.
Intellectual tolerance is the foundation of this doctrine acting as the motiva. tion to promote interreligious dialogue. This approach was in fact seen as an antidote to the one-sided and absolute approach that had governed thc study of reality which has as a result tended to impede a correct appraisal of its multi-facatcd nature. The cardinal principle of the Jain philosophical tradition is its manifolded approach which emphasises "there is not only diversity but that the real is equally diversified". It implies that Truth is many-sided, that it can be looked at from many and different points of view. It also negates dogmatism and respects the others' standpoint. To look at reality from a particualar point of view only gives a partial view of reality and is fallacious. This composite Jain philosophy thus underscores the virtue of reciprocity and the benefits of interreligious dialogue.
Interreligious dialogue has to be adopted in order to overcome the ills of present day society. The conditions of the twentieth century which have created a golobal village demand co-existence as the only alternative to co-destruction.
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