The Many Variations of The Golden Rule

1970-1640 BCE -- "Do for one who may do for you, That you may cause him thus to do." The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, Ancient Egypt

700 BCE -- "That nature only is good when it shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self." Dadistan-i-Dinik, 94:5, Zoroastrianism

? BCE -- "Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others." Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29, Zoroastrianism.

550 BCE -- "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself." New International Version, Bible, Leviticus 19:18, Judaism.

500 BCE -- "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5:18, Buddhism.

500 BCE -- "The Sage...makes the self of the people his self." Tao Te Ching, Chapter 49, Daoism.

500 BCE -- "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others." Analects of Confucius, 15:24, Confucianism.,

500 BCE -- "Now the man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others. To be able to judge of others by what is nigh in ourselves; this may be called the art of virtue." Analects of Confucius, 6:30, Confucianism.

500 BCE -- "One word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life [is] reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire." Doctrine of the Mean, 13.3, Confucianism.

500 BCE -- "Therefore, neither does he cause violence to others nor does he make others do so." Acarangasutra, 5.101-2, Jainism

400 BCE -- "Do not do to others what would anger you if done to you by others." Socrates.

200 BCE -- "What you hate, do not do to anyone." New Revised Standard Version, Bible, Tobit, 4:15, Judaism.

150 BCE -- "This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you." Mahabharata, 5:1517, Brahmanism and Hinduism.

100 CE -- "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary." Hillel; Talmud, Shabbat 31a, Judaism.

100 CE -- "Do to others as you would have them do to you." Bible, Gospel of Luke 6:31, Christianity.

100 CE -- "What you would avoid suffering yourself, seek not to impose on others." Epictetus

800 CE -- "No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." Hadith recorded by al-Bukhari, Islam.

? CE -- "And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself." Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, 30, Bahá'í Faith.

1870 CE -- "He should not wish for others what he does not wish for himself." Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Bahá'í Faith.

1999 CE -- "Don't do things you wouldn't want to have done to you." British Humanist society, Humanism.

A somewhat similar basis for ethic behaviour is often found also in other ethical systems as, for instance, in Immanuel Kant's Critique of Practical Reason: "The rule of the judgement according to laws of pure practical reason is this: ask yourself whether, if the action you propose were to take place by a law of the system of nature of which you were yourself a part, you could regard it as possible by your own will. (...) If the maxim of the action is not such as to stand the test of the form of a universal law of nature, then it is morally impossible" (trans. T.K. Abbott). This is known as the categorical imperative.

Karma

Karma (Sanskrit) or Kamma (Pali) can mean 'action, effect, destiny'. In Hinduism and, later, Buddhism, it is the sum of a person's actions, regarded as determining that person's future states of existence. The law of Karma originated in the Vedic system of religion, otherwise known as Hinduism or Sanatan Dharma (perennial faith). As a term, it can at the latest be traced back to the early Upanishads, around 1500 BC.

Hinduism

The concept of Karma, based on the Vedas and Upanishads was a concept that was adopted by other religions like Buddhism and Jainism. One of the first and most dramatic illustrations of Karma can be found in the great Hindu Mahabharata. The original Hindu concept of karma was later enhanced by several other movements within the religion, most notably Vedanta and Tantra.

Karma literally means "deed" or "act" and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction which governs all life. Karma is not fate, for man acts with free will creating his own destiny. According to the Vedas, if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concommitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determines our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate reaction. Not all karmas rebound immediately. Some accumulate and return unexpectedly in this or other births.

As Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami explains it, unkindness yields spoiled fruits, called papa and good deeds bring forth sweet fruits, called punya. He further notes that as one acts, so does he become. One becomes virtuous by virtuous action, bad by bad action."

There are three types of karma

sanchita karma, the sum total of past karmas yet to be resolved
prarabdha karma, that portion of sanchita karma that is to be experienced in this life; and
kriyamana karma, the karma that humans are currently creating and will bear fruit in the future.

Notably, karma in Hinduism, which differs from Buddhism and Jainism, involves the role of God.

Buddhism

In Buddhism only intentional actions are karmic "acts of will". The 'Law of Karma' refers to "cause and effect", but Karma literally means "action" - often indicating intent or cause. Accompanying this usually is a separate tenet called Vipaka, meaning result or effect. The re-action or effect can itself also influence an action, and in this way, the chain of causation continues ad infinitum. When Buddhists talk about karma, they are normally referring to karma/action that is 'tainted' with ignorance - karma that continues to ensure that the being remains in the everlasting cycle samsara.

This samsaric karma comes in two 'flavors' - 'good' karma, which leads to positive/pleasurable experiences, like high rebirth (as a deva, asura, or human), and bad karma which leads to suffering and low rebirth (as a hell-sufferer, a preta, or as an animal). There is also a completely different type of karma that is neither good nor bad, but liberating. This karma allows for the individual to break the uncontrolled cycle of rebirth which always implies suffering, and thereby leave samsara to permanently enter nirvana.

The Buddhist sutras explain that in order to generate liberating karma, we must first develop incredibly powerful concentration, and proper insight into the (un)reality of samsara. This concentration is akin to the states of mind required to be reborn in the Deva realm, and in itself depends upon a very deep training in ethical self-discipline. This differentiation between good karma and liberating karma has been used by some scholars to argue that the development of Tantra depended upon Buddhist ideas and philosophies.

Understanding the universal law of karma provides order to a beginningless and endless universe. Alongside this view is the related notion of Buddhist rebirth - sometimes understood to be the same thing as reincarnation - which has its roots in the principle of karma.

Jainism

Jains believe that karma is a form of matter. Mahavira described karma as "clay particles". Jains do not believe in "good karma" or "bad karma"; they try to avoid all karma.

Parallels with Christianity

Christian teachings do not usually include the idea of Karma, although some parallels can be made, as exemplified by biblical verses of God is not mocked, what a man sows he must reap and Vengeance is mine says the Lord.

For the most part, however, the idea of the Abrahamic God makes the concept of Karma redundant for Christians.

It is also worth noting that most interpretations of Christianity do not emphasize the religious importance of thoughts and intentions, that are usually understood to be a major form of karma by the doctrines that use that concept.

Western Interpretation

Although karma cannot be proven as easily as the law of gravity, millions of people believe in it and is a part of many cultures and psyche of groups of people. Even more people, without a religious background, especially in a western culture or with a Christian upbringing, come to the conviction of the existence of karma. For some, karma is a more reasonable concept than eternal damnation for the wicked. Spirituality or a belief that virtue is rewarded and sin creates suffering eventually leads to a belief in karma.

According to karma, performance of positive action results with the reaction of a good conditioning in one's experience, whereas a negative action results in a reaction of a bad response. This may be an immediate result following the act, or a delayed result occurring either in the present life or the next. Thus, meritorious acts may create rebirth into a higher station, such as a superior human being or a godlike being, while evil acts result in rebirth as a human living in less desirable circumstances, or as a lower animal. While the action of karma has often been compared with the Western notions of sin and judgment by God or gods, karma instead has been commonly perceived by Westerners to operate as an inherent principle of the universe without the intervention of any supernatural being. That notion is incorrect and holds true for only Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, however, God does play a role and is seen as a dispenser of karma.

New Age and Theosophy

The idea of karma was popularized in the west through the work of the Theosophical Society. Kardecist and Western New Age reinterpretations of karma frequently cast it as a sort of luck which is associated with virtue: if one does good or spiritually valuable acts, one deserves and can expect good luck; conversely, if one does harmful things, one can expect bad luck or unfortunate happenings. In this conception, karma is affiliated with the Neopagan Law of return or Threefold Law, the idea that the beneficial or harmful effects one has on the world will return to oneself.

Quotes

"Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal." His Holiness the Dalai Lama

O people, remember that your Lord is One. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a black has no superiority over white, nor a white has any superiority over black, except by piety and good action. Indeed the best among you is the one with the best character. Listen to me. Did I convey this to you properly? People responded, Yes. O messenger of Allah. The Prophet then said, then each one of you who is here must convey this to everyone not present." Excerpt from the Prophet Muhammad's Last Sermon in Baihiqi

"No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." Hadith (Islam)

"By God, he is not a believer". They said, "Who is this ill-advised loser, Messenger of God?" He said: "The one whose neighbor does not feel safe against his designs". (Note: A neighbor is one who is next to you, be it the person sitting next to you in a bus or train, at work or living next door) Hadith (Islam)

"God will inflict harm on anyone who harms others". Hadith (Islam)

"Treat people in such a way and live amongst them them in such a manner that if you die they weep over you, alive they crave for your company".Ali (Nahjul Balagha)

"Just as you have the instinctive natural desire to be happy and overcome suffering, so do all sentient beings; just as you have the right to fulfill this innate aspiration, so do all sentient beings. So on what grounds do you discriminate?" His Holiness the Dalai Llama

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Gandhi

"Happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction and to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demeanor themselves as good citizens." President George Washington

"When we look at modern man we have to face the fact that modern man suffers from a kind of poverty of the spirit, which stands in glaring contrast to his scientific and technological abundance, we've learned to fly the air like birds, we've learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we haven’t learned to walk the earth as brothers and sisters." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"I believe in a America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish - where no public official either requests or accepts instructions from the pope, The National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source - where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials - and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all." President John F. Kennedy

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?" Rabbi Hillel

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to each other." Mother Teresa

"Let your peace be materialized in actions." Vilayat Inayat Khan

"A small amount that leads to agreement is better than a great amount that leads to discord." al-Jahiz

"There are four things which are useful and beneficial for everyone, namely:

To be just;
To be guided by wisdom;
To be patient and persevering and
To show respect to the people."

Attar