CREATIVE CORNER March 2005
updated on the first of January, March, May, July, September and November
The World's Great Religions
by Gary Douglas Smith
Peace in the World's Great Religions
CHRISTIANITY: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."
CONFUCIANISM: "Seek to be in harmony with all your neighbors...live in peace with your brethren."
BUDDHISM: "There is no happiness greater than peace."
HINDUISM: "Without meditation, where is peace? Without peace, where is happiness?"
ISLAM: "God will guide men to peace. If they will heed Him, He will lead them from the darkness of war to the light of peace."
TAOISM: "The wise esteem peace and quiet above all else."
SIKHISM: "Only in the Name of the Lord do we find our peace."
JUDAISM: "When a man's ways please the Lord he maketh even his enemies be at peace with him."
JAINISM: "All men should live in peace with their fellows. This is the Lord's desire."
ZOROASTRIANISM: "I will sacrifice to peace, whose breath is friendly."
BAHA'I: "War is death while peace is life."
SHINTO: "Let the earth be free from trouble and men live at peace under the protection of the Divine."
Love in the World's Great Religions
CHRISTIANITY: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love."
CONFUCIANISM: "To love all men, is the greatest benevolence."
BUDDHISM: "Let a man cultivate towards the whole world a heart of love."
HINDUISM: "One can best worship the Lord through love."
ISLAM: "Love is this, that thou shouldst account thyself very little and God very great."
TAOISM: "Heaven arms with love those it would not see destroyed."
SIKHISM: "God will regenerate those in whose hearts there is love."
JUDAISM: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself."
JAINISM: "The days are the most profit to him who acts in love."
ZOROASTRIANISM: "Man is the beloved of the Lord and should love him in return."
BAHA'I: "Love Me that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can no wise reach thee."
SHINTO: "Love is the representative of the Lord."
The Golden Rule in the World's Great Religions
CHRISTIANITY: "...All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them..."
CONFUCIANISM: "Do not unto others what you would not they should do unto you."
BUDDHISM: "In five ways should a clansman minister to his friends and familiars - by generosity, courtesy and benevolence, by treating them as he treats himself, and by being as good as his word."
HINDUISM: "Do not unto others, which if done to thee, would cause thee pain."
ISLAM: "No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."
SIKHISM: "As thou deemest thyself so deem others. Then shalt thou become a partner in heaven."
JUDAISM: "What is hurtful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man."
JAINISM: "In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self."
ZOROASTRIANISM: "That nature only is good when it shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self."
TAOISM: "Regard your neighbor's gain as your gain and regard your neighbor's loss as your own loss.":
All Is Mind
Shared by Michael Merle-Jones
Master Koretoshi Maruyama Sensei has finished 10 years in a Zen monastery, perfecting his philosophy that "all is mind". He studied intensively with the founder of Aikido, Morehei Ueshiba.
Here is his "motto":
"I am mind itself.
If I hold positive thoughts in my mind, good things are likely to happen.
Holding negative thoughts in my mind works against my best interests.
Therefore, even if my body suffers physically, my mind remains optimistic.
Even if I encounter obstacles, my mind is never defeated.
Daily I fill my heart with thoughts of joy, gratitude and hope.
I face each new day with a bright and optimistic spirit, which I express in word and deed.
I have faith in life, and life responds in kind."
