An Interlude on Compassion and the Golden Rule
TL;DR. The first of our posts on universal human values; in this case: compassion. We show how the “Golden Rule,” of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” appears again and again throughout the sacred texts of our many religious traditions. We also show how rationality and spirituality can lead us to the same moral destinations.
Cover art by Diana Mariño
Yes, “Universal Human Values” Do Exist.
Do universal human values exist? Of course they do. When practiced in good will, our shared universal values have the potential to generate human rapport.
From where do these values arise? Some posit that we are simply born with them; that they are as much a part of our they are as much a part of our spiritual endowment as the five senses are to our physicality. Others that they are learned from experience, or that they are the product of evolution.
Regardless, our shared morality and universal values are necessary for our existence; for only by their acceptance and application can we humans set aside our selfishness, and reap the benefits of cooperation.
Our sacred texts, of course, are explicitly concerned with such values and with the task of guiding us towards moral, peaceful lives.
Over the course of this newsletter, we shall explore our sacred texts closely; what we shall see is that all of them – the Rig Veda, the Upanishads, the Mahabharata, Buddhist Sutas, the Tao Te Ching, the Analects of Confucius, the Zaraostran Creed, the Torah, the New Testament, indigenous shamanism, the Quran, Haddith, and many more – contain wisdom that guide us towards similar values.
How Rationality and Spirituality Can Lead to the Same Moral Destinations
As we explained in our inaugural post, neither religious faith nor spiritual devotion is a precondition for living a moral life. Well-intentioned people who do not hold any religious beliefs, nor believe in a Supreme Being, can arrive at similar moral conclusions as those who do.
For the devout, the start point of a moral life is faith born of the soul, and the subsequent trodden path is the sacred teachings of their particular religion or spiritual practice.
For non-believers, the start point of a moral life is mental intelligence, and the subsequent trodden path is rationality.
In fact, rationality and universal human values have a long history of fruitful intertwinement, extending from Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, to modern day scientific approaches, such as Shalom Schwartz’s “Theory of Basic Values,” as well as the emergent field of positive psychology.
We shall return to these later, but for now I repeat that our view here is that some values are so universal, they are the purview not only of spirituality but of rationality as well.
We shall focus on several such values over the course of our dialogue; in particular: compassion, unity, community, generosity and temperance.
Our view is that these universal values could do much good if they were injected straight into the heart of economic theory, which is precisely what we propose to do in this newsletter.
The “Golden Rule” Appears in All our Religious Traditions
Compassion is the ability to deeply feel and empathize with another person’s reality. As The Charter for Compassion so rightly teaches, it compels us to “to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures,” and to treat “every human being, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect;” Compassion helps us to transcend a life based on pure self-interest. When combined with love, compassion allows us to do this without expecting anything in return; in the same way a mother tirelessly, selflessly loves her son or daughter.
Compassion and love are both at the heart of the “Golden Rule,” the idea that you should treat others as you wish to be treated. In turn, the Golden Rule is fundamental to all religious understanding. It is expressed almost word for word in all religous traditions, and the founders and enlightened teachers of every religion have commented on it directly.
In the same way that our spiritual masters have placed it at the center of their teachings, my proposition shall include the idea that compassion, the foundation of the Golden Rule, should be placed at the center of economic theory as well.
“You shall not take vengeance nor bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Judaism and Christianity, Leviticus 19:18
“I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
Christianity, Luke 6: 27, 31
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ “
Christianity, Matthew 22:36-39
"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you"
Christianity, Ephesians 4:31-32
“None of you [truly] believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself”
Islam, Hadith No. 13
“I reject any who harm beings. I reject them with my thoughts, words, and deeds. I reject them publicly”
Zoroastrian Creed
This heir of the Buddha who teaches the Dharma
Should always be gentle, patient,
And compassionate to all.
Buddhism, Lotus Sutra
When you wish to do an action with the mind, reflect upon that same mental action thus: “Would this action I wish to do with the mind lead to both my own affliction and the affliction of another?” If, upon reflection, you know that it would, then do not do it; if you know that it would not, then proceed.
Buddhism, Majjhima Nikaya 61
Zigong asked, “It there a single saying
that one may put into practice all one’s life?”
The Master said, “That would be ‘reciprocity’:
That which you do not desire,
do not do to others.”
Confucianism. Analects 15.24
“That person who practices the religion of universal compassion achieves his highest good….That person who regards all his creatures as his own self…succeeds in attaining to happiness… One should never do to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self. This, in brief, is the rule of righteousness.”
Hinduism, Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva, CXIII
“Now, the first recommendation is very clear and quite simple, and besides it is also common. For, for pretty much every role, this argument is sound: that the treatment of anyone is clear from supposing that one is oneself that person and that that person is oneself.” Stoicism, Hierocles, Fragments
Further reading
Jeffrey Moses, “Oneness: Great Principles Shared by All Religions”