Monday, November 8, 2010

Lion of Ta Meri - Oneness

We celebrate The Oneness of The Creator and The Oneness of Humanity; The Oneness of The Prophetic Community and The Oneness of Religion. Here are the core tenets of some of the world's major religious practices.

There is an African traditional proverb that says one going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to see how it hurts. If you took that and did that to yourself, would you do it to the bird?

In the Baha’i faith, the kernel of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is: “Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself.”

In Buddhism, the kernel of Buddha’s teachings is: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”

In Confucianism, it is the word shu, which means reciprocity: “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”

In Hinduism: “Do not to others which if done to thee would cause thee pain. This is the sum (or the total) of duty.”

In Jainism: “In happiness and suffering; in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self.”

In Shintoism: “Be charitable to all beings for Love is the representative of God.”

In Sikhism, the kernel of the teachings is: “Don’t create enmity with anyone as God is within everyone.”

In Taoism: “Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your loss.”

In Zoroastrianism: “Whatever you do not approve for yourself, do not approve for anyone else. When you have acted in this manner, you are righteous.”

In Judaism, it says: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man.”

In Christianity: “Do unto others as you would have them so do unto you.”

And in Islam: “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.”

It is sad to say, but the reality is that the world and the righteous are inundated, both in religion and politics, by hypocrites who say one thing and do another. Greed; the hunger for money and power; has turned most people into liars, thieves and murderers. If people would only be sincere, and practice what they preach, the world would be a much better place.

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