Another great messgae from my cousin Meg
~We Are All Diffe rent~
We Are All The Same~
Bahá' í World Faith :
Ascribe be not to any soul that which thou would st not have ascribe bed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not. . . . Bless ed is he who prefer rreth his broth er befor e himse lf.
Baha' u' llah
And if thine eyes be turne d towar ds justi ce, choos e thou for thy neigh bour that which thou choos est for thyse lf.
Epist le to the Son of the Wolf
Buddh ism:
A state that is not pleas ing or delig htful to me, how could I infli ct that upon anoth er?
Samyu tta NIkay a v.
353
Hurt not other s in ways that you yours elf would find hurtf ul.
Udana - Varga 5:18
Chris tiani ty:
There fore all thing s whats oever ye would that men shoul d do to you, do ye even so to them.
Matth ew 7:12
. .and don' t do what you hate. ..
Gospe l of Thoma s
Confu ciani sm:
Do not do to other s what you do not want them to do to you
Anale cts 15:23
Tse- kung asked , 'Is there one word that can serve as a princ iple of condu ct for life? ' Confu cius repli ed, 'It is the word ' shu' -- recip rocit y. Do not impos e on other s what you yours elf do not desir e.
Doctr ine of the Mean 13.
3
Hindu ism:
One shoul d not behav e towar ds other s in a way which is disag reeab le to onese lf
Menci us Vii
This is the sum of duty: do naugh t unto other s which would cause you pain if done to you.
Mahab harat a 5: 1517
Human ism:
Human ists ackno wledg e human inter depen dence , the need for mutua l respe ct and the kinsh ip of all human ity.
Human ists affir m that indiv idual and socia l probl ems can only be resol ved by means of human reaso n, intel ligen t effor t, criti cal think ing joine d with compa ssion and a spiri t of empat hy for all livin g being s.
Islam :
Not one of you is a belie ver until he loves for his broth er what he loves for himse lf
Fourt h Hadit h of an- Nawaw i
Do unto all men as you would they shoul d do unto you, and rejec t for other s what you would rejec t for yours elf.
Mishk at- el- Masab ih
Jaini sm:
There fore, neith er does he [, a sage, ] cause viole nce to other s nor does he make other s do so.
Acara ngasu tra 5. 101- 2.
In happi ness and suffe ring, in joy and grief , we shoul d regar d all creat ures as we regar d our own self.
Lord Mahav ira, 24th Tirth ankar a
A man shoul d wande r about treat ing all creat ures as he himse lf would be treat ed.
Sutra krita nga 1.11.
33
Judai sm:
. . thou shalt love thy neigh bor as thyse lf.
Levit icus 19:18
What is hatef ul to you, do not to your fello w man. This is the law: all the rest is comme ntary .
Talmu d, Shabb at 31a
Nativ e Ameri can Spiri tuali ty:
Respe ct for all life is the found ation .
The Great Law of Peace
Roman Pagan Relig ion:
The law impri nted on the heart s of all men is to love the membe rs of socie ty as thems elves
Shint o:
The heart of the perso n befor e you is a mirro r.
See there your own form
Sikhi sm:
Compa ssion - mercy and relig ion are the suppo rt of the entir e world .
Japji Sahib
Don' t creat e enmit y with anyon e as God is withi n every one.
Guru Arjan Devji
No one is my enemy , none a stran ger and every one is my frien d.
Guru Arjan Dev
Treat other s as thou would st be treat ed thyse lf.
Adi Grant h
Sufis m:
The basis of Sufis m is consi derat ion of the heart s and feeli ngs of other s. If you haven 't the will to gladd en someo ne's heart , then at least bewar e lest you hurt someo ne's heart , for on our path, no sin exist s but this.
Dr. Javad Nurba khsh, Maste r of the Nimat ullah i Sufi Order .
Taois m:
Regar d your neigh bor' s gain as your own gain, and your neigh bor' s loss as your own loss.
T'ai Shang Kan Ying P' ien.
I am good to the man who is good to me, likew ise, I am also good to the bad man.
Tao Te Ching
Unita rian:
We affir m and promo te respe ct for the inter depen dent of all exist ence of which we are a part
Unita rian princ iples .
Wicca :
An it harm no one, do what thou wilt
The Wicca n Rede
Yorub a: ( Niger ia):
One going to take a point ed stick to pinch a baby bird shoul d first try it on himse lf to feel how it hurts .
Zoroa stria nism:
That natur e alone is good which refra ins from doing unto anoth er whats oever is not good for itsel f.
Dadis tan- i- dinik 94:5
Whate ver is disag reeab le to yours elf do not do unto other s.
Shaya st- na- Shaya st 13:29
Non- relig ious:
Do not do to other s that which would anger you if other s did it to you.
Socra tes; 5th centu ry BCE
There are many diffe rent relig ions to bring comfo rt and happi ness to human ity in much the same way as there are parti cular treat ments for diffe rent disea ses. For, all relig ions endea vour in their own way to help livin g being s avoid miser y and gain happi ness. And, altho ugh we can find cause s for prefe rring certa in inter preta tions of relig ious truth s, there is much great er cause for unity , stemm ing from the human heart . Each relig ion works in its own way to lesse n human suffe ring and contr ibute to world civil izati on. Conve rsion is not the point . For insta nce, I do not think of conve rting other s to Buddh ism or merel y furth ering the Buddh ist cause . Rathe r, I try to think of how I as a Buddh ist human itari an can contr ibute to human happi ness.
While point ing out the funda menta l simil ariti es betwe en world relig ions, I do not advoc ate one parti cular relig ion at the expen se of all other s, nor do I seek a new ' world relig ion. ' All the diffe rent relig ions of the world are neede d to enric h human exper ience and world civil izati on. Our human minds , being of diffe rent calib re and dispo sitio n, need diffe rent appro aches to peace and happi ness. It is just like food. Certa in peopl e find Chris tiani ty more appea ling, other s prefe r Buddh ism becau se there is no creat or in it and every thing depen ds upon your own actio ns. We can make simil ar argum ents for other relig ions as well. Thus, the point is clear : human ity needs all the world 's relig ions to suit the ways of life, diver se spiri tual needs , and inher ited natio nal tradi tions of indiv idual human being s.
It is from this persp ectiv e that I welco me effor ts being made in vario us parts of the world for bette r under stand ing among relig ions. The need for this is parti cular ly urgen t now. If all relig ions make the bette rment of human ity their main conce rn, then they can easil y work toget her in harmo ny for world peace . Inter faith under stand ing will bring about the unity neces sary for all relig ions to work toget her. Howev er, altho ugh this is indee d an impor tant step, we must remem ber that there are no quick or easy solut ions. We canno t hide the doctr inal diffe rence s that exist among vario us faith s, nor can we hope to repla ce the exist ing relig ions by a new unive rsal belie f. Each relig ion has its own disti nctiv e contr ibuti ons to make, and each in its own way is suita ble to a parti cular group of peopl e as they under stand life. The world needs them all.
There are two prima ry tasks facin g relig ious pract ition ers who are conce rned with world peace . First , we must promo te bette r inter faith under stand ing so as to creat e a worka ble degre e of unity among all relig ions. This may be achie ved in part by respe cting each other 's belie fs and by empha sizin g our commo n conce rn for human well- being . Secon d, we must bring about a viabl e conse nsus on basic spiri tual value s that touch every human heart and enhan ce gener al human happi ness. This means we must empha size the commo n denom inato r of all world relig ions -- human itari an ideal s. These two steps will enabl e us to act both indiv idual ly and toget her to creat e the neces sary spiri tual condi tions for world peace .
We pract ition ers of diffe rent faith s can work toget her for world peace when we view diffe rent relig ions as essen tiall y instr ument s to devel op a good heart -- love and respe ct for other s, a true sense of commu nity. The most impor tant thing is to look at the purpo se of relig ion and not at the detai ls of theol ogy or metap hysic s, which can lead to mere intel lectu alism . I belie ve that all the major relig ions of the world can contr ibute to world peace and work toget her for the benef it of human ity if we put aside subtl e metap hysic al diffe rence s, which are reall y the inter nal busin ess of each relig ion.
Despi te the progr essiv e secul ariza tion broug ht about by world wide moder nizat ion and despi te syste matic attem pts in some parts of the world to destr oy spiri tual value s, the vast major ity of human ity conti nues to belie ve in one relig ion or anoth er. The undyi ng faith in relig ion, evide nt even under irrel igiou s polit ical syste ms, clear ly demon strat es the poten cy of relig ion as such. This spiri tual energ y and power can be purpo seful ly used to bring about the spiri tual condi tions neces sary for world peace . Relig ious leade rs and human itari ans all over the world have a speci al role to play in this respe ct.
Wheth er we will be able to achie ve world peace or not, we have no choic e but to work towar ds that goal. If our minds are domin ated by anger , we will lose the best part of human intel ligen ce -- wisdo m, the abili ty to decid e betwe en right and wrong . Anger is one of the most serio us probl ems facin g the world today .
I have writt en the above lines To tell my const ant feeli ng. Whene ver I meet even a ' forei gner' , I have alway s the same feeli ng: 'I am meeti ng anoth er membe r of the human famil y.' This attit ude has deepe ned My affec tion and respe ct for all being s. May this natur al wish be My small contr ibuti on to world peace . I pray for a more frien dly, More carin g, and more under stand ing Human famil y on this plane t. To all who disli ke suffe ring, Who cheri sh lasti ng happi ness -- This is my heart felt appea l.
Tenzi n Gyats o, the Fourt eenth Dalai Lama [ 1984] Excer pt from bookl et entit led: A Human Appro ach to World
"WE HAVE JUST ENOUG H RELIG ION TO MAKE US HATE, BUT NOT ENOUG H TO MAKE US LOVE ONE ANTOH ER"
~ Jonat han Swift
We are...
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