21(+10)

21 PL Kyodan Precepts
1. Life is art.
2. Man's life is a succession of self-expressions.
3. Man is a manifestation of God.
4. Man suffers if he fails to express himself.
5. Man's true self is lost when swayed by feelings and emotions.
6. Man's true self is revealed when his ego is effaced.
7. All things exist in mutual relationship to one another.
8. Live radiantly as the sun.
9. All men are equal.
10. Strive for creating mutual happiness.
11. Have true faith in God.
12. There is a way (function) peculiar to every "name" (existence)
13. There is a way for men, and there is another for women (Blogger's note: I'm hoping they mean for both "ways" to be equally important, not the women's way to end in the kitchen or something. )
14. All is for world peace
15. All is a mirror
16. All things progress and develop
17. Comprehend what is most essential
18. At every moment man stands at the crossroads of good and evil
19. Act when your intuition dictates
20. Live in a perfect unity of mind and matter
21. Live in Perfect Liberty

Decalogue
1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; Do not have any other gods before me.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

6. You shall not kill

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

10 You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
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Just because I don't want this entire post to be copy-pasted. I read the Precepts and I thought they were awesome (I'm looking at you 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 18 and possibly 13) and I'd love to share them.
I also read the Ten Commandments in class. I hadn't read the "real" Bible commandments in a few years. I just wanted to put the two of them together to (try to) illustrate that

Religion, in all its forms, is beautiful.

Propaganda

I've always liked propaganda. Something about making government appealing to the public lends itself to humor really well. It's even better when the propaganda tries to appeal to a culture I'm not familiar with.
For example: "I want a guy like Putin" from the album "One like Putin."

These are the lyrics:
"My boyfriend is in trouble once again:
Got in a fight, got drunk on something nasty
I've had enough and I chased him away
And now I want a man like Putin

One like Putin, full of strength
One like Putin, who won't be a drunk
One like Putin, who wouldn't hurt me
One like Putin, who won't run away!

I've seen him on the news last night
He was telling us that the world has come to crossroads
With one like him, it's easy to be home and out
And now I want a man like Putin

One like Putin, full of strength
One like Putin, who won't be a drunk
One like Putin, who wouldn't hurt me
One like Putin, who won't run away!"

That's right. The Russian government paid for that music video. I wonder if our goverment will follow suit since it seemed to work pretty well for the Kremlins.
Oh boy I can't wait until Obama is up for reelection!