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The Golden Rule,
found in the scriptures of every religion, is regarded as
the most concise
and general description of human
being rules of conduct.
 ........
"It was the task of industrial society to destroy
reciprocity. All that
"community" implies - self-sufficiency, mutual aid, morality in the
marketplace, stubborn tradition, regulation by custom, organic knowledge
instead of mechanistic science - had to be steadily and systematically
disrupted and displaced. All of the practices that kept the individual from
being a consumer had to be done away with so that the cogs and wheels of an
unfettered machine called "the economy" could operate without interference,
influenced merely by invisible
hands." - Kirkpatrick Sale
"This call for a world-wide
fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's
tribe,
race, class and
nation is in reality a call for an
all-embracing and unconditional
compassion for all men. This oft misunderstood and
misinterpreted concept has now
become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. Now let us begin.
Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter - but beautiful -
struggle for a new reality. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our
brothers wait eagerly for our response. " -
Martin Luther King Jr.
Natural selection pushes in
the direction of true selflessness.
With the emergence of
reciprocity humans learned
to trade favors without being cheated.
A favor-giver learns to avoid
blatant cheaters while learning to prefer generous reciprocators.
A
competition arises in which each actor wants to appear to be the most generous
reciprocator. At this time a reputation for fairness and generosity becomes an
asset.
The most effective way to seem generous and fair, under harsh
scrutiny, is to be generous and fair.
As potential beneficiaries inflate
their reputations the favor-giver must develop ever-more-sensitive radar to
distinguish the genuinely generous partners from the
hypocrites.
In the long run a
reputation can be secured only by a commitment to be generous and
fair.
Some agents evolve to be genuinely high-minded and
self-sacrificing - they are
moral not because of what it brings them but because that's the type of people
they have become.
Not one of you is a
believer until he loves
for his brother
what he loves for himself.
No one of you is a believer until he desires
for his brother that which he desires for himself.
And if thine eyes be turned towards justice,
choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself.
This is the sum of
duty:
do naught to others which if done to
thee would cause thee pain.
Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do
unto others.
Buddhism
Compare oneself to others in such terms as,
just as I am, so are they, just as they are, so am I .
Wiccan Rede
An it harm none, do what thou
wilt.
Tzu-kung asked,
"Is there a single word
which can be a guide to conduct throughout one's life?"
The Master
answered,
"It is shu - reciprocity: Do not do to
others what you do not want them to do to you."
A man should wander about treating all creatures
as he himself would be treated.
This is the sum of duty:
do naught unto
others which would cause you pain if done to
you.
As thou deemest thyself, so deem others.
Humankind has not woven the web of
life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do
to ourselves.
Shintoism
Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.
The heart of the person before you
is a mirror.
See there your own form.
Yoruba Proverb
(African
traditional religion of
Nigeria)
One going to take a pointed stick to poke a baby
bird
should first try it on himself to feel the pain.
Roman Paganism
The
law imprinted on the
hearts of all
men
is to compassion the members of society as themselves.
Sufism
If you haven't the will to gladden someone's
heart,
then at least beware lest you
hurt someone's heart,
for on our
path, no sin exists but this.
Regard your neighbor's gain as your own
gain
and regard your neighbor's loss as
your own loss.
Unitarianism
We affirm and promote respect for the
interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Do for one who may do for you,
that you may
cause him thus to do.
Do not return evil to your adversary; requite
with kindness the one who does evil
to you, maintain justice for your enemy, be friendly to your enemy.
Humanists acknowledge human
interdependence,
the need for mutual respect and the kinship of all
humanity.
What is hateful to you, do not to your
fellow men.
That is the entire
Law; all the rest is commentary.
Turbulent times accompanied the
birth of Hinduism and Buddhism in India; Confucianism and
Taoism in China; the polytheism of
rationalism in Greece; the
monotheistic religions of
Judaism and Islam in the Levant and finally the amalgamated hodgepodge of
statecraft and stagecraft blended with disjointed mythical images become the
Imperial State religion known as Roman Catholicism.
Embedded within
each is a core vision for expanded
the core social group that was both simple and drastic:
cause no
harm |
be kind
From about 900 to 200 BC sages worked to find a cure for the
spiritual corruption of humanity.
The sages found the way of compassion through
the abandonment of selfishness actually worked as
freeing oneself of material desire does bring a sense of
sacred peace.
The great insights of the
sages of the "Axial Age" began the pivot of global human cultural awakening
from mythological consciousness into
rational
consciousness.
Rational
consciousness showed these sages that for
mankind to enjoy its sojourn upon
this Earth it must grow compassionate and temper brute selfish rationality with
social kindness as people are social animals that prosper only in tight knit
groups.
The Golden Rule, an elegant concept advanced by sages of the
Axial Age, asks humanity to abide by
the ancient call of empathy - abandon selfishness and
embrace
compassion.
Compassion is of no value as
an abstract concept. Compassion only has value when it is put into
practice.
Compassion must be lived to have any value!
Fundamentalist (literalist) movements are concerned
with doctrine and work endlessly to sheild religious dogma from the light of
reason. Once a religion is institutionalized it sheilds followers from the
concentration on compassion forwarded by the Axial Age sages.
Confucius,
Lao Tze,
Siddhartha Gautama,
Moshe Rabbenu, and later
Jesus the Tekton and
Muhammad ibn 'Abdullāh,
operating from integral consciousness, wanted to craft a humanity that
understood integral consciousness. In the Garden of Nirvana, where integral
consciousness reigns, suffering ceases.
True prophets are interested
only in compassionate
behavior that dethrones the ego.
Tradition is always secondary with true
prophets.
True prophets understand that respect for life brings you into the
presence of the Creator and Sustainer, Brahma or
the Way.
Ekstasis, or
ecstasy, in Greek means
"stepping outside."
Stepping into integral consciousness is "stepping
outside" of traditional rational thought patterns.
Integral consciousness is not an exotic state of
consciousness.
Anybody can acheive
integral consciousness. To do so simply requires the sacrifice of preconcieved
notion.
Integral consciousness means the freedom of understanding the
various modes of consciousness and stepping outside the prison of negative
emotions that support egotism,
selfishness,
greed and
envy.
"Humanity is living on an Earth united
now - whether we like it or not - electronically; economically and politically. The only way we can end
hostility is to
learn to think that other nations are as important as
ourselves and to practice the Golden Rule - do not do unto others as you would
not have done unto you - which was first proposed by Confucius about 500 years before Jesus. It's the
only safe way." - Karen Armstrong
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