Note: The texts in this work come from either canonical religious writings or poets who write through the lens of their religion. Each text is set in both English and its original language (apart from the Christian text), so you can experience the original language while also understanding its meaning.
I. Buddhism
All beings tremble before violence
səbbĕ tāntəsī dəndāsə
All fear death
səbbĕ bhəyyəntĭ məchūnō
All love life
səbbĕ svm jĭvītəm pĭyəm
See yourself in others.
Then whom can you hurt?
What harm can you do?
For he who seeks happiness (su-khə)
By hurting those who seek happiness
Will never find happiness
For your brother and your sister,
They are like you
They, too, long to be happy
Never harm them.
dəndēnā nə hĭmsətī
And when you leave this life
Then you will find happiness too.
From the Dhammapada
Danda Vagga, 10: 129 – 132
English and Pali
II. Sikhism
How can we call someone evil, when all are the creation of One?
məndā kĭs nō akhĭyāī jān səbhnā sāhĭb ēk
From the Guru Granth Sahib (p. 1238)
English and Gurumukhi
III. Christianity
Owe no man anything but to love one another.
ənyōnyĕm snĕhĭkyūgā
For he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law.
For,
Thou shalt not kill. kŭllā chĕyyĭərūthə
Thou Shalt not steal. mōshtĭkĕrūthə
Thou Shalt not bear false witness. kəllə sāchyəm pārāyədədā
Thou shalt not covet. mōhikkĕrūthə
And if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word:
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
nĭnnĕpolĕ nĭntĕ əyyālkārənĕyūm snēhĭkĕnəm
The love of our neighbor hath no evil. Love, therefore, is the fulfilling of the law.
The night is passed and the day is at hand.
Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.
jēātĭs
From the Bible, Romans 13: 8–13
English and Malayalam
IV. Zoroastrianism
All humankind would know its own lineage and stock;
hamāg mardōm paywand ud tōhmag ī xwēš dānist hē;
never would a brother be abandoned in love by his brother, nor a sister by her sister.
haguriz brād ōy ī brād ud xwah ōy ī xwah az dōstīh bē nē hišt hē.
From the Pahlavi Rivayat (8a8)
English and Pahlavi
V. Hinduism
This love between us
was born from the first humans;
mōhī tōhī ādī ənt bənāī
It cannot be eradicated
əb kăsĕ ləgən dŭrāī
as the river finds its way
into the ocean
jăsĕ sərītā sĭndh səmāī
what is inside me flows into you.
həmərā mən lāgā
[For the] one who sees
all beings in the Self
and the Self in all beings,
[he] harbors no hatred;
To the seer,
all things become the Self.
What delusion, what sorrow can there
be for him (the one?) who beholds such
oneness?
Are you searching for me?
mōkō kəhĩ ḍhūnḍhĕ bəndĕ
I am in the next seat
My shoulder rests against yours.
mẽ tō tĕrĕ pās hĕ
The [Lord] is inside you, and also inside me;
sāhĕb həm mẽ sāhĕb tŭm mẽ
[just as] the bloom is hidden in the seed.
jăsĕ prānā bīj mẽ
From the Isa Upanishad (verses 6 – 7) and
selections from Kabir
English and Hindi
VI. Jainism
If the mind is sinful, blamable,
intent on works,
acting on impulses,
producing cutting and splitting,
quarrels, faults and pains,
if it injures living beings,
if it kills creatures,
then one should not employ such a
mind in action.
təhəpəgārəm mənəm nō pədhārĭjjā
gəmənāĕ.
If the speech is sinful, blamable,
intent on works,
acting on impulses,
producing cutting and splitting,
quarrels, faults and pains,
if it injures living beings,
if it kills creatures,
then one should not utter
that sinful speech.
təhəpəgārəm vāĭm nō ŭccārĭjjā.
jĕ yĕ mənĕ pāvəĕ
sāvəjjĕ
səkĭrĭyĕ
ənhəyəkərĕ
chəyəkərĕ
bhəyəkərĕ
əhĭgərənĭĕ
pāŭsĭĕ
pārĭyāvĭĕ
bhūōvəghāĭĕ
təhəpəgārəm mənəm nō pədhārĭjjā
gəmənāĕ.
From the Acharanga Sutra, P. 3: L. 15
English and Adha Maghadi)
VII. Islam
The lamps may be different, but the Light is the same
All religions, all this singing, one song.
I have bestowed on each one a unique mode of worship,
I have given every one a unique form of expression.
I look not at the tongue and speech, I look at the spirit and the inward feeling.
Religions are many, God is one.
The lamps are different, but the Light is the same: it comes from Beyond.
Concentrate on the essence,
Concentrate on the Light.
Ōm shāntĭ shāntĭ shāntĭ
Sādhū Sādhū
Wāhĕgŭrū
Āmīn
Āmĕn
Wāj Bāj
Concentrate on the Light.
Text by Rumi
(with affirming phrases from other religions)