Thou Shalt Not What?

A modern rewrite of the ten commandments, if I may be so bold

I grew up in a semi religious household, with a preacher for a grandpa. I loved going to his little church and hearing his sermons (even though I probably wasn’t really paying attention all that closely). I remember reading the bible as a child, and one night going to my parents at bedtime looking for reassurance with fears over Judgement Day (their response was that the book of revelations probably wasn’t great night-time reading for a 9 year old). I grew away from Christianity during my teenage years and felt self righteous rebellion against all things religious in my twenties, but that softened and in the past few years I have returned to the church for times of meditation or observance of holi(holy?)days.

I would not say I’m officially “religious” today, nor would I insist that God/cosmos belongs to a particular denomination, but I do see a tremendous value in having sacred spaces, spirituality connected to historic cultural roots, and communities who come together for a high purpose. Of course, when religious communities turn against others in fear or judgement it’s not ideal, but to me that has nothing to do with God or even the church/mosque/temple, and everything to do with the human ego. We certainly don’t need religion to justify unkind acts - we’ll use business, politics or personal relationships if religion isn’t what we are drawn to.

In between listening to the beautiful organs and trumpets of my baptist church’s Easter service, I pondered the words of the sermon. I heard much about the importance of being kind to others, of being reverent and grateful towards God, and I don’t disagree with either. But I think we can take it one step further.

Many religions tell us that God lives within us. But I think it’s easy to forget that when we speak of ourselves as sinners or fallen or whatever our own particular religion (we do it in secular society as well when we criticize humans as a species). And for me, honouring our own divine selves might just be the most important thing of all. Because when we dishonour ourselves, when we feel hatred towards ourselves, we cannot act kindly to the outside world. Our self sacrifice tinges our good deeds with martyrdom, resentment, passive aggression, or simply illness within our soul as we suppress our own light in the name of helping others. Here then is my “Ten Commandments” for the God that lives within us all today. (and if the word “God” does not resonate for you, replace my vocabulary with “physics” or “driving force of evolution” or “the selfish gene” - whatever floats your particular boat) .

1. Thou shalt not commit adultery

Who can you really cheat on, but yourself? Fidelity to one’s romantic partner is a concept that has greatly evolved since the days that these commandments were handed down, and how closely this commandment has ever been adhered to is questionable to say the least. What seems more true is the need to be faithful to oneself. Faithful to one’s self involves complete honesty - no lying to ourselves about what we are doing or what we want. And faithful to one’s self means keeping our eye on our own inherent value instead of comparing ourselves unfavourably to another.

2. Thou shall not steal

When do we steal from ourselves? When we rob ourselves of time by paying attention to things that don’t matter. When we rob ourselves of the present moment by living in the past or future. Or when we literally steal from others - not because of what we take from them, but because of what we lose ourselves. When we endure hardship but reap the bounty, the reward is so much greater than if we come by it through taking advantage of someone else. Stealing that opportunity for joy and fulfilment from ourselves is what really hurts.

3. Honour your father and your mother

Biologically speaking, within each of us are the cells of our mothers, grandmothers and ancestors. And our DNA literally comes from those before us. Our parents certainly deserve credit and gratitude, but we may find it much easier to bestow honour on those humans who came before us if we can recognize and honour it in ourselves. Look at these eyes we have! Look at our miraculous digestive system! Wonder in amazement at the fact that we have legs to walk with, arms to wave with, smiles to greet the world with. Honour your amazing genetic make-up, the microbiome within your gut, and the galaxy of life and motion within us as we live each day. If you are able to do that for yourself, it’s impossible not to have reverence towards those who brought you to this world.

4. Thou shall not bear false witness

To lie about others certainly makes life more complicated. There are plenty of real world checks and balances that keep us telling the truth when we have to, and plenty of real world penalties and rewards that incentivize us to lie if we can. But who will enforce the lies we tell about ourselves? What is the incentive to lie to the world about who we are? For me, lying does not mean answering every single question a person asks of us. I can see reasons to keep silent, or even to lie to others, when they demand to know something I don’t believe they are entitled to. But each of us know, deep down, what a real lie is. We know when we are compromising our integrity. We know when we are deliberately hurting others. And we know when we are lying to ourselves. It hurts when we do it. And when we lie to ourselves, there’s no way to be truthful to the world.

5. Keep the Sabbath holy

Rest. It is key to life. In our modern world we deprive ourselves of rest in so many ways. And we act with less kindness, to ourselves and the world, when we do not have the time to rest, rejuvenate, and restore. Rest and reverence, in whatever form you honour, whether it’s Sunday, Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, or a ritual you invent for yourself, is life, and treating it as something holy and reverent ensures that the vitality of life can continue.

6. Thou shall not kill

We have laws in place that deal with murder. And we have laws in place that support and sanction it through our military and some remaining capital justice systems. We are not naturally a murderous species - it’s a rare occurrence, all the more attention grabbing for its infrequency - so I question the need for morality around it. Simple and clearly enforced laws seems enough. Where I do think we need a code is in reminding ourselves not to kill our selves. I’m not speaking of suicide here. I’m speaking of the many ways we kill, or seek to kill, the spirit inside of us. When we yell at ourselves to shut up, to get out of the way, to be small, it’s a tiny act of murder against ourselves in the present moment. My version of this is definitely to tell myself I’m stupid, unwanted, irrelevant. Your version may be different. But this killing of our spirit serves no one. There is no justice system in place to stop it, so it’s up to us to keep the peace with ourselves.

7. Thou shall have no other gods before me.

In the Bible false Gods were named. In modern times people talk about worshipping money as a false God. For me, the real false god is anything other than our own divine essence. When we forget that, we worship false Gods. False God could be Instagram. It could be our job. It could be success. It could be anyone other than ourself - when we worship a concept, we leave the divine present moment. Anything that is an abstraction, that is outside of the present moment, lends itself to false worship. It makes sense to keep a healthy distance, the observer perspective, from concepts, and stay grounded with what is within us. From there we move easily in connection with all that is around us.

8. Thou shalt not make any idols to worship.

This seems essentially the same as “no other gods”. It’s just a more tangible way of leaving reality and ourselves. This is where money, cars, houses, swimming pools (my personal favourite) come in. When we fixate on objects instead of life, we lose the connection to life.

9. Thou shall not take the Lord's name in vain.

Respectful language when it concerns others, including divinities, is polite and kind. Not using it can lead to all sorts of misunderstandings and offenses, so in general, I agree with this as a policy (though I break it myself regularly). Where I would update this commandment is to suggest we stop taking our own name - that of the “Lord” within us - in vain. We do it when we trash our name, when we say we our worthless, when we are casual with our own astounding existence. We are but a brief spark of incredible light. Who are we to toss that miracle around like it’s nothing?

10. Thou shalt not covet your neighbor's goods.

This one is simply a recipe for unhappiness. It’s not about whether you buy a nicer car (I prefer bike) or put a more impressive pink flamingo than your neighbour’s on the lawn. It’s about wishing you were someone else, wishing you had someone else’s life. We have the life we have because it was ordained by the universe around us. When we think the grass is greener over there, we ignore that cosmic force.

My thesis with this interpretation of the commandments is that if we put ourselves first, love, compassion, generosity and reverence will flow naturally outwards. The goodness we seek to create within is already there, it just got covered up by the misunderstandings of our childish ego. And when we return to the origin point that, rather than sinners, we are divine, we can nurture that divinity to its full expression. And who knows what kind of world will await us when we do?