Do Others Exist?: Buddhist Perspectives on “The Other”

Gross argues that when Buddhists seek to understand otherness and "the other" and relate with them, whether or not they consider duality to be ultimately real and the underlying fact of their existence could make a great deal of difference. It will be harder to solidify and demonize "...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of ecumenical studies 2017-12, Vol.52 (1), p.139-148
Main Author: Gross, Rita M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Buddhism
Buddhists
Otherness
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Gross argues that when Buddhists seek to understand otherness and "the other" and relate with them, whether or not they consider duality to be ultimately real and the underlying fact of their existence could make a great deal of difference. It will be harder to solidify and demonize "the others" if they recognize that duality is ultimately only apparent, that all persons and all things live and move and have their being in an interdependent matrix of nonduality. It will be harder to categorize them as sub-human and to set artificial limits to their humanity and their achieving. Even if nonduality is not seen as more logical and persuasive than some form of dualism as the ultimate reality, which would probably be the case for most monotheists, it is nevertheless important to understand that, by any analysis, self and other are interdependent and co-arising, not separate and independent.
ISSN:0022-0558
2162-3937
2162-3937
DOI:10.1353/ecu.2017.0007