What Ever Happened to the Golden Rule? – Roger Ingalls

Nothing infuriates me more than religious intolerance. It’s hypocrisy at its worst.

American religious fanaticism is becoming pandemic and worrisome because most groups and pursuing an agenda of intolerance. This is a path to trouble. Someone once told me that the two most fanatically religious places in the world were the Middle East (Islam) and the United States (Christianity) and being young and naïve at the time, I said, “that’s crazy”. Now I know better – that old man was right.

Most faiths have an “Ethic of Reciprocity” or what’s commonly known as “The Golden Rule”.

Christianity: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12, King James Version.

Islam: “None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” Number 13 of Imam “Al-Nawawi’s Forty Hadiths.”

Judaism: “…thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”, Leviticus19:18 

Brahmanism: “This is the sum of Dharma [duty]: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you”. Mahabharata, 5:1517 ”

Buddhism: “…a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?” Samyutta NIkaya v. 353 

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

Shinto: “The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.“

Roman Pagan Religion: “The law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves.”

Native American Spirituality: “All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One.” Black Elk

Ancient Egyptian: “Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do.” The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, 109 – 110 Translated by R.B. Parkinson. The original dates to 1970 to 1640 BCE and may be the earliest written Golden Rule.

Zoroastrianism (The oldest one-God religion and the foundation for Judaism, Christianity and Islam): “That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself”. Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5 and “Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others.” Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29

These religions, and many others, promote the basic idea of reciprocal fair treatment. If this is so, why are we so intolerant of other’s beliefs?

Perhaps we need to do a little self-examination. Do we truly practice the teachings of our religions or are we just hypocrites?

Special thanks to thesynthesizer.com for the various golden rules.

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Roger Ingalls is well traveled and has seen the good and bad of many foreign governments. He hopes his blogging will encourage readers to think more deeply about the American political system and its impact on US citizens and the international community.

Exciting Announcment

I shared last month that A Gardener’s Tale, a novel I wrote over 10 years ago, has been picked up by Three Clover Press. It received a professional edit and new cover and is leaner if not meaner, but certainly tighter and lighter (sorry, I enjoyed that).

My publisher also generously commissioned Claudia McKinney, who designed Amanda Hocking’s book covers, to design a new cover. I love it! Befitting the new e-book economics, A Gardener’s Tale is on sale for $2.99.

A Gardener's Tale

Here is the pitch:

The garden has seen it all – the cruel events of a thousand years of the struggle between the Pagan religions and Christianity in rural England. A Gardener’s Tale follows two years in the lives of a village and the stranger who comes into their community. As the villagers fear for the breakdown of their community, they discover an ancient path that brings them together.

A Gardener’s Tale tells of an English aristocratic family now tragically dispersed and of a village community falling apart. Birth, love, death and rebirth remain its never-ending cycle, which includes the magic of nature, the purity of love and the power of true friendship in the hands of a gardener who can harness them all.

Writing a book about the pagan religions was not easy for me. I was in a period of time when I was checking out alternative forms of spirituality, Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Carlos Castaneda, and New Age. It was an exciting time, and even though my path brought me back to my Judaism, I was able to bring with me parts of the other spiritual practices to enrich my own values and expression.

I am very proud to have received the following critique from Vivianne Crowley, a Pagan High Priestess, who was recognized as one of the leaders of the Wicca movement in Britain. Vivianne actually grew up near the New Forest in England where this story takes place.

“A beautiful and elegiac evocation of a timeless Britain and of a man of the ancient ways of the earth who brings peace and healing where the flames of persecution once burned.”

Thank you to Lloyd Lofthouse at Three Clover Press for his patient support, to Claudia for an amazing book cover, and Zorica Gojkovic for her hard work editing this edition.

Let me know what you think of the cover and the book. I love receiving feedback.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at http://www.alonshalev.com/ and on Twitter (#alonshalevsf).

Fat liberation – by RhondaJo Boomington

Buddah Seems Happy - and Not Thin

I attended a Fat Liberation class on Monday night. I had never even heard of such of thing and had no idea what to expect.

Even more intriguing to me was the fact that it was held at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland (EBMC).

EBMC opened it’s doors about five years ago – specifically to welcome those who are often not welcomed at many local Buddhist Centers – specifically people of color; LGBTQI folk (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and intersex) and people whose disabilities make a traditional sit challenging. And, amazingly, all of their programming is offered on a donation basis – insuring that economic circumstances do not hinder anyone’s ability to participate.

What a model for the rest of the world!

So, off I went to Fat Liberation class. After all – in every Buddhist group of which I have been a part of (and that’s quite a number), the people (except for me)  were exclusively thin. Very thin.  I’ve always thought it rather humorous that all of these thin people quietly sit around breathing. And almost always there’s is a statue somewhere around of a Buddha with a fat belly. But in my experience, many of these Buddhists haven’t achieved a state of non-attachment when it comes to prejudices against those who are not thin (sounds like great material for a future comedy routine : )

So, on Monday night – for the first time in my life, I sat in a room of about 25 people. None of whom were thin. And all of whom were meditating together. No longer “the other.”

It was a very intriguing and healing experience.

I do realize that perhaps the majority of people reading this post are thin. I am writing this post because I believe that the most powerful part of my Fat Liberation evening many be beneficial to you. Yes you.

I challenge you to spend ten minutes of your time expanding your horizon.

Here’s the simple instructions. Find another person. Sit (or stand) facing each other. For five minutes, one person (person A) will ask a question. The other person (person B) will answer. Person A then says “thank you” (and absolutely nothing more). And Person A asks the question again. Person B answers. Person A says “thank you.” And asks the question again, etc. At the end of five minutes, the two switch roles.

Now – here’s the question. “What would it be like if you offered kindness to your body. Just as it is. In this moment?”

When the instructor explained this exercise, I’ll admit. I rolled my eyes. And thought that this was one of the dumbest things I had been asked to do in a long time. But I did it. And I’m so glad that I did. It was so illuminating. And,from the discussion afterward, it was for everyone in the room.

Go ahead. It’s just ten minutes. It may transform the relationship you have with your body.

Compassion for Everyone - Including Yourself

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RhondaJo Boomington is a Southern transplant from North Carolina. She landed in the haven of Berkeley six years ago and never plans to leave. Formerly a fundamentalist who voted for Jesse Helms many times, she now relishes her liberal lesbian life in the Bay Area and is frustrated that Obama is not liberal enough. She has earned a J.D. and an MDiv., and performs in the Bay Area as a stand up comedian and solo performance artist.