The Wisdom from the World’s Faiths and Traditions for 2019

Welcome back to our blog for the New Year.  We once again begin the new year with the wisdom from the different faith traditions.  The Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, an organization that we have featured on our blog on different occasions, has shared with us a list of their resolutions drawn from the many traditions that make up our community.  Have your students ponder their meaning and check out the Tanenbaum resources and programs for teachers and principals at https://tanenbaum.org/programs/education/  We thank them for allowing us to share this with our readers. 

SHARED VISIONS
FOR 2019, TANENBAUM RESOLVES...

To Be Open Minded and Kind

Baha’i
Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirt of friendliness and fellowship.  
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Bishárát
 

To Express Love

Buddhism
Radiate boundless love towards the entire world.  Buddha
 

To Embrace Trust by Rejecting Fear

Christianity
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.  Isaiah 12:2
 

To Speak Truth

Hinduism
Truth cannot be suppressed and always is the ultimate victor.  Yajur Veda
 

To Practice the Best within Our Traditions
Islam
A man once asked the Prophet what was the best thing in Islam, and the latter replied, "It is to feed the hungry and to give the greeting of peace both to those one knows and to those one does not know."  Hadith of Bukhari

 

To Manifest Nonviolence

Jainism
Subvert anger by forgiveness.  Samanasuttan 136
 

To Educate Ourselves and Others by Confronting Fake News Head-On
Judaism
The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out. Proverbs 18:15

 

To Honor Earth

Native American Wisdom:
When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.  Lakota Proverb
 

To Create Community

Shinto
Regard heaven as your father, earth as your mother, and all things as your brothers and sisters.  Oracle of the Kami of Atsuta
 
To Listen Deeply and Understand Others
Sikhism
To act without understanding is to lose the treasure of this human life.  Sri Guru Granth Sahib
 
To Be Grateful- Always!
Taoism
Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.  Lao Tzu