The Platinum Rule

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.