Is it because we are such sinners that we do not regard this spiritual standard with appropriate reverence? I think it has to do more with presentation.
First, “Commandments” is a word with a lot of negative connotations today. It mostly provokes the thought of a suffocating list of Do’s and Do Not’s, a lot of which have been exaggerated or distorted to influence a decent proportion of the population to feel shame at how they do not measure up.
But what if the point of the Ten Commandments is Love? What if the Ten Commandments were framed more in the manner of Buddhism’s Protections? I think being loved by a good God and being protected from bad things has a universal appeal that the Ten Commandments do not quite inspire in most of us.
God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
– 1 John 4:16
I think Jesus preaching the reality of Love regardless of how offensive it was to various cultures or authorities appealed to the crowds who gathered to listen to Him. So many people adversarial to Jesus who viewed religion as rules instead of as love projected their expectations of violence on Him yet He just continued to transcend people’s limiting beliefs.
Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of the Law, of the Ten Commandments, and yet He behaved in a more peaceful way than how those who were convinced the commandments were burdensome expected Him to. The only thing Jesus smited was a fig tree. No bullies were destroyed with a lightning bolt or otherwise harmed in the making of this production. Instead, Jesus healed. Jesus spoke boldly yet without hatefulness. Jesus was friends with outcasts. Jesus loved his enemies and even healed one of their ears that was severed when his disciple took the sword to an individual participating in arresting Him – Luke 22:51 records Jesus as answering, “No more of this!” How does this Jesus relate to something as modern-day-foreboding as the Ten Commandments?
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
– Matthew 22:36-40
In his book, The Buddhist Cleanse: The 1-Day Spiritual Detox, Venerable Nick Keomahavong presents Buddhism’s 8 Protective Shields as tools that “stand guard at the doorways of our 5 senses and stifle the inflow of toxic material” and that “preserve basic human rights, reduce conflict, and maintain social harmony.” I think this is closer to the reality of the heart of what Christianity’s Ten Commandments are and of how they should be shared with others. Just as John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him,” so also I believe God sent the Ten Commandments to the world not to be a burden but to be freedom. God’s commandments honor not only God, but they are also a guide to honoring yourself, honoring unity with others, and honoring healing.
As children, Siddhartha and Jesus both realized that life is filled with suffering. The Buddha became aware at an early age that suffering is pervasive. Jesus must have had the same kind of insight, because they both made every effort to offer a way out. We, too, must learn to live in ways that reduce the world’s suffering.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
Just because a spiritual teaching has not necessarily been presented with peace and love does not mean that a realistic peace and love cannot be found there. Rules are often emphasized over love and many people are not given the opportunity to see the love that is intrinsic yet so often overlooked in numerous teachings. Always seek the truth regardless of the strings that may have been attached in the past. You’ve got this!
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: iStock
The ‘written’ ten Commandments of Moses have nothing to do with Love. The ‘Law of Love’, also called the Law of Christ’ refers to that very first, single command or ‘law’ given directly by God unto Adam and Eve at the ‘beginning’ and which preceeded that first disobedience and the FALL. That Law of Love was last revealed by Jesus to his disciples as a very personal, private, oral tradition, dealing with the very nature or human spiritual union called marriage and never written down completely. The first Incarnation ultimately failed and the Law was lost. Everything created by men… Read more »