352 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
352 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
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INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY
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Responsibility is central to what it means to be human. Other
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creatures have life, consciousness, intelligence, and even some limited
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ability at language; but only human beings are responsible to choose their
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manner of life and hence their destiny. All the religions of the world
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emphasize, in one way or another, individual responsibility in matters of
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faith and practice.
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However, the definition and limits of individual responsibility are
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discerned differently by the various religions. Theravada Buddhism,
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Jainism, and nontheistic Hinduism regard the journey on the path to
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liberation as entirely the responsibility of the individual. Each person
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is "a lamp unto himself"; each works out his own salvation alone and by
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himself. In several of the passages from Buddhism and Islam given here,
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there is explicit rejection of reliance upon a savior from without, and
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both Buddha and Muhammad reject characterization of themselves as saviors.
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On the other hand, in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, individual
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responsibility is given in the context of prevenient grace; as a person
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works out his own salvation, at the same time God is at work within.
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Salvation is offered as a gift, and it is our responsibility to receive it
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and not reject it. These viewpoints, by which God and human beings are
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jointly responsible for salvation, are covered in the following section on
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Synergy.
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A person's destiny is arguably bound by God's predestination, past
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karma, or the burden of inherited sin. But several texts in this section
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reject the notion that such conditions impinge in any way on one's
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individual respon- sibility. They argue against a fatalistic attitude
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born of the belief that one's life is predestined. They also repudiate
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any illusion that the results of an individual's evil behavior can be
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mitigated by rank or family connections. Regardless of the conditions by
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which one person may be afflicted and another favored, every person is a
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responsible agent who will be called to account for his own deeds.
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However, note that according to the Hindu and Jain doctrines of karma, the
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same responsibile "self" has existed, performing actions, through many
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lifetimes; hence certain Hindu and Jain passages interpret such individual
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responsibility to include the determination of karma.
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Individual responsibility means an attitude of self-criticism. We
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should not blame others for our own difficulties, but rather look for the
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cause within ourselves. This is an especially prominent theme in Chinese
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religion, which makes self-rectification the basis for all ethical and
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political life.
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"And now, brethren, I take my leave of you. All the constituents of being
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are transitory. Work out your salvation with diligence." This was the
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last word of the Tathagata.
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Buddhism. Digha Nikaya ii.155-56, Mahaparinibbana Suttanta
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Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
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Christianity. Philippians 2.12
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In fear and trembling,
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With caution and care,
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As though on the brink of a chasm,
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As though treading thin ice.
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Confucianism. Analects 8.3
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O ye who believe! You have charge over your own souls.
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Islam. Qur'an 5.105
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Philippians 2.12: But see the following verse, Philippians 2.13, p. 687,
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which acknowledges the accompanying divine grace. Individual
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responsibility is emphasized strongly by the Latter-day Saints; see Pearl
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of Great Price, Moses 4.1-4, p. 440. Analects 8.3: This is a quotation
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from Book of Songs, Ode 195. Qur'an 5.105: Cf. Qur'an 14.22, p. 443;
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33.72, p. 311.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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I have heard and realized that bondage and salvation are both within
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yourself.
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Jainism. Acarangasutra 5.36
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If I am not for myself who is for me? and when I am for myself what am I?
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and if not now, when?
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Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 1.14
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Not by travelling to the end of the world can one accomplish the end of
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ill. It is in this fathom-long carcass, friend, with its impressions and
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its ideas that, I declare, lies the world, and the cause of the world, and
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the cessation of the world, and the course of action that leads to the
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cessation of the world.
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Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya i.62
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Single is each being born; single it dies; single it enjoys the reward of
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its virtue; single it suffers the punishment of its sin.
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Hinduism. Laws of Manu 4.240
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The soul indulges in actions, bears fruits, takes birth, dies and
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transmigrates, all in utter solitariness. I have always been solitary; I
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belong to no one else; I behold no one to whom I can say I belong; I
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behold no one whom I can designate as mine.
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Jainism. Acarangasutra 4.32
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By self do you censure yourself. By self do you examine yourself.
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Self-guarded and mindful, O bhikkhu, you will live happily.
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Self, indeed, is the protector of self. Self, indeed, is one's refuge.
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Control, therefore, your own self as a merchant controls a noble steed.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 379-80
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So, Ananda, you must be lamps unto yourselves. Rely on yourselves, and do
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not rely on external help. Hold firm to the truth as a lamp and a refuge,
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and do not look for refuge to anything besides yourselves. A brother
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becomes his own lamp and refuge by continually looking on his body,
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feelings, perceptions, moods, and ideas in such a manner that he conquers
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the cravings and depressions of ordinary men and is always strenuous,
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self-possessed, and collected in mind. Whoever among my disciples does
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this, either now or when I am dead, if he is anxious to learn, will reach
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the summit....
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Buddhism. Digha Nikaya ii.99-100, Mahaparinibbana Suttanta
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Samyutta Nikaya i.62: Cf. Sutta Nipata 919-20, p. 553. Acarangasutra
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4.32: For more of this passage, see p. 956. Cf. Samayika Patha, p. 844.
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Dhammapada 379-80: Cf. Dhammapada 25, p. 715.
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Man should discover his own reality
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and not thwart himself.
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For he has his self as his only friend,
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or as his only enemy.
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A person has the self as friend
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when he has conquered himself,
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But if he rejects his own reality,
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the self will war against him.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 6.5-6
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Everything is in the hand of Heaven except the fear of Heaven.
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Judaism. Talmud, Berakot 33b
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Human responsibility is the absolute law of God, and unless you fulfill it
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you have no way to get into heaven.
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Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 12-21-86
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Whoever works righteousness benefits his own soul; whoever works evil, it
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is against his own soul: Your Lord is never unjust to His servants.
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Islam. Qur'an 41.46
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Oneself, indeed, is one's savior, for what other savior could there be?
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With oneself well controlled one obtains a savior difficult to find.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 160
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Hoen of Tozan said, "Even Shakya[muni] and Maitreya are servants of
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another. I want to ask you, who is he?"
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Buddhism. Mumonkan 45
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And We have sent you to men a Messenger; God suffices for a witness.
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Whosoever obeys the Messenger, thereby obeys God; and whosoever turns his
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back--We have not sent you to be a watcher over them.
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Islam. Qur'an 4.79-80
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"Please, Man of Shakya," said Dhotaka, "free me from confusion!" "It is
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not in my practice to free anyone from confusion," said the Buddha. "When
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you have understood the most valuable teachings, then you yourself will
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cross the ocean."
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Buddhism. Sutta Nipata 1063-64
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Berakot 33b: Cf. Sanhedrin 105a, p. 744. The rabbis have high regard for
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freedom of the human will, and believe that it is beyond the control even
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of God Almighty. Qur'an 4.79-80: Cf. Qur'an 24.54, p. 633. Sutta Nipata
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1063-64: The truth is not to be defined or handed out on a platter; it is
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to be entered through the enlightenment experience. To grasp the truth
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intuitively is to arrive. For a Jain version of this idea, see
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Upadesamala 448-49, p. 633.
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The Master said, "What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the mean
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man seeks is in others."
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Confucianism. Analects 15.20
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Confucius remarked, "In the practice of archery we have something
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resembling the principle in a moral man's life. When the archer misses
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the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his
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failure within himself."
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Confucianism. Doctrine of the Mean 14
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An individual natively desires to be cause. He tries not to become a bad
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effect.
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You try to help people and people try to help you because you and they
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want to be cause. When something bad happens, neither one wishes to be
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cause.
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You want to be an effect. Then you find the effect bad. You try not be
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an effect. And then you blame something or somebody.
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Scientology. Handbook for Preclears
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Or has he not been told of what is in the scrolls of Moses, and of
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Abraham, he who paid his debt in full? That no soul laden bears the load
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of another, and that a man shall have to his account only as he has
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labored, and that his laboring shall surely be seen, Then he shall be
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recompensed for it with the fullest recompense, and that the final end is
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unto your Lord.
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Islam. Qur'an 53.36-42
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The word of the Lord came to me again, "What do you mean by
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repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers have
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eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? As I live,
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says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel.
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Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of
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the son is mine, the soul that sins shall die...."
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Yet you say, "Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the
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father?" When the son has done what is lawful and right, and has been
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careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul that
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sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father,
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nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of
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the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked
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shall be upon himself.... Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel,
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every one according to his ways, says the Lord God.
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Judaism and Christianity. Ezekiel 18
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Analects 15.20: Cf. Analects 12.21, p. 733. Doctrine of the Mean 14: Cf.
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Matthew 7.1-5, p. 996; Analects 12.16, p. 997; Romans 14.10-12, p. 997.
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Handbook for Preclears: To 'be cause' means to take responsibility for
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one's actions and for all events that impinge on oneself. To reach the
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state of Clear means to fully be a cause, never blaming others when things
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go poorly but always taking responsibility oneself. The way to be a cause
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in the way of giving.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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There are certain recluses and brahmins who teach thus: Whatsoever
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weal or woe or neutral feeling is experienced, all is due to some previous
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action... Then I say to them, "So then, owing to a previous action, men
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will become murderers, thieves, unchaste, liars, slanderers, abusive,
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babblers, covetous, malicious, and perverse in view. Those who fall back
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on a former deed as the essential reason [for their behavior] there is
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neither desire nor effort nor necessity to do this deed or abstain from
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that deed. So then, the necessity for action or inaction not being found
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to exist in truth and verity, the term 'recluse' cannot reasonably be
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applied to yourselves, since you live in a state of bewilderment with
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faculties unguarded."
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Others teach thus: Whatsoever weal or woe or neutral feeling is
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experienced, all that is due to the creation [predestination] of a Supreme
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Deity.... Then I say to them, "So then, owing to the creation of a Supreme
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Deity, men will become murderers, thieves, unchaste... perverse in view.
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Those who fall back on the creation of a Supreme Deity as the essential
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reason [for their behavior] there is neither desire nor effort nor
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necessity to do this deed or abstain from that deed. So then, the
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necessity for action or inaction not being found to exist in truth and
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verity, the term 'recluse' cannot reasonably be applied to yourselves,
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since you live in a state of bewilderment with faculties unguarded."
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Buddhism. Anguttara Nikaya i.173-74
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The ancients who wished to manifest their clear character to the world
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would first bring order to their states. Those who wished to bring order
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to their states would first regulate their families. Those who wished to
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regulate their families would first cultivate their personal lives. Those
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who wished to cultivate their personal lives would first rectify their
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minds. Those who wished to rectify their minds would first make their
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wills sincere. Those who wished to make their wills sincere would first
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extend their knowledge. The extension of knowledge consists in the
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investigation of things. When things are investigated, knowledge is
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extended; when knowledge is extended, the will becomes sincere; when the
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will is sincere, the mind is rectified; when the mind is rectified, the
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personal life is cultivated; when the personal life is cultivated, the
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family will be regulated; when the family is regulated, the state will be
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in order; when the state is in order, there will be peace throughout the
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world. From the Son of Heaven down to the common people, all must regard
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cultivation of the personal life as the root or foundation. There is
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never a case when the root is in disorder and yet the branches are in
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order.
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Confucianism. The Great Learning
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Ezekiel 18: This important passage was uttered by the prophet Ezekiel to
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counter the fatalism which was prevalent among the Jews who had been
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exiled to Babylon and who blamed their lot on the sins of previous
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generations. In denying a determining role for inherited sin and
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stressing individual responsibility, he restored a measure of their
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faith and self-respect. In the Christian era, this passage has been a
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basis for Jewish arguments against the Christian doctrines of Original Sin
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and the vicarious Atonement of Christ. Many Jews argue that those
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doctrines compromise strict individual accountability for sin.
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Anguttara Nikaya i.173-74: Here Buddha argues against fatalism based on
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belief in karma or predestination. One's accumulated karma or the
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predestination of God are only minor factors, conditioning but not
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determining one's life. There is still always room to apply oneself, gain
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merit, and advance on the path towards the ultimate goal. Cf. the Simile
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of the One-Eyed Turtle, amyutta Nikaya v.455, p. 340, in which the Buddha
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argues against the easy belief that through reincarnation we will have
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many and frequent chances at life in this world. Great Learning: Cf.
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Chuang Tzu 5, p. 553; Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 43, p.
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407.
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