Characteristics Of The Golden Rule

1360 Words3 Pages

There is an exceptional amount of religions in the world that have contrasting and varied ideals and concepts. However, there are some common traits that the religions of differing ideologies, as in western and eastern thinking, share. One of those traits that can be found in almost every religion is a trait that people choose to call “The Golden Rule”. The basic concept of the Golden Rule is that you should treat others in the same fashion that you would want them to treat you. Even though it is a more moral and ethical aspect, it is still prominent in very spiritual religions. Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism all have their own ways of portraying the message of the Golden Rule. Islam is often a misunderstood religion by our …show more content…

So a buddhist who lives their life treating other with respect will become closer to enlightenment. One of the paths of the Noble Eightfold Paths is action. It is stated as, “What is right action? It is not taking life, not stealing, and not having sexual relations” (Book on Turning the Wheel of the Law, quoted in Van Voorst 81). By taking the quote literally, most people will agree that they would not something stolen from. However, in the broad sense it could mean that the right action is any action that it considered to be good. So by teaching right action, the Buddha is also latently teaching that you should treat others well. In his book, Huston Smith talks about a quality of Buddhism by saying, “It was egalitarian. With a breadth of view unparalleled in his age and infrequent in any, he insisted that women were as capable of enlightenment as men. And he rejected the caste system’s assumption that aptitudes were hereditary” (Smith 98). This egalitarian view that the Buddha had led him to accept all for his teachings, no matter what their social grouping was. He thought every individual should be treated the same, whether they live on the streets and have nothing to their name, or they are very wealthy and are able to afford almost everything without any detriment to their

Open Document