What is Equality?

Indifference

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. 

~Elie Wiesel

Racism

Maat

The concept and philosophy of Maat is perhaps the oldest recorded understanding of righteous action. The concept of Maat, when followed and understood to its pinnacle leads to the spiritual evolution of individual Human Beings as well as the Society which incorporates it.

The concept of Maat originated in ancient Egypt prior to 5,500 bce.

The philosophy is symbolized and personified by a goddess said to be the daughter of Ra, the Supreme Being and Creator of the Cosmos.

Maat symbolizes and personifies Truth, Justice, Order, Reality, the Functioning of the Cosmos.

Those who live their lives based on Truth and Justice and Reality will be in harmony with Maat and thus the Universe Itself.

In this harmony, true happiness is to be found.

Those who act and live in discord with Maat will experience the consequences of that disharmony as guided by the Law of Cause and Effect.

The Perfection of Human Life

Rather than attaining nirvana, I see the aim of Buddhist practice to be the moment-to-moment flourishing of human life within the ethical framework of the eightfold path here on earth.

~Stephen Sampson, in Secular Buddhism

Original Sin

Buddhism does not accept the idea of original sin. You cannot be guilty of something you did not do.

Rebel

In a world filled with evil, being a good person is an act of defiance. 

~Unknown

Marriage

Buddhism allows each individual the freedom to decide for himself all the issues pertaining to marriage.

~K. Sri Dhammananda, in What Buddhists Believe

Buddhist Salvation

Morality in Buddhism is essentially practical in that it is only a means leading to the final goal of ultimate happiness. On the Buddhist path to Emancipation, each individual is considered responsible for his own fortunes and misfortunes. Each individual is expected to work his own deliverance by his understanding and effort. Buddhist salvation is the result of one's own moral development and can neither be imposed nor granted to one by some external agent. The Buddha's mission was to enlighten men as to the nature of existence and to advise them how best to act for their own happiness and for the benefit of others. Consequently, Buddhist ethics are not founded on any commandments which men are compelled to follow. The Buddha advise men on the conditions which were most wholesome and conducive to long-term benefit for self and others. Rather than addressing sinners with such words as 'shameful', 'wicked', 'wretched', 'unworthy', and 'blasphemous' He would merely say, 'You are foolish in acting in such a way since this will bring sorrow upon yourself and others'.

~K. Sri Dhammananda, in What Buddhist Believe

Ahimsa

The more I practice it the clearer I see how far I am from the full expression of ahimas* in my life.

~Gandhi

* Not to injure, compassion.

A Religion or a Way of Life

The attempt to find situational guidance from the Buddha for our personal problems is a misunderstanding and a misuse of his teachings. This misuse creates "Buddhism"—an ideology—in the place of Dharma—a lifelong experience of understanding and growth in compassion and wisdom guided by observation and personal experience.

Causing Harm

We may not be able to live without causing any harm at all but we can certainly live in such a way that we cause less harm.

~Bodhipaksa, in Vegetarianism

The Great Revival

Buddhism has undergone a revival in modern times — in the East as much as in the West. Why has this happened? Because people see a need for a new path to salvation after death? Surely not. Because we need another orderly, conventional, nice, Sunday religion? No. Because we want an exotic pastime pursuing mystic experiences? Perhaps for some this is the answer, but it will not do. No, the real reason is because a wide range of people have begun to suspect and hope that in Buddhism lie things of value for this world: possibilities that restore our faith in life; possibilities of culture without war and intolerance; possibilities of compassion and cooperation in social organisation; possibilities of real community that is not rooted in oppression: possibilities of all the things that people know instinctively are right for this world, but hardly dare risk believing in for fear of yet another disappointment.

~David Brazier, in The New Buddhism

Freedom from Politics and Religion

The world can never be made significantly better through political maneuvering. 

The world can never be made significantly better by religious sectarianism.

True progress comes when both politics and religion are allowed to fade away.

That's where the Buddha-Dharma, the Middle Way, comes into play.

In the Practice of the Middle Way, the Teachings given by Gotama Buddha before people got hold of them and made a religion out of them, the nonsense of religious rules and regulations is allowed to fade away. The nonsense of political expediency and cronyism is allowed to fade away.

In the Middle Way we accept justice, fairness, equality, democracy as they were always meant to be; not the "Animal Farm" approach that religion and politics seems unable to escape.

Within the Practice of the Middle Way, it's not the end of the journey that counts, it's the journey itself.

One trains by being what ones wants to be, what one wants society to be. 

For a peaceful person, a peaceful society, the way there is to be peaceful.

For a just person, a just society, the way there is to be just.

For a person guided by equality, a society guided by equality, the way there is to be guided by equality.

And on, and on, and on. This isn't rocket science. Be nice. Treat everything like you want to be treated. 

Don't be a jerk to anything.

Aware

When the bee gathers honey,
it does not spoil the beauty
nor the scent of the flower.
Just so: settle your mind, then carry on.

                             The Dhammapada, verse 49

The Basics of Buddhist Ethics

Do not hurt others, or our ourselves.

Do not steal from others, or our ourselves.

Do not exploit or coerce others, or ourselves.

Do not verbally abuse others, or ourselves.

Do not infect others, or ourselves, with non-awareness.

Again, to paraphrase one of my favorite Buddhist writers, Brad Warner, do not be a jerk, to others, or to ourselves.

Complete

A tree makes no distinction in the shade it gives. Even so, the earnest student of meditation must make no distinction between any beings, but must develop love quite equally towards thieves, murderers, enemies and towards himself, thinking: "How may these beings be without enmity and without harm, how may they be at peace, secure and happy; how may they look after themselves?"

---The Buddha---