252 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
252 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
Creation Rejoices
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World Scripture
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CREATION REJOICES
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The natural world is not an object of our manipulation. It is a community of
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living, sentient beings that suffers or rejoices according to how it is treated
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by human beings. The scriptures teach that, for those who have eyes to see,
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nature is exquisitely sensitive to the spirit and attitude of people. The
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creation 'groans in travail' when it is misused and defiled, and rejoices when
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it can serve God through serving the children of God. Indeed, the virtuous
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person brings redemption to nature.
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Confucius said, "It is Goodness that gives to a neighborhood its beauty."
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1. Confucianism. Analects 4.1
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Whether in village or in forest, in vale or on hill, wherever arahants
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dwell--delightful, indeed, is that spot.
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2. Buddhism. Dhammapada 98
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The perfume of flowers blows not against the wind, nor does the fragrance of
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sandalwood, tagara and jasmine, but the fragrance of the virtuous blows against
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the wind; the virtuous man pervades every direction.
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3. Buddhism. Dhammapada 54
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The earth's condition is receptive devotion.
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Thus the superior man who has breadth of character
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Carries the outer world.
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4. Confucianism. I Ching 2: The Receptive
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May no living creatures, not even insects,
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Be bound unto samsaric life; nay, not one of them;
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But may I be empowered to save them all.
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5. Buddhism. Milarepa
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Dhammapada 98: Cf. Titus 1.15, p. 725. I Ching 2: Cf. Chuang Tzu 12, p. 312.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Good sons and daughters who accept the true Law, build the great earth, and
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carry the four responsibilities, become friends without being asked, for the
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sake of all living beings. In their great compassion, they comfort and
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sympathize with living beings, becoming the Dharma-mother of the world.
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6. Buddhism. Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala 4
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Only those who are absolutely sincere can fully develop their nature. If they
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can fully develop their nature, they can then fully develop the nature of
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others. If they can fully develop the nature of others, they can then fully
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develop the nature of things. If they can fully develop the nature of things,
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they can then assist in the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven and
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Earth. If they can assist in the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven
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and Earth, they can thus form with Heaven and Earth a trinity.
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7. Confucianism. Doctrine of the Mean 22
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There is a holy man living on faraway Ku-she Mountain, with skin like ice or
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snow, and gentle and shy like a young girl. He doesn't eat the five grains,
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but sucks the wind, drinks the dew, climbs up on the clouds and mist, rides a
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flying dragon, and wanders beyond the four seas. By concentrating his spirit,
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he can protect creatures from sickness and plague and make the harvest
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plentiful... This man, with his virtue of his, is about to embrace the ten
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thousand things and roll them into one.
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8. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 1
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Mencius went to see King Hui of Liang. The king was standing over a pond. "Are
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such things enjoyed even by a good and wise man?" said he, looking round at his
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wild geese and deer.
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"Only if a man is good and wise," answered Mencius, "is he able to enjoy them.
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Otherwise he would not, even if he had them.
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The Book of Songs says,
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He surveyed and began the Sacred Terrace,
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He surveyed it and measured it;
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The people worked at it;
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In less than no time they finished it.
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He surveyed and began without haste;
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The people came in ever-increasing numbers.
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The king was in the Sacred Park.
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The doe lay down;
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The does were sleek;
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The white birds glistened.
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The king was at the Sacred Pond.
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Oh! how full it was of leaping fish!
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It was with the labor of the people that King Wen built his terrace and pond,
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yet so pleased and delighted were they that they named his terrace the "Sacred
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Terrace" and his pond the "Sacred Pond," and rejoiced at his possession of
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deer, fish, and turtles. It was by sharing their enjoyments with the people
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that men of antiquity were able to enjoy themselves.
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The T'ang shih says,
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O Sun [the tyrant Chieh], when wilt thou perish?
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We care not if we have to die with thee.
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"When the people were prepared 'to die with' him, even if the tyrant had a
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terrace and pond, birds and beasts, could he have enjoyed them all by himself?"
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9. Confucianism. Mencius I.A.2
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For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God;
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for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will
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of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free
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from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of
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God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together
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until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first
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fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the
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redemption of our bodies.
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10. Christianity. Bible, Romans 8.19-23
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Since folk are ablaze with unlawful lusts, overwhelmed by depraved longings,
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depressed by wrong doctrines, on such as these the sky rains down not steadily.
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It is hard to get a meal. The crops are bad, afflicted with mildew and grown
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to mere stubs. Accordingly, many come to their end.
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11. Buddhism. Anguttara Nikaya i.50
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Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel;
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for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
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There is no faithfulness or kindness,
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there is no knowledge of God in the land;
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There is swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery;
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they break all bounds and murder follows murder.
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Therefore the land mourns,
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and all who dwell in it languish,
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and also the beasts of the field,
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and the birds of the air,
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and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
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12. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Hosea 4.1-3
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Anguttara Nikaya i.50: Cf. Golden Light Sutra 12, pp. 1090f.; Book of Songs,
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Ode 254, pp. 1089f; Chuang Tzu 10, p. 799. Even the attitude of the spirits
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reflects the heart of people: cf. Vamana Purana 19.31-35, p. 443. Hosea 4.1-3:
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Cf. Jeremiah 7.1-15, p. 1088; Exodus 20.1-17, p. 166.
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Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof,
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saying, "Woe, woe is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of
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the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the
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filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me,
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that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face?" And when
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Enoch heard the earth mourn, he wept, and cried unto the Lord, saying, "O Lord,
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wilt Thou not have compassion upon the earth?"
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13. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Pearl of Great Price, Moses
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7.48-49
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To you did the soul of the ox complain,
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"For whom did you create me? Who made me?
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Fury and violence oppress me, and cruelty and tyranny.
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I have no shepherd other than you: then obtain good pastures for me."
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Then the Creator of the ox asked Right, "Have you a judge for the ox,
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That you may give him, with the pasture, the care for the raising of the cattle?
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Whom did you appoint his master who shall put to flight Fury together with the
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wicked?"
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As Righteousness, reply was made, "No companion is there for the ox
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That is free from hatred. Men do not understand
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How the great deal with the lowly.
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Of all beings he is the strongest
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To whose aid I come at his call....
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"With hands outstreched we pray to the Lord,
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We two, my soul and the soul of the mother-cow,
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Urging the Wise One to command that no harm shall come to the honest man,
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To the herdsman, in the midst of the wicked who surround him."
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Then spoke the Wise Lord himself, he who understands the prayers in his soul:
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"No master has been found, no judge according to Righteousness,
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For the breeder and the herdsman has the Creator fashioned you.
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The ordinance of sprinkling the water of the cattle, for the welfare of the ox,
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And the milk for the welfare of men desiring food,
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This has the Wise Lord, the Holy One,
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Fashioned by his decree, in accord with Righteousness."
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--"Whom hast thou, as Good Mind, who may take care of us two for men?"
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"I know but this one, Zarathustra Spitama, the only one who has heard our
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teaching;
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He will make known our purpose, O Wise One, and that of Righteousness.
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Sweetness of speech shall be given to him."
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And then moaned the ox-soul: "That I should have to be content
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With the powerless word of a man without strength for a guardian,
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I who wish for a strong master!
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Will he ever be, he who shall help him with his hands?"
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14. Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 29.1-9
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Pearl of Great Price, Moses 7.48-49: Cf. Pearl of Great Price, Moses 7.27-37,
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p. 458.
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In the days when natural instincts prevailed, men moved quietly and gazed
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steadily. At that time, there were no roads over mountains, nor boats, nor
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bridges over water. All things were produced, each for its own proper sphere.
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Birds and beasts multiplied; trees and shrubs grew up. The former might be led
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by the hand; you could climb up and peep into a raven's nest. For then man
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dwelt with the birds and beasts, and all creation was one. There were no
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distinctions of good and bad men; being all equally without knowledge, their
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virtue could not go astray. Being all equally without evil desires, they were
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in a state of natural integrity, the perfection of human existence.
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15. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 9
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The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
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and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
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and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
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and a little child shall lead them.
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The cow and the bear shall feed;
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their young shall lie down together;
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and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
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The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,
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and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
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They shall not hurt or destroy
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in all My holy mountain;
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for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
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as the waters cover the sea.
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16. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 11.6-9
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Yasna 49.1-9: In this dialogue in heaven, the soul of the ox complains that he
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is oppressed by the wicked. He asks for justice from his creator, but the
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reply comes that there is no one. The soul of the ox and his mate pray again
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to God, who replies that the ox has been put in the power of man. But He also
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decrees laws of reciprocal service by which the oxen and mankind can live in
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harmony. The ox, not satisfied, asks for a righteous protector who will
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practice these laws. He is told he must make do with Zarathustra, who however
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lacks the power to actualize the teaching. When, the ox asks, will that
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teaching prevail, that he may be saved? Zoroastrianism in fact abolished the
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ritual slaughter of oxen which was practiced among the Vedic Aryans. Chuang
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Tzu 9: Cf. Tao Te Ching 80, p. 291; Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda 130, p. 291; Book of
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Ritual 7.1.2, p. 293; Ghost Dance, p. 1117. Isaiah 11.6-9: Cf. Divine
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Principle I.1.3.1, p. 205.
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