Positive Laws of General Beneficence

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Common denominators of moral precepts found in the TAO.

1. Nature urges man to enter society as a given good ("Cicero"]


2. Man is to be preserved as much as possible and enriched and flowered like a tree


3. Alms giving and respect of children and the elderly almost as if gods.


4. Importance of love and charity


5. Taking care of kindred and bonding and fighting for one's country


6. The misfortune of one man affects the whole of humanity-interconnectedness.


7. Love thy neighbor and the stranger


8. '"Did not Socrates love his own children, though he did so as a free man and as one not forgetting that the gods have the first claim on our friendship?' (Greek, Epictetus, iii. 24) 'Natural affection is a thing right and according to Nature.' (Greek. Ibid. i. xi)"


9. Natural affection is right and a prescribed norm and to be widened in application. COSMIC LOVE


10. 'Has it escaped you that, in the eyes of gods and good men, your native land deserves from you more honour, worship, and reverence than your mother and father and all your ancestors? That you should give a softer answer to its anger than to a father's anger? That if you cannot persuade it to alter its mind you must obey it in all quietness, whether it binds you or beats you or sends you to a war where you may get wounds or death?' (Greek. Plato, Crito, 51, a, b)


11. 'If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith.' (Christian. I Timothy 5:8) 'Put them in mind to obey magistrates.'... 'I exhort that prayers be made for kings and all that are in authority.' (Christian. Titus 3:1 and I Timothy 2:1, 2)


12. 'Your father is an image of the Lord of Creation, your mother an image of the Earth. For him who fails to honour them, every work of piety is in vain. This is the first duty.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 9)


13. 'Children, old men, the poor, and the sick, should be considered as the lords of the atmosphere.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 8) 'Rise up before the hoary head and honour the old man.' (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:32)


14. 'Nature produces a special love of offspring' and 'To live according to Nature is the supreme good.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv, and De Legibus, i. xxi)


15. Reverence due to the children: 'Great reverence is owed to a child.' (Roman. Juvenal, xiv. 47) 'The Master said, Respect the young.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, ix. 22) 'The killing of the women and more especially of the young boys and girls who are to go to make up the future strength of the people, is the saddest part... and we feel it very sorely.' (Redskin. Account of the Battle of Wounded Knee. ERE v. 432)


16. 'Choose loss rather than shameful gains.' (Greek. Chilon Fr. 10. Diels) 'Justice is the settled and permanent intention of rendering to each man his rights.' (Roman. Justinian, Institutions, I. i) 'If the native made a "find" of any kind (e.g., a honey tree) and marked it, it was thereafter safe for him, as far as his own tribesmen were concerned, no matter how long he left it.' (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 441)


17. 'Do no unrighteousness in judgement. You must not consider the fact that one party is poor nor the fact that the other is a great man.' (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:15)
18. 'When proper respect towards the dead is shown at the end and continued after they are far away, the moral force (tê) of a people has reached its highest point.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 9
19. Aborigines-----They never desert the sick.
20. 'Nature confesses that she has given to the human race the tenderest hearts, by giving us the power to weep. This is the best part of us.' (Roman. Juvenal, xv. 131) The Power to weep, the exclusive power of humans given to them by nature.
21. Forget not the stranger as you glean your field.. Charity.
22. 'Death is to be chosen before slavery and base deeds.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i, xxiii) 'Death is better for every man than life with shame.' (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2890) 'Nature and Reason command that nothing uncomely, nothing effeminate, nothing lascivious be done or thought.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv)
23. (Ancient Greek. Aristotle, Eth. Nic. 1177 B) We must think immortal thoughts as much as possible (paraphrase.
24. 'Let him not desire to die, let him not desire to live, let him wait for his time ... let him patiently bear hard words, entirely abstaining from bodily pleasures.' (Ancient Indian. Laws of Manu. ERE ii. 98) Abstention from pleasures,the key to all else.
25. 'He who is unmoved, who has restrained his senses ... is said to be devoted. As a flame in a windless place that flickers not, so is the devoted.' (Ancient Indian. Bhagavad gita. ERE ii 90) Devotion.
26. 'Verily, verily I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it.' (Christian. John 12:24,25) The love of wisdom is the practice of selflessness. Necessity for self-sacrifice.
    
    
    

b) POSITIVE
'Nature urges that a man should wish human society to exist
and should wish to enter it.' (Roman. Cicero, De Officiis, i. iv)
'By the
fundamental Law of Nature Man [is] to be preserved as much as possible.' (Locke,
Treatises of Civil Govt. ii. 3)
'When the people have multiplied, what next
should be done for them? The Master said, Enrich them. Jan Ch'iu said, When one
has enriched them, what next should be done for them? The Master said, Instruct
them.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, xiii. 9)
'Speak kindness ... show good
will.' (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
'Men were brought into
existence for the sake of men that they might do one another good.' (Roman.
Cicero. De Off. i. vii)
'Man is man's delight.' (Old Norse. Hávamál 47)
'He who is asked for alms should always give.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 7)
'What good man regards any misfortune as no concern of his?' (Roman. Juvenal
xv. 140)
'I am a man: nothing human is alien to me.' (Roman. Terence, Heaut.
Tim.)
'Love thy neighbour as thyself.' (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:18)
'Love the stranger as thyself.' (Ancient Jewish. Ibid. 33, 34)
'Do to
men what you wish men to do to you.' (Christian. Matthew 7:12)

2. The Law of Special Beneficence
'It is upon the trunk that a gentleman
works. When that is firmly set up, the Way grows. And surely proper behaviour to
parents and elder brothers is the trunk of goodness.' (Ancient Chinese.
Analects, i. 2)
'Brothers shall fight and be each others' bane.' (Old Norse.
Account of the Evil Age before the World's end, Volospá 45)
'Has he insulted
his elder sister?' (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
'You will see them
take care of their kindred [and] the children of their friends ... never
reproaching them in the least.' (Redskin. Le Jeune, quoted ERE v. 437)
'Love
thy wife studiously. Gladden her heart all thy life long.' (Ancient Egyptian.
ERE v. 481)
'Nothing can ever change the claims of kinship for a right
thinking man.' (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2600)
'Did not Socrates love his own
children, though he did so as a free man and as one not forgetting that the gods
have the first claim on our friendship?' (Greek, Epictetus, iii. 24)
'Natural affection is a thing right and according to Nature.' (Greek. Ibid.
i. xi)
'I ought not to be unfeeling like a statue but should fulfil both my
natural and artificial relations, as a worshipper, a son, a brother, a father,
and a citizen.' (Greek. Ibid. 111. ii)
'This first I rede thee: be blameless
to thy kindred. Take no vengeance even though they do thee wrong.' (Old Norse.
Sigdrifumál, 22)
'Is it only the sons of Atreus who love their wives? For
every good man, who is right-minded, loves and cherishes his own.' (Greek.
Homer, Iliad, ix. 340)
'The union and fellowship of men will be best
preserved if each receives from us the more kindness in proportion as he is more
closely connected with us.' (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xvi)
'Part of us is
claimed by our country, part by our parents, part by our friends.' (Roman. Ibid.
i. vii)
'If a ruler ... compassed the salvation of the whole state, surely
you would call him Good? The Master said, It would no longer be a matter of
"Good". He would without doubt be a Divine Sage.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects,
vi. 28)
'Has it escaped you that, in the eyes of gods and good men, your
native land deserves from you more honour, worship, and reverence than your
mother and father and all your ancestors? That you should give a softer answer
to its anger than to a father's anger? That if you cannot persuade it to alter
its mind you must obey it in all quietness, whether it binds you or beats you or
sends you to a war where you may get wounds or death?' (Greek. Plato, Crito, 51,
a, b)
'If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own
house, he hath denied the faith.' (Christian. I Timothy 5:8)
'Put them in
mind to obey magistrates.'... 'I exhort that prayers be made for kings and all
that are in authority.' (Christian. Titus 3:1 and I Timothy 2:1, 2)

3. Duties to Parents, Elders, Ancestors
'Your father is an image of the Lord of Creation, your mother an image of the Earth. For him who fails to honour them, every work of piety is in vain. This is the first duty.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 9)
'Has he despised Father and Mother?' (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
'I was a staff by my Father's side ... I went in and out at his command.' (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 481)
'Honour thy Father and thy Mother.' (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:12)
'To care for parents.' (Greek. List of duties in Epictetus, in. vii)
'Children, old men, the poor, and the sick, should be considered as the lords of the atmosphere.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
'Rise up before the hoary head and honour the old man.' (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:32)
'I tended the old man, I gave him my staff.' (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 481)
'You will see them take care ... of old men.' (Redskin. Le Jeune, quoted ERE v. 437)
'I have not taken away the oblations of the blessed dead.' (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
'When proper respect towards the dead is shown at the end and continued after they are far away, the moral force (tê) of a people has reached its highest point.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 9)

4. Duties to Children and Posterity
'Children, the old, the poor, etc. should be considered as lords of the atmosphere.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
'To marry and to beget children.' (Greek. List of duties. Epictetus, in. vii)
'Can you conceive an Epicurean commonwealth? . . . What will happen? Whence is the population to be kept up? Who will educate them? Who will be Director of Adolescents? Who will be Director of Physical Training? What will be taught?' (Greek. Ibid.)
'Nature produces a special love of offspring' and 'To live according to Nature is the supreme good.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv, and De Legibus, i. xxi)
'The second of these achievements is no less glorious than the first; for while the first did good on one occasion, the second will continue to benefit the state for ever.' (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xxii)
'Great reverence is owed to a child.' (Roman. Juvenal, xiv. 47)
'The Master said, Respect the young.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, ix. 22)
'The killing of the women and more especially of the young boys and girls who are to go to make up the future strength of the people, is the saddest part... and we feel it very sorely.' (Redskin. Account of the Battle of Wounded Knee. ERE v. 432)

5. The Law of Justice
(a) SEXUAL JUSTICE
'Has he approached his neighbour's wife?' (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:14)
'I saw in Nastrond (= Hell)... beguilers of others' wives.' (Old Norse. Volospá 38, 39)
(b) HONESTY
'Has he drawn false boundaries?' (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
'To wrong, to rob, to cause to be robbed.' (Babylonian. Ibid.)
'I have not stolen.' (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
'Thou shalt not steal.' (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:15)
'Choose loss rather than shameful gains.' (Greek. Chilon Fr. 10. Diels)
'Justice is the settled and permanent intention of rendering to each man his rights.' (Roman. Justinian, Institutions, I. i)
'If the native made a "find" of any kind (e.g., a honey tree) and marked it, it was thereafter safe for him, as far as his own tribesmen were concerned, no matter how long he left it.' (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 441)
'The first point of justice is that none should do any mischief to another unless he has first been attacked by the other's wrongdoing. The second is that a man should treat common property as common property, and private property as his own. There is no such thing as private property by nature, but things have become private either through prior occupation (as when men of old came into empty territory) or by conquest, or law, or agreement, or stipulation, or casting lots.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)
(c) JUSTICE IN COURT, &C.
'Whoso takes no bribe ... well pleasing is this to Samas.' (Babylonian. ERE v. 445)
'I have not traduced the slave to him who is set over him.' (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.' (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:16)
'Regard him whom thou knowest like him whom thou knowest not.' (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 482)
'Do no unrighteousness in judgement. You must not consider the fact that one party is poor nor the fact that the other is a great man.' (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:15)

6. The Law of Good Faith and Veracity
'A sacrifice is obliterated by a lie and the merit of alms by an act of fraud.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 6)
'Whose mouth, full of lying, avails not before thee: thou burnest their utterance.' (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
'With his mouth was he full of Yea, in his heart full of Nay? (Babylonian. ERE v. 446)
'I have not spoken falsehood.' (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
'I sought no trickery, nor swore false oaths.' (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2738)
'The Master said, Be of unwavering good faith.' (Ancient
Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)
'In Nastrond (= Hell) I saw the perjurers.' (Old Norse. Volospá 39)
'Hateful to me as are the gates of Hades is that man who says one thing, and hides another in his heart.' (Greek. Homer. Iliad, ix. 312)
'The foundation of justice is good faith.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i.vii)
'[The gentleman] must learn to be faithful to his superiors and to keep promises.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 8)
'Anything is better than treachery.' (Old Norse. Hávamál 124)
7. The Law of Mercy
'The poor and the sick should be regarded as lords of the atmosphere.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
'Whoso makes intercession for the weak, well pleasing is this to Samas.' (Babylonian. ERE v. 445)
'Has he failed to set a prisoner free?' (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
'I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, a ferry boat to the boatless.'
(Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 446)
'One should never strike a woman; not even with a flower.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
'There, Thor, you got disgrace, when you beat women.' (Old Norse. Hárbarthsljóth 38)
'In the Dalebura tribe a woman, a cripple from birth, was carried about by the tribes-people in turn until her death at the age of sixty-six.'... 'They never desert the sick.' (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 443)
'You will see them take care of... widows, orphans, and old men, never reproaching them.' (Redskin. ERE v. 439)
'Nature confesses that she has given to the human race the tenderest hearts, by giving us the power to weep. This is the best part of us.' (Roman. Juvenal, xv. 131)
'They said that he had been the mildest and gentlest of the kings of the world.' (Anglo-Saxon. Praise of the hero in Beowulf, 3180)
'When thou cuttest down thine harvest... and hast forgot a sheaf... thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.' (Ancient Jewish. Deuteronomy 24:19)

8. The Law of Magnanimity
(a)
'There are two kinds of injustice: the first is found in those who do an injury, the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when they can.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)
'Men always knew that when force and injury was offered they might be defenders of themselves; they knew that howsoever men may seek their own commodity, yet if this were done with injury unto others it was not to be suffered, but by all men and by all good means to be withstood.' (English. Hooker, Laws of Eccl. Polity, I. ix. 4)
'To take no notice of a violent attack is to strengthen the heart of the enemy. Vigour is valiant, but cowardice is vile.' (Ancient Egyptian. The Pharaoh Senusert III, cit. H. R. Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, p. 161)
'They came to the fields of joy, the fresh turf of the Fortunate Woods and the dwellings of the Blessed . . . here was the company of those who had suffered wounds fighting for their fatherland.' (Roman. Virgil, Aeneid, vi. 638-9, 660)
'Courage has got to be harder, heart the stouter, spirit the sterner, as our strength weakens. Here lies our lord, cut to pieces, out best man in the dust. If anyone thinks of leaving this battle, he can howl forever.' (Anglo-Saxon. Maldon, 312)
'Praise and imitate that man to whom, while life is pleasing, death is not grievous.' (Stoic. Seneca, Ep. liv)
'The Master said, Love learning and if attacked be ready to die for the Good Way.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)
(b)
'Death is to be chosen before slavery and base deeds.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i, xxiii)
'Death is better for every man than life with shame.' (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2890)
'Nature and Reason command that nothing uncomely, nothing effeminate, nothing lascivious be done or thought.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv)
'We must not listen to those who advise us "being men to think human thoughts, and being mortal to think mortal thoughts," but must put on immortality as much as is possible and strain every nerve to live according to that best part of us, which, being small in bulk, yet much more in its power and honour surpasses all else.' (Ancient Greek. Aristotle, Eth. Nic. 1177 B)
'The soul then ought to conduct the body, and the spirit of our minds the soul. This is therefore the first Law, whereby the highest power of the mind requireth obedience at the hands of all the rest.' (Hooker, op. cit. i. viii. 6)
'Let him not desire to die, let him not desire to live, let him wait for his time ... let him patiently bear hard words, entirely abstaining from bodily pleasures.' (Ancient Indian. Laws of Manu. ERE ii. 98)
'He who is unmoved, who has restrained his senses ... is said to be devoted. As a flame in a windless place that flickers not, so is the devoted.' (Ancient Indian. Bhagavad gita. ERE ii 90)

(c)
'Is not the love of Wisdom a practice of death?' (Ancient Greek. Plato, Phadeo, 81 A)
'I know that I hung on the gallows for nine nights, wounded with the spear as a sacrifice to Odin, myself offered to Myself.' (Old Norse. Hávamál, I. 10 in Corpus Poeticum Boreale; stanza 139 in Hildebrand's Lieder der Älteren Edda. 1922)
'Verily, verily I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it.' (Christian. John 12:24,25)