395 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
395 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
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REVERSAL AND RESTORATION
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Salvation as restoration refers to the undoing of bad habits, modes
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of thinking, ways of behaving, social relations, and political systems
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which have grown corrupt and deviated from the proper way. It is a return
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to the origin, in order to restore the original way of life according to
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the true principles and purposes of God. Salvation is pictured as a great
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reversal. God will act to turn the existing social and political order
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upside down; no longer will the wealthy and powerful lord it over the
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honest and god-fearing. Internally, salvation brings with it the insight
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that the way to God is the reverse of the way of the world. Enlightenment
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brings, as it were, a one-hundred-and-eighty degree change in orientation.
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Some passages describe the great reversal as a political image.
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Others describe an inner reversal: dying to self in order to live, seeking
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darkness in order to find the light, and abasing the self in order to
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become prominent. Further passages speak of returning to an original
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harmony or blessedness which was lost: reversal of the Original Sin that
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occured at the human fall or a recovery of the original mind which is by
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nature enlightened. An important expression of this theme of reversion to
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the origin is found in the Buddhist doctrine of Dependent Origination
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(paticcasamuppada), which is not just a law of causality but more properly
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the insight that all causes leading to downfall must be reversed.
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The last will be first, and the first last.
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Christianity. Bible, Matthew 20.16
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Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will
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be exalted.
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Christianity. Bible, Matthew 23.12
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Him who humbles himself, God exalts; him who exalts himself, God humbles;
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from him who searches for greatness, greatness flies; him who flies from
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greatness, greatness searches out: with him who is importunate with
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circumstances, circumstance is importunate; by him who gives way to
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circumstance, circumstance stands.
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Judaism. Talmud, Erubin 13b
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The way of Heaven,
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Is it not like stretching a bow?
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What is high up is pressed down,
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What is low down is lifted up;
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What has surplus is reduced,
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What is deficient is supplemented.
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The way of Heaven,
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It reduces those who have surpluses,
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To supplement those who are deficient.
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The way of man is just not so:
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It reduces those who are deficient,
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To offer to those who have surpluses.
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Who can offer his surpluses to the world?
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Only a person of Tao.
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Taoism. Tao Te Ching 77
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The bows of the mighty are broken,
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but the feeble gird on strength.
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Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
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but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
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The barren has borne seven,
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but she who has many children is forlorn.
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The Lord kills and brings to life;
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he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
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The Lord makes poor and and makes rich;
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he brings low, he also exalts.
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He raises up the poor from the dust;
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he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
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to make them sit with princes
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and inherit a seat of honor.
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For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
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and on them he has set the world.
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Matthew 23.12: Cf. Luke 18.10-14, p. 902; Isaiah 2.12-17, p. 410; Proverbs
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16.18, p. 408; Matthew 5.5, p. 911; Philippians 2.6-11, p. 535. Erubin
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13b: Cf. Isaiah 2.12-17, p. 410; Hosea 6.1-2, p. 525. Tao Te Ching 77:
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Cf. Tao Te Ching 56, p. 840.
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He will guard the feet of his faithful ones;
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but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
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for not by might shall a man prevail.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, 1 Samuel 2.4-9
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Whoever is proud of his royal authority
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falls into hell, becomes a dog.
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Whoever fancies himself for his beauty
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takes birth as a filthy worm.
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Whoever proclaims his meritorious deeds
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whirls in transmigration, fallen into numerous births.
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Whoever is proud of wealth and estates
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is thoughtless, blind, senseless.
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But whoever in whose heart He, in His grace, lodges humility
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finds, says Nanak, liberation in this life,
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bliss in the hereafter.
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Whoever is proud of his wealth,
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Know not even a blade of grass shall accompany him.
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Whoever pins his confidence on large hoardes and servants
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is destroyed in an instant.
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Whoever reckons himself powerful over all
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is reduced in an instant to ashes.
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Whoever in his pride reckons none as his equal
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In the end treated with ignominy by the Master of Law.
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Whoever by the Master's grace has his pride anulled,
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Says Nanak, finds acceptance at the Divine Portal.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 12, M.5, p. 278
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Sentient beings wish to return to their origin where their nature will be in
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perfect unity.
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Buddhism. Surangama Sutra
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Always to know the standard is called profound and secret virtue.
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Virtue becomes deep and far reaching,
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And with it all things return to their original natural state.
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Then complete harmony will be reached.
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Taoism. Tao Te Ching 65
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1 Samuel 2.4-9: This is the Song of Hannah. A similar song is sung by
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Mary--the Magnificat--in Luke 1.47-55. Cf. Pesahim 50a, p. 355; Isaiah
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2.12-17, p. 410. Tao Te Ching 65: Cf. Tao Te Ching 16, p. 840; Chuang Tzu
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12, p. 589.
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Confucius said, "To subdue one's self and return to propriety, is perfect
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virtue. If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety,
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all under heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him."
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Confucianism. Analects 12.1.1
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For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the
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dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
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Christianity. Bible, 1 Corinthians 15.21-22
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Why are idolators lustful? Because they did not stand at Mount Sinai.
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For when the serpent came upon Eve he injected lust into her; as for the
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Israelites who stood at Mount Sinai, their lustfulness departed; but as
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for the idolators who did not stand at Mount Sinai, their lustfulness did
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not depart.
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Judaism. Talmud, Shabbat 145b-146a
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To save a sick man is to restore him to the status he had before the
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sickness occurred. To save a drowning man is to restore him to the state
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he was in before he began to drown. Likewise, to save a man fallen into
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sin means to restore him to the original sinless position which he enjoyed
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in the beginning. Therefore, God's providence of salvation is the
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providence of restoration.
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Unification Church. Divine Principle I.3.2.1
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Just as if, brethren, a man faring through the forest, through the great
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wood should see an ancient path, and ancient road traversed by men of
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former days... And that man, brethren, should bring word to the prince,
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"Pardon, Lord, know this. I have seen as I fared through the forest,
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through the great wood, an ancient path, an ancient road traversed by men
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of former days. I have been along it, and going along it I have seen an
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ancient city, an ancient prince's domain, wherein dwelt men of former
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days, having gardens, groves, pools, foundations of walls, a goodly spot.
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Lord, restore that city." And, brethren, the prince or his minister
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should restore that city. That city should thereafter become prosperous
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and flourishing, populous, teeming with folk, grown and thriving. Even so
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have I, brethren, seen an ancient Path, an ancient road traversed by the
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rightly enlightened ones of former times.
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Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya ii.106
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Analects 12.1.1: On the human being's original state as one of propriety,
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see Book of Rites 38.18, p. 215; Doctrine of the Mean 1.4-5, pp. 228f.;
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Mencius II.A.6, p. 216. 1 Corinthians 15.21-22: Cf. Revelation 1.18, p.
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648; also Romans 5.12-19. This and the following two passages describe
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salvation as a reversal of the primordial Human Fall. Paul is arguing
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from the Jewish doctrine that the Human Fall brought death into the world;
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cf. Genesis Rabbah 8.11, p. 427; 10.4, p. 1113; Wisdom of Solomon 2.23-24,
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p. 427. Shabbat 145b-146a: The Israelites who stood at Mount Sinai are
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understood to include all Jews whenever and wherever they live. On lust
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as the infirmity of soul brought on through the Fall, see Genesis Rabbah
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18.6, p. 428; 10.4, p. 1113. Divine Principle I.3.2.1: Restoration is
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through "indemnity," which means to lay conditions of faith, obedience,
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and sacrifice, thereby reversing Adam's unbelief, rebellion, and selfish
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heart at the time of the Fall; see Sun Myung Moon, 9-11-72, p. 772.
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Restoration also means to make reparations for the sins of the individual,
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family, nation, and so on, that have accrued through the course of
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history.
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If you wish to untie a knot, you must first understand how it was tied.
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Buddhism. Surangama Sutra
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I will teach you Dhamma: If this is, that comes to be; from the arising of
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this, that arises; if this is not, that does not come to be; from the
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stopping of this, that is stopped.
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Buddhism. Majjhima Nikaya ii.32
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The world, O Kaccana, is for the most part bound up in a seeking,
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attach- ment, and proclivity, but a monk does not sympathize with this
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seeking and attachment, nor with the mental affirmation, proclivity, and
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prejudice which affirms an Ego. He does not doubt or question that it is
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only evil that springs into existence, and only evil that ceases from
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existence, and his conviction of this fact is dependent on no one besides
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himself. This, O Kaccana, is what constitutes Right Belief.
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That things have being, O Kaccana, constitutes one extreme of
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doctrine; that things have no being is the other extreme. These extremes
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have been avoided by the Tathagata, and it is a Middle doctrine he
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teaches,
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On ignorance depends karma;
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On karma depends consciousness;
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On consciousness depends name and form;
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On name and form depend the six organs of sense;
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On the six organs of sense depends contact;
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On contact depends sensation;
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On sensation depends desire;
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On desire depends attachment;
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On attachment depends existence;
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On existence depends birth;
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On birth depend old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, misery,
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grief, and despair. Thus does this entire aggregation of misery arise.
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But on the complete fading out and cessation of ignorance ceases
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karma;
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On the cessation of karma ceases consciousness;
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On the cessation of consciousness ceases name and form;
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On the cessation of name and form cease the six organs of sense;
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On the cessation of the six organs of sense ceases contact;
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On the cessation of contact ceases sensation;
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On the cessation of sensation ceases desire;
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On the cessation of desire ceases attachment;
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On the cessation of attachment ceases existence;
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On the cessation of existence ceases birth;
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On the cessation of birth cease old age and death, sorrow,
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lamentation, misery, grief, and despair. Thus does this entire
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aggregation of misery cease.
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Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya xxii.90
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Samyutta Nikaya ii.106: Cf. Lankavatara Sutra, p. 155. Majjhima Nikaya
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ii.32: This is a short formula for the doctrine of Dependent Origination
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(Pali paticcasamuppada. A more complete formulation follows.
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For whoever would save his life will lose it,
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and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
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Christianity. Bible, Matthew 16.25
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The sage awakes to light in the night of all creatures. That which the
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world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 2.69
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The Way out into the light often looks dark,
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The way that goes ahead often looks as if it went back.
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The way that is least hilly often looks as if it went up and down,
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The virtue that is really loftiest looks like an abyss,
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What is sheerest white looks sullied.
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Taoism. Tao Te Ching 41
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Sights, sounds, tastes, odors, things touched and objects of mind are,
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without exception, pleasing, delightful, and charming--so long as one can
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say "They are";
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These are considered a source of happiness by the world with its gods--and
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when they cease, this is by them considered suffering.
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The cessation of phenomenal existence is seen as a source of happiness by
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us ariyans--this insight of those who can see is the reverse of that of
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the whole world:
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What others say is a source of happiness, that, we say, is suffering; what
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others say is suffering, that, we know, as a source of happiness. Behold
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this doctrine, hard to understand, wherein the ignorant are bewildered.
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Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya iv.127-28
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Samyutta Nikaya xxii.90: This enumerates all twelve links in the chain of
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Dependent Origination, first forwards to show the origin of ill, then
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back- wards to show its cessation. 'Right Belief' is the first step in
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the Noble Eightfold Path (see pp. 170f.), namely to understand the Four
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Noble Truths, of which Dependent Origination is a more detailed
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explanation. Cf. Buddhacarita 14, pp. 611-12. Matthew 16.25: Cf. Mark
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8.34-36, p. 897; John 12.24-25, p. 897; Hadith of Muslim, p. 878;
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Philippians 2.6-11, p. 616; Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah, Arabic 7, p. 897.
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Tao Te Ching 41: Note the pun on the way out, which is the Way (Tao).
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Bhagavad Gita 2.69: Cf. Samanasuttam 135-36, p. 912.
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To yield is to to be preserved whole.
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To be bent is to become straight
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To be empty is to be full.
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To be worn out is to be renewed.
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To have little is to possess.
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To have plenty is to be perplexed.
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Therefore the sage embraces the One
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And becomes the model of the world.
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He does not show himself; therefore he is luminous.
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He does not justify himself; therefore he becomes prominent.
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He does not boast of himself; therefore he is given credit.
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He does not brag; therefore he can endure for long.
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It is precisely because he does not compete that the world cannot compete with
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him.
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Is the ancient saying, "To yield is to be preserved whole" empty words?
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Truly he will be preserved, and all will come to him.
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Taoism. Tao Te Ching 22
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"Blessed One, what is meant by this term Nirvana?" Replied the Buddha,
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"When the self-nature and the habit-energy of all the
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sense-discriminations, includ- ing ego (alaya), intellect (manas), and the
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faculty of judgment (manovijnana), from which issue the habit-energy of
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wrong speculations--when all these go through a revulsion, I and all the
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Buddhas declare that there is Nirvana. The way and the self-nature of
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this Nirvana is emptiness, which is the state of reality."
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Buddhism. Lankavatara Sutra 38
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Tao Te Ching 22: Cf. Tao Te Ching 28, pp. 912f.; 48, p. 898; I Ching,
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Great Commentary 2.5.2-3, p. 177; Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah, Arabic 7,
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p. 897. Lankavatara Sutra 38: This 'revulsion,' turning all previous ways
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of thinking upside-down, is the sudden enlightenment of the Zen school.
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For comparable Theravada passages, see Udana 49, p. 535; Anguttara Nikaya
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v.322, p. 552.
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