Ok, whether Hinduism is the world’s oldest surviving religion is debatable. But, like the question of whether Roger Federer is the tennis goat, it’s very much in the conversation.
The Upanishads lists 10 forbearances, essentially principles and activities that should be followed as sources of good karma and signs of virtue. They are:
- Ahimsa – don’t do harm to any living being, human or other
- Satya – always be truthful
- Asteya – don’t covet another’s property
- Brahmacharya – remain celibate while single, and stay faithful (broadly defined) in marriage
- Daya – be kind, without conditions
- Arjava – don’t deceive others
- Kshama – always forgive
- Dhriti – remain calm and modest in times of great wealth and poverty, whether of yourself or of others
- Mitahara – eat, drink, and accumulate (money and belongings) in moderation
- Saucha – clean the body and mind through both physical and spiritual actions
The suggestions pretty much boil down to this: think always of the Golden Rule, and apply it to others AND to yourself.
In just about every religion, you’ll see such lists, and you’ll see a LOT of similarities between them: Moses’s Ten Commandments. Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and Sermon on the Plain. The Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Night Journey verses in the Qu’ran. And although I don’t remember such explicit directives in the Dao de Jing, you’ll find similar wisdom in Buddha’s Eightfold Path, in the Analects of Confucius…
Here are more interesting lists of knowledge and wisdom.