Non-Western philosophy and religion

-‘East is East and West is West’

The India-born British journalist and author Rudyard Kipling appears to underscore the divide between East and West with this famous line, but the rest makes clear that he means to say the exact opposite: 

Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet |
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat; |
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, |
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth! – 

When two equals meet, the accidents of birth, whether of nationality, race, or family, do not matter at all—the mutual respect such individuals have, each for the character, prowess, and integrity of the other, are their only criteria for judging and accepting one another. Any differences in ethnicity or religion between such individuals are never even considered. ‘All religions are one’, William Blake famously wrote. There is an essential unity underlying all religions – no religion is superior to the other. Although focused on the Western tradition, the BPH also offers a number of sacred texts from the Eastern traditions, including the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Pali canon and works by Laozi.