christopher::: wrote:How important within Buddhism is the value and practice of tolerance?
My impression from the scriptures is the Buddha himself was not tolerant of wrong view, especially if someone was claiming that wrong view was taught by the Buddha himself.
From MN 57:
Monk: "Venerable sir, there is this Punna, a son of the Koliyans and an ox-duty ascetic; that ox duty has long been taken up and practiced by him. What will be his destination? What will be his future course?"
Buddha: "Seniya, if his ox duty is perfected, it will lead him to the company of oxen; if it is not, it will lead him to hell."
I think many people would be upset by an exchange like this. They would want a Buddhist to say "Hey, if you like your ox-duty practice then go with it. We each have our own path."
From MN22:
Monk: "Lord, I understand the teaching of the Blessed One in this way that those things called 'obstructions' by the Blessed One, are not necessarily obstructive for him who pursues them."
Buddha: "Of whom do you know, foolish man, that I have taught to him the teaching in that manner?"
Again, I think many people would expect a Buddhist to say "Maybe you're right, maybe not. Go and pursue your own path and see what happens."
The fact is the Buddha tuaght what he tuaght and he didn't pussy-foot around. That said, he didn't go up to people uninvited and hit them over the head. "Hey you, what you're doing is wrong, what you believe is false." For example, he only told the ox-duty ascetic his practice would lead him to hell because the ascetic asked the Buddha three times. The first two times the Buddha said "Don't ask me that."
I think the second example hits more to your question of modern Buddhism. I think the Buddha didn't tolerate novel interpretations of his teachings and I think that tradition carried forward. When differing interpretations took hold, councils were held to determine which one was correct.