THE GOLDEN RULE
The Golden Rule or the ethic of reciprocity is found
in the scriptures of nearly every religion. It is often regarded as the most
concise and general principle of ethics. It is a condensation in one
principle of all longer lists of appropriate behavior. See also texts on
Love and Kindness.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
1.
Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Leviticus 19.18
Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so
to them.
2.
Christianity. Bible, Matthew 7.12
Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his
brother what he loves for himself.
3.
Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 13
A man should wander about treating all creatures as
he himself would be treated.
4.
Jainism. Sutrakritanga 1.11.33
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.
5.
Confucianism. Mencius VII.A.4
One should not behave towards others in a way which
is disagreeable to oneself. This is the essence of morality. All other
activities are due to selfish desire.
6.
Hinduism. Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva 113.8
Tsekung asked, "Is there one word that can serve as
a principle of conduct for life?" Confucius replied, "It is the word shu--reciprocity:
Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you."
7.
Confucianism. Analects 15.23
Leviticus 19.18: Quoted by Jesus in Matthew 22.36-40
(below). Mencius VII.A.4 and Analects 15.23: Cf. Analects 6.28.2, p. 975.
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.
8.
Buddhism. Sutta Nipata 705
One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby
bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.
9.
African Traditional Religions. Yoruba Proverb
(Nigeria)
One who you think should be hit is none else but
you. One who you think should be governed is none else but you. One who you
think should be tortured is none else but you. One who you think should be
enslaved is none else but you. One who you think should be killed is none
else but you. A sage is ingenuous and leads his life after comprehending the
parity of the killed and the killer. Therefore, neither does he cause
violence to others nor does he make others do so.
10.
Jainism. Acarangasutra 5.101-2
The Ariyan disciple thus reflects, Here am I, fond
of my life, not wanting to die, fond of pleasure and averse from pain.
Suppose someone should rob me of my life... it would not be a thing pleasing
and delightful to me. If I, in my turn, should rob of his life one fond of
his life, not wanting to die, one fond of pleasure and averse from pain, it
would not be a thing pleasing or delightful to him. For a state that is not
pleasant or delightful to me must also be to him also; and a state that is
not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?
As a result of such reflection he himself abstains
from taking the life of creatures and he encourages others so to abstain,
and speaks in praise of so abstaining.
11.
Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya v.353
A certain heathen came to Shammai and said to him,
"Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I
stand on one foot." Thereupon he repulsed him with the rod which was in his
hand. When he went to Hillel, he said to him, "What is hateful to you, do
not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah; all the rest of it is
commentary; go and learn."
12.
Judaism. Talmud, Shabbat 31a
Sutta Nipata 705: Cf. Dhammapada 129-130, p. 478.
Acarangasutra 5.101-2: Cf. Dhammapada 129-130, p. 478. Samyutta Nikaya
v.353: The passage gives a similar reflection about abstaining from other
types of immoral behavior: theft, adultery, etc. To identify oneself with
others is also a corollary to the Mahayana insight that all reality is
interdependent and mutually related; cf. Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of
Life 8.112-16, p. 181; Majjhima Nikaya i.415, p. 465.
"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the
law?" Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and
first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."
13.
Christianity. Bible, Matthew 22.36-40
Matthew 22.36-40: Cf. Deuteronomy 6.4-9, p. 55;
Leviticus 19.18, p. 173; Luke 10.25-37, p. 971; Galatians 6.2, p. 974;
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.2.2, p. 972; Sun Myung Moon, 9-30-79, p. 150.
