Mercator Blog

Photograph by: Rajendra Thakurathi

The free chicken wings emails hit my mail box last Tuesday. I was instinctively drawn to Mercator Common room for them. I was happy to see only a small bunch of crowd waiting for the program to begin. It would mean more chicken wings for me.

A small video on the golden rule was shown to initiate the event. The speakers then went on to present Buddhist, Christian, literary and the Psychological perspective on the golden rule of living. Buddhist perceived the world as extension of oneself. They believed the golden rule of life was treating others as we treat ourselves. The Christian perspective had other mystical interpretation of the golden rule. This perspective believed in treating other people with love and care even if they are harsh and cruel to us. The literary perspective argued for the romantic version of the golden rule. The literature professor argued on the nineteenth century romantic portrayal of love. So for him the romantic love was the golden rule for life. The psychological perspective focused on the need of an individual to survive. And in order to survive best, the psychological perspective argued, the individuals have to maintain harmony and love between themselves. This process of coexisting was the golden rule of living for this perspective.

The discussion took me by complete surprise. I had nothing but chicken wings and Cola in my mind before I entered for the room. But the intellectual depth of the discussion slowly caught my attention. I slowly began to understand the intriguing perspectives of the golden rules.

Humans are simple by nature. They want to be loved and cared for. They want to live peacefully and want to ensure their future generations also have the same privileges. The social norms and sanctions evolve in such a process. The society is then governed by the fundamental understanding or golden rules. Each and every society has a unique understanding of this golden rule. But it’s very much striking, how similar they are and what they actually aim for. Each and every perspectives aim for love and compassion between the human beings. The minimal understanding required for another human being is also reflected in each and every of them. This understanding of the golden rule I obtained from the program was really worthwhile.

The chicken wings after the program did taste good. The Cola was also superb.

Just as I was taking the last bite of the wings a thought crossed my mind, “What would these chickens in our plate say about our love, compassion and the golden rule?” Another thought crossed my mind, “We are nothing but double standard hypocrites pretending to care.” A sad smile flashed across my face.

Tilak KC