Morality as Harmonic Chord

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Spirituality → Discussion •
Morality as Harmonic Chord



mollybrogan Apr 3, 10:54am
"Love thy neighbor as thyself" or the golden rule, can be found with
slight variations throughout philosophy and religion, here are a few:

Judaism: "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.", Leviticus 19:18

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."

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

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

Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" Analects 15:23

Why is this important? Why is morality essential to the fabric of our lives? It prescribes consistency and allows our actions to be in harmony with our desires. It provides an internal compass that we can use to navigate society. How we apply the golden rule, or how we are able to treat others the way we ourselves would like to be treated, tests our moral coherence.

What do YOU think?


PeacefulWalks Apr 7, 7:51am
Perhaps the foundational motivation is most simply expressed by your Black Elk quotation - "All is really One". On an at least a subconscious level, we may all realize that there is no separation among ourselves, that the "harmonic chord" connects us all. Consequently, how we treat others is in fact, how we treat ourselves.