Buddhism wants to help everyone, and welcomes people of any faith to use the Buddhist methods of practice. People of other religions who are newcomers to Buddhism need not give up their previous faiths. If you wish to hold on to your original faith, it is not a problem.

In most societies, families usually pass on their faiths from generation to generation. If you had to give up your faith for Buddhism, you would separate yourself in many ways from family and society because a large part of any religion includes social and cultural interaction. There's no need to force people to abandon all of this. When I came to the United States, I believed that people who espoused Buddhadharma should be very flexible and accepting of all people, no matter what their beliefs.

How does Buddhism respond to Western religions? Throughout their history, Christianity and Judaism have done much good and have helped many people. Had these religions not existed, some of the civilizations of Europe might have been deprived of moral and ethical teachings.