Daily Meditation: Saturday, January 22, 2005

Brotherhood - idea brought by Christianity

01/22/2005

Even if they are atheists, our contemporaries must admit that the notion of brotherhood was brought to them by Christianity. Before Jesus, of course, initiates taught respect and love for one’s neighbour, and certain commandments among those given by Moses heralded the teaching of Jesus: ‘You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge….you shall love your neighbour as yourself….’ But these are given so little place in relation to the multitude of dictates and punishments threatening those guilty of the smallest error! In the same era, Buddha taught kindness towards all creatures and compassion for the immense suffering they must endure throughout their earthly lives. But the sentiment of benevolence or compassion is not the same as the sentiment of brotherhood, which is the consciousness that we all belong to one and the same family. It is the philosophy of Jesus, transmitted by Christianity, which has allowed the sense of brotherhood to develop in the western world.