Words of Truth and Peace

Buddhist literature has a multitude of writings, organised into three main Buddhist Canons: the Pāli Canon (Tipiṭaka / "Three Baskets"), the Chinese Buddhist Canon (Taishō Tripiṭaka & others), and the Tibetan Buddhist Canon (Kanjur and Tanjur). The core ethical principle of "loving others as we love ourselves" (essentially the Golden Rule) is deeply woven into the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, though its foundational scriptural framing actually stems from the Early Buddhist texts (Agamas/Nikayas) and is subsequently expanded upon conceptually in major Mahayana texts. Rather than viewing self-love and altruism as a contradiction, Mahayana Buddhism treats our intrinsic desire for happiness as the exact baseline blueprint for how we must treat all other sentient beings. Hence, Buddhism as a whole is quite a complicated religion, and extends its kindness, mercy and compassion even to animals because they are considered sentient beings. In the discourses of King Prase...

There are several places in the Quran where the thematic moral or virtue of loving others as we would love ourselves are stated, such as  Surah An-Nisa (4:36), Surah Al-Baqarah (2:83), Surah Ali 'Imran (3:92), Surah Al-Hashr (59:9),  Surah Al-Insan (76:8-9), Surah Al-Baqarah (2:267), and  Surah An-Nur (24:22) . This moral is also stated in  Surah An-Nisa (4:36) is often called the "Ayat al-Huquq" (The Verse of Rights) because it outlines the fundamental duties a Muslim owes to God and to fellow human beings. The people relations aspects of the verse emphasises extending kindness to parents, relatives, orphans, the poor, neighbors, companions, and travelers, while condemning arrogance and boastfulness. It outlines a progressive circle of social responsibility, moving from closest family and dependents to wider society. Surah Al-Baqarah (2:83) is a pivotal verse that outlines a solemn covenant Allah or God made with the Children of Israel (Bani Isra'il),...

In the Bible, the thematic moral or virtue "loving others in the ways we would love ourselves" can be found in many places.  Let's start with the ten commandments.  The ten commandments are meant for the Jewish people of Israel, about God showing them His grace and mercy, but when Christians believe in God, they have accepted these laws as their own. The first few commandments about worshipping other gods or worshipping graven images, using God's name with integrity and reverence and not in a sinful way, and recognising the special Sunday of the week as holy, so they are all related to loving God.  These would not be entirely relevant to people who do not believe in God, but the next several commandments are totally relevant because they form the basis of the legal system in most countries.  The commandments are: do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet other people's wives, and do not covet other people's pr...

Many revered and important people of the past tell us to "love others in the ways we would love ourselves", which is also expressed as "do unto others what we would want others to do unto us", or to "show kindness, mercy and compassion to the people around us". Some ways we do this were written in books of wisdom from our past, and I'll just focus on three sets of teachings here. In the Bible, there's Leviticus 19:18, which tells us to love our neighbours as ourselves.  This law is repeated in many other places in the Bible, such as Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14 and James 2:8. Luke 6:31 tells us to do to others as we would have them do to us.  In other parts of the Bible, there are more specifics mentioned about how we should treat others, such as Exodus 22:20-26, where we are not to oppress strangers, widows and orphans.  We are also not to take advantage of the poor when we lend money to them.  In Luke 10:25–37, ...