The Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments

Baha'i Faith
If thine eyes be turned towards mercy, forsake the things that profit thee and cleave unto that which will profit mankind. And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself. (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, 64)

Confucianism
Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence. (Mencius VII.A.4)

Hinduism
One should not behave towards others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself. This is the essence of morality. (Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva 113.8)

Buddhism
Comparing oneself to others in such terms as "Just as I am so are they, just as they are so am I," he should neither kill nor cause others to kill. (Sutta Nipata 705)

Judaism.
I am the Lord your God…you shall have no other gods before me….You shall not make for yourself a graven image….You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain….Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…. Honor your father and your mother….You shall not kill.You shall not commit adultery.You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house;…wife,…or anything that is your neighbor's (Exodus 20.1-17).

Hinduism.
Contentment, forgiveness, self-control, not appropriating anything unrighteously, purification, coercion of the organs, wisdom, knowledge of the Supreme, truthfulness, and abstention from anger: these constitute the tenfold law. (Laws of Manu 6.92)

Islam
Thy Lord has decreed… that you be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in your lifetime, do not say to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor. And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say, "My Lord! Bestow on them Thy mercy even as they cherished me in childhood." (Qur'an 17.23)

Jainism.
Forgiveness, humility, straightforwardness, purity, truthfulness, self-restraint, austerity, renunciation, non-attachment and chastity are the ten duties. (Tatthvarthasutra 9.6)

Buddhism.
Not killing, no longer stealing, forsaking the wives of others, refraining completely from false, divisive, harsh and senseless speech, forsaking covetousness, harmful intent and the views of Nihilists - these are the ten white paths of action, their opposites are black. (Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 8-9)

Those who wish to be born in [the Pure Land] of Buddha…should act filially towards their parents and support them, and should serve and respect their teachers and elders. (Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 27)

They will practice these virtues: abstain from taking life, abstain from taking what is not given, abstain from adultery, abstain from lying, abstain from evil speaking, abstain from abuse and from idle talk, abstain from covetousness, from ill will, from false opinions, abstain from the three things - incest, wanton greed, and perverted desires - be filial towards their mothers and fathers, be pious toward holy men, and respect heads of clans. (Buddhism. Digha Nikaya iii.74, Cakkavatti-Sihanada Suttanta)

Zoroastrianism
This I ask Thee. Tell me truly, Lord. Who fashioned esteemed piety in addition to rule? Who made a son respectful in his attentiveness to his father? (Avesta, Yasna 44.7)

Confucianism
Now filial piety is the root of all virtue, and the stem out of which grows all moral teaching….Our bodies - to every hair and bit of skin - are received by us from our parents, and we must not presume to injure or wound them: this is the beginning of filial piety. When we have established our character by the practice of the filial course, so as to make our name famous in future ages, and thereby glorify our parents; this is the end of filial piety. It commences with the service of parents; it proceeds to the service of the ruler; it is completed by the establishment of [good] character. (Classic on Filial Piety 1)

The human spirit has integrity, authority, and power to fruitfully shape events in this world to the degree that it aligns itself to the truth rather than the inclinations of its own designs and desires. "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it" (Christianity. Matthew 10:39). We must die to our insistent selves if we want to find spiritual life in proximity to the will of God. This is generally done in the context of considering the needs of others rather than only ourselves. The prophets educate us in the ways of service to God and our neighbors. The golden rule is central to all of the world's great religions. Each of the faith traditions provides an iteration of the injunction to love one another and do unto others, as we would have them do unto us. Our responses to this eternal dictate determine the course of our individual lives and that of our collective social history. Our capacities as individuals or collectively unfold from our affirmations of this law of reality. Our failures are a result of our negations of this teaching.

Those who sacrifice their own advantage for the love of God and their neighbor are the builders of civilization and are the foundation upon which a healthy social order is dependent. Their character and actions are the reminders to the rest of us of our higher nature. They are the "salt of the earth" that stimulates our taste for life. The selfless act punctures the illusion of the finite by providing evidence of the eternal reality of our nature. Selflessness allows us to touch unbounded life and provides the energy for constructive human activity. Material civilization rises from all the arts, sciences, crafts, and industry that have their origin in this spiritual energy.

Human beings without spiritual guidance rely on an adversarial and competitive physical nature when needed or desired resources are limited. Resources are shared only to the point that the return on the relationship is beneficial. Alliances depend on perceived advantages. All plans and designs derived from this adversarial and competitive center are petty no matter how seemingly grandiose and complex. They all have their consummation in death. They are tied to the limited self, which denies its unity with the whole. This is not a pleasant place for human consciousness to live, nor is it the foundation for the building of a bountiful human civilization. It does not even provide for coherent material civilization. It sabotages visions that are not its own and squanders resources in the relentless drive to satisfy its self-defined purposes. Its most poignant expression is war.

It would be reasonable at this point to acknowledge that we are all a mixture of the physical and spiritual aspects of human motivation. We are all the builders and the destroyers of human well-being and happiness. This human world is not the realm of perfection. The wheat and the weeds grow together. There is an innate tendency in the human situation to hear first the imperative demands of one's own body and mind over the distant, second-hand sounds of someone else's expressed needs. The golden rule provides the mechanism by which we articulate justice into our affairs. It is not that we are ever certain that we know precisely what justice requires in any given situation; all sides in a situation can know the truth to some degree. Truth is bigger than anyone's perspective, save God's. It is our willingness to forgo our own advantage in favor of the dictates of the truth that allows us to be susceptible to decisions that are closer in proximity to justice than our independent and rather biased perspectives otherwise permit. This willingness to forgo our own advantage is at the heart of successful life for the individual and for civilization, rather than our ability to force our will or perspective on others. The golden rule "is the essence of morality" (Hinduism. Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva 113.8). It is the prerequisite of justice. "…[I]f thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself" (Baha'i Faith. Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 64).

The essence of morality is the selfless love of our neighbor. It has its impetus in our experience of the love of God. We do not, however, live most of our conscious existence in this pure state. Most of our lives are a complex mixture of sentiments and motivations that range from angelically and bountifully selfless to wretchedly and aggressively self-centered. Our behaviors towards each other rely most often on a pragmatic foundation - the fear of God. On the higher end of this motivational paradigm is the experience of awe, a realization of the beauty and power of God and the counterpart realization of the insignificance of our narrow and selfish perspective. In this arena, the possibility of the loss of proximity to God informs the experience of fear. The practical steps taken to check our selfish inclinations are moved by a desire to stay within reasonable proximity to the pleasure of God's presence.

Our personal covenant with God, our personal agreement with Him, rests on our willingness to comply with His will. We can only have His presence if we abide by His law. In daily routine, the fear of God is in evidence in the little motivational flash of conscience that briefly appears before we do something we suspect to be in opposition to the will of God.

The lower end of fear's motivational hold on our behavior is the self-centered preoccupation with our well-being. God could punish us. We fear an image of God that we possess. Compliance with societal laws from this vantage point is based on the fear of being caught and punished by agents of the law or ultimately by what we imagine to be God. Outward observance of propriety is the primary focus, even preoccupation, at this level of fear.

Regardless of the particular motivational position from which we, at any given moment, individually view the will of God, the scriptures of the varying religious traditions provide guidance for how we are to behave with respect to each other. This guidance generally provides the moral bedrock of the world's cultures for the construction of laws aimed at providing social justice.

I am the Lord your God…you shall have no other gods before me….
You shall not make for yourself a graven image….
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain….
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy….
Honor your father and your mother….
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor's house;…wife,…or You shall not covet your neighbor's house;…wife,…or 17)

The passage from Exodus begins with the fundamental basis of the law - serving God rather than our image of God. We are advised not to follow the image of God that we create from the corrupt inclinations of a selfish nature. Nor are we to use His name in vain and insist in our prayers that God conform to our will. We are advised to observe religious orthodoxy - the safe approach to God provided by his Messengers. Respect for parental authority and by implication, obedience to the institutions of society is prescribed over anarchy. The remaining commandments admonish us against killing, adultery, stealing, lying, and covetousness.

All of the faith traditions, in a manner similar to the Ten Commandments of Exodus, afford essential moral guidance. They provide warnings against our tendency to construct an image of God to our own liking and worship it rather than submit to the will of God (See chapter 3). The various scriptures also prescribe observance of religious orthodoxy as in the admonitions for prayer and fasting as an aid to following the path of God (See chapter 7). And all of the scriptures provide guidance for how we should treat each other as is evidenced in the provision of the golden rule in all of the scriptures. The teaching for us to honor our father and mother is also a common theme of religion. The admonition is central to the maintenance of social order. The following are examples from Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Zoroastrianism.

Thy Lord has decreed… that you be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in your lifetime, do not say to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor. And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say, "My Lord! Bestow on them Thy mercy even as they cherished me in childhood." (Islam. Qur'an 17.23)

Those who wish to be born in [the Pure Land] of Buddha…should act filially towards their parents and support them, and should serve and respect their teachers and elders. (Buddhism. Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 27)

Now filial piety is the root of all virtue, and the stem out of which grows all moral teaching….Our bodies - to every hair and bit of skin - are received by us from our parents, and we must not presume to injure or wound them: this is the beginning of filial piety. When we have established our character by the practice of the filial course, so as to make our name famous in future ages, and thereby glorify our parents; this is the end of filial piety. It commences with the service of parents; it proceeds to the service of the ruler; it is completed by the establishment of [good] character. (Confucianism. Classic on Filial Piety 1)

The Zoroastrian scriptures make the case for filial piety rhetorically. "This I ask Thee. Tell me truly, Lord. Who fashioned esteemed piety in addition to rule? Who made a son respectful in his attentiveness to his father?" (Avesta, Yasna 44.7). The rule of law is conditioned on piety which is conditioned on filial respect which is fashioned through the grace of God - the "who" in the question.

The scriptures of the various religious traditions provide admonitions against lying, stealing, killing, adultery, and covetousness. The following are Buddhist commandments.

They will practice these virtues: abstain from taking life, abstain from taking what is not given, abstain from adultery, abstain from lying, abstain from evil speaking, abstain from abuse and from idle talk, abstain from covetousness, from ill will, from false opinions, abstain from the three things - incest, wanton greed, and perverted desires - be filial towards their mothers and fathers, be pious toward holy men, and respect heads of clans. (Buddhism. Digha Nikaya iii.74, Cakkavatti-Sihanada Suttanta)

Some scriptures express the admonitions mostly in terms of good behaviors rather than bad. For instance, the Laws of Manu from Hinduism are framed mostly in positive terms. "Contentment, forgiveness, self-control, not appropriating anything unrighteously, purification, coercion of the organs, wisdom, knowledge of the Supreme, truthfulness, and abstention from anger: these constitute the tenfold law" (Hinduism. Laws of Manu 6.92). The basic guidance for successful human society is articulated in all of the world's scriptures in iterations of both the golden rule and the Ten Commandments.