Taken from First Questions on the Life of the Spirit

Spiritual awakening and growth in God are possible in ordinary life. But they come only to men and women who deeply long for the truth, who find and follow the rules, and who do the necessary work. These three-(1) the truth, (2) the rules, and (3) the work are the ladder to success. We already have considered the place of truth (First Questions on The Life of The Spirit: pages 5-13) in the quest for God. It is alpha and omega. Simple honesty, which any child can understand (but few children and fewer adults can practice), leads straight to the goal. By practicing honesty, you win the grace of the Spirit of Truth. Then God Himself, the Holy Ghost, becomes your inner teacher, the guide who takes you to your Lord and King. And He in turn enables you to understand the rules and do the work.

What about the rules? They are clearly stated in the great sources accessible to all: The Old Testament, the New Testament, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, and the Buddhist scriptures. They can be epitomized so as to be readable in just a few minutes. It is assumed, however, that no one will take the brevity of the ensuing summary as grounds for underestimating the depth, sublimity, and binding necessity of the rules. Whoever takes the rules lightly or foolishly or fails to take them at all disqualifies himself not only for spiritual life but finally for any kind of life at the human level.

The following is a boil-down of the rules in contemporary terms:

A.    The Decalogue:

1.    First things first. Avoid idolatry, i.e., do not put lesser values above higher values or any love above the Supreme Love. This is a very hard rule to follow.

2.    Do not kick sacred things around. Do not invoke God or use His Name unless you are aware of what you are doing and un­ less you mean business.

3.    Do not ignore basic cosmic rhythms and laws. There are, for example, cycles of activity and rest which have their roots in the Divine Nature itself and cannot be violated with impunity by anyone, because no one can exist outside that Nature. Man’s health and sanity depend on understanding and reverently accommodating his life to the profound implications of such traditions as the Sabbath.

4.    The home, and particularly the relationship with father and mother, is a sacred institution. It reaches to the heights and depths of man’s soul. It is the great analogue of man’s relation­ ship to his Creator. It is to be protected and honored.

5.    Do not murder.

6.    Do not commit adultery.

7.    Do not steal.

8.    Do not lie about your neighbor.

9. and 10. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife or goods.

B.    The precepts of Christ (New Testament):

1.    (Quoted by Christ from the Law of Moses) : Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and your neighbor as yourself. Another hard rule to follow.

2.    If you want to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments.

3.    Repent, i.e., change your attitude, your outlook, your way of life, your mind; go beyond your present state, transcend your­ self (Greek metanoia: meta, “change” or “beyond”; nous, “intellect,” “mind,” “understanding”).

4.    Wake up. Snap out of it. Pay attention. Watch (Greek gregoreuo).

5.    First things first: Leave all, sell all, and follow Christ (the Lord, the truth, the way). Deny yourself, observe and bear your unregenerate nature every day, and follow Christ.

6.    Resist not evil; do not retaliate.

7.    Do not be angry.

8.    Do not touch a woman illegitimately, even in your mind.

9.    Live one day at a time. Do not worry about tomorrow. Do not worry about food and clothes.

10.    Pray always, and do not faint, do not collapse.

11.    Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils, raise the dead.

12.    Do not murder.

13.    Do not commit adultery.

14.    Do not steal.

15.    Do not lie.

16.    Honor your father and mother.

17.    Be poor, and poor in spirit. (Let go of material and spiritual possessiveness.)

18.    Mourn. (Let suffering and loss do their full work in you.)    .

19.    Be meek (Greek praos, “disciplined,” “trained,” “non-resentful, “gentle,” tractable”).

20.    Be hungry and thirsty after wisdom, justice, right knowledge, skill in the way.

21.    Be merciful.

22.    Be a peacemaker.

23.    Be pure in heart.

24.    Be perfect (Greek teleios, “complete,” “undivided,” “un­ limited,” “finished,” “mature,” “integral”) as God is perfect.

25.    Love your enemies; pray for anyone who abuses you.

26.    Endure persecution and calumny cheerfully.

27.    Believe and trust in God as your Father, hallow His Name, seek His kingdom and His truth, ask Him for what you need, knock at the door of God-realization.

C.    The essence of the Bhagavad Gita: Be devoted to God above all other interests. Work without craving for results or rewards.

D.    Pre-yogic moral disciplines (compiled from Gandhi, Vivekananda, Mees, Prabhavananda):

The five yamas (cardinal vows):

1.    Harmlessness    (non-violence, non-killing, non-resentment, meekness, ahimsa).

2.    Truthfulness (non-falsehood in thought, speech, and actions, satya).

3.    Non-stealing (not taking more than needed, not wasting).

4.    Continence (refraining from illicit sexual experience, in thought, word, and deed, brahmacharya; further: restraint of all waste and leakage in the vital nature).

5.    Non-possession (non-covetousness, giving up the sense of ownership, becoming “poor” and “poor in spirit”).

The five niyamas (casual vows):

1.    Purity (bodily cleanliness, outside and inside; mental cleanliness; regulation of diet, reading, and associations).

2.    Contentment (non-worrying, non-fretting, non-striving, equanimity, even-mindedness).

3.    Austerity (conserving energy and directing it toward the spiritual goal, tapas, training).

4.    Study (reading and meditating on the scriptures and other works leading to God).

5.    Devotion to and surrender to God.

E.    Buddhist guiding principles (extracted and condensed from “Summary of Buddha’s Dharma,” Buddhist writings, Goddard, A Buddhist Bible):

The four Noble Truths

1.    The universality of suffering.

2.    The cause of suffering rooted in desire.

3.    By ending desire, suffering comes to an end.

4.    The way to end desire, and hence to end suffering, is to follow the Eightfold Noble Path.

The Eightfold Noble Path:

1.    Right ideas.

2.    Right resolution.

3.    Right speech.

4.    Right behavior.

5.    Right vocation.

6.    Right effort; following the ideals of

a.    unselfish charity,

b.    sincerity and fidelity in keeping the precepts,

c.    humility,

d.    zeal and perseverance,

e.    tranquility and one-pointedness.

7.    Right mindfulness.

8.    Right dhyana (attention, meditation, concentration, rapture).

The Ten Bodhisattva Stages:

1.    Gladness and joy.

2.    Purity and peace.

3.    Effortless patience.

4.    Effortless energy.

5.    Higher consciousness (samadhi) while retaining touch with this world.

6.    Self-mastery and unshakable confidence.

7.    The “turning about” from which one never again recedes.

8.    Transcendental powers and utter acceptance.

9.    Perfect wisdom and compassion, directed to the emancipation and enlightenment of the world.

10.    Complete identification with the Great Truth Cloud; perfect integration with all lives.

F.    The seven things to avoid, the capital sins (Christian tradition):

1.    Pride

2.    Greed

3.    Lust

4.    Anger

5.    Gluttony

6.    Envy

7.    Sloth

G.    The root trouble against which all the rules are directed is egotism (exaggerated personal self-sense), giving rise to a condition variously termed craving, desire, lust, thirst, clinging, sticking, attachment, infatuation, delusion, beguilement-English: concupiscence; Greek: epithumia; Sanskrit: moha; Pali: tanha; Russian: prelest; modem American: “To hell with you, Jack. I’ve got mine.”

There is a useful detailed “New Testament Decalogue” provided by St. Gregory Palamas (1296 – 1359) in the fourth Volume of the Philokalia.

The Philokalia, Volume 4