Ancient Chinese Wisdom

One of my favorite things to do is to read the Tao Te Ching.  I've been pleasantly surprised to see how compatible the notion of the Eternal Tao and the notion of Logos used in the New Testament are with each other. Translators, some of them anyhow, agree that the meaning of the 'Way' in the Tao has the same meaning of the 'Way' as used to apply to Christ by the writers of the New Testament.

I was asked once why the Tao Te Ching which provides instructions for those who govern would be considered a 'Spiritual' text.  I didn't have an answer then.  I had not made the connection that erased the divide between  'Spirituality' and 'Humanity' making the two inseparable.

I returned, after years, to read the New Testament with fresh eyes. This time with 'eyes' washed clean of the traditional explanations given by the traditional Christian institutions. I simply began reading and thinking about the concepts in the Parables of Jesus of Nazareth as well as his teaching.  

I made note of the way it is told that he related to all he met and how a picture began to come to view of Jesus being like one of the Wise Masters referred to by Lao Tzu.  Verse 15 in the link provided below will give an idea. Jesus surely met those standards.


What I understood linked the Mighty Tao, referred to by Lao Tzu and the directions derived from it, with the same purposes of the Christian Kingdom of Heaven (or God) which the parables, deportment and teaching of Jesus reveal. 

Jesus who came some 500 years after both Lao Tzu and Buddha was applying, whether he knew it or not, the fundamental spiritual lessons of both previous traditions with regard to the concept of the Kingdom of Heaven he was promoting in the first century.

By his application of the ultimate 'Truth' to the temporal existential circumstances of human society Jesus, The Son of Man', melded 'Humanity' with 'Spirituality'.  His plain everyday examples and maxims in the Sermon On The Mount radically reinforce the demands and legitimacy of the voices of the people. His response comes in the form of a prescription for governing that will bring an end to social injustices within society. The Kingdom of Heaven Jesus envisioned would be revealed by a society that responded to and provided what those in that society needed.  Jesus lays it out right here in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Lao Tzu is the bearer of ancient Chinese Wisdom to Americans today.

He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm; he who stretcheshis legs does not walk (easily).  (So), he who displays himself doesnot shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he whovaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged; he who isself-conceited has no superiority allowed to him.  Such conditions,viewed from the standpoint of the Tao, are like remnants of food, or atumour on the body, which all dislike.  Hence those who pursue (thecourse) of the Tao do not adopt and allow them.

The other morning as I sat in the yard reading the Tao and listening to the chatter of a variety of birds at the feeders I read the passage above, 24, from the Tao Te Ching and was inspired by events in the U.S. today to make the poster about those governing society and thought how nice it would be if governments operated the way Jesus, Buddha and Lao Tzu all said they could and should be.  What a revolutionary thought!

Read the Tao Te Ching and think about the 'Spiritual' principles of governing that come to mind when the benefit of 'Humanity' is placed as the first in the order of societies priorities. Each of the three 'Spiritual' traditions when practiced will produce the benefit society needs.  Societies that do not measure up to these standards will, by virtue of the human spirit, eventually cease to exist.

The churches have taught the people to refer to Jesus as the Son of God and treat him as if he were other worldly. Jesus however spent his life living with 'Humanity' with the intention to serve the needs of the outcasts of society and put on notice those in authority. There is a lot to say on this topic that cannot be said today.  But I suggest stopping and taking another look at Jesus before we do it.  

I encountered the essay "The Scandal Of Joshua Ben Adam" by Robert Brinsmead in 2004 and was stunned by it.  I don't agree with all of it but it opened the door to a larger understanding of the Christ Event and the positive impact the principles of the teaching of Jesus would have in rectifying the results and conditions of the current social paradigm.

Have a nice day.