Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015

The ethical high point is to give special status to all things living. From there everything else is unavoidable ethics drift. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/jainism/ 

The Jains of India and their adherents elsewhere come closest to following this ethical high road.

The twelfth century mystic, Hildegard von Bingen sometimes approaches the same ethical stance. Here are a few quotes from her visionary teaching:

Holy persons draw to themselves all that is earthly.

The truly holy person welcomes all that is earthly. 

Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars.
Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings.
Now, think.
What delight God gives to humankind
with all these things. . . .
All nature is at the disposal of humankind.
We are to work with it. For
without we cannot survive.

 I welcome all the creatures of the world with grace.

However, even she fell away from this ethical summit because she accorded special status to humanity:

All of creation God gives to humankind to use. If this privilege is misused, God’s justice permits creation to punish humanity.

These quotes from Hildegard von Bingen can be found at: http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/features.php?id=20274