CHAPTER 2, DIVINE LAW, TRUTH, AND COSMIC PRINCIPLE
THE GOLDEN RULE
The Golden Rule or the ethic of reciprocity is found in the
scriptures of nearly every religion. It is often regarded as the most
concise and general principle of ethics. It is a condensation in one
principle of all longer lists of ordinances such as the Decalogue. See also
texts on Loving Kindness, pp. 967-73.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
1.
Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Leviticus
19.18
Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.
2.
Christianity. Bible, Matthew 7.12
Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves
for himself.
3.
Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 13
A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be
treated.
4.
Jainism. Sutrakritanga 1.11.33
Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and
you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence.
5.
Confucianism. Mencius VII.A.4
One should not behave towards others in a way which is disagreeable to
oneself. This is the essence of morality. All other activities are due to
selfish desire.
6.
Hinduism. Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva
113.8
Tsekung asked, "Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct
for life?" Confucius replied, "It is the word shu--reciprocity: Do not do
to others what you do not want them to do to you."
7.
Confucianism. Analects 15.23
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Leviticus 19.18: Quoted by Jesus in Matthew 22.36-40 (below). Mencius
VII.A.4 and Analects 15.23: Cf. Analects 6.28.2, p. 975.
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Comparing oneself to others in such terms as "Just as I am so are they,
just as they are so am I," he should neither kill nor cause others to kill.
8.
Buddhism. Sutta Nipata 705
One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it
on himself to feel how it hurts.
9.
African Traditional Religions. Yoruba
Proverb (Nigeria)
One who you think should be hit is none else but you. One who you think
should be governed is none else but you. One who you think should be
tortured is none else but you. One who you think should be enslaved is
none else but you. One who you think should be killed is none else but
you. A sage is ingenuous and leads his life after comprehending the parity
of the killed and the killer. Therefore, neither does he cause violence to
others nor does he make others do so.
10.
Jainism. Acarangasutra 5.101-2
The Ariyan disciple thus reflects, Here am I, fond of my life, not
wanting to die, fond of pleasure and averse from pain. Suppose someone
should rob me of my life... it would not be a thing pleasing and delightful
to me. If I, in my turn, should rob of his life one fond of his life, not
wanting to die, one fond of pleasure and averse from pain, it would not be
a thing pleasing or delightful to him. For a state that is not pleasant or
delightful to me must also be to him also; and a state that is not pleasing
or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?
As a result of such reflection he himself abstains from taking the
life of creatures and he encourages others so to abstain, and speaks in
praise of so abstaining. 11.
Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya v.353
A certain heathen came to Shammai and said to him, "Make me a proselyte, on
condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot."
Thereupon he repulsed him with the rod which was in his hand. When he went
to Hillel, he said to him, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your
neighbor: that is the whole Torah; all the rest of it is commentary; go and
learn."
12.
Judaism. Talmud, Shabbat 31a
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Sutta Nipata 705: Cf. Dhammapada 129-130, p. 478. Acarangasutra 5.101-2:
Cf. Dhammapada 129-130, p. 478. Samyutta Nikaya v.353: The passage gives
a similar reflection about abstaining from other types of immoral behavior:
theft, adultery, etc. To identify oneself with others is also a corollary
to the Mahayana insight that all reality is interdependent and mutually
related; cf. Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of Life 8.112-16, p. 181;
Majjhima Nikaya i.415, p. 465.
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"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him,
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On
these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."
13.
Christianity. Bible, Matthew 22.36-40
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Matthew 22.36-40: Cf. Deuteronomy 6.4-9, p. 55; Leviticus 19.18, p. 173;
Luke 10.25-37, p. 971; Galatians 6.2, p. 974; Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
5.2.2, p. 972; Sun Myung Moon, 9-30-79, p. 150.
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