"The aim of this paper is to investigate the concept of tolerance in Indian philosophical tradition. Before examining particular aspects of the idea of tolerance in Indian political philosophy, it is first necessary to give a brief overview of the history of the idea of tolerance. This is because the term tolerance points to content that is at once of great importance but, at the same time, to a large degree indeterminate. It is difficult, if not impossible, to discover a generally accepted understanding of the meaning of the term. Before entering into an examination of the concrete modalities of the idea of tolerance in Indian philosophical tradition, we will first discuss the meaning of "tolerance". Tolerance in the sense of enduring, putting up with, or forgiving requires neither mutual understanding nor a sense of the essential equality of oneself and another person. This kind of tolerance can be realized simply by accepting the existence of another in a common or shared space of equality. Thus, mutual recognition of the need for this degree of coexistence does not necessarily imply, much less require, a relation of coexistence inwhich there is mutual understanding or appreciation of the equality of self and other, or a heartfelt sense of acceptance. The form of tolerance that is the central concern of this paper is that which was pursued and developed in ancient India. It is a form of tolerance that is based on the assumption of an essential sameness, or equivalence, that underlies differences on the phenomenological level. This can be found in the Vedantic teaching of the oneness of Atoma and Brahman. This is, in other words, a spirit or idea of tolerance that starts from the stance of recognizing that there is an underlying, essential sameness that all people share and that transcends the differences of views, opinions and faith that we respectively develop in the phenomenal world. This idea of tolerance is typically expressed as compassion, maître-karun¸ a¯ , to feel the suffering or pain of another as oneʼs own."