Compassionate Action

UPL calls for compassionate behaviour towards all beings.

No teaching is held more widely among the traditions. Asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus answered with two, love of God and love of neighbour, and the second is a verse of the Torah: love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18), which the same chapter extends to the stranger. Asked who the neighbour is, he told of a Samaritan, a man of another people, who stopped for a wounded stranger when others passed by. The sage Hillel gave the same teaching in his own way: what is hateful to you, do not do to another; that is the whole Torah, the rest is its interpretation; go and study.

The Buddha taught the cultivation of love, compassion, joy in the good of others, and equanimity, towards all beings. Islam teaches that the merciful are shown mercy, and asks for kindness, understanding and help for those in need, within the family and the community. The Sikh Gurus ask for seva, selfless service, in the midst of the world.

Compassion in UPL begins with those nearest and does not stop there. It reaches the stranger, the opponent and every living being.