A Way for People Living in and Dying of an
Apathetic World
1. The Earth is sacred. Waste nothing. Do not poison the ground or air or water. Do not deface the face of the planet which gives you life. Take what you need, but do not take more. We are guests and guardians, not owners. We do not pimp for Mother Earth. We are her children and we drink from her breast. Be grateful, reverential, and considerate.
2. The body is sacred. Do not poison yourself with addictions, unnatural highs, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, bad attitude, lack of sleep, or disregard for the health. Take good care of your physical self so that death will come late and life will remain vigorous and joyful to the end.
3. The family is sacred. Marry only for love, and marry only when there are the spiritual and emotional resources and the determination to hold the marriage together. Divorce is the great modern tragedy, breaking hearts and injuring children. Have children only for love, and have them only when both parents are ready to put the child's welfare first in everything. This is the true solution to overpopulation. A happy, successful child is as great an achievement as a cure for AIDS. By the way, have you noticed how rare happy, successful people are? Try to change that.
4. Friendship is sacred. Our friends are the family we choose for ourselves. Choose well. A friend is one you trust and love, one who enriches your life. To find and keep such friends, be a friend.
5. The given word is sacred. Let your simple statement be as binding as anyone's blood oath. Breaking a promise destroys faith. If you discover that you regret a promise, then you must decide which would cause less harm: keeping the promise or breaking it.
6. Honor is sacred. Honor is a complex issue with many components. Honor is accepting the consequences for an error or misdeed. Honor is defending the innocent, protecting the helpless, and struggling for right. Honor is caring despite the pain and trying despite difficulty. Honor is putting your best into anything you do. Honor is holding to your ideals when you stand all alone in the bowels of hell and God has gone over to the other side. Without honor, any victory is pale. With honor, even the smallest victory is glorious.
7. Life is sacred. Ideally, do no harm. But a Big Mac is murder, and so are antibiotics. Then, choose the path that does the least harm and the most good. Never destroy out of vengeance or unreasoning fear. Violence is justifiable only in defense of something more sacred than peace. Do violence with sorrow in your heart. Be merciful and effective.
8. The Other is sacred. Murder, assault, rape, molestation, cruelty, neglect, harassment, theft, slander, faithlessness in love or in business, violation of privacy, harsh words, even bad manners are sins against the Other. Hatred is a sin both against the Other and against yourself, for it rots you from within. Watch and see how bitter and unhappy are people who hate too much and never try to walk in the Other's shoes. At least do not let your personal biases manifest in unkindness or injustice. Every culture has a golden rule-follow it.
9. Work is sacred. Work is the way we shape the future. Do your best, and let even your most menial chore become art. Work is effort expended toward an end. Without it we are aimless and anchorless, drifting, dull and restless. Find work that has meaning for you and do it with joy and faith that the world is better for it.
10. Love is sacred. Love is a natural function, but for so many the capacity to love is blocked, burned, and festering. Without love pouring in, we wither. Without love flowing out, we drown. Love of self is basic and essential for any other form of love to survive. Then love of those one depends on, which is the love of an infant for its parents. Then love of those one looks up to, which can inspire growth so long as the love is reasoning and clear-eyed. Then love of those who depend on us--but beware this turning into ego-feeding or resentment. Then true love, which requires no reason but the object of the love. Finally there is God-love, which is unconditional, rapturous love for every aspect of the Universe. Most of us experience only occasional moments of this ecstasy, but this complete fulfillment is something we should all seek.
11. Sex is sacred. Sex is pleasure, perhaps in its most intense form. Sex is the expression of the creative force of our life. Sex is the manifestation of our erotic love. Its power is exhilarating and dangerous. Its force carries a relationship through fire to be either transformed or burned to ashes. Orgasm may result in the birth of Da Vinci or a Gandhi--or a Stalin or Manson. If its power leaves you unmoved, then go ahead and have free sex, so long as you harm no Other--but you are doing no more than scratching an itch. The glory of sex is not only in its pleasure, but in its awesome power to create and destroy, in the choice lovers make to take that risk.
13. Growth is sacred. Evolution is the meaning of life. Learn from every experience. Grow in memory, knowledge, strength, spirituality, wisdom, and capacity for joy. Grow until doing right is as natural as hearing or breathing. Grow until you love completely and see God everywhere. Keep growing until you see Death opening like a door before you, and pass through the door with faith and curiosity. Grow like a tree, never the same for a day of storms or sunshine, or a nest built in your branches, never leaving your roots behind, growing toward the light, toward the infinite heavens.