The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind day and night always delights in compassion.
A shared theme
Peace & Non-violence
Ahimsa — non-harm — is Jainism's first vow and runs through Hinduism and Buddhism. 'Blessed are the peacemakers', 'seek peace and pursue it', and the Quran's teaching that to save one life is to save all humankind sit alongside. The restraint of anger is the inner discipline that makes outer peace possible.
Buddhism
11 versesChristianity
8 versesA soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
Confucianism
5 versesThe Master said, "Specious words confound virtue. Want of forbearance in small matters confounds great plans."
Hinduism
2 versesHe through whom the world is not agitated, and who is not agitated by the world, who is free from joy and anger and fear and agitation, he too is dear to me.
Islam
7 versesHold to forgiveness; command what is right; But turn away from the ignorant.
Jainism
8 versesBy conquering anger he obtains patience; he acquires no Karman productive of anger, and destroys the Karman he had acquired before.
Judaism
7 versesDepart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it.
Sikhism
4 versesOne who does not frighten anyone, and who is not afraid of anyone else - says Nanak, listen, mind: call him spiritually wise.
Sufism
3 versesThou hast come to draw men to union with me, / Not to drive them far away from me. / So far as possible, engage not in dissevering; / 'The thing most repugnant to me is divorce.' …
Taoism
1 verseWhen the Tao prevails in the world, they send back their swift horses to (draw) the dung-carts. When the Tao is disregarded in the world, the war-horses breed in the border lands. There is no guilt greater than to sanction ambition; no calamity greater than to be discontented with one's lot; no fault greater than the wish to be getting. Therefore the sufficiency of contentment is an enduring and unchanging sufficiency.
Where the traditions differ
Jainism extends non-violence to all life including insects and plants, and to thought and speech. Buddhism and Hinduism hold ahimsa as central though Hindu texts also contain a warrior ethic (the Gita's setting is a battlefield). The Abrahamic scriptures contain both peace commands and accounts of sanctioned war; the verses here are those traditions' own peace texts, and the tension is real within each. Taoism counsels non-contention and treats weapons as 'instruments of ill omen'. Sikhism permits defensive force as a last resort while honouring peace.