Welfare of All

From the Middle Way Arcana, the Emperor; from the Vertical Oracle, Control Freak:

Inter-being is the understanding that nothing exists separately from anything else. We are all interconnected. By taking care of another person, you take care of yourself. By taking care of yourself, you take care of the other person. Happiness and safety are not individual matters.

–Thich Nhat Hanh

A good Emperor is grateful for the diversity of people he leads; he recognizes that we depend on each other's talents and knowledge as well as the gifts of nature too. Yet such an assortment of folks means a medley of opinions, and if his country is to stay unified, there needs to be some guidelines. For lay Buddhists, that ethical compass is the Five Precepts. The undercurrent through all five is the idea of doing no harm. The Control Freak card describes those who only want to follow their own rules because they fear not getting what they want or losing what they have. But no one in a healthy community obtains rights without also incurring responsibilities. As Lewis Schwellenbach said, "The security, progress and welfare of one group is measured finally in the security, progress and welfare of all mankind."