The Golden Rule

By Maggie Griffin-Taylor

I was looking for a quiet place.  I was looking for solitude.  I found it on the ground floor of a hospital in Albuquerque—a small room with an east facing window and a sign that said “Peace to all who enter here.”  Sun filtered through indigo glass and peace was palpable. I was humbled.  I knew I should have had more to offer than my fear, discouragement, grief, weariness, my loneliness— but I offered it anyway to the indigo light.

There was a large painted canvas on the south wall with words that suddenly connected me to every person who had stepped through the same threshold--people from all walks of life, all cultures, all ages, all creeds.

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The Golden Rule

Buddhism

“Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.”
—Udanavarga (5:18), Buddhist text

Christainity

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (St. Matthew)

Confucianism

“Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.’”
—The Analects (15:24), Confucian text

Hebraism

What is hurtful to yourself do not do to your fellow man.  That is the whole of the Torah and the remainder is but commentary.  Go learn it.  (Talmud)

Hinduism

This is the sum of duty: do naught to others which if done to thee, would cause thee pain (Mahabharata)

Islam

No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. (Traditions)

Jainism

In happiness and in suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self, and should therefore refrain from inflicting upon others such injury as would appear undesirable to us if inflicted upon ourselves (Yogashastra)

Sikhism

As thou deemest thyself so deem others.  Then shalt thou become a partner in heaven (Kabir)

Taoism

Regard your neighbors gain as your own gain; and regard your neighbors loss as your own loss. (T’ai Shang Kan Ying P”ien)

Zoroastrianism

That nature only is good when it shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self (Dadostsn-i-dinik)

Baha’i

Choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself.”
—Baha’u’llah, Baha’i prophet

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Growing up, I heard the golden rule too many times to count.  It truly influenced my life and my actions and my expectations. At best, it is a reminder to be kind and empathetic; at worst—an aphorism that people say but do not practice.  It’s hard to forget the bitter taste of betrayal when that rule is broken.

What struck me in that early morning indigo sunlight as I read the list is the true interconnection that we all share.  The Golden Rule wasn't just a polite way of behaving in social settings. It is, instead, a fundamental truth--a golden thread that connects us all.  I wondered how human beings who had lived in different times, in different places, in different cultures, who spoke different languages, lived in different climates, ate different foods, saw different stars arrived at the same fundamental principle—Live with reciprocity and equanimity for all beings. Treat others in the same manner that you would like to be treated. 

Suddenly the sharp edges of difference and indifference soften. And the human capacity to hold space for each other, especially those who are wounded (including ourselves) takes on enormous value. The Golden Rule doesn't exist solely to remind us not to cut in front of people in line or to resist sneaking a bigger piece of the pie or to let other people take a turn.  It's much deeper.  All that’s left to do is surrender the small self for something vaster and truer in order to feel the pulse of all of us breathing simultaneously at this very moment. 

In certain settings, it is easy to remember that we are here on this earth for a short time. We live; we die.  We create; we dissolve. We may feel at times that we are alone; we are not.  I am grateful for a reminder that we are wired for kindness and reciprocity. I am grateful to feel and acknowledge the truth of our interconnection.  I am grateful for all the sages who discovered this golden thread of compassion in their own hearts and in of all sentient beings and shared their wisdom.

Consider for meditation a favorite story that Yoganand tells is about the ocean of Brahman.  The sea moves and churns and one day a little drop is projected upward.  Like the proverbial fish that doesn’t know it swims in water, the drop looks down and says, “Wow.”

Then looks around and says, “Who said ‘wow’?” ……I said “wow.”

And then…proceeds to forget and resists yet yearns to feel that wholeness.