What stories about moral superiority exist in your religion/culture?

May 2, 2017 4:37 PM

I know about the Christian story of Jesus telling a man to worry about the log in his own eye before the speck in his brother's eye.

I'm wondering what other stories of moral superiority you know that are part of a culture or religious background. For the purpose of this question they should be fairly well known stories. The premise can be slightly different, but the idea of the story being told FOR the purpose of talking about or discussing this topic.

posted by aetg to Religion & Philosophy (8 answers total)

I'm not sure if this is quite what you're thinking of, but there's this story about letting things go that is supposedly of Zen origin. I've heard many variants; here's one version. The gist is that there were two monks traveling togther. They reach a river and come across a young woman who is struggling to cross. One of the monks picks her up and carries her safely across. Hours later, the other monk is unable to keep quiet any longer. "Our beliefs tell us we shouldn't have any contact with women," he says. "Why did you pick that one up and carry her?" "I left her on the riverbank," says the first monk. "Why are you still carrying her?"
posted by spelunkingplato at 5:03 PM on May 2, 2017 [10 favorites]

Zen and Ch'an Buddhism aren't really about moral superiority,but there's this story about Ch'an Master Tao Lin:

Po also asked, “What is the overall meaning of the Buddhist teaching?” The Master said, “Don’t commit any evils; practice the many virtues.” Po said, “Even a three year old child could say this.” The Master said, “Though a three year old child can say it, an eighty year old man cannot carry it out.” Po then bowed and departed.

posted by Lexica at 5:27 PM on May 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

Here is a Hasidic (Jewish) teaching about balancing humbleness with self-confidence (as quoted in a sermon by Rabbi Toba Spitzer)

It was said of Reb Simcha Bunem that he carried two slips of paper, one in each pocket. On one he wrote: Bishvili nivra ha-olam—“for my sake the world was created.” On the other he wrote: V’anokhi afar v’efer”—“I am but dust and ashes.” He would take out each slip of paper as necessary, as a reminder to himself.
posted by metahawk at 6:42 PM on May 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

metahawk's story reminds me of this well-known joke, also from the Jewish tradition:

Walking into the empty sanctuary of his synagogue, a rabbi was suddenly possessed by a wave of mystical rapture, and threw himself onto the ground before the Ark proclaiming, "Lord, I'm Nothing!"

Seeing the rabbi in such a state, the cantor felt profoundly moved by similar emotions. He too, threw himself down in front of the Ark, proclaiming, "Lord, I'm Nothing!"

Then, way in the back of the synagogue, the janitor threw himself to the ground, and he too shouted, "Lord, "I'm Nothing."

Whereupon, the rabbi turned to the cantor and whispered, "Look who thinks he's Nothing!"
posted by phoenixy at 7:57 PM on May 2, 2017 [12 favorites]

Here in the Netherlands, we have the story of the poor dwarf Piggelmee (in some versions: the poor fisherman Timpe Tee) and the magical fish.
Piggelmee lived with his wife Tureluur (in some versions: Ilsebil) in a broken stone jar on the beach, and they were very poor; one day, Piggelmee met or caught a magical fish, that could fulfill wishes. But he did not wish for anything (or in some versions, he wished for something small). His wife however was unhappy and urged him to go back to the fish, and ask for a house; he did, and when he came home, his wife was sitting in a small and pleasant house.
This did not satisfy her for long. She kept sending him back to wish for more and more: a bigger house, then a ranch with cattle, then a palace. Eventually, the fish got sick of it and when Piggelmee went home that time, his wife was sitting in the old broken jar again.

This story is based on old Dutch/German fairytales and obviously means that you should not be overly greedy or you may end up losing all that you've gained. It could also be described as 'quit while you're ahead'. It's similar in moral contents to the story of the goose (in Dutch versions: chicken) who laid the golden eggs.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:27 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Also in the Christian tradition, there's the one with the poor widow who gives 2 coins to the temple treasury, and Jesus says that she has given more than the rich man because she gave from her poverty.

And then there's also the one where they're about to stone a woman and Jesus says "Let the one among you without sin throw the first stone".

And then there's also the one about Martha and her sister, where the sister spends time listening to Jesus while Martha is busy busy busy...

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.""

And then there's the one where he compliments the woman who washed his feet, and Simon (who he is visiting) is all judgy because the woman is a prostitute or something, but Jesus tells him that she has done more right than he has. (The Woman Washes Jesus' Feet).

Yeah, there are quite a few Jesus stories about welcoming the sinner and being humble because we are all sinners.
posted by kellygrape at 6:48 AM on May 3, 2017

From the Bhagavad Gita:
"Far better to live your own path imperfectly than to live another’s perfectly."
posted by crunchy potato at 7:10 AM on May 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

Also from Christianity is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The Wikipedia entry highlights one aspect that is sometimes glossed over in modern tellings -- due to the historical enmity between Samaritans and Jews, the moral of the story could be meant to be read as something like "even a Samaritan can be morally superior to a priest and a Levite if he demonstrates kindness to a stranger when the latter two did not."
posted by mhum at 6:57 PM on May 3, 2017