Rewriting the 10 Commandments.

[Ryan Rudolph]

Here is a philosophical challenge - how would you rewrite the 10 commandments to reflect the philosophy of enlightenment? In order to make it more modern, more wise, more precise, and easier to understand. Some of mine are repetitive, but I think it still works.

Give it a shot, perhaps the veteran posters on the forum could come up with a revised and modern 10 commandments:


1. You will always be on guard to the animal tyranny in your own imperfect mind.
2. You will value Reason over emotion.
3. You will value the truth over all the major worldly attachments such as woman, status, family and money.
4. You will not allow the mind to become fragmented through the acceptance of narrow thinking belief systems.
5. You will not cleave to the material world or the world of ideas that give a false sense of security.
6. You will only get security in 'god', which is essentially unknowable.
7. You will work towards going beyond the ego and beyond dualistic thinking.
8. You will embrace the idea that all things are caused, and no event can violate the basic laws of cause-effect.
9. You will jettison all preconceived notions of proper behaviour and thinking given to you by your own biology, by culture, and by the self-proclaimed moral authorities of the world.
10. You will become a polite, non-violent enemy of humanity, and your sword will be wisdom.

[GodsDaughter1]

Here is a philosophical challenge - how would you rewrite the 10 commandments to reflect the philosophy of enlightenment? In order to make it more modern, more wise, more precise, and easier to understand. Some of mine are repetitive, but I think it still works.

Give it a shot, perhaps the veteran posters on the forum could come up with a revised and modern 10 commandments:


1. You will always be on guard to the animal tyranny in your own imperfect mind.
2. You will value Reason over emotion.
3. You will value the truth over all the major worldly attachments such as woman, status, family and money.
4. You will not allow the mind to become fragmented through the acceptance of narrow thinking belief systems.
5. You will not cleave to the material world or the world of ideas that give a false sense of security.
6. You will only get security in 'god', which is essentially unknowable.
7. You will work towards going beyond the ego and beyond dualistic thinking.
8. You will embrace the idea that all things are caused, and no event can violate the basic laws of cause-effect.
9. You will jettison all preconceived notions of proper behaviour and thinking given to you by your own biology, by culture, and by the self-proclaimed moral authorities of the world.
10. You will become a polite, non-violent enemy of humanity, and your sword will be wisdom.

GodsDaughter says: Brilliant concept Ryan, I love it!
You've given some really excellent commandments, hard to beat!
I find this to be a real challenge, so I'm going to make an attempt too!

[Bob Michael]

http://www.otoons.com/osho/10.htm

[cousinbasil]

Interesting, Ryan. Maybe we could squeeze "You will leave a small carbon footprint" in there somehow.

But seriously, you might be missing the point of what the original commandments were supposed to be, which is a code for the masses. Yours describe the goal line, while the original ones give practical ways to get there. For instance, not coveting is a step towards nonattachment.

[skipair]

1) You will exercise daily
2) You will review your written goals daily
3) You will trust yourself
4) You will not become upset about another's state of affairs, you will focus on what you have to do.
5) You will show yourself and others how it is done: strong and bright
6) You will see yourself and others as inherently good
7) You will adhere to your inner image that is most care-free and pleasurable
8) You will be open-minded and skeptical in your reasoning
9) You will be resolute in your love, inherent self-worth and completeness.
10) You wil never, ever, ever, EVER give up.

[Diebert van Rhijn]

Before I'll try think of my own version I'll relay Nietzsche's list which I happened to read a few weeks back for the first time.

The 10 commandments of the free spirit.

You shall hate nor love peoples.
You shall not engage in politics.
You shall not be rich nor be a beggar.
You shall avoid the famous and influential.
You shall marry someone from another nation than your own.
You shall let your children be raised by your friends.
You shall not submit to any church ceremony.
You shall not regret any misdoing but instead perform an extra good deed.
You shall, to be able to speak the truth, prefer exile.
You shall let the world allow against you and you against the world.

Heft - Oktober - Dezember 1876 (19 [77])

[Ryan Rudolph]

Skipair,

1) You will exercise daily

good, but not directly related to achieving enlightenment.

2) You will review your written goals daily

Again, its a good idea to be organized and have a to do list or whatever, but not a necessity for enlightenment.

3) You will trust yourself

I do not believe you should always trust yourself, as ones cognition can be rooted in animal conditioning.

4) You will not become upset about another's state of affairs, you will focus on what you have to do.

I like that one. That one is really decent.

5) You will show yourself and others how it is done: strong and bright

kinda vague.

6) You will see yourself and others as inherently good

no thanks. You need to see people for exactly what they are, which is capable of good, but also evil. You need to be skeptical of people and their crap behavior.

7) You will adhere to your inner image that is most care-free and pleasurable.

That could be considered an irresponsible way of dealing with life. It depends on what your pleasure is, and it is okay to have concerns, but they should be concerned with the state of humanity, but your concerns do not consume you. They should drive your interest and passion though.

8) You will be open-minded and skeptical in your reasoning

I really like this one too, except you can be confident in many aspects of your own reasoning, but it never hurts to second guess yourself once and awhile to make sure you still have it.

9) You will be resolute in your love, inherent self-worth and completeness.

A little too new agey for me, can we hold hands and sing kumbaya too?

10) You wil never, ever, ever, EVER give up.

Give up what? Again, not specific.

[Ryan Rudolph]

Diebert, on Nietzche -

You shall hate nor love peoples.

This one is really good.

You shall not engage in politics.

not sure if this is totally necessary for enlighenment, sometimes for survival purposes you might have to participate in politics, but I think it can be done without compromising your morals.

You shall not be rich nor be a beggar.

I think its your attitude towards materialism that matters, not necessarily what you have.

You shall avoid the famous and influential.

Both fuel the ego, but there have been a few very popular sages that retained much of their spirit.

You shall marry someone from another nation than your own.

I don't think this relates at all, and just reflects Nietzsche's views on interracial breeding and its political benefits.

You shall let your children be raised by your friends.

It depends on who your friends are. But you do need a community to raise children, but this doesn't not directly relate to personal enlightenment.

You shall not submit to any church ceremony.

Yes, but not direct enough, it should address the problem of religious belief and religious institutions in some universal manner.

You shall not regret any misdoing but instead perform an extra good deed.

You shouldn't regret the past, as one cannot control what they are not aware of, but an extra deed is just too "Karma" sounding for me.

You shall, to be able to speak the truth, prefer exile.

Yeah, see, I have this thing called self-preservation, and I have no desire to be a martyr for truth to a bunch of animals who do not have a clue what I am trying to point to. I prefer to address intellectual groups that do not want to kill me every time I utter something profound.

You shall let the world allow against you and you against the world.

not sure what this one means.

[Diebert van Rhijn]

You shall not engage in politics.

not sure if this is totally necessary for enlighenment, sometimes for survival purposes you might have to participate in politics, but I think it can be done without compromising your morals.

Compromising is the essence of the political, so to the degree one engages, becoming a political animal, the more compromise will become ones nature, even morally.

You shall not be rich nor be a beggar.

I think its your attitude towards materialism that matters, not necessarily what you have.

While that is certainly true, for all but the most unattached the fact remains that any relevant amount you possess or miss will effect in many subtle and not so subtle ways the subject.

You shall avoid the famous and influential.

Both fuel the ego, but there have been a few very popular sages that retained much of their spirit.

But these sages at least were avoiding the famous and influential themselves? One could argue that a sage will never be really popular because that would mean the truth would be popular somehow.

You shall marry someone from another nation than your own.

I don't think this relates at all, and just reflects Nietzsche's views on interracial breeding and its political benefits.

Apart from that another benefit would be to not marry into a whole family or tradition, assuming the other would leave the social network. Since it was written by an eternal bachelor, I think it also has a deeper meaning: to seek out the strange and alien types of truth since the all-too-familiar will not serve the adventurous spirit well at the start of his venture.

You shall let your children be raised by your friends.

It depends on who your friends are. But you do need a community to raise children, but this doesn't not directly relate to personal enlightenment.

The list didn't seem to have that as purpose. But there's some wisdom here, hinting at the very problematic and unhealthy dynamic between modern parents, extended family and children. Like the other commandments Nietzsche tends to challenge all traditional bounds and structures like nation-states, churches, families, etc, just as the confines of the mind are challenged and called on to move "beyond".

You shall not submit to any church ceremony.

Yes, but not direct enough, it should address the problem of religious belief and religious institutions in some universal manner.

I personally don't think it can be addressed very well, since religious beliefs in a more fundamental sense run too deep, as atheists and theist alike still engage in it. So what's left is to at least challenge the ceremonial, thereby actually saying the form is the only relevant content. Without ceremony, what type of religion are we still talking about anyway? It might not be that relevant.

You shall let the world allow against you and you against the world.

not sure what this one means.

Well, I might have translated that one poorly. How I read it is that one shouldn't avoid resistance or strife, no matter if it's aimed toward you or you are aiming toward "the world". It might also be read as amor fati, I suppose.

[Ryan Rudolph]

I like Osho’s approach, that is sort of thing I was thinking of - a body of interconnected statements that points the reader in the right direction towards enlightenment. Some of Osho’s build on each other, and compliment each other, that is the sort of thing I was trying to do, but I am not satisfied with the finished product. I will have to keep working on it, and thinking.

In criticism of Osho, I find some of his rather vague and misleading. Osho may have known what he meant, but not necessarily the reader.

Here is my critique -

1. Never obey anyone's command unless it is coming from within you also.

Satisfactory.

2. There is no God other than life itself.

I would say something like "there is no god other than 'enlightened consciousness itself"

3. Truth is within you, do not search for it elsewhere.

True, but you need to have dialogue with others, you should read the philosophy of others, it is a very interactive active process.

4. Love is prayer.

no idea what he means here.

5. To become a nothingness is the door to truth. Nothingness itself is the means, the goal and attainment.

Satisfactory.

6. Life is now and here.

yeah, but living in the moment is rather vague too.

7. Live wakefully.

A little vague.

8. Do not swim - float.

wouldn't it be more effective to say something like, "do not spend endless energy swimming towards the island that is not there, but rather sink into unknown depths"

9. Die each moment so that you can be new each moment.

Satisfactory.

10. Do not search. That which is, is. Stop and see.

Satisfactory.


Overall, Osho's 10 is the closest to what I had imagined, but something incredibly precise, clear, and complimentary. Something that if anyone read it, it would be very powerful.

[Ryan Rudolph]

Based on everything I took in from Skipair, Osho and Nietzsche, here are the new commandments I came up with, and later I will analyze these against what I already have, and see what to swap and how to make the original 10 more powerful.

Inspired by Osho:

11. When the search ends, you end, and god begins.
12. Rather than swimming frantically in all directions or towards some island that does not exist, simply sink.
13. Finding Nothingness is finding the vast infinite ocean behind the dam structure of ego.
14. God is not in the clouds or some other realm, but deep within your own being.

Inspired by Nietzsche:

15. You will go beyond all the emotional and dualistic opposites – beyond love and hate, pride and shame, excitement and boredom, pleasure and pain and most importantly world and self.

16. As far as you climb and attach yourself to the finite world, you will fall an equal distance. God’s law is simple – The extent of your folly will be rewarded with psychological pain, and reward as it points you closer to him.

17. Become a warrior of truth, do not avoid the conflicted and deluded emotions of others, but take on their sin for the world.

Inspired by Skipair/Nietzche:

18. Becoming god-like requires having a heart impervious to personal hurt, but open to receiving the hurt of the world.

[Ryan Rudolph]

Diebert,

Well, I might have translated that one poorly. How I read it is that one shouldn't avoid resistance or strife, no matter if it's aimed toward you or you are aiming toward "the world". It might also be read as amor fati, I suppose.

Thanks for that Diebert, you seem to know quite a bit on Nietzche's work, as I have only dabbled in it. I remember getting very frustrated as a teenager trying to understand what he was saying, and I simply gave up. By the time I had the intellect to understand what he was saying, I didn't need to return to him.

[Bob Michael]

But you do need a community to raise children.....

Where on earth in these last days might one find a sane community to raise children in? One that won't merely produce "more and more zeros?"

[Cory Duchesne]

Here are my 10 Commandments (silly and arbitrary to settle on 10, but it's such a pretty number isn't it)

1) Relate oneself only to the unchanging totality, it's nature and laws
2) Study and Meditate thoughtfully for foresight, then Act. Meditate in hindsight. Prepare for next foresight.
3) Regret fully and completely to overcome the causes of regret, and hence feel no regret
4) Listen to People Closely and see both their greatest hunger and greatest fear.
5) Align your self more with the spiritually hungry, and align yourself less with the complacent
6) Engage with only those enemies who come to you, never come to them.
7) Learn about your friends and give them what benefits you both. If what benefits them does not benefit you, make them an enemy.
8) Thou shall not be pulled into the charm of unserious people, while neglecting the serious
9) Destroy emotional Attachment to Right and Wrong, daily.
10) Speak of others behind their back only with a conscious purpose, to reveal good and evil.


The two deadly traps:

1) Domination of and submission to someone or something you admire
2) Domination of & submission to someone or something you Fear or Despise

[Ryan Rudolph]

Cory's 10 are more effective than Osho's I think because they are more subtle, more detailed, and a bit more specific. 10 is an arbitrary number, but is high enough to create a sort of poetic set that feed off each other, and lead into one another.

8) Thou shall not be pulled into the charm of unserious people, while neglecting the serious.

This one is powerful and difficult, as charming people are indeed entertaining and more abundant than serious people, usually I am only surrounded by charming or mediocre people, so there is a tendency to conform and simply adapt temporarily ones way of relating.

10) Speak of others behind their back only with a conscious purpose, to reveal good and evil.

gossip is another difficult one to overcome, especially in the work place, as it becomes a shallow form of entertainment. The other problem with gossip is that i believe we are biologically programmed to do it in order figure out who we can trust in the work place. I think that is why most workers move around from company to company so much is that everyone gossips about everyone so there is always an intuitive feeling that nobody can trust anyone in the work place, so people are always plotting to find a better work environment, but their new position is simply more of the same.

Inspired by Cory –

The enlightened mind does not allow the lower aspects of existence to dominate over it, be careful of those who seek you to submit to their worldly values. The man who says he is trying to help you is often times only trying to help himself in some limited materialistic way.

[Cory Duchesne]

You shall, to be able to speak the truth, prefer exile.

Yeah, see, I have this thing called self-preservation, and I have no desire to be a martyr for truth to a bunch of animals who do not have a clue what I am trying to point to. I prefer to address intellectual groups that do not want to kill me every time I utter something profound.

Careful now, big fella. You seem to assume speaking the truth is simply for the sake of helping others, but this is not how my mind works, and in your case, I see an instance of over-simplifying reality and likely a good measure of vanity. Speaking the truth to people is an exercise in character, it's a trial by fire. It's a poisoning and strengthing of the heart. It is a process of growth in oneself. Intellect is half the story. Putting yourself out there, taking on burdens, living dangerously - this is the root of the spiritual path. Without this root, the intellect is a vanity machine, and little else. So drop the illusion that there is just this linear attempt to teach people's intellect. That's not what motivates me, nor should it be what motivates you.

If you have a weakness, acknoweldge it to yourself, and keep quiet. To speak of a vice as some kind of strength is intolerable to me.

I've really confronted a lot of people over the years, and I see no downside to it, only up. It makes me stronger, less submissive, less fearful, and in some cases, people who I've offended in the past show me honor and respect today, so there you have it.

[Cory Duchesne]

1) You will exercise daily
2) You will review your written goals daily
3) You will trust yourself
4) You will not become upset about another's state of affairs, you will focus on what you have to do.
5) You will show yourself and others how it is done: strong and bright
6) You will see yourself and others as inherently good
7) You will adhere to your inner image that is most care-free and pleasurable
8) You will be open-minded and skeptical in your reasoning
9) You will be resolute in your love, inherent self-worth and completeness.
10) You wil never, ever, ever, EVER give up.

I have every reason to believe that wisdom does not emerge with much intensity or duration without power. And power does not come without development and time. So while wisdom does not come in time, the foundation that wisdom requires, does. Skip's commandments, in my view, are good for developing the foundation for wisdom, and less effective for realizing wisdom itself. So they're good for what they are, certainly not bad.

[Alexis Jacobi]

1) You will be born & you will scream.
2) At some point, in a grey, flat light toward the end of November, you will lose all hope.
3) Like all White folk, there's gotta be a dog somewhere. The dog chewed your shoes, pissed on the rug. But you really, really loved that dog!
4) You little masturbating fiend! Ten years went by!
5) Your head'll be filled with vapors: smug and arrogant, you'll start to preach. (Another ten years shall pass).
6) Escape from one box into another box, imagine you are free and damned wise. (First sighting of death's headlights. Nauseous, you high-tail it).
7) Your written goals shall include: 'Seduce a Chinese princess'.
8) Unbidden, unsought, and unwelcome: you gain a single drop of Wisdom. (Pure chance).
9) Dump that one chick & move in with the other.
10) Thou shalt submit when God commits you to the flames. Start all over again at 1).

[Tomas]

THE TEN HUMANIST COMMANDMENTS


We shall have no other sentient beings before us.

We shall not make for ourselves an idol, or any likeness of what is in the afterlife, any world parallel to ours, or reality before ours, unless intended as symbolic.

We shall not take anyone's name to be sacred.

Remember every day, to live it fully.

Honor your parents and ancestors that your days may be prolonged in the world which they have shaped for us.

We shall not kill anyone with impunity.

We shall not betray anyone's individuality.

We shall not claim immaterial property.

We shall not bear false witness against ourselves.

We shall not covet that which we cannot possibly attain or haven't evidence in its attainability.