"The fundamental principle enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh . . . is that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process, that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and purposes are one and the same, that their teachings are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary, that they differ only in the nonessential aspects of their doctrines, and that their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society . . .." (The Promised Day is Come, p. 2) I believe that a study of the various Scriptures of "the great religions of the world" will show that most (if not all) of their basic principles are very similar. To aid in this study, I have found the following web sites to be very helpful:
World Scriptures - A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts http://www.unification.net/ws/
Sacred and Religious Texts http://webpages.marshall.edu/~wiley6/
You will find a brief description and my rating of these two and other sites in my links area.
One example of a common teaching is The Golden Rule. Here are some examples of it from different religious and spiritual traditions:
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self. - Judaism, Leviticus 19:18
Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. - Christian, Matthew 7:12
Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. - Islam, Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 13
A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated. - Jainism. Sutrakritanga 1.11.33
Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence. - Confucianism. Mencius VII.A.4
Tsekung asked, "Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?" Confucius replied, "It is the word shu - reciprocity: Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you." - Confucianism. Analects 15.23
One should not behave towards others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself. This is the essence of morality. All other activities are due to selfish desire. - Hinduism. Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva 113.8
Though stated differently, all these say much the same thing. This list of examples is by no means complete but it does demonstrate and underlying unity. I have found that if a person looks for differences he will find them, but, if that same person looks for similarities, they will find them.
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