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 13, SELF-CULTIVATION AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH
PURITY

       Purity is the counterpart to sincerity.  It is prized and sought
after in every religion as the foundation for proper action.  The
religions of China and Japan emphasize that even before exerting effort, a
person should purify his or her heart.  Passages in this section use the
motifs of the mirror and ablution with water to set forth the idea of
inward purity of mind.  Such ideas of purity are found everywhere, but
purity is particularly central to Shinto, as represented here by a central
chapter from the Kojiki in which the very creation of the gods takes place
through purification.


Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

                        Christianity.  Matthew 5.8


By purity of heart alone is the holy Eternal attained.

              Sikhism.  Adi Granth, Asa-ki-Var, M.1, p. 472


Filth on hands, feet, and body may be washed off with water;
Clothes fouled by dirt may be washed with soap;
The mind fouled by sin and evil
May only be cleansed by devotion to God.

                Sikhism.  Adi Granth, Japuji 20, M.1, p. 4


For everything there is an appropriate way of polishing; the heart's
polishing is the remembrance of God.

                        Islam.  Hadith of Tirmidhi


O my brother!  A pure heart is as a mirror; cleanse it with the burnish of
love and severance from all save God, that the true sun may shine within
it and the eternal morning dawn.

        Baha'i Faith.  The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys, 21


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Matthew 5.8: Cf. Psalm 24.3-6, p. 229; Dhammapada 183, p. 715.  Hadith of
Tirmidhi: Cf. Qur'an 2.222, p. 902.
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Even as a mirror stained by dust
Shines brilliantly when it has been cleansed,
So the embodied one, on seeing the nature of the Self,
Becomes unitary, his end attained, from sorrow freed.

                  Hinduism.  Svetasvatara Upanishad 2.14


All you who come before me, hoping to attain the accomplishment of your
desires, pray with hearts pure from falsehood, clean within and without,
reflecting the truth like a mirror.

                       Shinto.  Oracle of Temmangu


The mind of the perfect man is like a mirror.  It does not lean forward or
backward in its response to things.  It responds to things but conceals
nothing of its own.  Therefore it is able to deal with things without
injury to [its reality].

                          Taoism.  Chuang Tzu 7


Though I had nothing to eat but a red-hot ball of iron, I will never
accept the most savory food offered by a person with an impure mind.

Though I were sitting upon a blazing fire hot enough to melt copper, I
will never go to visit the place of a person with a polluted mind.

                   Shinto.  Oracle of the Kami Hachiman


Should clothing be rendered impure if blood-stained, How reckon pure the
way of those who suck human blood? Saith Nanak: Utter God's Name with thy
tongue in purity of heart-- That alone is true religion; All else is
worldly show and false deeds.

               Sikhism.  Adi Granth, Var Majh, M.1, p. 140


The body is cleansed by water, the internal organ is purified by
truthfulness, the individual soul by sacred learning and austerities, the
intellect by true knowledge.

                      Hinduism.  Laws of Manu 5.109


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Svetasvatara Upanishad 2.14: The mirror of the soul is cleansed through
meditation, pp. 842f.  Oracle of Temmangu: Here makoto is translated
'truth,' but it in fact connotes sincerity and inner coherence.  See
Divine Injunctions, p. 721. On Temmangu, see p. 246n. Chuang Tzu 7: Cf.
Dhammapada 95, p. 230; Garland Sutra 10.  This verse also has to do with
an attitude of detachment; see Diamond Sutra 10, p. 933. Oracle of the
Kami Hachiman: This is one of the Oracles of the Three Shrines, printed on
hanging scrolls and found hung in homes throughout Japan.  Var Majh, M.1:
Cf. Asa-ki-Var, M.1, p. 225.  Laws of Manu 5.109: Cf. Bhagavad Gita
4.37-38, p. 790; Udana 6, p. 858.
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If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel
consecrated and useful to the Master of the house, ready for any good
work.  So shun youthful passions and aim at righteousness, faith, love,
and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord with a pure heart.

                     Christianity.  2 Timothy 2.21-22


Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being;
       therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
       wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Fill me with joy and gladness;
       let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.
Hide thy face from my sins,
       and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
       and put a new and right spirit within me.

                Judaism and Christianity.  Psalms 51.6-10


"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
       remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes.
Cease to do evil, learn to do good.
Seek justice, correct oppression.
Defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
       they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
       they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient
       you shall eat the good of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
       you shall be devoured by the sword;
       for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

                Judaism and Christianity.  Isaiah 1.16-20


       Izanagi said, "I have been to a most unpleasant, a horrible,
unclean land [the underworld].  Therefore I shall purify myself." Arriving
at the plain Ahakihara by the river-mouth of Tachibana in Himuka in
Tsukushi, he purified and exorcised himself....

       After taking off the articles worn on his body, he said, "The
current of the upper stream is a current too swift; the current in the
lower stream is a current too weak."  Then, when he went down and dived
into the middle stream and bathed, there came into existence a deity named
Yasomagatsuhi-no-kami [Numerous Forces of Misfortune]; next,
Omagatsuhi-no-kami [Spirit of Great Calamity].  These two deities came
into existence from the pollution which he took on when he went to that
unclean land.

       Next, in order to rectify these evils, there came into existence
the deity Kannaobi-no-kami [Divine Renewal God]; next, Onaobi-no-kami
[Great Renewal God]; next, Izunome-no-kami.

       Next, when he bathed at the bottom of the water, there came into
existence the deity named Sokotsuwatatsumi-no-kami [Bottom Sea-Spirit
Deity] and Sokotsutsunoo-no-kami [Bottom Spirit Male Lord].  Next, when he
bathed in the middle, there came into existence the deity named
Nakatsuwatatsumi-no-kami [Middle Sea-Spirit Deity] and
Nakatsutsunoo-no-kami [Middle Spirit Male Lord]. When he bathed at the
surface of the water, there came into existence the deity named
Uwatsuwatatsumi-no-kami [Upper Sea-Spirit Deity] and Uwatsutsunoo-no-kami
[Upper Spirit Male Lord]....

       Then when he washed his left eye, there came into existence a deity
named Amaterasu-omi-kami.

       Next, when he washed his right eye, there came into existence a
deity named Tsukiyomi-no-mikoto [the Moon god].

       Next, when he washed his nose, there came into existence the deity
named Susanoo-no-mikoto.

                            Shinto.  Kojiki 11

- - - - - - - - - - - -
2 Timothy 2.21-22: Cf. Hebrews 9.11-14, p. 521; Titus 1.15, p. 725;
Analects 2.2, p. 926. Kojiki 11: Izanagi must purify himself after
visiting the land of the dead. The first fruits of his purification are
deities of misfortune, representing the pollutions which he is casting
off; the next three deities are the great gods of purification who are
entreated in the Shinto rite of shubatsu (purification) to this day.  The
following three pairs of kami are ancestral deities of various clans in
Japan, and the final fruits of purification are the major deities:
Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess and chief Shinto diety, and Susanoo,
Amaterasu's rival and a storm god; see Kojiki 19, p. 626n.  This passage
is a scriptural root for the widespread concern for purification of both
body and mind in Shinto.  Cf. Engishiki 8, p. 522.
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