with clarified vision and renewed energy. This applies to the individual and to the community alike.

BUDDHIST

Mordecai M. Kaplan

16

"When the fire of passion is extinct, that is Nirvana. When the fires of hatred are extinct, that is Nirvana. When pride and all other passions and torments are extinct, that is Nirvana. There is only one thing I preach now as before; suffering and the extinction of suffering.'

Buddhist Thought

17

"One day, bathing my feet, I sit and watch the water as it trickles down the slope; thereby I set my heart in steadfastness as one doth train a horse of noble breed. Then, going to my cell, I take my lamp and, seated on my couch, I watch the flame, grasping the pin, I pull the wick right down into the oil. Lo! The Nirvana of the little lamp. Emancipation dawns. My heart is free.”

Buddhist Hymn-Psalm of the Sisters

18

May creatures all abound in weal and peace. May all be blessed with peace always-All creatures weak or strong, All creatures great and small, creatures unseen or seen, Dwelling afar or near, Born or awaiting birth-May all be blessed with peace. Let none cajole or flout his fellows anywhere; Let none wish others harm in dudgeon or in hate. Just as with her own life, a mother shields from hurt her own, Her only child, Let

all-embracing thoughts for all that lives be thine-An all-embracing love for all the universe In all its heights and depths and breadth-Unstinted love, unmarred by hate within. So, those who stand or walk or sit or lie, Reflect with all your might on this; 'Tis deemed a state divine.

CONFUCIAN

Buddhist Hymn

19

FROM THE SHU-KING

"Without deflection, without unevenness, pursue the royal righteousness. Without selfish likings, pursue the royal path. Avoid deflection, avoid partiality; broad and long is the royal way. Avoid partiality, avoid deflection; level and easy is the royal way. Avoid perversity, avoid one-sidedness; correct and straight is the royal way. Ever seek for this perfect excellence, ever turn to this perfect excellence."

20

ON THE SUPERIOR MAN

"The nobler-minded man," he remarked, "will be agreeable even when he disagrees; the small-minded man will agree and be disagreeable. . " "The superior man is exacting of himself; the common man is exacting of others." "A superior man has selfrespect, and does not strive; is sociable, yet no party man. He does not promote a man because of his words, nor pass over the words because of the man...." "The superior man deliberates upon how he may walk in truth, not upon what he may eat."

21

TAOIST

The Name of the Master of Happiness is not known. For thirty years he has lived on the bank of the Po River. His feelings are those of the wind and moon; His spirit is on the river and lake.

He is poor, but has no sorrow, He drinks, but never to intoxication. He gathers the springtime of the world into his mind. He has a small pond on which to read poems, He has a small window under which to sleep; He has a small carriage with which to divert his mind, He has a great pen with which to enjoy his will. He cannot be conquered by a great army; He cannot be induced by a great salary. Thus he has been a happy man for sixty-five years.

Shas Yung, "Song of Happiness"

22

"Devote yourself to the Utmost Void; Contemplate earnestly in Quietness. All things are together in action, But I look into their non-action. For things are continuously moving, restless, Yet each is proceeding back to its origin. Proceeding back to the origin means quietness. To be in quietness is to see “Beingfor-itself." "Being-for-itself" is the all-changingchangeless."

23

"There was something formlessly fashioned, That existed before heaven and earth; Without sound, without substance, Dependent on nothing, unchanging, All pervading, unfailing. One may think of it as the mother of all things under heaven. Its true name we do not know; 'Way' is the by-name that we give it."

24

"Earth is the origin of all things on earth, the tender root of all life, that by which beauty and ugliness, ignorance and eminence come into being. Water is the life-blood of Earth, as it were, flowing through its muscles and veins. Thus I say, water is richly endowed... Men all make for high places; it alone makes for the low. This in its humility is the very house of the Tao, the very instrument of true kingliness"

HINDU

25

FROM THE UPANISHADS

As a goldsmith, taking a piece of gold, reduceth it to a new and more beautiful form, just so this soul, striking down this body and dispelling its ignorance, maketh unto itself a new and beautiful form like that of Brahma.

According as one acteth, according as one conducteth himself, so doth he become, The man of good deeds becometh good, The man of evil deeds becometh evil. One becometh pure by virtuous action, bad by bad action.

They who know the breathing of the breath, the seeing of the eye, the hearing of the ear, the thinking of the mind, they have comprehended the ancient, primeval Brahma.

MISCELLANEOUS

26

"Do not worry in the least about yourself, leave all worry to God,—this appears to be the commandment in all religions.

"This need not frighten anyone. He who devotes himself to service with a clear conscience, will day by day grasp the necessity for it in greater measure, and will continually grow richer in faith. The path of service can hardly be trodden by one who is not prepared to renounce self-interest, and to recognize the conditions of his birth. Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make not only for our own happiness but that of the world at large."

27

Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you, try the following expedient: Recall the face of the poorest and most helpless man you have ever seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he be able to gain anything by it? Will it restore to him control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to ... self-rule for the hungry and spiritually starved millions of our countrymen? Then you will find your doubts and your self melting away.

28

"To see the universal and all-pervading Spirit of Truth face to face one must be able to love the meanest of creation as oneself. And a man who aspires after that cannot afford to keep out of any field of life. That is why my devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; and I can say without the slightest hesitation, and yet in all humility, that those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means."