I have been writing the essence of each religious and civic festival over the last twenty years with the express purpose of knowing each other, the more we know each other, the fewer the misunderstandings would be. I find myself in tune with Rabbi Lerner fairly frequently – in this particular instance he has explained Idolatry precises what I wanted to say.
Enjoy this meaningful article
Mike Ghouse
Many of us find the notion of “commandments” oppressive and hierarchical. Yet we know that a community cannot be built on the principle of only doing what feels right at the moment–it requires a sense of responsibility to each other. So, we encourage our community to take on the following ten commitments, based roughly on a rereading of the Torah’s ten commandments (and incorporating the framework and many specific ideas articulated by Rami Shapiro in his book Minyan).
Start each day with ten minutes of meditation on these ten principles, followed by the Shema. It will bring a new level of joy in your life. Please post this on your web page, your Facebook or other social media pages, and share it with your friends. It’s not just for Jews–it speaks to universal needs.
Shavuot is the Jewish holiday (this year starting Tuesday night, May 29 and ending Thursday night, June1 at dark) in which we celebrate the great bounty of the earth and simultaneously relive the giving of what has come to be called “the Ten Commandments” though more accurately described as then speech acts, and the entire Torah (spiritual inspiration and teachings that were supposedly given at Mt. Sinai but has evolved through the past 200 generations and is still evolving today, and is now the collective inheritance of the people of the world to do it–that is, to make the aspirations in these words become the inspiration for us to become the shapers of a new reality). ENJOY, but also open yourself to the way the spiritual reality of the universe is seeking to give YOU personally a message for how you can and should live your life in the coming years–allow yourself the time and aloneness to let that message come through to you. Perhaps on reflecting or meditating on this version of what I call the Ten Commitments that came through to me, you will be inspired to hear the universe’s message to you. And Please share this with your friends, your home page, your Facebook or other media, and your family. –Rabbi Michael Lerner
The TEN COMMITMENTS as proposed by Rabbi Michael Lerner
1. YHVH, the Power of Transformation and Healing, is the Ultimate Reality of the Universe and the Source of Transcendent Unity
Aware of the suffering caused by not acknowledging the ultimate Unity of All Being, I vow to recognize every human being as a manifestation of the Divine and to spend more time each day in awe and wonder at the grandeur of Creation.
Aware of the suffering that is caused when we unconsciously pass on to others the pain, cruelty, depression and despair that has been inflicted upon us, I vow to become conscious and then act upon all the possibilities for healing and transforming my own life and being involved in healing and transforming the larger world.
2. Idolatry
Aware of the suffering caused by taking existing social realities, economic security, ideologies, religious beliefs, national commitments, or the gratification of our current desires as the highest value, I vow to recognize only God as the ultimate, and to look at the universe and each part of my life as an evolving part of a larger Totality whose ultimate worth is measured by how close it brings us to God and to love of each other. To stay in touch with this reality, I vow to meditate each day for at least ten minutes and to contemplate the totality of the universe and my humble place in it.
3. Do not take God in Vain
Aware of the suffering caused by religious or spiritual fanaticism, I vow to be respectful of all religious traditions which preach love and respect for the Other, and to recognize that there are many possible paths to God. I vow to acknowledge that we as Jews are not better than others and our path is only one of the many ways that people have heard God’s voice. I vow to remain aware of the distortions in our own traditions, and the ways that I myself necessarily bring my own limitations to every encounter with the Divine. So I will practice spiritual humility. Yet I will enthusiastically advocate for what I find compelling in the Jewish tradition and encourage others to explore that which has moved me.
4. Observe the Sabbath
Aware of the suffering produced by excessive focus on “making it” and obtaining material satisfactions, I vow to regularly observe a 25 hour Shabbat as a day in which I focus on celebrating the world rather than trying to control it or maximize my own advantage within it. I will build Shabbat with the Beyt Tikkun community www.beyttikkun.org, the Network of Spiritual Progressives www.spiritualprogressives.org, or some other spiritually alive community to which I make a commitment to support emotionally and financially, and through participation in that community will enjoy loving connection with others. I will use some Shabbat time to renew my commitment to social justice and healing and reject the false dichotomy that sees spirituality as ruined if it also involves talkiing about the pain and cruelty in this world and exploring paths and strategies to heal and transform our world. I will also set aside significant amounts of time for inner spiritual development, personal renewal, reflection, and pleasure.
5. Honor your Mother and Father
Aware of the suffering caused by aging, disease, and death, I vow to provide care and support for my parents.
Aware that every parent has faults and has inflicted pain on their children, I vow to forgive my parents and to allow myself to see them as human beings with the same kinds of limitations as every other human being on the planet. And I vow to remember the moments of kindness and nurturance, and to let them play a larger role in my memory as I develop a sense of compassion for them and for myself.
6. Do not Murder
Aware of the suffering caused by wars, environmental irresponsibility, and eruptions of violence, I vow to recognize the sanctify of life and not to passively participate in social practices that are destructive of the lives of others. I will resist the perpetrators of violence and oppression of others, the poisoners of our environment, and those who demean others or encourage acts of violence. Aware that much violence is the irrational and often self-destructive response to the absence of love and caring, I vow to show more loving and caring energy to everyone around me, to take the time to know others more deeply, and to struggle for a world which provides everyone with recognition and spiritual nourishment.
7. Do not Engage in Sexual Exploitation
Aware of the suffering caused when people break their commitments of sexual loyalty to each other, and the suffering caused by using other people for our own sexual purposes, I vow to keep my commitments and to be fully honest and open in my sexual dealings with others, avoiding deceit or manipulation to obtain my own ends. I will rejoice in my body and the bodies of others, will treat them as embodiments of Divine energy, and will seek to enhance my own pleasure and the pleasure of others around me, joyfully celebrating sex as an opportunity for encounter with the holy. I will do all I can to prevent sexual abuse in adults and children, the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases, and the misuse of sexuality to further domination or control of others. I will respect the diversity of non-exploitative sexual expression and lifestyles and will not seek to impose sexual orthodoxies on others.
8. Do not Steal
Aware of the suffering caused by an unjust distribution of the world’s resources, exploitation, and theft, I vow to practice generosity, to share what I have, and to not keep anything that should belong to others while working for a wise use of the goods and services that are available. I will not horde what I have, and especially will not horde love. I will support a fairer redistribution of the wealth of the planet so that everyone has adequate material well-being, recognizing that contemporary global inequalities in wealth are often the resultant of colonialism, genocide, slavery, theft and the imposition of monetary and trade policies by the powerful on the powerless. In the meantime, I will do my best to support the homeless and others who are in need.
Aware that others sometimes contribute much energy to keeping this community functioning, I will give time and energy to the tasks of building the Beyt Tikkun community, and, when possible, will donate generously of my financial resources and my talents and time.
9. Do not Lie
Aware of the suffering caused by wrongful speech, I vow to cultivate a practice of holy speech in which my words are directed to increasing the love and caring in the world. I vow to avoid words that are misleading or manipulative, and avoid spreading stories that I do not know to be true, or which might cause unnecessary divisiveness or harm, and instead will use my speech to increase harmony, social justice, kindness, hopefulness, trust and solidarity. I will be generous in praise and support for others. To heighten my awareness of this commitment, I will dedicate one day a week to full and total holiness of words, refraining from any speech that day which does not hallow God’s name or bring joy to others.
10. Do not Covet
Aware of the suffering caused by excessive consumption of the world’s resources, I vow to rejoice in what I have and to live a life of ethical consumption governed by a recognition that the world’s resources are already strained and by a desire to promote ecological sustainability and material modesty. I vow to see the success of others as an inspiration rather than as detracting from my own sufficiency and to cultivate in myself and others the sense that I have enough and that I am enough and that there is enough for everyone.
Please rewrite these till they are actually commitments you can honestly make, and then read them each morning when you get ready to start your day! And then: Meditate on the following mantra:
Shema Yisra’el, YHVH (adonai) Eloheynu, YHVH (adonai) Echad.
Hear, you who struggle to connect to God or Goddess or the ultimate spriitual reality of the universe: The Power of Healing and Transformation is the ultimate reality and shaper of the universe, the Transformative Power unifies all being as One spiritually-alive, mutually inter-dependent, awesome, fantastic, evolving, conscious totality of which we are each a tiny part.
If this way of thinking makes sense to you, please join us for High Holidays in Berkeley California. People have come from as far away as Australia, U.K. Germany, Israel, Sweeden, France, and South Africa. And you don’t have to be Jewish to get a lot out of it. Some of the services are in Hebrew (enough so that those who love the tradition often report feeling totally satisfied that this was not “Judaism lite,” but enough in English so that those who know zero Hebrew nevertheless report having transformatiive experiences. Go to our website www.beyttikkun.org/hhd in mid June and you’ll get all the info and be able to register!
Courtesy – http://www.beyttikkun.org/article.php/what_we_think_ten_commitments http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=asdWrcwUkGP25It+Le3iXlckyg7R2ola