118 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
118 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
The Golden Rule
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World Scripture
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THE GOLDEN RULE
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The Golden Rule or the ethic of reciprocity is found in the scriptures of
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nearly every religion. It is often regarded as the most concise and general
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principle of ethics. It is a condensation in one principle of all longer lists
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of ordinances such as the Decalogue. See also texts on Loving Kindness, pp.
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967-73.
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You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
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1. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Leviticus 19.18
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Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.
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2. Christianity. Bible, Matthew 7.12
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Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for
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himself.
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3. Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 13
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A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated.
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4. Jainism. Sutrakritanga 1.11.33
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Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you
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will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence.
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5. Confucianism. Mencius VII.A.4
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One should not behave towards others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself.
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This is the essence of morality. All other activities are due to selfish
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desire.
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6. Hinduism. Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva 113.8
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Tsekung asked, "Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for
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life?" Confucius replied, "It is the word shu--reciprocity: Do not do to
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others what you do not want them to do to you."
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7. Confucianism. Analects 15.23
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Leviticus 19.18: Quoted by Jesus in Matthew 22.36-40 (below). Mencius VII.A.4
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and Analects 15.23: Cf. Analects 6.28.2, p. 975.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Comparing oneself to others in such terms as "Just as I am so are they, just as
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they are so am I," he should neither kill nor cause others to kill.
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8. Buddhism. Sutta Nipata 705
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One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on
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himself to feel how it hurts.
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9. African Traditional Religions. Yoruba Proverb (Nigeria)
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One who you think should be hit is none else but you. One who you think should
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be governed is none else but you. One who you think should be tortured is none
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else but you. One who you think should be enslaved is none else but you. One
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who you think should be killed is none else but you. A sage is ingenuous and
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leads his life after comprehending the parity of the killed and the killer.
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Therefore, neither does he cause violence to others nor does he make others do
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so.
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10. Jainism. Acarangasutra 5.101-2
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The Ariyan disciple thus reflects, Here am I, fond of my life, not wanting to
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die, fond of pleasure and averse from pain. Suppose someone should rob me of
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my life... it would not be a thing pleasing and delightful to me. If I, in my
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turn, should rob of his life one fond of his life, not wanting to die, one fond
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of pleasure and averse from pain, it would not be a thing pleasing or
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delightful to him. For a state that is not pleasant or delightful to me must
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also be to him also; and a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how
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could I inflict that upon another?
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As a result of such reflection he himself abstains from taking the life of
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creatures and he encourages others so to abstain, and speaks in praise of so
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abstaining.
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11. Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya v.353
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A certain heathen came to Shammai and said to him, "Make me a proselyte, on
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condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot."
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Thereupon he repulsed him with the rod which was in his hand. When he went to
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Hillel, he said to him, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor:
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that is the whole Torah; all the rest of it is commentary; go and learn."
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12. Judaism. Talmud, Shabbat 31a
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Sutta Nipata 705: Cf. Dhammapada 129-130, p. 478. Acarangasutra 5.101-2: Cf.
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Dhammapada 129-130, p. 478. Samyutta Nikaya v.353: The passage gives a
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similar reflection about abstaining from other types of immoral behavior:
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theft, adultery, etc. To identify oneself with others is also a corollary to
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the Mahayana insight that all reality is interdependent and mutually related;
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cf. Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of Life 8.112-16, p. 181; Majjhima Nikaya
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i.415, p. 465.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "You
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shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
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with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is
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like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments
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depend all the law and the prophets."
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13. Christianity. Bible, Matthew 22.36-40
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Matthew 22.36-40: Cf. Deuteronomy 6.4-9, p. 55; Leviticus 19.18, p. 173; Luke
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10.25-37, p. 971; Galatians 6.2, p. 974; Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.2.2, p.
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972; Sun Myung Moon, 9-30-79, p. 150.
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