“Whenever you hear that someone else has been successful, rejoice. Always practice rejoicing for others--whether your friend or your enemy. If you cannot practice rejoicing, no matter how long you live, you will not be happy.” - Lama Zopa Rinpoche
The 10th Commandment says, “Do not desire your neighbor’s [possessions]…” It is one of the wisest commandments in my view. The first commandment smacks of insecurity. It portrays a god who is afraid that “His” devotees will jump ship and start admiring other gods. In the panentheistic view that I hold, there is one infinite
Source (called in our culture “God”) and this “ground of being” is in all life and all life is in It. There is no Other to fear.
The second and third commandments are related to the first, demanding a certain reverence for God as God was understood in the community that produced the Decalogue. The fourth commandment also is meant to honor the deity but it lends itself to an interpretation of much needed self-care. It may be more relevant than the three that precede it.
The fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth commandments are common sense rules that can be summed up in the Golden Rule (treat others the way you would like to be treated).
But the tenth commandment gives us an important insight that we may need to learn and relearn throughout our lives; and learning it can make us much happier.
You see, we have often believed there was not really enough good to go around. We become resentful or jealous or angry or bitter when someone does what we thought we wanted to do, or when they get what we thought we wanted to have. We forget that we live in an abundant universe, and there is no shortage of possibilities. We don’t need to resent our friends (or even our enemies) when they appear to be blessed. Our good will not be delayed by someone else’s; but our good can be delayed by our resentment of others.
Do not covet your neighbor’s abundance, because there is still plenty of Universal Good to supply your needs. When someone recovers from illness or financial difficulty or when someone is promoted or complimented, rejoice! Seeing our neighbors’ blessings is a message to us that blessings still exist and still are available. Our neighbor’s good fortune is a witness that ours may be at hand. But
resenting their opportunities will only close off our hearts from receiving our own.
St. Paul said, “Rejoice…always!” Not just when we win, but every time Good is made manifest in anyone’s life. As we celebrate Good whenever it shows up for anyone, we are actually inviting it into our own experience, and it will respond to our invitation.
Coveting builds a consciousness of lack, which then produces more lack. Instead, be glad whenever, wherever, and for whomever Good is made manifest; such rejoicing builds a consciousness of abundance, which will then bring abundance into our experience.
I wish you many blessings!
--durrell
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Have no other gods (than the “LORD” or “YHWH”, sometimes called
“Jehovah”).
2. Do not have images of other gods.
3. Do not use the divine name (“YHWH”) in vain.
4. Honor the Sabbath day.
5. Honor your parents.
6. Don’t murder.
7. Don’t commit adultery.
8. Don’t steal.
9. Don’t lie against someone in court (“You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor”)
10. You shall not covet…
Showing posts with label ten commandments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ten commandments. Show all posts
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Monday, April 02, 2007
The TRUTH About the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (See Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5):
1. Have no gods other than Yahweh. 2. Do not have images of the divine. 3. Do not misuse Yahweh's name. 4. Keep the Sabbath day holy (don't work on the Sabbath because “God made the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th”). 5. Honor parents. 6. Do not commit murder. 7. Do not commit adultery. 8. Don't steal. 9. Don't lie in court. 10. Don't begrudge your neighbor her or his good fortune.
I know very few Christians (I can't think of one off-hand) who call God "Yahweh." Most Christians seem to call the mystery of life "God" and not some specific name (e.g., Yahweh, Allah, etc.). More conservative Christians might suggest that Jesus is in some way the God of the bible. But the 10 commandments do not say that one should have no god other than "Jesus." They don't even say to have no god other than "God." The commandment says that "the LORD" is to be the only god worshipped, and "the LORD" (in all caps) is how translators indicate "YHWH" (Yahweh) is the divine name being used. If we don't think of "YHWH" as our god, or if we don't call our god Yahweh, then we are not keeping the first commandment.
Many Christians love the image of the cross to represent Jesus, and for many of these same Christians, Jesus is the image of the divine. Still others insist on calling God "He" or "Father" - showing they clearly have a male image of the divine. But commandment number 2 frowns on such images.
The third commandment doesn't condemn swearing, it condemns using the name of Yahweh carelessly. Most people don't use the name of Yahweh at all!
A day of rest is physically and psychologically important, but I wonder if it is one of the 10 most important ethical rules of human behavior!
Of course, the rationale given in the Ten Commandments for a day of rest is that God took a breather after creating the Earth in just a week. Educated people who believe the world materialized out of the blue in just a week are probably few. The argument given in the 4th commandment for the 4th commandment is weak and, by contemporary standards, even bizarre.
Honor parents. This is a commandment to adult children of elderly parents. Caring for the elderly is very important. Commandment #5 is the first in the list that seems to have any relevance to contemporary society!
The second half of the ten commandments makes a bit more sense. Murder is savage (as are, some would argue, capital punishment and unnecessary wars). Adultery, the betrayal of trust, can cause a lot of pain. Stealing, under normal circumstances, is bad (obviously enough). Lying in court could lead to someone's loss of liberty. Good people will want to avoid these unscrupulous activities, though they needn't be "commanded" to do so by a divine authority. It is in our own best interest to live in a civil manner. To have the society we want and deserve, most rational people will want to live ethical lives.
The 10th commandment is psychologically sound: We shouldn't be jealous of the success of others; such wasted energy only gets in the way of our own accomplishment.The first four commandments are either irrelevant in today's world, or they are almost universally ignored (without, apparently, any negative consequence). The remaining six commandments are basically common sense that most intelligent people would probably work out even without being "commanded."
What is my point? That rather than having the Ten Commandments placed on school or court house walls, or insisting our politicians "believe in" them, we should promote rational thinking and responsible choices. Murder isn't wrong because it made an ancient list; it's simply wrong. Rather than following any commands blindly (or, pretending to follow commands that we don't know or don't understand or don't agree with on close inspection), we might be better served by being encouraged to think critically and to act rationally.The philosophical argument is ancient but remains true: A thing isn't right because the gods command it; the gods command a thing because it is right. It's time for all of us, religious and secular, to take our place as thinking individuals, responsible for our choices and in charge of our collective destiny.
If we need a scripture to guide our behavior (until we trust our own rational thinking), why choose such a long and cumbersome list as the Ten Commandments. I prefer Micah 6.8, "...This is what is required of you - only to act justly and mercifully and live humbly..." Or, as a Christian, I even might actually refer to Jesus who said that the whole of scripture boiled down to just this: Treat others the way you would like to be treated (The Golden Rule). Those are "rules" that are easy to remember and that make sense in every age.
1. Have no gods other than Yahweh. 2. Do not have images of the divine. 3. Do not misuse Yahweh's name. 4. Keep the Sabbath day holy (don't work on the Sabbath because “God made the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th”). 5. Honor parents. 6. Do not commit murder. 7. Do not commit adultery. 8. Don't steal. 9. Don't lie in court. 10. Don't begrudge your neighbor her or his good fortune.
I know very few Christians (I can't think of one off-hand) who call God "Yahweh." Most Christians seem to call the mystery of life "God" and not some specific name (e.g., Yahweh, Allah, etc.). More conservative Christians might suggest that Jesus is in some way the God of the bible. But the 10 commandments do not say that one should have no god other than "Jesus." They don't even say to have no god other than "God." The commandment says that "the LORD" is to be the only god worshipped, and "the LORD" (in all caps) is how translators indicate "YHWH" (Yahweh) is the divine name being used. If we don't think of "YHWH" as our god, or if we don't call our god Yahweh, then we are not keeping the first commandment.
Many Christians love the image of the cross to represent Jesus, and for many of these same Christians, Jesus is the image of the divine. Still others insist on calling God "He" or "Father" - showing they clearly have a male image of the divine. But commandment number 2 frowns on such images.
The third commandment doesn't condemn swearing, it condemns using the name of Yahweh carelessly. Most people don't use the name of Yahweh at all!
A day of rest is physically and psychologically important, but I wonder if it is one of the 10 most important ethical rules of human behavior!
Of course, the rationale given in the Ten Commandments for a day of rest is that God took a breather after creating the Earth in just a week. Educated people who believe the world materialized out of the blue in just a week are probably few. The argument given in the 4th commandment for the 4th commandment is weak and, by contemporary standards, even bizarre.
Honor parents. This is a commandment to adult children of elderly parents. Caring for the elderly is very important. Commandment #5 is the first in the list that seems to have any relevance to contemporary society!
The second half of the ten commandments makes a bit more sense. Murder is savage (as are, some would argue, capital punishment and unnecessary wars). Adultery, the betrayal of trust, can cause a lot of pain. Stealing, under normal circumstances, is bad (obviously enough). Lying in court could lead to someone's loss of liberty. Good people will want to avoid these unscrupulous activities, though they needn't be "commanded" to do so by a divine authority. It is in our own best interest to live in a civil manner. To have the society we want and deserve, most rational people will want to live ethical lives.
The 10th commandment is psychologically sound: We shouldn't be jealous of the success of others; such wasted energy only gets in the way of our own accomplishment.The first four commandments are either irrelevant in today's world, or they are almost universally ignored (without, apparently, any negative consequence). The remaining six commandments are basically common sense that most intelligent people would probably work out even without being "commanded."
What is my point? That rather than having the Ten Commandments placed on school or court house walls, or insisting our politicians "believe in" them, we should promote rational thinking and responsible choices. Murder isn't wrong because it made an ancient list; it's simply wrong. Rather than following any commands blindly (or, pretending to follow commands that we don't know or don't understand or don't agree with on close inspection), we might be better served by being encouraged to think critically and to act rationally.The philosophical argument is ancient but remains true: A thing isn't right because the gods command it; the gods command a thing because it is right. It's time for all of us, religious and secular, to take our place as thinking individuals, responsible for our choices and in charge of our collective destiny.
If we need a scripture to guide our behavior (until we trust our own rational thinking), why choose such a long and cumbersome list as the Ten Commandments. I prefer Micah 6.8, "...This is what is required of you - only to act justly and mercifully and live humbly..." Or, as a Christian, I even might actually refer to Jesus who said that the whole of scripture boiled down to just this: Treat others the way you would like to be treated (The Golden Rule). Those are "rules" that are easy to remember and that make sense in every age.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
