Pursuant to my previous blog “What Is Religion?” with many comments, I would like to offer the following:
Religion (<religare) means reunion with the holy (wholly wholesome). Thus, religions advocate universal truth and ethic (knowledge and action). Their ideals are universal friendship (philia, maitri, metta, love, agape, etc.) and freedom (priya-dhaman, liberation, cf. liberality, love, liebe). Their ideal figures are friends (Mitra, Mithra, Mazda, Maitreya, etc.). These are the general trend, and the specific traditions differ in degrees in these points.
Religions have been reuniting principles and practices in different areas and ages. We can observe tribal, national, and world religions. Mankind had the Axial Age some 24 centuries ago, when a spiritual revolution took place all over the globe (Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, et al.). We may have a truly holy, universal religion required for the global age and for the solution of global problems.
Problems: Mankind is now facing the global problematique, combined and connected problems of climate change, resource runout, planetary pollution, and the sixth mass extinction, created by its own karmas. If this trend continues, we cannot continue. Humans must stop and see their karmas to awaken to the holy, universal truth and ethic, becoming true friends, and living universal freedom and friendship with all beyond gender, genus, generation, etc.
Causes: The fundamental causes of the problems and sufferings are delusion (selfishness, sin: separation from the whole system) and desire (greed, going against the wholesome system). Delusion/desire (selfishness/greed) created the artificial, pyramidal civilization systems (one-way dead-end flow, competition for power/matter) against natural, cyclical ecological systems (recycled, renewable, cooperation of life/mind). That is why we are witnessing a global economic and ecological meltdown.
Solutions: The fundamental solution must be that of the fundamental causes, delusion/desire (selfishness/greed). We must have unifying principles and practices, a wholly wise and wholesome way. We need a Copernican Revolution, a paradigm shift from an ego/earth-centered way (selfish greed) to a holy/helio-centered one (holy ethic). This is from civilization (robbing of matter/power) to culture (sharing mind/life).
Method: Religions must be holy (wholly wholesome with body/mind, action/knowledge, science/ethic, self/other, etc.). We must first stop our karmas (sit solid and serene, pray in peace and purity, cutting karma) and know the holy truth (selfless, unified universe in Dependent Origination), act according to the universal ethic (no killing, etc., with outsiders also: The Parliament of the World’s Religions in 1993, fearing nuclear holocaust, issued the Declaration toward a Global Ethic).
I would like to propose the following as a sample of fundamental living principles to live on joy in limitless life, light, liberation, love, and learning:
Global Ethic: Five Ls (Dependent Origination Law and Global Ethic):
Law, Life, Love, Liberation, Lielessness
Global System: Five Ss: (in correspondence with the above items)
Systemic, Sustainable, Saving, Safe, Simple
Material Flow: Five Rs:
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rearrange, Restore
Information Flow: Five As:
Access, Assess, Agree, Act, Advise