Sunday, October 4, 2020

Compromising Commandments

 



All traditions have their commandments. As the hour is late and in the interest of ashimsa (non-injury) to myself I leave you with these writing to read and compare.  Perhaps it can serve as an example of finding the areas where we agree rather than disagree.

The Bible Book of Exodus Chapter 20 Verses 1-4, 7-9, 12-20

God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. 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 male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.”

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Book 2 Verses 29-33

29. The eight means of Yoga are: the Commandments, the Rules, right Poise, right Control of the life-force, Withdrawal, Attention, Meditation, Contemplation.

30. The Commandments are these: non-injury, truthfulness, abstaining from stealing, from impurity, from covetousness.

31. The Commandments, not limited to any race, place, time or occasion, universal, are the great obligation.

32. The Rules are these: purity, serenity, fervent aspiration, spiritual reading, and perfect obedience to the Master.

33. When transgressions hinder, the weight of the imagination should be thrown on the opposite side.

 

 

Yoga Sutras Book 2 translation from http://docshare02.docshare.tips/files/13742/137428078.pdf

Photo from https://rochemamabolo.wordpress.com/2019/04/11/compromise-able/

 

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