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
WS FORUM

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 15, WISDOM
NEW WINE AND OLD WINESKINS

        The wisdom of old age is the fruit of a lifetime of living a moral
life and practicing the discipline of a religious path.  However, the
effort which it takes to realize the fulness of spiritual wisdom should be
undertaken from one's youth.  Strength and adaptability are required, and
once old age has drawn nigh, it becomes too difficult to practice and too
late to change.  Old age is a time to manifest either the wisdom gained as
the fruits of that effort or the decrepitude of a wasted life.


Jesus said to them, "No one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does,
the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will
be destroyed.  But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

"And no one after drinking old wine desires new; for he says, 'The old is
good.'"

                       Christianity.  Luke 5.37-39


Elisha ben Abuya said, "If one learns as a child, what is it like?  Like
ink written on clean paper.  If one learns as an old man, what is it like?
Like ink written on blotted paper."

Rabbi Jose ben Judah said, "He who learns from the young, to what is he
like? To one who eats unripe grapes, or drinks wine from the vat.  And one
who learns from the old, to what is he like?  To one who eats ripe grapes,
or drinks old wine."

Rabbi Meir said, "Look not at the flask, but at what it contains: there
may be a new flask full of old wine, and an old flask that has not even
new wine in it."

                     Judaism.  Mishnah, Abot 4.25-27


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Luke 5.37-39: The first saying speaks to the fact that a new teaching is
more readily learned by the young, whose minds are still open and
impressionable. The old person, being full of concepts and
long-established habits of mind, cannot easily learn new things.
Furthermore, since Jesus' words were challenging to the conventional
wisdom, they could hardly be received by people bound to the traditions of
the past: see Luke 9.60, p. 583; 9.62, p. 742; 14.16-24, p. 674.; Qur'an
43.33-35, p. 673.  The second saying, conversely, praises the wisdom of
the elder who is well-versed in faith, wisdom, and life experience.  Abot
4.25-27: The first two sayings have meanings which correspond to the New
Testament passage above: that the young are better learners and the old
are better teachers.  The third saying, that one cannot judge a book by
its cover, may be a retort by a young teacher to Rabbi Jose's saying.
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You can only coil a fish when it is fresh.

          African Traditional Religions.  Nupe Proverb (Nigeria)


The Master said, "Respect the young.  How do you know that they will not
one day be all that you are now?  But if a man has reached forty or fifty
and nothing has been heard of him, then I grant there is no need to
respect him."

                       Confucianism.  Analects 9.22


At fifteen I set my heart upon learning.  At thirty, I had planted my feet
upon firm ground.  At forty, I no longer suffered from perplexities.  At
fifty, I knew what were the biddings of Heaven.  At sixty, I heard them
with a docile ear.  At seventy, I could follow the dictates of my own
heart for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of right.

                       Confucianism.  Analects 2.4


If the hair has become white, a man does not on that account become old;
though a man may be young, if he is learned the gods look upon him as old.

                      Hinduism.  Laws of Manu 2.136


You cannot prolong your life, therefore be not careless; you are past help
when old age approaches.

                    Jainism.  Uttaradhyayana Sutra 4.1


You have gathered nothing in your youth; how can you find anything in your
old age?

                        Christianity.  Sirach 25.3


The man of little learning grows old like the ox.  His muscles grow but
his wisdom grows not.

                        Buddhism.  Dhammapada 152


He is not thereby an elder merely because his head is gray.  Ripe is he in
age; "old in vain" is he called.  In whom are truth, virtue, harmlessness,
restraint, and self-control, that wise man who is purged of impurities is,
indeed, called an elder.

                      Buddhism.  Dhammapada 260-261


Yuan Jang sat waiting for the Master in a sprawling position.  The Master
said, "Those who when young show no respect to their elders achieve
nothing worth mentioning when they grow up.  And merely to live on,
getting older and older, is to be a useless pest."

                      Confucianism.  Analects 14.46


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Nupe Proverb: A person can only be educated when he is young and flexible.
Analects 2.4: Confucius' own growth in wisdom, described in this passage,
could be a model for all wise people who apply themselves to learning and
spiritual discipline throughout life.  Cf. Analects 16.7, p. 928.
Dhammapada 152: Cf. Qur'an 91.7-10, p. 715.
- - - - - - - - - - - -


Before the gray descends on your cheek,
        the wrinkles plow your chin,
        and the body becomes a cage of bones;
Before the teeth fall off from your mouth,
        the back bends to the earth,
        and you become a burden to others;
Before you hold a stick in one hand
        and lean heavily with the other on your knee;
Before age corrodes your bodily beauty
        and you feel the pangs of death;
Adore our Lord Kudala Sangama!

                    Hinduism.  Basavanna, Vachana 161


Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days
come, and the years draw nigh, when you will say, "I have no pleasure in
them"; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are
darkened and the clouds return after the rain; in the day when the keepers
of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease
because they are few, and those that look through the windows are dimmed,
and the doors on the street are shut; when the sound of the grinding is
low, and one rises up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of
song are brought low; they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors
are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself
along and desire fails; because man goes to his eternal home, and the
mourners go about the streets; before the silver cord is snapped, or the
golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the
wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

              Judaism and Christianity.  Ecclesiastes 12.1-7


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Ecclesiastes 12.1-7: This passage describes in metaphorical language the
body's deterioration in old age.
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