Last updated June 9, 2011 ‡

PRINCIPLESOF REALITY

2PRINCIPLES OF REALITY

Last updated June 4, 2011 ‡

CHAPTER 3

THE LAW OFRECIPROCITY

Last updated June 9, 2011 ‡

3PRINCIPLES OF REALITY Ch. 3 The Law of Reciprocity

1 ThE GOLdEN RuLE

In the Gospel of Matthew, the Christian Bible recounts a lesson Jesus delivered to a large

crowd, which included his disciples, alongside a mountain.1 In this “Sermon on the Mount,”

Jesus relayed what is generally referred to as the Golden Rule: “So in everything, do to others

what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”2 Jesus

echoed this theme throughout the Sermon on the Mount (indeed, throughout his recorded

ministry), instructing the crowd, for example: “do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in

the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be

measured to you.”3

Various expressions of the Golden Rule pre-date Jesus who, of course, was himself

synthesizing teachings purportedly relayed from YhWh to Moses around 1200 - 1300 BC.4 In

the 1st century B.C., for example, “The Sentences of Sextus,” a hellenistic Pythagorean text,

advised: “Such as you wish your neighbor to be to you, such also be you to your neighbor.”5

1. Although sometimes used more broadly, “disciples” generally refers to twelve men who many scholars

believe comprised Jesus’ inner circle: Simon, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,

James, Simon, Jude Thaddaeus, and Judas Iscariot. 2. Matthew 7:12 (New International Version). The “Law,” also known as the “Sefer Torah,” “Pentateuch,” “or

“Law of Moses,” comprises Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These are the first five

books of both the “Tanakh” (Hebrew Bible) and “Old Testament” (Christian Bible). In the Hebrew Bible,

the “Prophets” include Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the “Book

of the Twelve” (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,

Zechariah, and Malachi). The Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament are essentially the same, although

they are organized in a slightly different manner. Within the umbrella of Christianity, Catholics include

several books within their official version of the Old Testament that Protestants do not recognize. 3. Matthew 7:1 (NIV)4. YHWH, mentioned over 6,000 times in the Jewish Bible, is the sacred name of the God of Israel (and of

Christians, depending on one’s point of view). YHWH is variously defined to literally mean either “To be,”

“I will be that which I now am,” or “He brings into existence whatever exists,” though there are several

other interpretations. YHWH is also known as the “Tetragrammaton,” from Greek τετραγράμματον,

meaning “having four letters.” Regarded as too sacred to be uttered (for this reason possible pronunciations

are not here listed), YHWH was eventually replaced vocally in synagogue rituals with the Hebrew “Adonai,”

translated as “Lord” in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament. Similarly, YWHW is often

referred to in text by modern Jewish scholars as “the LORD.” The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the

10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name

YHWH with vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai or Elohim. Thus, the name “Jehovah” (YeHoWaH)

came into being. Later, “Elohim,” meaning “God,” began to replace YHWH to demonstrate the sovereignty

of Israel’s God over all others. Thus, references to Lord and Jehovah refer to YHWH, which does not appear

in the text of most popular English Bible translations on the market today for the reasons outlined above,

and also perhaps out of respect for the commandment not to take the name of God in vain. Yahweh.

Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 10 Dec. 2009

5. tbd

Last updated June 9, 2011 ‡

4PRINCIPLES OF REALITY Ch. 1 The Law of Reciprocity

Around 500 BC, the Chinese philosopher, Confucius, stated: “What you do not wish for

yourself, do not do to others.” When Zi gon, a disciple of Confucius, asked “ Is there any one

word that could guide a person throughout life?” Confucius replied, “Shu [reciprocity]: never

impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.”6 Strikingly similar statements

appear in texts related to the Bahá'í Faith, Buddhism, hinduism, and Islam, to name a few.7

2 NEWTON’S ThIRd LAW OF MOTION

There is a striking similarity between the Golden Rule and Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of

Motion. Newton’s seminal work, “Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in

1687, presented a scientific view of gravitation and motion that dominated the concept of the

physical universe for three hundred years and continue to inform our thinking today.

6. Analects XV.24 (tr. David Hinton)

7. Bahá'í Faith (Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say

not that which thou doest not. Bahá'u'lláh - Words of Wisdom. The Golden Rule, Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings,

LXVI:8 , Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh, p10); Buddhism (Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would

find hurtful. Udanavarga 5:18); Hinduism (“One should never do that to another which one regards as

injurious to one’s own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Other behavior is due to selfish desires.”

Brihaspati, Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva, Section CXIII, Verse 8, Mahabharata Book 13); Islam (“Hurt no

one so that no one may hurt you.” Muhammad, The Farewell Sermon).