Religion and Ethics book 3

Universal Principles to Build a
Culture of Peace
Miguel Angel Cano Jimenez
PhD in Philosophy and Educational Sciences

RELIGION AND ETHICS
THE SEARCH FOR ABSOLUTE VALUES
UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES TO BUILD
A CULTURE OF PEACE
VOLUME III
Copyright © Miguel Angel Cano Jimenez
First English Edition: 2018
ISBN: 978-1984060068
Edited by the author: Miguel Angel Cano Jiménez
email: famcano2004@gmail.com
Cover Design: Sunil Cano

Religion and Ethics
Chapter 1 Religions and World Peace
Chapter 2 Ethical Teachings Shared
by All Religions
Chapter 3 Disagreements and Possible
Consensus between the Doctrines
of the Different Religions
The Search for AbsoluteValues

Everyone agrees that we live in a time of crisis. It is a
generalized crisis of values. In science and philosophy the
search for truth, certitude or rationality is in a dead end. In the
sphere of ethics, there is a total confusion about what is right
or wrong.
Society is plagued by problems, ranging from the increase in
youth violence, including child abuse, to problems such as
abusive use of alcohol and drugs, sexual offenses, abuse and
violence within the family, until the corruption of political and
financial elites.
Moreover, at the global level, we are immersed in a series of
regional wars and exposed to the growing danger of conflicts
or clashes between different nations, cultures and civilizations,
in addition to the serious threat of international terrorism.
INTRODUCTION

«Man, having been transformed into a thing, is anxious,
without faith, without conviction, with little capacity for
love. He escapes into empty busy-ness, alcoholism, extreme
sexual promiscuity, and psychosomatic symptoms of all
kinds, which can best be explained by the theory of stress.
Paradoxically, the wealthiest societies turn out to be the
sickest, and the progress of medicine in them is matched by
a great increase of all forms of psychic and psychosomatic
illness.»
Erich Fromm, On Being Human, Continuum, New York, 1994, pp.
36-37.
As Erich Fromm rightly points out in the following quote, it is
paradoxical that opulent societies are the ones who are plagued with most
psychological problems caused by conflicting human relationships that
lead many people to loneliness, depression and even suicide.

The root of current problems lies in the moral
emptiness created by the crisis of values.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance to research
for core values and universal ethical principles
that can be shared and accepted by all nations,
cultures and religions.
These universally shared values should serve as
a basis for a peace education that fosters
peaceful coexistence among individuals, families,
races, nations and civilizations, in order to
achieve a stable and lasting world peace.

This volume, entitled Religion
and Ethics, is dedicated to
analyzing and comparing the
most important religious
traditions in order to discover
what values and ethical principles
they share in common, as well as
the possibilities of reaching
consensus on universal ethical
principles that can be accepted by
all religions and cultures.
That is, a core of common
values that serve as a basis for an
ethical education that fosters
world peace.
Despite the end of the cold war, there is now a
growing danger of new wars, conflicts and clashes
between different peoples, ethnic groups, cultures
and civilizations, as well as the serious threat of
international terrorism. It can be observed that
many of these new conflicts have a religious
background, so today more than ever we see the
need to reach a religious peace if we want to
advance towards world peace.
In addition, when it comes to achieving a global
consensus on universal ethical principles, there is no
choice but to take into account all religious
traditions, if one does not want to fall into a crude
cultural ethnocentrism that is of little benefit to
peace.

The source of inspiration and motivation
for this research has been the philosophical,
ethical and religious thinking of Sun Myung
Moon, an extraordinary man who dedicated
his whole life to world peace.
He founded the Unification Movement and
numerous organizations and institutions in
all fields of culture. He brought together
scientists, teachers, communicators,
educators, religious leaders, and political
leaders to participate in numerous
international conferences in order to work
for world peace, transcending national,
cultural, racial and religious barriers.
Like other great visionaries as
Jesus, Buddha or Socrates, he has
never written anything, but
throughout his life he has given a
vivid education through lectures,
sermons and public conferences.
For this reason, Dr. Sung Hun Lee,
a Korean scholar, put in order and
systematize the philosophical
thinking of Sun Myung Moon, which
is called “Unification Thought”,
because its claim is to harmonize all
contradictory schools and currents of
human thought throughout history.

«Humankind’s destiny is to bring together all the
points of view that are now divided against each
other. The philosophy that will lead humanity in the
future must be able to bring together all religions
and philosophies.(…)
If we continue the era of people congregating
together only by religion or race, then humanity
cannot avoid a repetition of war. The age of peace
absolutely cannot come unless we transcend
cultural customs and traditions.»
Sun Myung Moon, As a Peace-loving Global Citizen,TheWashingtonTimes
Foundation, USA, 2009, p. 291.

Religions and World Peace
Chapter 1 Religion and Ethics:The Search for AbsoluteValues

1. The universality of religious
beliefs
2. Reason and current validity of
religious beliefs
3. Need for ethical consensus
among religions to achieve world
peace
CHAPTER 1 RELIGIONS AND WORLD PEACE

Religious beliefs have always been part of all the tribes, human
settlements, populations and cultures that have emerged throughout
history.
First, there was a great diversity of mythological beliefs and religious cults
that varied according to the different ways of life and customs of the peoples
in which they emerged, such as hunting, pasturage, agriculture, handicrafts
and trade, and also according to the geographical area and climatology
where they settled.
Later, in all the great cultures —especially in the so-called axial period—
arose prophets, founders of religions and philosophers, like Moses in the
Hebrew culture, Zoroaster in Persia, Socrates and the other Greek
philosophers in the Hellenistic culture, Confucius in the Chinese culture and
Buddha in the Hindu culture, among others.
Their teachings, which contained very similar ethical components,
strongly influenced their respective cultures and formed the basis of the
major religious and philosophical traditions that survive today.
THE UNIVERSALITY OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

Despite their diversity, religious teachings have always
sought to satisfy the need of human beings to know the
answers to universal questions such as:
What was the origin of life and the world?
Where we come from?
Why are we here?
What is the meaning of human life?
Why does suffering and injustice exist?
What should we do to avoid these evils?
How could we be truly happy?
What can we expect in the future?
Is there another life after death?
Religion as the answer to universal questions about the meaning of
human life

 The metaphor of the physician
 Extraordinary similarity in ethical
norms
 Strength and validity of religions
 Since the Enlightenment, religion
has been challenged by the
academic and intellectual elites
 Nietzsche's famous prophecy of
God's death
 The survival of religious beliefs
 The resurgence of the religions
 The Revenge of God
 Modern epistemology has blurred
the famous line of demarcation
between scientific knowledge and
religious beliefs
 “There is something eternal in
religion”
REASON AND CURRENT VALIDITY OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

One could say that the basic scheme of
religious beliefs is as follows:
First, they speak of a good origin of
humanity and the universe, of an original
paradise in which human beings were pure
and innocent and lived happily together, a
golden age in which there was order and
cosmic harmony.
Second, they explain that there was a
degradation, or fall in error and ignorance,
that caused a cosmic disorder, a state of
internal suffering and contradiction within
man, as well as wars, misfortunes, miseries,
injustices and human unhappiness.
The metaphor of the physician
Third, they point to a path of salvation, liberation, or
enlightenment to get out of this state of ignorance,
error, sin, and suffering.
Finally, they infuse the hope of reaching a final goal of
perfection and happiness, individual and collective, a
return to the golden age, to the union with God, the
creator or origin of the universe.

We could say then that the founders of
religions resemble physicians.
Each of them has a different conception of
how the original state of health of humanity
was.
They also have their own diagnosis of the
causes of evil and human suffering.Then,
according to this diagnosis, they prescribe a
remedy or cure to recover the original state of
health or happiness lost.
Of course, by varying the conceptions of
original health and the causes of evil and
suffering, the prescriptions or medicines that
they prescribe will also differ, as will the
promised ultimate salvation.
The metaphor of the physician

By comparing religious teachings with each
other, it can be observed that in matters of
doctrines and beliefs there are many differences
between them, but in matters of practical norms
of conduct there is such a resemblance that
Ronald Green could say:
«One of the most striking impressions
produced by the comparative study of
religious ethics is the similarity in basic
moral codes and teachings.»
Ronald M. Green, «Morality and Religion», enThe
Encyclopedia of Religion, M. Eliade, ed., vol. 10,
Macmillan, NewYork, 1987, p. 99
Extraordinary similarity in ethical norms
But, unfortunately, there have
always been wars and persecutions
within each religion or between
religions for disagreements about
beliefs and dogmas of faith, or ritual
formalisms, even though they teach
very similar practical moral norms,
which are actually some of the most
valuable and useful aspects of
religions.

The strength and validity of religions is based
precisely on their ethical teachings, which
motivate people to abandon a selfish and
irresponsible way of life and adopt a new way of
life of dedication, love and selfless service to
others, despite that some of their dogmas or
beliefs are quite irrational or fantastic.
In fact, the religions that have survived up to
now are those that have taught an altruistic way
of life of love and service to their fellow men,
while religions with cruel or immoral practices
have disappeared.
Strength and validity of religions

In the Enlightenment, people began to
question Christian dogmas and beliefs for
the lack of rational and logical explanations.
Another reason for the discredit of religion
was the endless and fanatical fratricidal wars
and mutual persecutions between the
different churches that emerged after the
Protestant Reformation.
In addition, the Christian churches only
cared for the otherworldly salvation and did
nothing to solve the social problems or
improve the living conditions of people here
on earth. Marx radicalized this criticism by
saying that religion was the opium of the
people.
However, during the nineteenth century neither
Christianity nor the other religions lost their
influence at the grassroots level. Christianity spread
throughout the world, and there was also a
resurgence of other religions.
Later, during the second half of the twentieth
century there was a generalized crisis on the popular
and intellectual level of the beliefs and values of
established religions, because in the democratic
nations a materialistic, consumerist and hedonistic
way of life was popularized.
At that time, also people were influenced by the
impetus of Marxism and revolutionary movements
that won the favor of the Western intellectual class
and many of its young idealists.
Since the Enlightenment, the academic and intellectual elites have
challenged religion

In the decades of the 60s and 70s of the last
century, many intellectuals believed that
Nietzsche's famous prophecy of the death of God
was finally to be realized. Religious superstition
was finally going to fall down in history.
However, it seems hard to kill God. It does not
give the impression that religions are
disappearing, but quite the contrary.
InWestern culture, and more strongly in non-
Western cultures, religious traditions were re-
emerging and gaining more and more popular
and social influence.
Nietzsche's famous prophecy of God's death

Instead, what seems that has gone in
history has been the Communist atheist
ideology, which had been trying for
decades to eradicate religion.
In fact, the peoples who were under
the ideological oppression of the
communist system, and those who still
have a more moderate communist
system, have all recovered their old
religious traditions. Küng rightly points
out this fact.
«Neither atheistic humanism (Feuerbach) nor
atheist socialism (Marx) nor atheistic science
(Freud or Russell) have managed to supplant
religion.
On the contrary, insofar as ideologies, modern
secularized beliefs, have been losing credibility, it
was precisely religions, old and new religious
beliefs, which were gaining new impetus.
Today, people are talking already about a post-
ideological era, and almost nothing of a post-
religious era.»
H. Küng, Proyecto de una ética mundial, Trotta, Madrid, 1991, pp.
66-67.
The survival of religious beliefs

Many researchers soon began to speak of a
resurgence of religions.
José María Mardones, in his book The New
Forms of Religion, suggested that we are going
towards «a new religious age» pointing out
that the new spiritual proposals «are the
manifestations of the sacred, religious, in the
sociocultural and spiritual context of our
time...They are an expression of the vitality of
the sacred and the search for a religious
experience for man and society today.»
José María Mardones, Las nuevas formas de la religión,
Editorial Verbo Divino, Estella, 1994, p. 114.
Not only through these recent
events but also throughout
history can be appreciated this
amazing ability of religions to
adapt, renew and survive the rise
and fall of empires, and all kinds
of revolutions or changes in
economic, political or ideological
systems.
The resurgence of the religions

Gilles Kepel expressed himself in very similar terms in his book The
Revenge of God:
The Revenge of God
«A new religious discourse takes shape,
not to adapt to secular values but to
return the sacred foundation to the
organization of society, changing it if
necessary.
This discourse, through its multiple
expressions, proposes the overcoming of
a failed modernity to which it attributes
the failures and the frustrations coming
from the estrangement of God. (...)
In all cases they reproach society for
its dismemberment, its anomie, the
absence of a common project to which
they can adhere.
Rather than combating a secular ethic
which they consider non-existent, they
think that the modernity produced by a
reason without God has not, in short,
been able to generate values.»
Gilles Kepel, La revancha de Dios, Anaya, Madrid,
1991, pp. 14, 18.

The old and archaic academic prejudices
against religious beliefs no longer make sense,
even more today that modern epistemology
has blurred the famous line of demarcation
between rational knowledge and irrational
beliefs.
This is a line which the Enlightenment
began to trace, and which the positivist
scientists later adopted as their own,
delimiting an imaginary frontier between the
true and objective knowledge of science and
the rest of the knowledge, insecure and
uncertain.
Modern epistemology has blurred the famous line of demarcation between
scientific knowledge and religious beliefs
«It is time for us to abandon
this persistent scientific
prejudice, which holds that
sciences and firm knowledge are
coextensive.»
Larry Laudan, El progreso y sus problemas,
hacia una teoría del conocimiento científico,
Encuentro Ediciones, Madrid, 1986, p. 22.
Something very well pointed out by
the philosopher of science, Larry
Laudan.

The beliefs and moral principles
taught by religions must have some
truth, otherwise it would be a miracle to
survive after thousands of years of
history.
Forms can change, but religion, its
substance, remains. We are always
impressed by E. Durkheim's statement
about the persistence of religion:
“There is something eternal in religion”
«There is something eternal in
religion that is destined to survive
all the particular symbols with
which the religious thought has
been successively wrapped.»
E. Durkheim, Las formas elementales de la
vida religiosa, Akal, Madrid, 1982, p. 387.

Today, if we want to achieve a consensus on common ethical
principles that serve to solve the problems of moral corruption that
affect all levels of society, it is necessary to take into account the
ethical teachings of religions.
Nations are increasingly losing the cultural and religious
homogeneity they once preserved and are becoming a mosaic of
ethnic and cultural minorities with different religious beliefs.
This plural and multicultural reality of many democratic societies
today requires a mutual understanding between different moral
conceptions in order to live in peace and try to solve human and
social problems together.
NEED FOR ETHICAL CONSENSUS AMONG RELIGIONS TO ACHIEVE
WORLD PEACE

As Sun Myung Moon
explains in this quote,
humanity is now entering the
age of “One Global Family.”
The world is made up of a
mosaic of nations with
ethnic, cultural and different
religions that in the past lived
isolated from one another,
but today are forced to
understand each other, to
live in peace and to
cooperate.
«We are entering the age of “One Global
Family,” in which we will have no choice but to
live in much closer proximity to those whose
religions, nationalities, and skin colors are
different from our own.
In such a world, we will need to develop a
genuine acceptance for—as opposed to simple
appreciation of— the wide variety of religions,
cultural traditions and life-styles around us. It
will be impossible for any individual or group to
selfishly choose to possess their own separate
haven.»
Sun Myung Moon, AbsoluteValues and the Reassessment of the
Contemporary World, International Conference on the Unity of
the Sciences, August 24, 1991..
The Age of “One Global Family”

After the end of ideological
conflicts between democracy
and communism, new conflicts
and tensions of an ethnic and
religious character have
resurfaced and proliferated on a
world scale, especially the
serious problem of Islamic
terrorism.
For this reason,
understanding and peace
among religions is vital to world
peace, as Hans Küng
enthusiastically states.
No world peace without religious peace!
«All the religions of the world must recognize
their responsibility for world peace.
That is why I will not tire of reiterating a thesis
for which I have seen a growing sympathy
throughout the world:
There can be no peace between nations without
peace between religions or, more briefly: No world
peace without religious peace!»
H. Küng, Proyecto de una ética mundial, Trotta, Madrid, 1991, p. 98.

Sun Myung Moon abounds in this statement by emphasizing
the imperative need for interreligious harmony to achieve
world peace.
«The essence of my teaching is that interreligious harmony is a
necessary condition for world peace. No single religion has
manifested God completely.Therefore, diversity and differences
of religion have been inevitable.
Yet, as many great religious leaders have taught, because we
are all children of the same Heavenly Parent, we are all brothers
and sisters of the same one great family, and interreligious
conflict and divisive hatred are unnecessary.»
Sun Myung Moon, Let Us Bring Religious Harmony for the Sake ofWorld Peace, Lotte
Hotel, Seoul, Korea,TheThirdYouth Seminar on World Religions, August 14, 1984.
We are all brothers and sisters of the same one great family

1. Logos, divine law and
cosmic principle
2. Golden age, paradise and
innate goodness
3. Ignorance, error and evil
4. Salvation, liberation and
enlightenment
CHAPTER 2 ETHICAL TEACHINGS SHARED
BY ALL RELIGION
5. Cosmic justice
6. Common ethical norms
and principles
7. Family
8. Ideal society and utopia
9. Love for nature

We will use the metaphor of the
physician to organize and compare
the ethical teachings of the major
religions.
When you want to cure a sick
person, you must first know the laws
that regulate the proper functioning
of the body, and what is the original
state of health;Then, give a
diagnosis of the disease or, which is
the same, discover what is the cause
of pain or suffering; And, in the end,
offer a remedy, cure or diet to regain
lost health.
Following this scheme, we will first see what religions teach
about the existence of a universal moral law and about human
nature; secondly we will know the explanations about the
causes of evil or suffering; and thirdly, we will compare the
solutions offered by different religions to recover health and
achieve individual, family, social and global perfection and
happiness.
To show the coincidences in ethical universals, we will
follow the model of two great encyclopedic works of Dr.
AndrewWilson titled, World Scripture, A Comparative
Anthology of SacredTexts and World Scripture and the
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon.They are two extraordinary
works in which the writings of all the religions of the world are
compared exhaustively, and the amazing coincidences
between them are highlighted.
INTRODUCTION

LOGOS, DIVINE LAW AND COSMIC PRINCIPLE
All religions speak of a Law,Truth or Cosmic
Principle that is a natural and moral law which
governs both the universe and human beings, such
as the Logos of the Greek culture, the Word (Logos)
of Christianity, theTorah of Judaism, the Qur’an of
Islam, the Dharma and order (Rita) of Hinduism, the
TrueTeaching (Dhamma) of Buddhism, and theTao
of Chinese culture.
In some doctrines, law or truth is an inherent
principle of the cosmos. For example, the Greek
Logos, the Hindu Dharma, the ChineseTao —which
is a creative principle by itself— and the
Dharmadhatu or AbsoluteTruth —that has been
realized in Buddha.
In other traditions, such as Christianity, Judaism,
or Islam, God is the lawmaker of that divine law that
serves as a standard or measure of creation, as well
as to judge the conduct of men.
In addition, all religious traditions share the belief
that this Law, Word, Logos,Truth or Wisdom
fulfilled the function of guiding the process of
creation of the universe and continues to regulate
nature and human society.

He has created the heavens and the
earth with truth.
Islam. Qur'an 16.3
From the bosom of the sacred Word he
brought forth the world. On high, below,
he abides in his own laws.
Hinduism.Atharva Veda 4.1.3
In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was in the beginning with God;
all things were made through him, and
without him was not anything made that
was made. In him was life, and the life
was the light of men.
Christianity. Bible, John 1.1-4
The Tao has its reality and its truth.
(…) It is its own source, its own root.
Before heaven and earth existed it
was there, firm from ancient times.
(…)
It gave birth to heaven and to
earth. It exists beyond the highest
point, and yet you cannot call it
lofty; it exists beneath the limit of
the six directions, and yet you
cannot call it deep.
It was born before heaven and
earth, and yet you cannot say it has
been there for long; it is earlier than
the earliest time, and yet you cannot
call it old.
Taoism. ChuangTzuVI, 6
LOGOS, DIVINE LAW AND COSMIC PRINCIPLE

The blessed Buddhas, of virtues endless
and limitless, are born of the Law of
Righteousness; they dwell in the Law, are
fashioned by the Law; they have the Law
as their master, the Law as their light, the
Law as their field of action, the Law as
their refuge...
Buddhism. Dharmasangiti Sutra
For the world that makes up all things is
one; The god that encompasses
everything is one; One is the substance,
one is the Law, one is the common reason
[Logos] to all intelligent beings; One is the
Truth, since one is also the perfection of
the beings of the same family and who
participate in the same reason [Logos].
Marcus Aurelius, MeditationsVII, 9
We must recognize that there is a
universal principle... You can see that
the universe has certain fundamental
laws, and anyone who violates them
will be judged accordingly, regardless of
his race or stature.
What is the spirit of that constitution
of the universe? It aims to preserve or
uphold the men and women who try to
live for others.
It would also try to eliminate people
who try to take advantage of others and
benefit only themselves.
Sun Myung Moon

GOLDEN AGE, PARADISE AND INNATE GOODNESS
Most religions speak of an original
paradise or golden age in which human
beings were pure and innocent. In
Christianity, Judaism and Islam it is believed
that humans were originally created good, in
the image of God, but they turned away from
God because of the sin of disobedience of the
first human ancestors.
In Greek and Hindu traditions, they speak
also about a golden age in which men lived
together in harmony, but later they became
perverted, resulting in another age of
destruction.
In Chinese tradition, people also idealized
an ancient era in which emperors were wise
and people lived in peace and harmony.
Despite these differences, almost all religions agree
that human beings were originally pure and innocent, as
expressed in the innocence of children, and in the human
conscience that always pushes people to do the good.

Meng-tse said: The noble maintains
throughout the life the ingenuity and
innocence proper of the childhood.
Confucianism. Hia-Meng II.12
God had a purpose when He created
human beings, and if that purpose had
been fulfilled, this world would be one
great human family, unified in love,
where all humanity would live in peace
as brothers and sisters attending God as
their Parent.
Sun Myung Moon
Every child is born of the nature of
purity and submission to God.
Islam. Hadith of Bukhari
At that time the disciples came to
Jesus, saying:
—Who is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven?
And calling to him a child, he put him
in the midst of them, and said:
—Truly, I say to you, unless you turn
and become like children, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Christianity. Matthew 18.1-3
GOLDEN AGE, PARADISE AND INNATE GOODNESS

 Ignorance
 Selfish desires
 Inner contradiction
IGNORANCE, ERROR AND EVIL

Ignorance
Many religions regard the evils of the
human condition as a result of
ignorance.
Being ignorant about the purpose of
life, people's values become confused,
and consequently they act wrongly.
In Hinduism and Jainism, this
blindness (avidya) is what binds people
to the wheel of birth-and-death
(samsara).
In Buddhism ignorance (mithyajnana)
is what chains us to the desire, and
therefore to error.
He who does not clearly understand
Heaven has no pure virtue. He who has
mastered the Tao can do nothing for
himself. He who does not understand
theTao is pitiable indeed!
Taoism. ChuangTzu, XI, 11
Being covered by the veil that
surrounds everything in illusion, I am
not manifest to all.
Hinduism. Bhagavad GitaVII, 25
They have hearts, but understand
not with them; they have eyes, but
perceive not with them; they have
ears, but they hear not with them.
They are like cattle; nay, rather they
are further astray.
Islam. Qur'an 7.179

In darkness, indeed, is this world, and
how few can see the light! Just as few
birds escape a net, few souls can fly
into the freedom of the heavens.
Buddhism. Dhammapada 174
Is it not evident that those who are
ignorant of evil do not desire it, and
that the object of their desires is
something which they believe to be
good, even when it is bad, so that
wishing for that evil which they do not
know and believe is good, what do they
really want is a good? Is not that true?
Socrates, Meno
Humanity fell into ignorance of God
at its beginning, and we are still
ignorant of God today.
We do not know God, God’s ideal of
creation, or the family that was to be
the basis of our fulfillment.
For this reason, everything goes
wrong. Human life, from the family
level to the world level, is a mess.
Sun Myung Moon

Selfish desires
Every major religion recognizes
that suffering and evil are caused by
excessive desires or desires directed
toward a selfish purpose.
Buddhism has summarized this
principle in the second of the Four
NobleTruths referring to desire as
an excessive craving that poisons
the heart, confuses the mind and
chains people, forcing them to do
bad deeds.
And death, the end of everything, puts
an end to the man, who thirst for
desires, picks the flowers of sensual
appetites.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I
am tempted by God;” for God cannot be
tempted with evil and he himself tempts
no one; but each person is tempted
when he is lured and enticed by his own
desire. Then desire when it has
conceived gives birth to sin; and sin
when it is full-grown brings forth death.
Christianity. James 1.13-15
Envy and desire and ambition drive a
man out of the world.
Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 4.28

If a man fails to overcome illicit
lustful desires, and pursues them,
he will bring ruin upon himself. In
the end, he will bring destruction to
this world and universe.
Sun Myung Moon
There are three gates to self-
destructive hell: lust, anger, and
greed.
Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita XVI, 21
Mencius said: “There is no better
way to cultivate the spirit than to
reduce desires; a man whose desires
are few, will have faults, but they will
be few; a man whose desires are
many, will have virtues, but they will
be few.”
Confucianism. MenciusVII (B), XXXV
There is no crime greater than
having too many desires;
There is no disaster greater than
not being content;
There is no misfortune greater than
being covetous.
Taoism.TaoTe Ching 46

Inner contradiction
Most religions speak of the human
being living in a state of inner war
between the desires of the mind and
the desires of the body.
So long as man remains in a state
of internal contradiction, he cannot
realize an ideal of individual
perfection or a harmonious union
with other human beings.
I know what is good, but I am not
inclined to do it; I know also what is bad,
but I do not refrain from doing it.
Hinduism. Mahabharata
Surely God wrongs no men anything,
but men wrong themselves.
Islam. Qur'an 10.44
I do not understand my own actions. For
I do not do what I want, but I do the very
thing I hate.
Christianity. Romans 7.15
I see what is good and I approve; But I
do the worst.
Publius Ovid. Metamorphosis

By oneself alone is evil done; it is
self-born, it is self-caused. Evil
grinds the unwise as a diamond
grinds a hard gem.
What force is this, O Lucilius, that
draws us in one direction as we
walk, and pushes us to the place
from which we would turn away?
What is this that fights with our soul
and does not allow us to want one
thing forever? We fluctuate between
different purposes.
Seneca
Human beings inherently tend to
avoid evil and seek goodness. Our
minds are ever eager to establish a
world of goodness and eradicate
the world of evil.
On the other hand, we also
experience an evil mind within us,
which struggles powerfully against
our good mind. To the degree that
we hold fast to our good mind, our
evil mind opposes with
proportionate strength.
Sun Myung Moon

SALVATION, LIBERATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT
 Individual
Responsibility
 Perfection or moral
maturity
 Self-control
 Joy and happiness

Due to humankind's condition of
depravity, ignorance, and bondage
to desire, the task of reaching the
goal and purpose of life is no simple
matter.
Chains must be broken, sins
forgiven, and ignorance dispelled.
Once that is done, people may
recover their original selves, and find
peace.
This process, and its goal, is called
variously salvation, liberation, and
enlightenment. It is the prerequisite
for proper fulfillment of the purpose
of life.
This salvation, liberation, or
enlightenment can be likened to
the healing process of an illness.
The ultimate goal of this process
is to recover the original state of
health and achieve individual
maturity or perfection, for which it
is essential to achieve self-control.
In many religious traditions, the
ultimate goal of salvation also
extends to establishing families,
communities, societies and an
ideal world.
SALVATION, LIBERATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT

Individual Responsibility
Responsibility is essential in human
beings.
Other creatures have life,
consciousness, intelligence, and even
limited ability to communicate; but
only human beings are responsible for
choosing their way of life and
determining their destiny.
All the religions of the world
emphasize, in one way or another, the
individual responsibility.
The Master said: The noble is only
demanding with himself; The vulgar man
expects everything from others.
Confucianism. Hia-LunV.20
God changes not what is in a people, until
they change what is in themselves.
Islam. Qur'an 13.11
Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you
will find; knock, and the door will be opened to
you. For everyone who asks receives; the one
who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks,
the door will be opened. Which of you, if your
son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if
he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you,
then, though you are evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more
will your Father in heaven give good gifts to
those who ask him!

To bring about the perfection of
humankind in true love, God required
that human beings accomplish a
condition of responsibility in order to
reach unity with Him.
For this purpose, God gave the
Commandment to the first ancestors.
God knew that they were in the growth
period, as yet imperfect, so He
established the Commandment as the
condition for His children to inherit the
most precious thing, true love.
Sun Myung Moon
If a man sanctifies himself a little, he
becomes much sanctified; if he
sanctifies himself below, he becomes
sanctified from above; if he sanctifies
himself in this world, he becomes
sanctified in the world to come.
Judaism. Talmud,Yoma 39a
Man’s main task in life is to give birth
to himself, to become what he
potentially is. The most important
product of his effort in his own
personality.
Erich Fromm, Man for Himself

Perfection or moral
maturity
Here we describe the virtues of a
person who has realized the truth in
himself, who has reached a moral
maturity, or who is free of all kinds of
bondages to worldly corruption.
Such a person may be called a saint,
sage, arahant, Buddha, Christ or perfect
man.
There is remarkable unanimity
among religions as to what
characterizes the realized or perfected
human being.
You, therefore, must be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect.
Christianity. Matthew 5.48
Abu Huraira reported God's Messenger as
saying: —The believers whose faith is most
perfect are those who have the best
character.
Islam. Hadith of Abu Dawud and Darimi
For whoever educates his mind by the
ways which lead to the light; who subdues
the slavery of attachments and finds the joy
of liberation from that bondage; who,
transcending the darkness of passions,
shines brightly in the glare of the light,
enjoys even in this mortal life of
imperishable Nirvana.

It is perfect who is equally disposed to
the benefactor, the friend and the
enemy, the indifferent and the referee, to
those who provoke hatred and relatives,
to the good and the evil.
Hinduism, Bhagavad GitaVI. 9
¿What will people be like once they
have been restored as those who have
realized the purpose of creation and
become perfect as Heavenly Father is
perfect?
Such people are fully attuned to God
and experience God’s Heart within their
innermost self.
Divine Principle,Chapter IV, Section 1, 1
In this way [the superior] man comes
to resemble heaven and earth; he is not
in conflict with them.
His wisdom embraces all things, and
his Tao brings order into the whole
world; therefore, he does not err.
He is active everywhere but does not
let himself be carried away. He rejoices
in heaven and has knowledge of fate,
therefore he is free of care.
He is content with his circumstances
and genuine in his kindness, therefore
he can practice love.
Confucianism, I Ching, Great
Commentary 1.4.3

Self-control
Self-control is fundamental to
overcoming internal contradiction
and achieving moral maturity or
perfection.
If a person cannot control his
desires, he cannot direct his actions
according to his own will, nor be in
harmony with himself or with
others.
“Before you desire to have dominion over
the universe, you should first have dominion
over yourself.” This is the first article in the
life of faith. To attain self-perfection you
should have dominion over yourself. In other
words, you should reach the state of self-
mastery, controlling your body, with no
conflict or opposition between your mind
and body.
Sun Myung Moon
If a man wins in battle to a thousand
enemies and still more, and another defeat
oneself, this victory would mean a greater
triumph, since the greatest victory is the
one that we win over oneself.
Buddhism. Dhammapada 103-5
Who is strong? He who controls his
passions.
Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 4.1

Abu Huraira reported God's Messenger as
saying: —The strong man is not the good
wrestler; the strong man is only he who
controls himself when he is angry.
Islam. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim
The Master said: He who controls himself
and does the good, will not have any
difficulty to govern effectively. He who
does not know how to govern himself will
find it impossible to order the conduct of
other men.
Confucianism. Hia-Lun I.13
Wise is who knows men and clairvoyant
who knows himself. Who defeat others has
strength, but only is strong who defeat
himself.
Those who lack self-control will find it
difficult to progress in meditation.
But those who are self-controlled,
striving earnestly through the right
means, will attain the goal.
Hinduism. Bhagavad GitaVI, 36
Victory over oneself is the first and
most glorious of all victories, while
defeat in which one is beaten by his
own arms is undoubtedly the most
shameful and degrading thing.
Plato

Joy and happiness
The pursuit of happiness is the
basic desire of human beings and
also the end of religion.
The teachings of all religions
describe the ultimate goal of the
religious path as a state of eternal
happiness.
The soul which is free from the defect of
karma gets to the highest point of the
universe, knows all and perceives all, and
obtains the transcendental bliss
everlasting.
Jainism. Kundakunda, Pancastikaya 170
Lao Tan said: It means to attain Perfect
Beauty and wander in Perfect Happiness.
He who attains Perfect Beauty and
wanders in Perfect Happiness may be
called the Perfect Man.
Taoism. ChuangTzu, XXI, 5
The Infinite is the source of joy. There is
no joy in the finite. Only in the Infinite is
there joy. Ask to know the Infinite.
Hinduism. Chandogya Upanishad 7.23
What no eye has seen, what no ear
has heard, and what no human mind
has conceived, the things God has
prepared for those who love him.
Christianity. 1 Corinthians 2.9
No person knows what delights of the
eye are kept hidden for them, as a
reward for their good deeds.
Islam. Qur'an 32.17

When you become a child of God and
dwell in His love, your joy has no limit. You
breathe in and out with the entire universe.
We are meant to be intoxicated by the love
of God.
Can the artificial intoxication provided by
drugs or alcohol even remotely compare?
In the realm of God’s love, every need is
satisfied. All your body’s forty trillion cells
are dancing together.
Your eyes and ears, your hands, and all
the parts of your body revel in the rapture
of joy. Nothing else can ever match it.
God’s love is real, and it is our highest
aspiration to pursue this love. We must
have it.
Sun Myung Moon
When man knows the solitude of silence
and feels the joy of stillness, he frees
himself from fear and sin and finds
rejoicing in the bliss of the Dhamma.
If, then, one could see Him, what loves
he would feel! What longing, desiring to
merge with Him! What a delightful
shaking!
Because the proper thing for those who
have not yet seen Him, is to desire Him as
Good; But for the one who has seen Him,
is to marvel at His beauty, to be filled with
a pleasant astonishment, to feel a
harmless shock, to love Him with true love
and with piercing yearnings, to laugh at
other loves and to despise things which
one had previously considered beautiful.
Plotinus,The Enneads

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked,
for whatever a man sows, that he will also
reap.
Christianity. Galatians 6.7
Suffering is the offspring of violence,
realize this and be ever vigilant.
Jainism. Acarangasutra 3.13
Whatever affliction may visit you is for
what your own hands have earned.
Islam. Qur'an 42.30
As a man sows, so is his reward.
Nothing by empty talk is determined:
Anyone swallowing poison must die.
Brother! behold the Creator's justice: As
are a man's actions, so is his recompense.
Sikhism.Adi Granth, GauriVar, M.4, p.308
COSMIC JUSTICE
The maxim that a person reaps what
he has sown, the doctrine of karma, and
belief in divine retribution are different
expressions of a common principle that
the world is governed by justice.
This justice, according to the different
religious views, is applied through the
fate that someone suffers in this life,
through reincarnation into a being of
different social status, through the good
or bad fortune of their descendants, or
the rewards and punishments, in the
afterlife.

All who take the sword will perish by
the sword.
Those who wrongfully kill men are
only putting their weapons into the
hands of others who will in turn kill
them.
Taoism.Treatise on Response and
Retribution 5
For they sow the wind, and they
shall reap the whirlwind.
Judaism and Christianity. Hosea 8.7
When the foolish man does evil, he
forgets that he will light a fire whose
flames will end one day by consuming
him.
Who does evil, receives evil: this is one of
the oldest sentences.
Aeschylus,The Choephori
The law of the universe, which upholds
the welfare of the whole, is a proper
standard of judgment. All human beings
come before its court, and at the trial each
is judged according to its statutes.
What sort of people will be justified
before the law of the universe? They are
men and women who willingly sacrifice
themselves for the benefit of the whole.
On the other hand, those who dislike
sacrifice, who pursue their individual
interests and even take advantage of
others, will be found guilty.
Sun Myung Moon

 The Decalogue
 The Golden Rule
 Giving and Receiving
 Living for the sake of
others
 Love, benevolence and
compassion
 Forgiveness and
reconciliation
 Love your enemy
COMMON ETHICAL NORMS AND PRINCIPLES

In the ethical teachings of all religions,
three levels of morality can be distinguished.
The first level of morality, which
corresponds to the infantile stage, is a moral
of prizes and punishments based on
commandments.The reasons why
something is good or bad are not explained.
It simply forbids certain things and demands
absolute obedience in the commandments
of God.
The Jewish and Christian Decalogue and
other lists of similar precepts taught by
different religions could be included in this
type of morality. Basically, they all agree on
four main prohibitions: do not kill, do not
commit adultery, do not steal and do not lie.
If the commandments are obeyed, one receives
divine blessings, or enjoys the good consequences
of actions in the form of prosperity or fortune. If
people disobey, they receive punishments, or
suffer the bad consequences of their own actions.
The second level of morality is exemplified by
the Golden Rule, which corresponds to the stage
of youth. It is explained that in order to receive,
one must give first.You have to give in the same
measure of what you want to receive.
And in the third level of morality —which
corresponds to the stage of moral maturity—
people are taught to give more than what is
received, to help in an altruistic way, to lead a life
of service to others, to love unconditionally, to
have a paternal or maternal heart towards all
people, and even forgive and love the enemies.
COMMON ETHICAL NORMS AND PRINCIPLES

The Decalogue
Just as the Decalogue, orTen
Commandments, is the basis of
Jewish and Christian ethical values,
similar lists of ethical principles can
be found in one form or another in
the scriptures of most religions.
The Qur'an contains several
passages summarizing proper
ethical behavior, which have been
called the Islamic Decalogues.
In Buddhism, Hinduism, and
Jainism we find lists of ten charges
or ten precepts for monks and lay
people.
—I am the Lord your God, who brought you
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage.
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself a graven
image, or any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth. (...)
You shall not take the name of the Lord your
God in vain. (...)
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
(...)
Honor your father and your mother; (...)
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor's house;
you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, (…)
or anything that is your neighbor's.
Judaism and Christianity. Exodus 20.1-17

Say, Come, I will recite what God has
made a sacred duty for you:
Ascribe nothing as equal with Him;
Be good to your parents;
Kill not your children on a plea of want
—We provide sustenance for you and for
them;
Approach not lewd behavior whether
open or in secret,
Take not life, which God has made
sacred, except by way of justice and law.
Thus does He command you, that you
may learn wisdom.
And approach not the property of the
orphan, except to improve it, until he
attains the age of maturity.
Give full measure and weight, in
justice. No burden do We place on any
soul but that which it can bear.
And if you give your word, do it
justice, even if a near relative is
concerned;
And fulfill your obligations before
God. Thus does He command you, that
you may remember..
Verily, this is My straight Path: follow
it, and do not follow other paths which
will separate you from His Path. Thus
does He command you, that you may
be righteous.
Islam. Qur'an 6. 151-153

Contentment, forgiveness, self-control,
not appropriating anything unrighteously,
purification, coercion of the organs,
wisdom, knowledge of the Supreme,
truthfulness, and abstention from anger:
these constitute the tenfold law [for
ascetics].
Hinduism. Laws of Manu 6.92
Not killing, no longer stealing, forsaking
the wives of others, refraining completely
from false, divisive, harsh and senseless
speech, forsaking covetousness, harmful
intent and the views of Nihilists--these are
the ten white paths of action, their
opposites are black.
Buddhism. Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 8-
9
From now on, we have to recognize
and abide by three immutable laws:
The first law: Do not defile the blood
lineage, even at the point of death.
The second law: Do not infringe upon
human rights. Whether female or male,
black or white, everyone is equal.
The third law: Refrain from stealing
money or misusing public funds for
selfish purposes.
Sun Myung Moon

The Golden Rule
The Golden Rule or the ethic of
reciprocity is found in the scriptures
of nearly every religion.
It is often regarded as the most
concise and general principle of
ethics.
Not one of you is a believer until he
loves for his brother what he loves for
himself.
Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 13
A man should wander about treating all
creatures as he himself would be treated.
Jainism. Sutrakritanga 1.11.33
One should not behave towards others
in a way which is disagreeable to oneself.
This is the essence of morality. All other
activities are due to selfish desire.
Hinduism. Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva
113.8
Whatever you wish that men
would do to you, do so to them.

Tse-kung asked, Is there one word that
can serve as a principle of conduct for life?
Confucius replied, It is the word “love”
[shu —reciprocity]. The supreme norm of
conduct is love your neighbor, based on
the equality of all men’s nature. Its
realization is expressed in the rule: Do not
do to others what you do not want them
to do to you.
Comparing oneself to others in such
terms as “Just as I am so are they, just as
they are so am I,” he should neither kill
nor cause others to kill.
Buddhism. Sutta Nipata 705
What is hateful to you, do not do to
your neighbor: that is the whole Torah;
all the rest of it is commentary; go and
learn.
Judaism.Talmud, Shabbat 31ª
Do not do to others what you do not
want done to you.
Lampridio,Vita Alexandri Severi
Isn’t there a saying that if you want
others to serve you, you should first
serve them? [Yes.] The basic rule is that
you should be the first to serve.
Sun Myung Moon

Giving and Receiving
This is a universal principle that
governs both the natural world and
the relationships between human
beings.The law of giving and
receiving is the basis of the ethics of
reciprocity.
When we give things one
another, sharing our blessings with
others and bearing the burdens of
each other, mutual giving and
receiving increases and multiply, so
in the end we receive much more
than what we have given.
We must give first; to expect to
receive without having given is to
violate the universal law.
Although in the process of
developing this capacity to give,
we do things for others expecting
an answer, as we learn to give and
love other people, our motivation
becomes more selfless.
In the end, when we reach a
moral maturity, or develop a
paternal or maternal heart towards
other people, we give things or
love others in order to receive
something in return, but we love in
an unconditional way.

When you give alms, do not let your
left hand know what your right hand is
doing.
Give not with the thought to gain, and
be patient unto thy Lord
Islam. Qur'an 74.6-7
It is more blessed to give than to
receive.
Christianity.Acts 20.35
Enlightening beings are magnanimous
givers, bestowing whatever they have
with equanimity, without regret,
without hoping for reward, without
seeking honor, without coveting
material benefits, but only to rescue and
safeguard all living beings.
Buddhism. Garland Sutra 21
Give, and it will be given to you (...) for
the measure you give will be the measure
you get back.
Christianity. Luke 6.38
He who gives liberally goes straight to
the gods; on the high ridge of heaven he
stands exalted.
Hinduism. RigVeda 1.125.5
The root of true love is the eternal cycle
of giving. The power of giving multiplies;
taking only makes things get smaller. It is
a mysterious fact. In ordinary physics,
energy dissipates when it is put to work,
but the principle of love is that giving
leads to increase. Everything you give
moves in a cycle and ultimately comes
back to you—with interest!
Sun Myung Moon

Living for the sake of
others
To live for the sake of others is another
of the most universal or common ethical
principles taught by all religions.
For those who have reached a certain
moral maturity, the motivation to give,
serve, and love others flow spontaneously
from their inmost being.They wish to give
and serve for the sake of the other,
without seeking any benefit for
themselves.
Their love is full of forgiveness and
tolerance for those who do them wrong,
whether from ignorance or from malice.
They never find satisfaction in exacting
revenge on their enemies, but in getting
them to change their attitude.
Living for others means leading a life of
public service.The purest service is to help
others and to seek the welfare of others
without the expectation of reward. Acting in
this way creates unity and harmony among
people.
On the contrary, the way of selfishness
brings only disharmony and failure; the
selfish person eventually will find himself
alone and without friends in his time of
need. In the Bhagavad Gita, and paralleled
by passages in theTaoTe Ching, the way of
selfless service is described as the
fundamental principle by which God creates
and sustains the universe.
While the conventional rulers abuse their
powers by seeking to be served by their
charges, the true leader is a servant to his
people; as exemplified by Jesus, who came
«not to be served, but to serve.»

Rendering help to another is the
function of all human beings.
Jainism.Tattvarthasutra 5.21
The blessing of all blessings is to
give sacrificial love and service for
the sake of others.
Sun Myung Moon
All men are responsible for one
another.
Judaism.Talmud, Sanhedrin 27b
The best of men are those who
are useful to others.
Islam. Hadith of Bukhari
Let no one seek his own good, but
the good of his neighbor.
Christianity. 1 Corinthians 10.24
Without selfless service are no
objectives fulfilled; In service lies the
purest action.
Sikhism.Adi Granth, Maru, M.1, p.
992
Strive constantly to serve the
welfare of the world; by devotion to
selfless work one attains the
supreme goal in life.
Do your work with the welfare of
others always in mind.
Hinduism. Bhagavad-Gita 3.24, 26

If, for my own sake, I cause harm to
others, I shall be tormented in hellish
realms; But if for the sake of others I
cause harm to myself, I shall acquire all
that is magnificent.
If I employ others for my own
purposes, I myself shall experience
servitude. But if I use myself for the sake
of others, I shall experience only
lordliness.
Buddhism. Shantideva, Guide to the
Bodhisattva's Way of Life 8.126,128
The sage does not accumulate for
himself. The more he uses for others, the
more he has himself. The more he gives
to others, the more he possesses of his
own. The Way of Heaven is to benefit
others and not to injure. The Way of the
sage is to act but not to compete.
You know that the rulers of the gentiles
lord it over them, and their great men
exercise authority over them.
It shall not be so among you; but
whoever would be great among you must
be your servant, and whoever would be
first among you must be your slave; even
as the Son of man came not to be served
but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many.
It is necessary to help one another: it is
a law of nature.
La Fontaine. Fables

God's definition of goodness is total
giving, total service, and absolute
unselfishness.
We are to live for others. You live for
others and others live for you.
God lives for man and man lives for
God.
The husband lives for his wife and the
wife lives for her husband.
This is goodness. And here unity,
harmony, and prosperity abound.
Sun Myung Moon
The most beautiful of all human works
is to be useful to one's neighbor.
Sophocles,Oedipus the King
Living for others is not only the law
of duty but also the law of happiness.
A.Comte. Pensées et préceptes
There is only one way to be happy:
to live for others.
L.Tolstoy.Anna Karenina
We are all born for each other.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, XI
You should live for another if you
wish to live for yourself.
Seneca, Epistles 48

Love, benevolence and
compassion
Develop a loving, benevolent and
compassionate heart towards all
human beings makes people
become universal and transcend all
borders of family, race, nationality
and religion.
Love that naturally develops
between members of a family
should be extended to embrace all
humanity and all beings and things
of nature.
Have benevolence towards all living
beings, joy at the sight of the virtuous,
compassion and sympathy for the
afflicted, and tolerance towards the
indolent and ill-behaved.
Jainism.Tattvarthasutra 7.11
What sort of religion can it be
without compassion? You need to
show compassion to all living beings.
Compassion is the root of all religious
faiths.
Hinduism. Basavanna, Vachana 247
Anas and Abdullah reported God's
Messenger as saying:
—All [human] creatures are God's
children, and those dearest to God are
those who treat His children kindly.
Islam. Hadith of Baihaqi

If I speak in the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love, I am a noisy
gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have
prophetic powers, and understand all
mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have
all faith, so as to remove mountains, but
have not love, I am nothing. If I give away
all I have, and if I deliver my body to be
burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love is not
jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or
rude. Love does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful; it does not
rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things. (…) So
faith, hope, love abide, these three; but
the greatest of these is love.
Christianity. 1 Corinthians 13
Beloved, let us love one another; for
love is of God, and he who loves is born
of God and knows God. He who does not
love does not know God; for God is love.
No man has ever seen God; if we love
one another, God abides in us and his
love is perfected in us.
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates
his brother, he is a liar; for he who does
not love his brother whom he has seen,
cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Christianity. 1 John 4.7-8, 12, 20

True love gives, forgets that it has given,
and continues to give without ceasing. True
love gives joyfully. We find it in the joyful
and loving heart of a mother who cradles
her baby in her arms and nurses it at her
breast. True love is sacrificial love, as with a
filial son who gains his greatest satisfaction
in helping his parents. God created the
universe out of just such love: absolute,
unique, unchanging and eternal, investing
everything without any expectation or
condition of receiving something in return.
True love is the wellspring of the
universe. Once a person possesses it, true
love makes that person the center and the
owner of the universe. True love is the root
of God and a symbol of His will and power.
When we are bound together in true love,
we can be together forever, continually
increasing in the joy of each other’s
company.
The attraction of true love brings all
things in the universe to our feet; even
God will come to dwell with us. Nothing
can compare to the value of true love. It
has the power to dissipate the barriers
fallen human beings created, including
national boundaries and the barriers of
race and even religion.
The main attributes of true love are that
it is absolute, unique, unchanging and
eternal, so whoever practices God’s true
love will live with God, share His
happiness and enjoy the right to
participate as an equal in His work.
Therefore, a life lived for the sake of
others, a life of true love, is the absolute
prerequisite for entering the Kingdom of
Heaven.
Sun Myung Moon

The bodhisattva, the great being,
having practiced compassion,
sympathy, and joy, attains the stage of
the best-loved only son. For example,
the father and mother greatly rejoice
as they see their son at peace. The
same is the case with the bodhisattva
who abides in this stage: he sees all
beings just as the parents see their only
son. Seeing him practicing good, he
greatly rejoices.
Buddhism. Mahaparinirvana Sutra 470
Man loves, not because it is his
interest to love one thing over another,
but because love is the essence of his
soul and he cannot stop loving.
L.Tolstoy.The Kreutzer Sonata
If the filial piety I feel toward my
father and the fraternal affection with
which I treat my brothers or the
paternal tenderness that my children
inspire me, I extend them to the whole
people there will not be a single citizen
who does not experience such
beneficial feelings, and Then good
governance will be as easy as looking
at the palm of my hand.
Confucianism. Meng-Tsé 1.7
To love or to have loved; that is
enough. Do not ask for anything more
immediately. There is no pearl to be
found in the dark folds of life. Love is
an accomplishment.
V. Hugo. Les miserables

Forgiveness and
Reconciliation
Religions advocate an attitude of
forgiveness and tolerance of
others' mistakes, even when they
cause personal offense or injury.
Forgiveness is far preferable to
holding a grudge, which would only
embitter and poison the spirit.
The superior man tends to forgive
wrongs and deals leniently with
crimes.
Confucianism. I Ching 40: Liberación
Subvert anger by forgiveness.
Jainism. Samanasuttam 136
The best deed of a great man is to
forgive and forget.
Islam (Shiite). Nahjul Balagha, Saying
201
Where there is forgiveness, there is
God Himself.
Sikhism.Adi Granth, Shalok, Kabir, p.
1372

If you are offering your gift at the altar,
and there remember that your brother
has something against you, leave your
gift there before the altar and go; first be
reconciled to your brother, and then
come and offer your gift.
Then Peter came up and said to him:
—Lord, how often shall my brother sin
against me, and I forgive him? As many
as seven times?
Jesus said to him:
—I do not say to you seven times, but
seventy times seven.
God has already forgiven us our
sins… He forgives us because He looks
at us with endless compassion.
You should know that through
forgiveness, all can be united as one.
Sun Myung Moon
Always forgive others, but not
yourself.
Seneca. De moribus

True love is unconditional and
impartial, as illustrated in the metaphor
of the sun that shines equally for all.
When love prevails, enemies disappear.
A person who is able to have a
paternal or maternal heart towards all
the people of the world, including his
enemies, has developed his capacity to
love in an unconditional and unselfish
way, and it can be said that he has
reached a moral maturity.
For this reason, the highest level of
morality derives from this teaching —
present in the scriptures of all
religions— in which one is exhorted to
love the enemies.
Love your enemy
The prescription to love your enemy
is a doctrine widely taught in all
religions as a fundamental principle for
pursuing relationships with others.
The person who insists upon
vengeance or retribution is not
necessarily committing a crime, but
neither will this attitude help him to
reach a moral maturity or to resolve his
conflicts with other people.
Revenge, which returns evil for evil,
only creates a spiral of violence, while
love, which seeks to overcome evil with
good, extends the goodness in the
world.

You have heard that it was said: You
shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.
But I say to you: Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you, so
that you may be sons of your Father who
is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on
the evil and on the good, and sends rain
on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love those who love you,
what reward have you? Do not even the
tax collectors do the same?
And if you salute only your brethren,
what more are you doing than others?
Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
You, therefore, must be perfect, as
your heavenly Father is perfect.
“He abused me, he beat me, he
defeated me, he robbed me!” Those
who do not harbor such thoughts get
rid of hatred. Because hatred is not
conquered with hatred, hatred is
conquered with love. This is an eternal
law!
Buddhism. Dhammapada 3-5
I should be like the sun, shining
universally on all without seeking
thanks or reward, able to take care of
all sentient beings even if they are bad,
never giving up on my vows on this
account, not abandoning all sentient
beings because one sentient being is
evil.
Buddhism. Garland Sutra 23

Since the nature of God is to love His
enemies, then the person who tries to
love his or her enemies and invests
him or herself completely for that
purpose will be able to live near God’s
royal throne.
From this standpoint, the most
precious education is to learn to love
your enemies. The noblest training to
cultivate your mind is to train yourself
to always make effort to love your
enemies.
Sun Myung Moon
Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good.
Christianity. Romans 12.21
The saint has no fixed and constant
will; The will of the people is their will. I
love the good and I love those who are
not good in order to make them good. I
believe those who are worthy of trust
and also believe those who do not
deserve trust to make them trustworthy.
God said: —Resemble Me; just as I
repay good for evil so do you also repay
good for evil.
Judaism. Exodus Rabbah 26.2

Philosophy has not only taught me to
love those who do good to me, but also
to those who cause me evil; to share the
goods, rather than to keep them for
myself; to desire better what is useful to
all, than which can be useful to me only.
Apuleius, Sentences
We have put among the rules of life
that hatred must be overcome through
love and generosity, and not be
compensated by mutual hatred.
Baruch Spinoza, Ethics
Nonviolence does not merely mean
loving those who love us. Nonviolence is
only when we love those who hate us. I
know how difficult it is to follow this
supreme law of love. However, are not
all things great and good difficult to do?
Mahatma Gandhi, All men are brothers
Throw us into prison, and we will still
love you. Send us your violent hooded
hitman to our communities so that in
the middle of the night they beat us and
leave us half dead, and we will still love
them.
Martin Luther King, Strength to Love

FAMILY
Parents and Children
Husband andWife

Family
In addition to a vision of the
sanctity or perfection of the
individual, all religions recognize that
human beings grow and nurture
within a family and a community.
Living in a family and fulfilling the
roles of parents and children, husband
and wife, grandparents and
grandmothers is essential for human
beings.
The same can be said of the social
roles and responsibilities that people
carry out when they constitute
communities and nations.
The family, comprised of father and
mother, husband and wife, and children,
is a microcosm of the world.
You should understand that the path of
humankind is to love all kinds of people,
expanding from the love you have for the
members of your own family.
You should love elderly people as your
grandparents, middle-aged people as
your parents, people a few years older
than you as your elder brothers and
sisters, and people [a few years] younger
than you as your younger brothers and
sisters.
Sun Myung Moon

Lord, give us joy in our wives and children,
and make us models for the God-fearing.
Islam. Qur'an 25.74
There are five relations of utmost
importance under Heaven... between prince
and minister; between father and son;
between husband and wife; between elder
and younger brothers; and between friends.
Confucianism. Doctrine of the Mean 20.8
May in this family discipline overcome
indiscipline, peace discord, charity
miserliness, devotion arrogance, the truth-
spoken word the false spoken word which
destroys the holy order.
Zoroastrianism. Avesta,Yasna 60.5
Natural mildness should be there in the
family. Observance of the vows leads to
mildness.... Right belief should there be
amongst family members. Crookedness and
deception cause unhappiness in the family.
Straightforwardness and honesty in one's
body, speech, and mental activities lead the
family to an auspicious path. Purity,
reverence, ceaseless pursuit of knowledge,
charity, removal of obstacles that threaten
equanimity, service to others -- these make
the family happy.
Jainism.Tattvarthasutra 6.18-24
Supporting one's father and mother,
cherishing wife and children and a peaceful
occupation; this is the greatest blessing.

The ancient princes, who sought to
educate and renew all peoples, first strove
to govern their own kingdoms righteously.
To rule their kingdoms correctly, they
applied themselves above all in ordering
their families well.
To order their families well, they sought to
correct themselves. To correct themselves,
they took special care to adorn their soul
with all virtues.
For the attainment of all virtues, they
strived to achieve the uprightness and
sincerity of all their intentions.
In order to make their intentions straight
and sincere, they devoted themselves
ardently to the perfection of their moral
knowledge. And the maximum perfection of
moral knowledge is to penetrate and
discover the motives of actions. (...)
As long as there is only one family in which
goodness and love reign, these virtues will
spread throughout the kingdom: A single
family that practices courtesy and
humanitarianism will be enough for the whole
kingdom to be kind and humane.
Confucianism.Ta-Hio. 4, IX.3
God's ideal for our first ancestors was that
an ideal man and an ideal woman would
create an ideal family. But the center of that
ideal family would be neither the man nor the
woman. The husband and wife would be
bonded together, with God's love at their
center. (…)
Accordingly, the completion of God's Will
refers to the perfection of husband and wife
and the perfection of a family, all centered on
God's love.
Sun Myung Moon

Parents and Children
In a family, parents are responsible for
the welfare of the children and offer the
children an embracing, unconditional
love that overlooks and compensates for
their weaknesses.
Through their example, they teach
their children the basic values and
attitudes which they will carry
throughout life.The children, in turn,
respect their parents as the source of
their very being, as their teachers, and as
the ones who have labored and sacrificed
for their sakes.
When parents are grown, children
should be responsible to care for their
parents in their old age.
Those who wish to be born in [the Pure
Land] of Buddha... should act filially towards
their parents and support them, and should
serve and respect their teachers and elders.
Buddhism. Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 27
—Do not neglect the [sacrificial] works due
to the gods and the fathers! Let your mother
be to you like unto a god! Let your father be
to you like unto a god! Let your teacher be to
you like unto a god!
Hinduism.Taittiriyaka Upanishad 1.11.2
Honor your father and your mother, that
your days may be long in the land which the
Lord your God gives you.
Judaism and Christianity.Exodus 20.12

Now filial piety is the root of all virtue,
and the stem out of which grows all moral
teaching (...) Our bodies —to every hair
and bit of skin— are received by us from
our parents, and we must not presume to
injure or wound them: this is the beginning
of filial piety. When we have established
our character by the practice of the filial
course, to make our name famous in future
ages, and thereby glorify our parents: this
is the end of filial piety. It commences with
the service of parents; it proceeds to the
service of the ruler; and the establishment
of [good] character completes it.
Confucianism. Classic on Filial Piety 1
Love for parents is the foundation of all
virtues.
Cicero. Pro Plancio
You have to return the love your parents
gave you. When parents are raising their
children, they don't worry about their own
hunger. If there is something to eat, they
will hold their hungry stomach, keep a stiff
upper lip and give that food to their
children. By the nature of love, children will
return such love to their parents. After the
parents have gone the way of love, the
children go the same way to comfort their
parents. It begins with your heart to comfort
your parents. Then your sons and daughters
will become such sons and daughters to you.
Sun Myung Moon
Loving our parents is the first law of
nature.
Valerio Máximo

Husband and Wife
The bond of marriage is considered
in most religious traditions as ordered
by God or by nature.
As such, if husband and wife profess
to each other love, fellowship, mutual
service, and fidelity, they will attract
the fortune or blessings of heaven to
their family in the form of prosperity,
joy, and happiness.
Man and woman are God’s masterpieces.
When they love each other centered on God,
it is supreme, transcendental love, not
worldly love. They feel that their love is the
best of all loves; the most beautiful love,
shining forever. Where can they experience
and fulfill such love? Only in the family.
Sun Myung Moon
The Book of Songs says: «When wives and
children and their sires are one, Tis like the
harp and lute in unison. When brothers live in
concord and at peace The strain of harmony
shall never cease. The lamp of happy union
lights the home, And bright days follow when
the children come.» Confucius remarked: «In
such a state of things what more satisfaction
can parents have?»
Confucianism. Doctrine of the Mean XV, 2-3

He who loves his wife as himself; who
honors her more than himself; who rears his
children in the right path, and who marries
them off at the proper time of their life,
concerning him it is written: —And you will
know that your home is at peace.
Judaism.Talmud,Yebamot 62
I am He, you are She; I am Song, you are
Verse, I am Heaven, you are Earth. We two
shall here together dwell, becoming parents
of children.
Hinduism.AtharvaVeda 14.2.71
The husband should give to his wife her
conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her
husband. For the wife does not rule over her
own body, but the husband does; likewise the
husband does not rule over his body, but the
wife does. Do not refuse one another except
perhaps by agreement for a season, that you
may devote yourselves to prayer.
Christianity. 1 Corinthians 7: 1-9
When men and women keep their proper
places they act in accord with Heaven's
great norm.
Among the members of the family are
the dignified master and mistress whom
we term father and mother.
When father, mother, sons, elder and
younger brothers all act in a manner suited
to their various positions within the family,
when husbands play their proper role and
wives are truly wifely, the way of that
family runs straight.
It is by the proper regulation of each
family that the whole world is stabilized.
Confucianism. I Ching 37: La familia

IDEAL SOCIETY AND UTOPIA
 Human Dignity and Equality
 Freedom and Justice
 Tolerance
 One Global Family
 Good Governance, Kingdom of
Heaven, New Golden Age

The ideal society is one where there is
liberty, justice, kindness, and peace. Many
scripture passages teach these social
values and human rights for which
humanity has fought throughout history.
Their teachings promote equality
between races, classes, genders or creeds,
and affirm the dignity of all members of
society. We can also find in these teachings
a vision of humanity as one global family.
Thus, religions have been a source of
inspiration for the perennial human hopes
of achieving world peace.
The Chinese religions idealized the
legendary days of the ancient sage-kings. In
Judaism and Christianity, conversely, the
ideal society is to be realized in the future, at
the consummation of history, with the
establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven.
The hope of the emergence of an ideal
society or utopia is present to a greater or
lesser degree in all religions. Although some
identify this hope with a heaven that is
reached after death, this interpretation does
not do justice to the longing shared by all
religions to see someday realized an ideal
world here on earth. A world in which
justice, peace, happiness and prosperity
prevail for all humanity.
IDEAL SOCIETY AND UTOPIA

Human Dignity and Equality
Have we not all one father? Has not
one God created us?
Judaism and Christianity. Malachi 2.10
God created the human being in his
own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he
created them.
Judaism and Christianity. Genesis 1:27
Know all human beings to be
repositories of Divine Light; Stop not to
inquire about their caste; In the
hereafter there are no castes.
Sikhism.Adi Granth: Asa, M.1, p. 349
An individual human being is more
precious than the universe. Each person’s
value is infinite, because he or she is
created as God’s partner of love.
Sun Myung Moon
The world of heart is a world where
everyone is equal.
The Kingdom of Heaven, which is the
expansion of one family, is the world of
brotherhood.
Sun Myung Moon
I look upon all creatures equally; none
are less dear to me and none more dear.
Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita IX, 29

Confucius said: Men have all the same
nature; It is the habits of each individual
that separates them.
Confucianism. Hia-LunVII.2
Not by matted hair, nor by family, nor
by birth does one become a brahmin. But
in whom there exist both truth and
righteousness, pure is he, a brahmin is he.
So what of all these titles, names, and
races? They are mere worldly
conventions.
Master said: Transmit the culture to
everyone, without distinction of races or
categories.
Their Lord answered them, saying, "I
will never demean the work of any of
you, whether man or woman! Because
you descend from one another.”
Islam. Qur'an 3.195
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is neither
male nor female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus.
Christianity. Galatians 3.28

Freedom and Justice
Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all
its inhabitants.
Judaism and Christianity. Leviticus 25.10
Thus says the Lord: —Do justice and
righteousness, and deliver from the hand of
the oppressor him who has been robbed.
And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the
fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent
blood.
Judaism and Christianity. Jeremiah 22.3
Freedom is truly one of the Creator’s most
precious gifts to humanity. God created
human beings to exercise freedom as
spiritual beings.
Sun Myung Moon
I believe that we people of faith should
feel responsible for the lawlessness and
injustice of this age… God is calling upon
leaders, especially us religious leaders, to
stand against the world’s injustices and evils
and to bestow His true love upon the world.
Sun Myung Moon
The Creator... projected that excellent
form, justice (dharma). This justice is the
controller of the ruler. Therefore there is
nothing higher than justice. So even a weak
man hopes to defeat a stronger man
through justice, as one does with the help of
a king.
Hinduism. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.14

Tolerance
Comprehend one philosophical view
through comprehensive study of another
one.
Jainism. Acarangasutra 5.113
Those who praise their own doctrines
and disparage the doctrines of others do
not solve any problem.
Jainism. Sutrakritanga 1.1.50
To be attached to a certain view and to
look down upon others' views as inferior--
this the wise men call a fetter.
Truth has many aspects. Infinite truth has
infinite expressions. Though the sages
speak in divers ways, they express one and
the sameTruth.
Ignorant is he who says: “What I say and
know is true; others are wrong.” It is
because of this attitude of the ignorant that
there have been doubts and
misunderstandings about God. This attitude
it is that causes dispute among men.
But all doubts vanish when one gains self-
control and attains tranquillity by realizing
the heart of Truth. Thereupon dispute, too,
is at an end.
Hinduism. Bhagavatam 11.15

Will you then compel mankind, against
their will, to believe? No soul can believe,
except by the Will of God.
Islam. Qur'an 10.99-100
Like the bee, gathering honey from
different flowers, the wise man accepts the
essence of different scriptures and sees only
the good in all religions.
Hinduism. Bhagavatam 11.3
Truly I perceive that God shows no
partiality, but in every nation anyone who
fears him and does what is right is
acceptable to him.
Christianity. Acts 10.34-35
There are numerous religions on the earth
today. God needed to set up different religions
in order to gather the peoples scattered all
over the world.
Each people has a religion suited to its
distinct history, circumstance, cultural
background and customs, yet these religions
are all headed towards one goal.
They are like the streams of a single river. As
you go downstream, the number of streams
decreases as they merge into larger and larger
tributaries, until finally they merge into a
single great river.
Likewise, all the religions are to unite as they
flow towards the place where they can capture
God’s love; there they will stay.
Sun Myung Moon

One Global Family
Consider the family of humankind one.
Jainism. Adipurana 76.2
When you become a person who regards all
people as your parents, your siblings and your
children, then as you look upon the
multitudes of people suffering in this world of
death, you cannot relate to them without
tears.
Looking at people your own age as your
siblings, or younger people as your own
children, you will feel a strong sense of
responsibility to save them.
You will make every effort, with tears. If you
truly become this kind of person, then you
will be a central pillar for building the
Kingdom of Heaven.
Sun Myung Moon
Do not rebuke an older man but exhort him
as you would a father; treat younger men like
brothers, older women like mothers, younger
women like sisters, all in purity.
Christianity. 1Timothy 5.1-2
Regard old women the way you regard your
mother. Regard those who are older than you
the way you regard your elder sisters; regard
those who are younger than you as your
younger sisters, and regard children as your
own. Bring forth thoughts to rescue them,
and put an end to bad thoughts.
Buddhism. Sutra of Forty-two Sections 29

Good Governance, Kingdom of Heaven, New Golden Age
A prince who wishes to imitate the
good administration of the ancient
rulers must choose his ministers with
their eyes fixed only on the public
good, without being influenced by
those around him; In order that in this
election only the pursuit of the public
good would motivate him, he must
subordinate his personal feelings to the
great law of duty; He will discover this
great law of duty in his own rational
nature, which is the foundation of the
universal love for all men, the most
beautiful among all virtues.
Confucianism. Chung-Yung XX.3
If kings and barons would but possess
themselves of [Tao], The ten thousand
creatures would flock to do them homage;
Heaven and earth would conspire to send
Sweet Dew. Without law or compulsion, men
would dwell in harmony.
In the Kali age, men will be afflicted by old
age, disease, and hunger, and from sorrow
there will arise depression, indifference,
deep thought, enlightenment, and virtuous
behavior. Then the age will change, deluding
their minds like a dream, by the force of fate,
and when the Golden Age begins, those left
over from the Kali age will be the progenitors
of the Golden Age.
Hinduism. Linga Purana 1.40

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth;
for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away, and the sea was no more. And I
saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a
loud voice from the throne saying: Behold,
the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell
with them, and they shall be his people, and
God himself will be with them. He will wipe
away every tear from their eyes, and death
shall be no more, neither shall there be
mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for
the former things have passed away.
Christianity. Revelation 21.1-3
The age is coming when God and
humankind will live as one in the ideal world
of creation, the world of heart. The age is
coming when everyone will realize that living
for the sake of others holds greater eternal
value than living for the self.
The blind age of selfish life will pass away
as we build an altruistic world of
interdependence, mutual prosperity and
universally shared values.
For this purpose, all should have correct
knowledge about God and the spirit world
and testify to the world about the heavenly
path; then we can lead humanity
appropriately to establish the universal
family.
Therefore, let us work to establish God’s
fatherland and hometown, the Kingdom of
God on earth and in heaven, by investing
ourselves for the sake of others with
absolute love, unchanging love and eternal
true love, looking to the day when we can
offer all heavenly sovereignty to God.
Sun Myung Moon

Love for nature
The natural world is not an object of our
manipulation. Nature is a community of
living, sentient beings that suffers or rejoices
according to how it is treated by human
beings.
Religions also teach that, for those who
have eyes to see, nature is exquisitely
sensitive to the attitude of people.
Nature suffers when it is mistreated or
abused, and rejoices when it can serve the
human beings who love and care for it in a
non-selfish way.
Gazing up at the constellations of the night
sky or exploring nature around us, we
experience awesome and mysterious feelings
surging up from deep in our hearts. This state is
the starting point of religion. While gazing at
living things and the phenomena of nature, we
can sing songs that arise from the precious
world of the heart within.
Playing nature’s music, displaying nature’s
art and reciting nature’s poetry, all living things
resonate in our hearts. Then we can relate with
God, who rules the heavenly bodies.
Experience the feeling that you are intimately
connected to everything; then you can enter a
state of the heart to rightly appreciate them.
You enter a mystical state in which you can feel
everything in its reality.
Sun Myung Moon
When we look at the creation, we feel a
religious emotion welling up from deep in
our hearts and naturally bow down before it.

For the creation waits with eager longing
for the revealing of the sons of God.
For the creation was subjected to futility,
not of its own will but by the will of Him
who subjected it in hope; because the
creation itself will be set free from its
bondage to decay and obtain the glorious
liberty of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has
been groaning in travail together until now.
And not only the creation, but we
ourselves, who have the first fruits of the
Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for
adoption as sons, the redemption of our
bodies.
Christianity. Romans 8.19-23
In the days when natural instincts
prevailed, men moved quietly and gazed
steadily. At that time, there were no roads
over mountains, nor boats, nor bridges over
water. All things were produced, each for its
own proper sphere. Birds and beasts
multiplied; trees and shrubs grew up. The
former might be led by the hand; you could
climb up and peep into a raven's nest. For then
man dwelt with the birds and beasts, and all
creation was one.
Taoism. ChuangTzu IX, 3
Good sons and daughters who accept the
true Law, build the great earth, and carry the
four responsibilities, become friends without
being asked, for the sake of all living beings.
In their great compassion, they comfort and
sympathize with living beings, becoming the
Dharma-mother of the world.
Buddhism. Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala 4

Disagreements and Possible
Consensus between the Doctrines
of the Different Religions

CHAPTER 3 DISAGREEMENTS AND POSSIBLE CONSENSUS BETWEEN
THE DOCTRINES OF THE DIFFERENT RELIGIONS
1. Denial of the gods or a loving
and kind personal God?
2. Natural law or divine
legislation?
3. Three levels of religious
morality
4. Divine punishments or bad
consequences of one's actions?
5. Advantages and difficulties of
the diverse visions of a cosmic
justice
6. Human error or ontological evil?
7. Liberation, salvation, individual
or family and social?
8. Extinction, reincarnation or
eternal life?

In this chapter, we will study the
disagreements in doctrines and ethical questions
among the different religions, which, as we
pointed out in the previous chapter, have their
origin in the different basic beliefs that each
religion maintains about the moral order, the
original state of health, the causes of evil, and
the remedies and goal to achieve
In addition to this, we will try to see if
differences could be narrowed and agreement
can be reached on basic assumptions among all
religions in spite of these marked discrepancies.
In this sense, we will also offer some
conciliatory theories based on the religious
teachings of Sun Myung Moon, which we
believe can help harmonize the various
traditional religious beliefs.
In this chapter, among others, we will
mainly use the praiseworthy work of Dr.
Young Oon Kim. It is an encyclopedic work,
composed of three volumes, titled World
Religions, which thoroughly analyzes the
main beliefs of all religious traditions.
INTRODUCTION

DENIAL OF THE GODS OR A LOVING AND KIND PERSONAL GOD?

DENIAL OF THE GODS OR A LOVING AND KIND PERSONAL GOD?
 From the multiplicity of gods to the belief in
one God
 From the anthropomorphic gods to the
abstract and impersonal first principles
 The denial of the gods for ethical reasons of
Buddhism
 Ethical atheism of Jains
 From an impersonal God, or an inflexible
judge, to a personal God in the form of a
loving and kind father or mother
 Why does belief in a personal
God in the form of a loving
and kind father tend to
generalize?
 Advantages and
disadvantages of the belief in
a loving and kind God
 The Heart MotivationTheory
 God created the world for the
realization of love

Mythic tales and primitive religions that
spoke of a multiplicity of anthropomorphic
gods appeared in all cultures.
However, in the so-called axial epoch,
there was a reaction against this
proliferation of gods who exhibited the
same low passions of humans, and seemed
to handle them as mere puppets, forcing
them to make bloody and immoral
sacrifices.
The characteristic or essential aspect of
this axial epoch was the appearance of
reformers who affirmed the existence of a
unique God and a universal moral law.
For example, Moses proclaimed the existence of
a singleGod,Yahweh, who promulgated moral
commandments that all men should obey. He also
encouraged the fight against idolatry or worship of
the ancient immoral gods.
Christianity and Islam later inherited this Semitic
belief in a singleGod, creator of heaven and earth.
In a similar way, Zoroaster reacted against the
beliefs of the warlike nomadic tribes —who
worshiped ancient Iranian deities and offered
bloody sacrifices— affirming the existence of a
single good God, the Wise Lord (Ahura Mazda) who
taught to live according to right thoughts, right
words and right actions.
From the multiplicity of gods to the belief in one God

In the axial epoch, the Chinese sages, setting aside
the ancient Chinese deities and deified ancestors,
relied on the more abstract and impersonal concepts
ofTao and Heaven, which were like a first creative
principle and also a universal moral law.Confucius, in
particular, emphasized moral education and human
responsibility in fulfilling this universal moral law or
mandates from Heaven.
In a similar way, the mystics of the Upanisads tried
to reduce all the ancientVeda gods to a triad of gods
centered on an impersonal Brahman, the One or the
Absolute Spirit, and emphasized man's responsibility
to free himself from the illusory Maya (appearances of
the sensitive world) and melt their Atman (soul) with
Brahman, the Ultimate Reality.
A phenomenon very similar to the Hindu
occurred in Greece. Xenophanes criticized the
ancient semi-humanGreek gods and advocated
for a single God without passions and human
appearance.The One of Pythagoras, the Idea of
the Good of Plato, the motionless motor of
Aristotle, the Logos of the Stoics, they were all
very similar concepts to the Hindu Brahman.
In addition, Greek philosophers, like Hindu
thinkers, emphasized the responsibility of
humans to leave this sensitive world of shadows
and appearances and reach knowledge, and
also highlighting the human obligation to live
according to a natural moral law.
From the anthropomorphic gods to the abstract and impersonal
first principles

Instead, Buddha denied the relevance of all
Hindu deities, and even challenged the belief in
an eternal and ever-present Brahman, motivated
by the eagerness to emphasize individual moral
responsibility in gaining one's own perfection.
Buddha emphasized that only self-cultivation
and self-control were the most appropriate
means of attaining inner peace. No external rite,
sacrifice or divine help served to achieve that
goal.
Even so, Buddha maintained the Hindu belief
in eternal moral norms or Dharma and in the
inexorable law of Karma.
The denial of the gods for ethical reasons of Buddhism

«The Jains believe the universe is
eternal so there is no need for a First
Cause.They say the world of matter
has always existed so there is no
purpose in assuming the hypothesis
of a Creator.
And they are convinced that man
himself has the power to subjugate
his passions and liberate himself from
worldly attachments, so why
speculate about the value of a savior
from beyond? (...)
They raise all of the objections to the
theory of the creator-God which
Europeans and Americans are familiar
with. If God creates it must be to satisfy
some inclination or to remove some wants
in His nature. But this makes God clearly
imperfect.
Secondly, if the world is the handiwork
of a perfect God, how is it His creatures
suffer so much sorrow and evil?»
Y.O. Kim, World Religions, vol. 2, Golden Gate, New
York, 1976, pp. 83-84.
According toYoung Oon Kim, the Jains explicitly denied the existence of any God
for almost the same reasons thatWestern philosophers used centuries later:
Ethical atheism of Jains

However, the commitment to atheism of the Jains, asY. O. Kim goes on
to explain, was mainly motivated by ethical reasons.
«First, it serves as a valuable (even if exaggerated) protest against
degraded concepts of piety. In many types of folk religion the gods
and goddesses are little more than useful servants of mankind.
Primitive peoples pray for rain in a time of drought, cures for their
sicknesses, material prosperity, victory in war, the birth of male
children or escape from the punishment due to their violations of the
moral law. In all such cases, men set their hope on worldly
gratifications.
Since Jainism is a faith which stresses the supreme value of
detachment from material concerns and liberation from sensual
pleasures, it would quite naturally oppose a concept of God which
made Him nothing more than a provider of earthly satisfactions.

Secondly, Jainism emphasizes the absolute
immutability of the law of karma.The
universe is controlled by an inviolable law of
cause and effect.
In the opinion of the Jains, there is no
friendly Ruler above the karmic law who can
tamper with it, twist it, ease it or temporarily
disregard it.
In many religions, men seem to rely on a
god or goddess to abrogate the working of
the moral law.
If they perform a certain ritual, recite a
special prayer, undergo a conversion
experience or beg for forgiveness, they can
avoid paying their debts. (…)
Thirdly, the Jain faith points out the
potential dignity of man.
If self-awareness, power, knowledge
and joy are latent perfections of human
nature, men will be encouraged to
manifest these talents.
They will no longer see themselves as
helpless puppets guided by external
supernatural powers, or as children to be
supervised.Therefore, the virtues of self-
reliance and personal responsibility will
be reinforced.»
Y.O. Kim, World Religions, vol. 2, Golden Gate,
NewYork, 1976, pp. 85-86.

Several centuries later, unlike his Jewish and Eastern
predecessors —who regarded God as an inflexible judge, or
depersonalized and even denied God in order to emphasize
the importance of individual moral responsibility and the
inexorable moral law— Jesus compared God to a loving
father who is willing to forgive his children if they repent and
turn their hearts to him, as is clearly expressed in the parable
of the prodigal son.
Thus, although Jesus did not deny the existence of a
universal moral law nor the responsibility that man has to
fulfill it, he did put above that divine law a God of love ready
to embrace and forgive even his enemies.
From an impersonal God, or an inflexible judge, to a personal God in
the form of a loving and kind father or mother

The path of love to God
(Bhakti) in Ramanuja
«Also for Ramanuja, as for Sankara, Brahman is
“singular,” but he does not lack properties, attributes,
qualities and character; it is not impersonal. It is
identical with the personal God.(…)
Ramanuja finds clearly expressed in the Upanisads
the veneration for a personal God and the mystical
union with Him, and from it he gives a new
foundation to bhakti, the trust, the love, the
veneration, the surrender to God.»
Hans Küng, El cristianismo y las grandes religiones, Libros Europa,
Madrid, 1987, pp. 249-250.
Not only does Christianity
emphasize divine love and grace,
but this view has also been
extended by most other religious
traditions.
In Hinduism, Ramanuja was one
of the most notable defenders of
the path of the love to God, or
bhakti, which as Küng explains has
many similarities with the
teachings of Jesus:

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