Ideas on Universal Ethics in Mahāyāna Buddhism

Abstract

Buddhism in all its expressions is often characterised as a ‘World Religion’. Thus, in principle, it harbours a universal message transcending any ethnicity and national boundaries, and it may be argued that it is historically the most important common ideology for all of South, East and Central Asia. In its canonical literature and religious thinking, Buddhism presents a number of elements easily characterised as global ethics, with an egalitarian and altruistic tone. As such, with its philosophically grounded virtues and morality, Buddhism can represent a reference point and a multifaceted background for an informed discussion of global ethics. The present paper describes in brief a few topics relevant to such a discussion.

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