254 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
254 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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CULTIVATE THE GOOD
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If, continually and over a long time, a person practices good
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deeds, he will form good habits. Good habits cultivated over a long time
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lead to the formation of good character. According to the Parable of the
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Sower, the human spirit is like a field that must be sowed, cultivated,
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and weeded if it is to bear a good crop. People can only develop good
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habits by constant practice; otherwise they will develop bad habits that
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become progressively more difficult to break. Thus good begets good,
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while evil begets evil. We also include several passages which suggest
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that even doing good for bad or base motives can be beneficial by
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encouraging good habits.
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Not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one's mind--this is the
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teaching of the Buddhas.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 183
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Immaturity:
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A watery hole at the foot of a mountain amidst uncultivated growth.
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The superior man by determined good conduct nourishes his virtue.
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Confucianism. I Ching 4: Immaturity
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By the... soul, and Him who perfected it
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and inspired it with conscience of what is wrong for it and right for it:
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He is indeed successful who causes it to grow,
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and he is indeed a failure who stunts it.
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Islam. Qur'an 91.7-10
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By sustained effort, earnestness, discipline, and self-control, let the
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wise man make for himself an island which no flood can overwhelm.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 25
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Dhammapada 183: This may well be the most famous aphorism of the Buddha.
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Train yourself in godliness; for while bodily training is of some value,
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godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present
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life and also for the life to come.
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Christianity. 1 Timothy 4.7-8
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This Atman, resplendent and pure, whom the sinless disciples behold
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residing within the body, is attained by unceasing practice of
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truthfulness, austerity, right knowledge, and continence.
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Hinduism. Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.5
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Birth does not lead to greatness; but cultivation of numerous virtues by a
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man leads him to greatness. It is a pearl that possesses real greatness
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and not the pair of shells in which it is produced.
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Jainism. Vajjalagam 687
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Gain:
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The superior man, seeing what is good, imitates it;
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Seeing what is bad, he corrects it in himself.
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Confucianism. I Ching 42: Gain
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The domain of voidness, yet where one cultivates all types of virtues,
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such is the domain of the bodhisattva.
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Buddhism. Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti 5
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Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with
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knowl- edge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with
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steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with
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brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these
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things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or
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unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks
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these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was
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cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to
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confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; so
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there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom
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of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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Christianity. 2 Peter 1.5-11
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1 Timothy 4.7-8: Paul frequently compares inner training to the physical
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training of an athlete: see 1 Corinthians 9.24-27, p. 745. Cf. Dhammapada
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80, p. 731; Chuang Tzu 19, p. 204. Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.5: Cf. Bhagavad
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Gita 5.24, p. 533. I Ching 42: Cf. Analects 7.3, 7.28, p. 657. Holy
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Teaching of Vimalakirti 5: This and the following passage teach that
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attaining enlighten- ment or receiving salvation are not excuses for
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ceasing to cultivate the good. Mahayana Buddhism teaches that everything
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phenomenal is void (sunya), yet that void is the womb of everything.
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Voidness correctly realized generates wisdom and compassion; these direct
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one to cultivate the good.
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Run to do even a slight precept, and flee from transgression; for precept
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draws precept in its train, and transgression, transgression; for the
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recompense of a precept is a precept, and the recompense of a
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transgression is a transgression.
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Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 4.2
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Make haste in doing good; check your mind from evil; for the mind of him
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who is slow in doing meritorious actions delights in evil.
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Should a person commit evil, he should not do it again and again; he
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should not find pleasure therein: painful is the accumulation of evil.
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Should a person perform a meritorious action, he should do it again and
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again; he should find pleasure therein: blissful is the accumulation of
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merit.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 116-18
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Do not disregard evil, saying, "It will not come nigh unto me": by the
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falling of drops even a water jar is filled; likewise the fool, gathering
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little by little, fills himself with evil.
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Do not disregard merit, saying "It will not come nigh unto me": by the
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falling of drops of water even a water jar is filled; likewise the wise
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man, gathering little by little, fills himself with good.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 121-22
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Black goats must be caught early, before it is dark.
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African Traditional Religions. Igala Proverb (Nigeria)
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If you neglect the Torah, many causes for neglecting it will present
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themselves to you.
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Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 4.12
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Mencius said to Kau Tzu, "A trail through the mountains, if used, becomes
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a path in a short time, but, if unused, becomes blocked by grass in an
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equally short time. Now your heart is blocked by grass."
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Confucianism. Mencius VII.B.21
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If one guards himself against sin three times, the Holy One guards him
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from then on.
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Judaism. Jerusalem Talmud, Kiddushin 1.9
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Engage in Torah and charity even with an ulterior motive, for the habit of
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right doing will lead also to right motivation.
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Judaism. Talmud, Pesahim 50b
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Igala Proverb: This means nip problems in the bud before they escalate.
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The Master said, "The inferior man is not ashamed of unkindness and does
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not shrink from injustice. If no advantage beckons he makes no effort.
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If he is not intimidated he does not improve himself, but if he is made to
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behave correctly in small matters he is careful in large ones. This is
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fortunate for the inferior man. This is what is meant when it is said in
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the I Ching, 'His feet are fastened in the stocks, so that he cannot walk.
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No blame' [Hexagram 21, Biting Through].
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"If good does not accumulate, it is not enough to make a name for a man.
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If evil does not accumulate, it is not enough to destroy a man. Therefore
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the inferior man thinks to himself, Goodness in small things has no value,
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and so neglects it. He thinks, Small sins do no harm, and so does not
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give them up. Thus his sins accumulate until they can no longer be covered
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up, and his guilt becomes so great that it can no longer be wiped out. In
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the I Ching it is said, 'His neck is fastened in the wooden cangue, so
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that his ears are hidden. Misfortune' [Hexagram 21, Shih Ho]."
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Confucianism. I Ching, Great Commentary 2.5.7-8
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The Holy One gives wisdom only to him who has wisdom.
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Judaism. Talmud, Berakot 55a
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For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but
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from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
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Christianity. Bible, Matthew 13.12
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If there is no host on the inside to receive it [the Tao], it will not
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stay; if there is no mark on the outside to guide it, it will not go. If
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what is brought forth from the inside is not received on the outside, then
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the sage will not bring it forth. If what is taken in from the outside is
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not received by a host on the inside, the sage will not entrust it.
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Taoism. Chuang Tzu 14
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"Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell
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along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on
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rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up,
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since it had no depth of soil; and when the sun rose it was scorched, and
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since it had no root it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and
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the thorns grew up and choked it. And other seeds fell into good soil and
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brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold,
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and sixtyfold and a hundredfold....
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"Do you not understand this parable?... The sower sows the word.
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And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they
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hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in
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them. And these in like manner are the ones sown upon rocky ground, who,
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when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no
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root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or
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persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And
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others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word,
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but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for
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other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But
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those that were sown upon good soil are the ones who hear the word and
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accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixty- fold and a hundredfold."
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Christianity. Mark 4.3-20: Parable of the Sower
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Chuang Tzu 14: Cf. Tao Te Ching 41, p. 805 Matthew 13.12: Cf. the Parable
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of the Talents, Matthew 25.14-30, p. 1015. Mark 4.3-20: The individual's
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capacity for truth determines the degree of its reception. Yet that
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capacity is itself something to be cultivated, by clearing away the thorns
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and pulling up the weeds so that the Word of God may bear fruit. Cf. Tao
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Te Ching 41, p. 805.
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