Excerpt #25 from my book, Interconnected, Interrelated & Interdependent, Like It or Not:
DEMOCRACY AND WISDOM — THE GOLDEN RULE
In his book, Religions of the World, Huston Smith writes of the foundation of all true humanism from a Confucian perspective, “behind the visible and material world is that which in some mysterious way has decreed the ordering laws of the universe.”
Condensing Confucianism into a single sentence, Smith describes it “as a social order in communion and collaboration with a cosmic order.”
It may be that our instincts responsible for the origins of democracy, 600 years B.C. in ancient Greece, were responding to that same order.
A similar awareness may account for the rule of Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt, born 1388 B.C., who was the first man in recorded history to exemplify social consciousness in the administration of a nation.
Akhnaton saw every living thing as having a divine right to live well, to hope, and to aspire in a world governed by brotherly love.
It is these same ideals, the fundamental dignity and equality of all persons, to which democracy speaks.
Nearly 500 years before Christianity, Mo Tzu proposed as the solution to China’s social problems, not through force but love.
“One should “feel towards all people under heaven exactly as one feels towards one’s own people, regard other States exactly as one regards one’s own State.”
The depth of Mo Tzu’s beliefs can be felt from his writings which read like they could be addressing today’s world: “Mutual attacks among states, mutual usurpation among houses, mutual injuries among individuals . . . these are among the major calamities in the world. But whence did these calamities arise? They arose out of want of mutual love. At present, feudal lords have learned only to love their own states and not those of others. Therefore they do not scruple about attacking other states. The heads of houses have learned only to love their own houses and not those of others. Therefore they do not scruple about usurping other houses. And individuals have learned only to love themselves and not others . . . Therefore they do not scruple about
injuring others . . . Therefore all the calamities, strife, complaints, and hatred in the world havearisen out of want of mutual love . . .
“How can we have the condition altered? It is to be altered by the way of universal love and mutual aid. But what is the way of universal love and mutual aid?
“It is to regard the state of others as one’s own, the houses of others as one’s own, the persons of others as one’s self . . . When all people in the world love one another, then the strong will not overpower the weak, the many will not oppress the few, the wealthy will not mock the poor, the honored will not disdain the humble, and the cunning will not deceive the simple.”
The Golden Rule and the inalienable rights of humankind found their way into the world travelling in parallel tracks through both the political and religious worlds.
Those from both East and West who gave voice to these idealistic principles instinctively drew from the same reservoir of universal truths.
Confucius put it plainly nearly 400 years before Christianity: “What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others.”
Houston Smith, in his Religions of the World book, notes that what most religions have in common is some form of the Golden Rule and avoidance of self-centeredness.
“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect in each other’s life.” (Richard Bach)
The message is clear, simple, and straightforward: Humans have inalienable rights, treat others as you wish to be treated, we are one, we are interrelated, and we depend upon each other.
The oneness in which we exist includes the web of life in our biosphere — the worldwide sum of all ecosystems — and beyond into our solar system, galaxy, universe, and possible multiverse.
We exist, not separately but, as a tiny fragment, in communion with an immensely larger interlocking whole in which all the parts are interconnected and dependent upon each other for survival.
We, a powerful and influential dimension of the natural world on Earth, are forever trying to understand what sustains and optimizes life.
As such, one would think that our concern for our gentle and continued integration into the web of life would be primary.
Instead, we have attempted to dominate, manipulate, and control the natural world as we have each other.
In contrast, the Taoist approach to nature is one of respect.
About 2,600 years ago, Lao Tzu warned of the dangers inherent in violating the fragile relationship between humankind and the natural world.
Those who would take over
the earth and shape it to their
will never, I notice, succeed.
The earth is like a vessel so sacred
that at the mere approach of the
profane it is marred.
And when they reach out their fingers
it is gone.
(Lao Tzu)
Our record shows that we have squared off against nature, establishing a virtual adversarial relationship with her not unlike the one we have created in our social and political worlds.
At present, as on so many fronts, we are losing this battle, to put it mildly.
The failure of our antagonistic approach to the web of life has become an eye-opening reality as we witness the growing disappearance of our resource base along with a host of other environmental problems up to and including the ominous warming of our planet and related life-threatening changes in climate.