381 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
381 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
Eternal Truth
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World Scripture
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ETERNAL TRUTH
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This section begins with passages on the pre-existence of the Word, Truth,
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Wisdom, or Principle before the creation of the universe, and its function in
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guiding the creative process. They are followed by passages on the pervading
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reality of Truth which operates through the specific laws of the cosmos.
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Sometimes this Truth may be grasped by ordinary reason as the impersonal laws
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which govern the cosmos. Other passages describe the essence of Truth as that
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which is comprehended only in Christ, or in Buddha, or in the mind of the sage.
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It does not partake of anything evil or immoral, according to Confucianism, and
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hence is only accessible to the moral person. Analogously for Christians, the
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Word is manifested completely only in Christ, the perfect man. Finally, this
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spiritual Word, according to Buddhism, is hidden from surface phenomena and may
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be understood only when the external world is not grasped or discriminated. It
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is 'Mind-only,' a theme that finds echoes in contemporary metaphysical
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movements such as Christian Science.
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He has created the heavens and the earth with truth.
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1. Islam. Qur'an 16.3
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From the bosom of the sacred Word he brought forth the world. On high, below,
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he abides in his own laws.
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2. Hinduism. Atharva Veda 4.1.3
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Qur'an 16.3: Cf. Shabbat 55, p. 1081. Atharva Veda 4.1.3: Cf. Brihadaranyaka
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Upanishad 1.4.14, p. 1062.
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Righteousness and justice are the foundation of thy throne; steadfast love and
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faithfulness go before thee.
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3. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Psalm 8914
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God moves according to universal law. Universal law does not work for the sake
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of oneself, but for the public good. Universal law embodies the spirit of
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sacrifice and service towards others.
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4. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 9-30-79
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By Truth is the earth sustained,
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and by the sun are the heavens;
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By Order (Rita) the gods stand
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and Soma is set in the sky.
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5. Hinduism. Rig Veda 10.85.1
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God ordained the measures of the creation fifty thousand years before He
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created the heavens and the earth, while His throne was on the waters.
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6. Islam. Hadith of Muslim
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This, [in the beginning] was the only Lord of the Universe. His Word was with
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him. This Word was his second. He contemplated. He said, "I will deliver
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this Word so that she will produce and bring into being all this world."
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7. Hinduism. Tandya Maha Brahmana 20.14.2
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without
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him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the
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light of men.
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8. Christianity. Bible, John 1.1-4
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Universal Order and Truth
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were born of blazing spiritual fire,
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and thence night was born, and thence
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the billowy ocean of space.
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From the billowy ocean of space
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was born Time--the year
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ordaining days and nights,
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the ruler of every moment.
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In the beginning, as before,
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the Creator made the sun,
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the moon, the heaven and the earth,
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the firmament and the realm of light.
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9. Hinduism. Rig Veda 10.190.1-3
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Sun Myung Moon, 9-30-79: Cf. Galatians 6.2, p. 974; Shabbat 31a, p. 173. Rig
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Veda 10.85.1: Cf. Atharva Veda 10.8.31, p. 76, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.14,
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p. 1062. Tandya Maha Brahmana 20.14.2: 'This' signifies the impersonal
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Absolute; cf. Rig Veda 1.64.45, p. 806. John 1.1-4: In Greek philosophy, the
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Word is the logos or plan by which God created the universe. The Bible asserts
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that Christ is himself the Word, the model and plan for creation; cf.
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Colossians 1.15-17. The Buddhist doctrine of the Dharmakaya, by which the
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Buddha is one with the eternally abiding reality of the universe, is similar
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except that there is no creation; cf. Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala 5, p. 652;
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Samyutta Nikaya iii.120, p. 651.
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The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
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the first of his acts of old.
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Ages ago I was set up,
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at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
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When there were no depths I was brought forth,
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when there were no springs abounding with water.
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Before the mountains had been shaped,
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before the hills, I was brought forth.
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Before he had made the earth with its fields,
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or the first of the dust of the world.
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When he established the heavens, I was there,
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when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
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When he made firm the skies above,
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when he established the fountains of the deep,
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When he assigned to the sea its limit,
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so that the waters might not transgress his command,
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when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
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Then I was beside him, like a master workman;
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I was daily his delight,
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rejoicing before him always;
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rejoicing in his inhabited world,
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and delighting in the sons of men.
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10. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Proverbs 8.22-31
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"Then I was beside Him, as a nursling (amon); and I was daily all [His]
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delight" (Proverbs 8.30).... 'Amon' is a workman (uman). The Torah thus
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declares, "I was the working tool of the Holy One, blessed be He." In human
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practice, when a mortal king builds a palace, he builds it not with his own
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skill but with the skill of an architect. The architect moreover does not
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build it out of his head, but employs plans and diagrams to know how to arrange
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the chambers and the doors. Thus God consulted the Torah and created the world.
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11. Judaism. Midrash, Genesis Rabbah 1.1
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Rig Veda 10.190.1-3: Tapas, the 'spiritual fire' harnessed and concentrated
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through meditation, is regarded as the source of all creative energy; cf.
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Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.8, p. 132; Prasna Upanishad 1.4-5, p. 176. Truth and
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Order were the first productions of tapas. In the third stanza, the words 'as
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before' indicates recurrent creation. Proverbs 8.22-31: Wisdom is personified
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here and in Proverbs 8.1-11, pp. 788f. For Christians wisdom is the
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preexistent Word that is incarnate in Christ; for Jews wisdom is Torah, as in
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the following passage, which is a midrash (rabbinic interpretation) on this
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one. On the pre-existence of wisdom, cf. 1 Corinthians 2.6-7, p. 538.
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Regarding the term 'master workman,' the Hebrew word 'amon' is rare, and some
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translate it 'little child,' which seems better to fit the context. See the
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next passage. Genesis Rabbah 1.1: See previous note.
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I pay homage to the Perfection of Wisdom! She is worthy of homage. She is
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unstained, the entire world cannot stain her. She is a source of light, and
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from everyone in the triple world she removes darkness, and she leads away from
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the blinding darkness caused by the defilements and by wrong views. In her we
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can find shelter. Most excellent are her works. She makes us seek the safety
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of the wings of Enlightenment. She brings light to the blind, she brings light
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so that all fear and distress may be forsaken.... She is the mother of the
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Bodhisattvas, on account of the emptiness of her own marks. As the donor of
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the jewel of all the Buddha-dharmas she brings about the ten powers [of a
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Buddha]. She cannot be crushed. She protects the unprotected, with the help
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of the four grounds of self-confidence. She is the antidote to
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birth-and-death. She has a clear knowledge of the own-being of all dharmas,
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for she does not stray away from it. The Perfection of Wisdom of the Buddhas,
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the Lords, sets in motion the Wheel of the Law.
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12. Buddhism. Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines 7.1
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The Tao has its reality and its signs but is without action or form. You can
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hand it down but you cannot receive it; you can get it but you cannot see it.
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It is its own source, its own root. Before heaven and earth existed it was
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there, firm from ancient times. It gave spirituality to the spirits and to
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God; it gave birth to heaven and to earth. It exists beyond the highest point,
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and yet you cannot call it lofty; it exists beneath the limit of the six
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directions, and yet you cannot call it deep. It was born before heaven and
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earth, and yet you cannot say it has been there for long; it is earlier than
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the earliest time, and yet you cannot call it old.
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13. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 6
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By Divine Law are all forms manifested;
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Inexpressible is the Law.
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By Divine Law are beings created;
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By Law are some exalted.
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By Divine Law are beings marked with nobility or ignominy;
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By the Law are they visited with bliss or bale.
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On some by His Law falls grace;
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Others by His Law are whirled around in cycles of births and deaths.
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All by the Law are governed,
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None is exempt.
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Says Nanak, Should man realize the power of the Law,
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He would certainly disclaim his ego.
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14. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Japuji 2, M.1, p. 1
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The moral law is to be found everywhere, and yet it is a secret.
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The simple intelligence of ordinary men and women of the people may understand
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something of the moral law; but in its utmost reaches there is something which
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even the wisest and holiest men cannot understand. The ignoble natures of
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ordinary men and women of the people may be able to carry out the moral law;
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but in its utmost reaches even the wisest and holiest of men cannot live up to
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it.
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Great as the Universe is, man is yet not always satisfied with it. For there is
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nothing so great but the mind of the moral man can conceive of something still
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greater which nothing in the world can hold. There is nothing so small but the
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mind of the moral man can conceive of something still smaller which nothing in
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the world can split.
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The Book of Songs says,
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The hawk soars to the heavens above
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Fishes dive to the depths below.
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That is to say, there is no place in the highest heavens above nor in the
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deepest waters below where the moral law is not to be found. The moral man
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finds the moral law beginning in the relation between man and woman; but ending
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in the vast reaches of the universe.
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15. Confucianism. Doctrine of the Mean 12
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Chuang Tzu 6: Cf. Chuang Tzu 31, p. 120, I Ching, Great Commentary 1.4.i-iv,
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pp. 323f. Japuji 2: Cf. Japuji 3, p. 94.
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There is no changing the words of God; that is the mighty triumph.
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16. Islam. Qur'an 10.64
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Falsehood shall be destroyed; truth in the end shall prevail.
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17. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Ramkali Ki Var, M.1, p. 953
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Truth is victorious, never untruth.
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Truth is the way; truth is the goal of life,
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Reached by sages who are free from self-will.
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18. Hinduism. Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6
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The question as to when the union of soul with karma occurred for the first
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time cannot arise, since this is a beginningless relation like gold and stone.
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19. Jainism. Pancadhyayi 2.35-36
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The ten thousand things all come from the same seed, and with their different
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forms they give place to one another. Beginning and end are part of a single
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ring and no one can comprehend its principle. This is called Heaven the
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Equalizer.
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20. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 27
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The world exists because of causal actions, all things are produced by causal
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actions and all beings are governed and bound by causal actions. They are fixed
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like the rolling wheel of a cart, fixed by the pin of its axle shaft.
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21. Buddhism. Sutta Nipata 654
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Pancadhyayi 2.35-36: The principles governing the influx and stopping of karma
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determine both the laws of cause and effect and the laws of liberation.
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What, brethren, is causal happening?
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"Conditioned by rebirth is decay and death."
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Whether, brethren, there be an arising of Tathagatas or whether there be no
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such arising, this nature of things just stands, this causal status, this
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causal orderliness, the relatedness of this to that.
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22. Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya ii.25
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Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father,
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but by me."
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23. Christianity. Bible, John 14.6
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Concerning the prime, rare, hard-to-understand dharmas, only a Buddha and a
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Buddha can exhaust their reality, namely, the suchness of the dharmas, the
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suchness of their marks, the suchness of their nature, the suchness of their
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substance, the suchness of their powers, the suchness of their functions, the
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suchness of their causes, the suchness of their conditions, the suchness of
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their effects, the suchness of their retributions, and the absolute identity of
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their beginning and end.
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24. Buddhism. Lotus Sutra 2
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In the Book of Songs it is said,
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The ordinance of God,
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How inscrutable it is and goes on for ever.
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That is to say, this is the essence of God. It is again said,
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How excellent it is,
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The moral perfection of King Wen.
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That is to say, this is the essence of the noble character of the Emperor Wen.
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Moral perfection also never dies.
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25. Confucianism. Doctrine of the Mean 26.10
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Sutta Nipata 654: This also refers to the laws of karma; cf. Maitri Upanishad
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4.2, p. 696; Dhammapada 127, p. 187, Surangama Sutra, p. 387. John 14.6: Jesus
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reveals the eternal truth by his own personal example and way of life--the
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manifestation of God's love and truth. This and the following passages
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describe the truth as that which is comprehended by the mind of a saint. Lotus
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Sutra 2: There is one ultimate reality which embraces everything--'suchness.'
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This is also expressed through the universality of the Buddha nature and the
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all-encompassing Dharmakaya which is the Buddha's body. There is nothing real
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apart from Reality itself. Doctrine of the Mean 26.10: In other words, the
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truth of Heaven and the moral perfection of the sage are alike; both continue
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for ever.
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"What is meant by an eternally-abiding reality? The ancient road of reality,
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Mahamati, has been here all the time, like gold, silver, or pearl preserved in
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the mine. The Dharmadhatu (Absolute Truth) abides forever, whether the
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Tathagata appears in the world or not. As the Tathagata eternally abides so
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does the Reason of all things. Reality forever abides, reality keeps its
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order, like the roads in an ancient city.
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For instance, a man who is walking in a forest and discovering an ancient city
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with its orderly streets may enter into the city, and having entered into it,
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he may have a rest, conduct himself like a citizen, and enjoy all the pleasures
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accruing therefrom. What do you think, Mahamati? Did this man make the road
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along which he enters into the city, and the various things in the city?"
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"No, Blessed One."
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"Just so, what has been realized by myself and the other Tathagatas is this
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Reality, this eternally-abiding reality, the self-regulating reality, the
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Suchness of things, the Realness of things, the truth itself.
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The world of the ignorant is observed as the continuation of birth and death,
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whereby dualisms are nourished, and because of the perversion [the truth] is
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not perceived.
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There is just one truth, which is Nirvana--it has nothing to do with
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intellection. The world seen as subject to discrimination resembles a plantain
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tree, a dream, a mirage.
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The Mind as norm is the abode of self-nature which has nothing to do with the
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realm of causation; of this norm, which is perfect existence and the highest
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Absolute, I speak.
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Of neither existence nor non-existence do I speak, but of Mind-only which has
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nothing to do with existence and non-existence, and which is thus free from
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intellection.
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Suchness, emptiness, Absolute Truth... these I call Mind-only.
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26. Buddhism. Lankavatara Sutra 61, 63, 64
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The universe, like man, is to be interpreted by Science from its divine
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Principle, God, and then it can be understood; but when explained on the basis
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of physical sense and represented as subject to growth, maturity, and decay,
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the universe, like man, is, and must continue to be, an enigma.
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Adhesion, cohesion, and attraction are properties of Mind. They belong to
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divine Principle, and support the equipoise of that thought-force, which
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launched the earth in its orbit and said to the proud wave, "Thus far and no
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farther."
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Spirit is the life, substance and continuity of all things. We tread on
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forces. Withdraw them, and creation must collapse. Human knowledge calls them
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forces of matter; but divine Science declares that they belong wholly to divine
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Mind, are inherent in this Mind, and so restores them to their rightful home
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and classification.
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27. Christian Science. Science and Health, 124
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Lankavatara Sutra: See Surangama Sutra, p. 387. The 'highest Absolute' means
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the reality cleansed of all impure dualistic discriminations. The parable of
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the ancient city is also found in the Theravada scriptures: see Samyutta Nikaya
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ii.106, pp. 547f. On the difference between truth and intellection, see
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Garland Sutra 10, p. 799, and related passages.
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