Buddhism

Putting oneself in the place of another,

one should not kill nor cause another to kill.

One who, while himself seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other

beings who also desire happiness, will not attain happiness hereafter.

In addition, the Dalai Lama has stated:

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

Baha'i Faith

From the sacred scriptures of the Baha'i Faith:

"Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not." Baha'u'llah.

"Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself." Baha'u'llah; "And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself." Baha'u'llah.

Christianity

Within Christian circles, the ethic of reciprocity is often called the "Golden Rule". Christianity adopted the ethic from two edicts, found in Leviticus 19:18 ("Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.") and Leviticus 19:34 ("But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God"). Crucially, Leviticus 19:34 universalizes the edict of Leviticus 19:18 from "one of your people" to all of humankind.

Several passages in the New Testament quote Jesus of Nazareth espousing the ethic of reciprocity, including the following:

Matthew 7:12
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

Luke 6:31
"Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them."

Luke 10:25-28

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. 'Teacher,' he said, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?'
26He said to him, 'What is written in the law? What do you read there?'
27He answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.'
28And he said to him, 'You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.'

Jesus then proceeds to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan, indicating that "your neighbour" means a total stranger, or someone that happens to be nearby.

Confucianism

Confucius said in the Analects:

"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." - Analects XV.24, tr. David Hinton

The same idea is also presented in V.12 and VI.30 of the Analects.

Hinduism

The Golden rule appears in the Mahabharata, where Vrihaspati says:

That man who regards all creatures as his own self, and behaves towards them as towards his own self, laying aside the rod of chastisement and completely subjugating his wrath, succeeds in attaining to happiness. In addition to the law of karma, the Bhagavad Gita contains a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna with the statement:

That one I love who is incapable of ill will, And returns love for hatred.

As portrayed by Swami Vivekanand- Do good and forget, don't expect any reward^.

 Islam

In his Last Sermon, the Prophet Muhammad cautioned believers:

• "Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you."

Jeffrey Wattles holds that the ethic of reciprocity appears in the following statements attributed to Muhammad:

• "Woe to those . . . who, when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full measure, but when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due"
• The Qur'an commends "those who show their affection to such as came to them for refuge and entertain no desire in their hearts for things given to the (latter), but give them preference over themselves"

• "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself."
• "Seek for mankind that of which you are desirous for yourself, that you may be a believer; treat well as a neighbor the one who lives near you, that you may be a Muslim [one who submits to God]."
• "That which you want for yourself, seek for mankind."
• "The most righteous of men is the one who is glad that men should have what is pleasing to himself, and who dislikes for them what is for him disagreeable."

 Jainism

In Jainism, the ethic of reciprocity is firmly embedded in its entire philosophy and can be seen in its clearest form in the doctrines of Ahimsa and Karma

• Following quotation from the Acaranga Sutra sums up the philosophy of Jainism :

• Saman Suttam of Jinendra Varni gives further insight into this percepts:-

All the living beings wish to live and not to die; that is why unattached saints prohibit the killing of living beings.

—Suman Suttam , verse 148

Just as pain is not agreeable to you, it is so with others. Knowing this principle of equality treat other with respect and compassion.

—Suman Suttam , verse 150

Killing a living being is killing one's own self; showing compassion to a living being is showing compassion to oneself. He who desires his own good, should avoid causing any harm to a living being.

—Suman Suttam , verse 151

Judaism

The ethic of reciprocity is set forth in Leviticus 19:18 (the Great Commandment) ("You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: I am the LORD.") and Leviticus 19:34 ("The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the LORD am your God."

 The Sage Hillel formulated the Golden Rule in order to illustrate the underlying principles of Jewish moral law

That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn. Rabbi Akiba emphasized the importance of Leviticus 19:18.

Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Not surprisingly, Israel's postal service quoted from this verse when it commemorated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on a 1958 postage stamp.

Taoism

• "Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien.
• "The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful." Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49

Take care

William Kisku

William Kisku