The supervising minister for my Buddhist Temple, Rinban Don Castro of the Seattle Betsuin, wrote an article in the Wheel of Dharma, September 2011, where he suggested that Buddhists follow what he called the Platinum Rule rather then the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule in this context is meant to be "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" [and is not to be confused with the Golden Rule of Business which is "He who has the gold makes the rules."] Rev. Castro defines the Platinum Rule as "Do unto others the way they want (or need) to be done unto." The difference is quite profound. Rev. Castro points out that the Golden Rule is self-centered (I would say egocentric) where as the Platinum Rule requires one to see the world as others see it. The Platinum Rule requires wisdom. "True believers" (you know who you are) use the Golden Rule as a justification to perform suicide bombings or to wage "Holy Wars" (e.g. "Wars for Freedom.") Any intelligent application of the Platinum Rule would effectively rule out those "kind" actions. One imagines that indigenous people often wish to be "saved" from the western missionaries sent to “save“ them. [A point brilliantly satirized in a popular Broadway play "The Book of Mormon" by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.] So the next time you want to perform an act of charity, consider whether it can meet the higher standard of the Platinum Rule.
[HOUSEKEEPING: Survivor, I am reposting this under the Platinum Rule and deleting it from On the Value of Philosphy]
ReplyDeleteJust as a point of clarification, Rev. Castro was borrowing from Tony Alessandra, who wrote a book about what he called the "Platinum Rule" back in the late '90s. Rev. Castro was most likely just pointing out how congruent the Buddhist teaching of "suchness" is with the "Platinum Rule". Gassho, James
[Original Post Time Stamp 9/29/2011 08:14:00 PM]
Survivor, I don’t think the article I read had this attribution. Do you know this because you have read Alessandra yourself or because of other remarks made by Rev. Castro?
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Alessandra's book about the Platinum Rule, Bob. I know it came out many years prior to Rev. Castro's article or mention of the "Platinum Rule", along with the same precise definition Alessandra coined. I am uncertain whether the omission of any attribution was on purpose or not. I know the U.S. patent office is cluttered with the blueprints of inventions by sincere honest inventors who had no idea that their idea and design was already in existence.
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