Origin The Challenge to the Global Community of Religions
"In this new ecological age of developing global community and interfaith dialogue, the world religions face what is perhaps the greatest challenge that they have ever encountered. Each is inspired by a unique vision of the divine and has a distinct cultural identity. At the same time, each perceives the divine as the source of unity and peace. The challenge is to preserve their religious and cultural uniqueness without letting it operate as a cause of narrow and divisive sectarianism that contradicts the vision of unity and peace. It is a question of whether the healing light of religious vision will overcome the social and ideological issues that underline much of the conflict between religions." ~ Dr. Steven C. Rockefeller, Middlebury College, Spirit and Nature, p. 169
CONTENTS | INVOCATION | INTRODUCTION | PROLOGUE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21
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INVOCATION

Synopsis
Title Page
This Archive
Advisors and Contributors
Foreword by Ninian Smart
How to obtain a printed (hardbound/paperback) version

PROLOGUE:
MANY PATHS TO ONE GOAL

The Truth in Many Paths
Tolerance and Respect for All Believers

INTRODUCTION
The Purpose of World Scripture
The Organization of World Scripture
The World's Religions and Their Scriptures
Acknowledgements
Notes

ESSAY:
World Scripture and Education for Peace

PART ONE:
Ultimate Reality and the Purpose of Human Existence

CHAPTER 1: Ultimate Reality
Traces of God's Existence
The One
Formless, Emptiness, Mystery
Transcendent, All-Pervasive Reality
Sovereign and Omnipotent
Omniscient
Immanent and Near at Hand
Eternal -- in a World of Transience
The Creator
Goodness and Love
Divine Father and Mother

CHAPTER 2: Divine Law, Truth, and Cosmic Principle
Eternal Truth
Moral Law
The Decalogue
The Golden Rule
Polarity, Relationality, and Interdependence
Cosmic Justice

CHAPTER 3: The Purpose of Life for the Individual
Joy and Happiness
For God's Good Pleasure
Image of God and Temple of God
Inborn Goodness and Conscience
Original Mind, No Mind
Perfection
True Love

CHAPTER 4: The Purpose of Life in the Family and in Society
The Family
Parents and Children
Husband and Wife
Friendship
Unity and Community
Equality
The People of God
The Ideal Society

CHAPTER 5: The Purpose of Life in the Natural World
The Sanctity of Nature
Reverence for Life
The Microcosm
Dominion
The Lord of Spirits
Creation Rejoices

CHAPTER 6: Life Beyond Death and the Spiritual World
The Spiritual World: Mystery, Multiplicity, Analogy, Harmony
The Immortal Soul
Prepare Now for Eternity
Passage Beyond
Heaven
Hell
Spiritual Benefactors
Spiritual Error and the Occult

PART TWO:
Evil, Sin, and the Human Fall

CHAPTER 7: The Human Condition
Ill
The War Within
Ignorance
Idolatry
Pride and Egotism
Selfish Desire, Lust, and Greed

CHAPTER 8: Fall and Deviation
The Human Fall
Demonic Powers
Heresy
Degraded Human Nature
God's Grief

CHAPTER 9: The Major Sins
Good and Evil
Adultery
Murder
Theft
Lying and Deceit
Hypocrisy
Slander, Gossip and Foul Speech
Addiction

PART THREE:
Salvation and the Savior

CHAPTER 10: Salvation-Liberation-Enlightenment
Grace
Universal Salvation
Atonement and Forgiveness of Sins
Healing
Liberation
Enlightenment
Crossing the Waters
Reversal and Restoration
Peace
Help and Deliverance
The Refining Fire
Born Anew
Eternal Life
The Unitive State

CHAPTER 11: The Founder
Call and Awakening
Rejected by the World
The Victor
He Who Subjugates Satan
The Revealer of Truth
The Man for Others
The Living Presence
The Person and Character of the Founder: Divine Person
Human Person
The Succession of Founders and Messengers

PART FOUR:
The Religious Life

CHAPTER 12: Responsibility and Predestination
Decision
Individual Responsibility
Synergy
Predestination
Karma and Inherited Sin
Duty

CHAPTER 13: Self-cultivation and Spiritual Growth
Spiritual Growth
Cultivate the Good
Sincerity
Purity
Self-Control
Preparing the Start
Vigilance
Perseverance and Patience

CHAPTER 14: Faith
Faith
Devotion and Praise
Fear, Submission, and Obedience
Anxiety
Gratitude
Argument with God

CHAPTER 15: Wisdom
The Search for Knowledge
Scripture and Tradition
Poverty of Conceptual Learning
Scripture Teaches in Parables
Learning and Practice
Teacher and Disciple
New Wine and Old Wineskins

CHAPTER 16: Worship
Prayer
The Name of God
Meditation
Ritual
Beyond Ritual

CHAPTER 17: Offering and Sacrifice
Offering
Donations
Self-Sacrifice
Persecution and Martyrdom

CHAPTER 18: Self-Denial and Renunciation
Self-denial and No-self
Repentance, Confession, and Restitution
Humility
Restraint and Moderation
Control Anger
Subdue Desires and Passions
Detachment from the Senses
Renunciation of Wealth
Asceticism and Monasticism
Separation from Family
Separation from the World

CHAPTER 19: Live for Others
Loving-kindness
Serving Others
Sacrificial Love
Giving and Receiving
Charity and Hospitality
Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Judge Not
Love Your Enemy
Turn the Other Cheek
Good Deeds
Labor and Industry
Honesty and Expediency
Witness

PART FIVE:
Providence, Society, and the Kingdom of Heaven

CHAPTER 20: Good Government and the Welfare of Society
The Pillars of Society
The Prophet and Reformer
War Against Evil
Respect for Legitimate Governments
Government by Divine Law
Consideration for the People
Leadership by Example and Honest Government
Judgments and Punishments
Providence and the Mandate of Heaven

CHAPTER 21: Eschatology and Messianic Hope
Tribulation
The Last Judgment
The Messiah
The Kingdom of Heaven

Interspirit Network for global illumination
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CHAPTER 10, SALVATION - LIBERATION - ENLIGHTNMENT
REVERSAL AND RESTORATION

       Salvation as restoration refers to the undoing of bad habits, modes
of thinking, ways of behaving, social relations, and political systems
which have grown corrupt and deviated from the proper way.  It is a return
to the origin, in order to restore the original way of life according to
the true principles and purposes of God.  Salvation is pictured as a great
reversal.  God will act to turn the existing social and political order
upside down; no longer will the wealthy and powerful lord it over the
honest and god-fearing.  Internally, salvation brings with it the insight
that the way to God is the reverse of the way of the world.  Enlightenment
brings, as it were, a one-hundred-and-eighty degree change in orientation.

       Some passages describe the great reversal as a political image.
Others describe an inner reversal: dying to self in order to live, seeking
darkness in order to find the light, and abasing the self in order to
become prominent. Further passages speak of returning to an original
harmony or blessedness which was lost: reversal of the Original Sin that
occured at the human fall or a recovery of the original mind which is by
nature enlightened.  An important expression of this theme of reversion to
the origin is found in the Buddhist doctrine of Dependent Origination
(paticcasamuppada), which is not just a law of causality but more properly
the insight that all causes leading to downfall must be reversed.


The last will be first, and the first last.

                   Christianity.  Bible, Matthew 20.16


Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will
be exalted.

                   Christianity.  Bible, Matthew 23.12


Him who humbles himself, God exalts; him who exalts himself, God humbles;
from him who searches for greatness, greatness flies; him who flies from
greatness, greatness searches out: with him who is importunate with
circumstances, circumstance is importunate; by him who gives way to
circumstance, circumstance stands.

                       Judaism.  Talmud, Erubin 13b


The way of Heaven,
Is it not like stretching a bow?
What is high up is pressed down,
What is low down is lifted up;
What has surplus is reduced,
What is deficient is supplemented.

The way of Heaven,
It reduces those who have surpluses,
To supplement those who are deficient.
The way of man is just not so:
It reduces those who are deficient,
To offer to those who have surpluses.
Who can offer his surpluses to the world?
Only a person of Tao.

                         Taoism.  Tao Te Ching 77


The bows of the mighty are broken,
  but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
  but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has borne seven,
  but she who has many children is forlorn.
The Lord kills and brings to life;
  he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Lord makes poor and and makes rich;
  he brings low, he also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
  he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
  and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
  and on them he has set the world.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
Matthew 23.12: Cf. Luke 18.10-14, p. 902; Isaiah 2.12-17, p. 410; Proverbs
16.18, p. 408; Matthew 5.5, p. 911; Philippians 2.6-11, p. 535.  Erubin
13b: Cf. Isaiah 2.12-17, p. 410; Hosea 6.1-2, p. 525.  Tao Te Ching 77:
Cf. Tao Te Ching 56, p. 840.
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He will guard the feet of his faithful ones;
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
for not by might shall a man prevail.

             Judaism and Christianity.  Bible, 1 Samuel 2.4-9


Whoever is proud of his royal authority
falls into hell, becomes a dog.
Whoever fancies himself for his beauty
takes birth as a filthy worm.
Whoever proclaims his meritorious deeds
whirls in transmigration, fallen into numerous births.
Whoever is proud of wealth and estates
is thoughtless, blind, senseless.
But whoever in whose heart He, in His grace, lodges humility
finds, says Nanak, liberation in this life,
bliss in the hereafter.

Whoever is proud of his wealth,
Know not even a blade of grass shall accompany him.
Whoever pins his confidence on large hoardes and servants
is destroyed in an instant.
Whoever reckons himself powerful over all
is reduced in an instant to ashes.
Whoever in his pride reckons none as his equal
In the end treated with ignominy by the Master of Law.
Whoever by the Master's grace has his pride anulled,
Says Nanak, finds acceptance at the Divine Portal.

           Sikhism.  Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 12, M.5, p. 278


Sentient beings wish to return to their origin where their nature will be in
perfect unity.

                        Buddhism.  Surangama Sutra


Always to know the standard is called profound and secret virtue.
Virtue becomes deep and far reaching,
And with it all things return to their original natural state.
Then complete harmony will be reached.

                         Taoism.  Tao Te Ching 65



- - - - - - - - - - - -
1 Samuel 2.4-9: This is the Song of Hannah.  A similar song is sung by
Mary--the Magnificat--in Luke 1.47-55.  Cf. Pesahim 50a, p. 355; Isaiah
2.12-17, p. 410.  Tao Te Ching 65: Cf. Tao Te Ching 16, p. 840; Chuang Tzu
12, p. 589.
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Confucius said, "To subdue one's self and return to propriety, is perfect
virtue.  If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety,
all under heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him."

                      Confucianism.  Analects 12.1.1


For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the
dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

               Christianity.  Bible, 1 Corinthians 15.21-22


Why are idolators lustful?  Because they did not stand at Mount Sinai.
For when the serpent came upon Eve he injected lust into her; as for the
Israelites who stood at Mount Sinai, their lustfulness departed; but as
for the idolators who did not stand at Mount Sinai, their lustfulness did
not depart.

                   Judaism.  Talmud, Shabbat 145b-146a


To save a sick man is to restore him to the status he had before the
sickness occurred.  To save a drowning man is to restore him to the state
he was in before he began to drown.  Likewise, to save a man fallen into
sin means to restore him to the original sinless position which he enjoyed
in the beginning.  Therefore, God's providence of salvation is the
providence of restoration.

              Unification Church.  Divine Principle I.3.2.1


Just as if, brethren, a man faring through the forest, through the great
wood should see an ancient path, and ancient road traversed by men of
former days...  And that man, brethren, should bring word to the prince,
"Pardon, Lord, know this.  I have seen as I fared through the forest,
through the great wood, an ancient path, an ancient road traversed by men
of former days.  I have been along it, and going along it I have seen an
ancient city, an ancient prince's domain, wherein dwelt men of former
days, having gardens, groves, pools, foundations of walls, a goodly spot.
Lord, restore that city."  And, brethren, the prince or his minister
should restore that city.  That city should thereafter become prosperous
and flourishing, populous, teeming with folk, grown and thriving.  Even so
have I, brethren, seen an ancient Path, an ancient road traversed by the
rightly enlightened ones of former times.

                    Buddhism.  Samyutta Nikaya ii.106


- - - - - - - - - - - -
Analects 12.1.1: On the human being's original state as one of propriety,
see Book of Rites 38.18, p. 215; Doctrine of the Mean 1.4-5, pp. 228f.;
Mencius II.A.6, p. 216.  1 Corinthians 15.21-22: Cf. Revelation 1.18, p.
648; also Romans 5.12-19.  This and the following two passages describe
salvation as a reversal of the primordial Human Fall.  Paul is arguing
from the Jewish doctrine that the Human Fall brought death into the world;
cf. Genesis Rabbah 8.11, p. 427; 10.4, p. 1113; Wisdom of Solomon 2.23-24,
p. 427.   Shabbat 145b-146a: The Israelites who stood at Mount Sinai are
understood to include all Jews whenever and wherever they live.  On lust
as the infirmity of soul brought on through the Fall, see Genesis Rabbah
18.6, p. 428; 10.4, p. 1113. Divine Principle I.3.2.1: Restoration is
through "indemnity," which means to lay conditions of faith, obedience,
and sacrifice, thereby reversing Adam's unbelief, rebellion, and selfish
heart at the time of the Fall; see Sun Myung Moon, 9-11-72, p. 772.
Restoration also means to make reparations for the sins of the individual,
family, nation, and so on, that have accrued through the course of
history.
- - - - - - - - - - - -


If you wish to untie a knot, you must first understand how it was tied.

                        Buddhism.  Surangama Sutra


I will teach you Dhamma: If this is, that comes to be; from the arising of
this, that arises; if this is not, that does not come to be; from the
stopping of this, that is stopped.

                     Buddhism.  Majjhima Nikaya ii.32


       The world, O Kaccana, is for the most part bound up in a seeking,
attach- ment, and proclivity, but a monk does not sympathize with this
seeking and attachment, nor with the mental affirmation, proclivity, and
prejudice which affirms an Ego.  He does not doubt or question that it is
only evil that springs into existence, and only evil that ceases from
existence, and his conviction of this fact is dependent on no one besides
himself.  This, O Kaccana, is what constitutes Right Belief.

       That things have being, O Kaccana, constitutes one extreme of
doctrine; that things have no being is the other extreme.  These extremes
have been avoided by the Tathagata, and it is a Middle doctrine he
teaches,

       On ignorance depends karma;

       On karma depends consciousness;

       On consciousness depends name and form;

       On name and form depend the six organs of sense;

       On the six organs of sense depends contact;

       On contact depends sensation;

       On sensation depends desire;

       On desire depends attachment;

       On attachment depends existence;

       On existence depends birth;

       On birth depend old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, misery,
grief, and despair.  Thus does this entire aggregation of misery arise.

       But on the complete fading out and cessation of ignorance ceases
karma;

       On the cessation of karma ceases consciousness;

       On the cessation of consciousness ceases name and form;

       On the cessation of name and form cease the six organs of sense;

       On the cessation of the six organs of sense ceases contact;

       On the cessation of contact ceases sensation;

       On the cessation of sensation ceases desire;

       On the cessation of desire ceases attachment;

       On the cessation of attachment ceases existence;

       On the cessation of existence ceases birth;

       On the cessation of birth cease old age and death, sorrow,
lamentation, misery, grief, and despair.  Thus does this entire
aggregation of misery cease.

                   Buddhism.  Samyutta Nikaya  xxii.90


- - - - - - - - - - - -
Samyutta Nikaya ii.106: Cf. Lankavatara Sutra, p. 155.  Majjhima Nikaya
ii.32: This is a short formula for the doctrine of Dependent Origination
(Pali paticcasamuppada.  A more complete formulation follows.
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For whoever would save his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

                   Christianity.  Bible, Matthew 16.25


The sage awakes to light in the night of all creatures.  That which the
world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.

                      Hinduism.  Bhagavad Gita 2.69


The Way out into the light often looks dark,
The way that goes ahead often looks as if it went back.
The way that is least hilly often looks as if it went up and down,
The virtue that is really loftiest looks like an abyss,
What is sheerest white looks sullied.

                         Taoism.  Tao Te Ching 41


Sights, sounds, tastes, odors, things touched and objects of mind are,
without exception, pleasing, delightful, and charming--so long as one can
say "They are";

These are considered a source of happiness by the world with its gods--and
when they cease, this is by them considered suffering.

The cessation of phenomenal existence is seen as a source of happiness by
us ariyans--this insight of those who can see is the reverse of that of
the whole world:

What others say is a source of happiness, that, we say, is suffering; what
others say is suffering, that, we know, as a source of happiness.  Behold
this doctrine, hard to understand, wherein the ignorant are bewildered.

                   Buddhism.  Samyutta Nikaya iv.127-28


- - - - - - - - - - - -
Samyutta Nikaya xxii.90: This enumerates all twelve links in the chain of
Dependent Origination, first forwards to show the origin of ill, then
back- wards to show its cessation.  'Right Belief' is the first step in
the Noble Eightfold Path (see pp. 170f.), namely to understand the Four
Noble Truths, of which Dependent Origination is a more detailed
explanation.  Cf. Buddhacarita 14, pp. 611-12.  Matthew 16.25: Cf. Mark
8.34-36, p. 897; John 12.24-25, p. 897; Hadith of Muslim, p. 878;
Philippians 2.6-11, p. 616; Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah, Arabic 7, p. 897.
Tao Te Ching 41: Note the pun on the way out, which is the Way (Tao).
Bhagavad Gita 2.69: Cf. Samanasuttam 135-36, p. 912.
- - - - - - - - - - - -


To yield is to to be preserved whole.
To be bent is to become straight
To be empty is to be full.
To be worn out is to be renewed.
To have little is to possess.
To have plenty is to be perplexed.
Therefore the sage embraces the One
And becomes the model of the world.
He does not show himself; therefore he is luminous.
He does not justify himself; therefore he becomes prominent.
He does not boast of himself; therefore he is given credit.
He does not brag; therefore he can endure for long.
It is precisely because he does not compete that the world cannot compete with
       him.
Is the ancient saying, "To yield is to be preserved whole" empty words?
Truly he will be preserved, and all will come to him.

                         Taoism.  Tao Te Ching 22


"Blessed One, what is meant by this term Nirvana?"  Replied the Buddha,
"When the self-nature and the habit-energy of all the
sense-discriminations, includ- ing ego (alaya), intellect (manas), and the
faculty of judgment (manovijnana), from which issue the habit-energy of
wrong speculations--when all these go through a revulsion, I and all the
Buddhas declare that there is Nirvana.  The way and the self-nature of
this Nirvana is emptiness, which is the state of reality."

                     Buddhism.  Lankavatara Sutra 38


- - - - - - - - - - - -
Tao Te Ching 22: Cf. Tao Te Ching 28, pp. 912f.; 48, p. 898; I Ching,
Great Commentary 2.5.2-3, p. 177; Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah, Arabic 7,
p. 897. Lankavatara Sutra 38: This 'revulsion,' turning all previous ways
of thinking upside-down, is the sudden enlightenment of the Zen school.
For comparable Theravada passages, see Udana 49, p. 535; Anguttara Nikaya
v.322, p. 552.
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