Forums > Social Discussion > The Golden Rule

Okay... so, most of the time, I get very very annoyed with friends who choose to spam me with bits of taoist wisdom, mantra's, sweet little haiku's, uplifting and inspiring TRUE stories of human love, courage and wisdom, e-mails telling me that "if you forward this, a poor little kid in Guatamala with eight arms and no head and just two months to live will get $0,01 from Microsoft for his cosmetic surgery" and more such feelgoodery.
I sigh, long and deep, at the kind of company I am apparently keeping. (though this feeling doesn't usually last very long - I love my friends to bits, even the ones who send me trite little poems about what "a friend is..." )

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a cynic who's lost all faith in human goodness - quite the opposite in fact - I just don't like having it shoved down my throat in the form of icky, endlessly repeated platitudes.... Plus I think the little Guatamalan boy - and all his tragic couterparts in other e-mails - must be long dead by now given the number of years in which most of them have been circulating. Unless of course enough idiots forwarded them to pay for the life-saving surgery!

HOWEVER!!!!
Maybe it's hormonal, or maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, but I came accross something today that I liked so much I'd like to share it with you. It comes from the website of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding (www.tanenbaum.org), and it is this:



The Golden Rule: A Vision Shared


Bahá'i: "And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself." Lawh'i 'Ibn'i 'Dhib, "Epistle to the Son of the Wolf" 30

Buddhism: "Hurt not others in ways you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga, 5:18

Christianity: "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7.12

Confucianism: "Do not unto others what you do not want them to do to you." Analects 15.13

Hinduism: "This is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you." The Mahabharata, 5:1517

Islam: "Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." Fortieth Hadith of an-Nawawi 13

Jainism: "A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated." Sutrakritanga 1.11.33

Judaism: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole of the Torah; all the rest of it is commentary." Talmud, Shabbat 31a

Native American: "Respect for all life is the foundation." The Great Law of Peace

Sikhism: "Treat others as thou wouldst be treated thyself." Adi Granth

Taoism: "Regard your neighbor's gain as our own gain and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien

Zoroastrianism: "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself." Dadistan-I-Dinik, 94:5




well, I (an atheist!) liked it, hope you did too!


peace,

Neph

everyone's unique except me

Quote:

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Bill and Ted: Be excellent to eachother

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FIRE IS ALIVE!
IT LIVES AND BREATHS!
IT CONSUMES, AND DISTROYS!
BUT WE CONTROL IT,
AND DANCE WITH FIRE!!

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura

Quote:

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only yesterday i managed to get "socrates" into a converstion (pronounced like so-crates)

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If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh

Quote:

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an if it harm none

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I had a dream that my friend had a
strong-bad pop up book,
it was the book of my dreams.