Dao House... Sermons and Such

Dao House...

Sermons and Such

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Reflections on The Tao Te Ching

Basics

http://eawc.evansville.edu/essays/carson.htm

Laozi

Essay by Mike Carson, on the Exploring Ancient World Cultures site (University of Evansville, IN). From early Christians and the Desert Monks to Thoreau and Laozi.

Zhuangzi

Metaphysics

"Can the Chinese poet from 2500 years ago, his words translated into modern English, be heard by me? What will I have to do to listen to him? Can I hear only what my own 'unnatural' and materialistic ears, inner and outer, will allow to be said?"

Trans-traditional Spirituality: Priest/Minister as Spiritual Seeker, Guide, Healer

Alchemy

www.emory.edu/COLLEGE/RELIGION/faculty/bianchi/corpus97.htm

Practical

Article by Eugene C. Bianchi (Emory University, Religion) in Corpus Reports.

Therapeutic

"Are there any other Taoist Christians like me who would rather be communing with God in a garden, or in the semi-lotus position, or over a good pasta and wine with friends from many traditions?"

www.origin.org/ucs/sbcr/taoism.cfm

Sermons

Essay by Douglas K. Chang (Grand Valley State University School of Social Work, Grand Rapids, MI), from A Source Book for Earth's Community of Religions, on the United Communities of Spirit website.

Tao of...

Resources

"Taoists do not focus on life after death, but rather emphasize practical methods of cultivating health to achieve longevity... For example, Lao Tzu promotes 'Chi Kung' (breathing exercise) to enhance life."

Remembering Wu-Ji

http://jond4u.jonathandickau.com/Remember_Wu-Ji.html

Jonathan J. Dickau's (musician, Poughkeepsie, NY) thoughts on "the still, small voice" of Wu-Ji, "the undivided primal nature."

"This stillness is the very essence of Wu-Ji, played out for our benefit, to allow us to know that we, ourselves, are far deeper than surface appearances would indicate... For those who have received the Tao into their lives and have learned to recognize the original self, remembering Wu-Ji can bring them instantly to liberation. It is the fulfillment of a search which can last lifetimes."

Taoism [essay]

www.oocities.org/laochuangtsu/

An unknown author writes of giving up desire, and quotes numerous non-Daoist sources that express acceptance of "what comes to you through the Tao." See also his/her "Psychological Commentary on Taoism."

"Wu-wei is not gained through any desire, effort, or plan. You do not say, 'I will achieve wu-wei in the following manner...' It is simply the way things without desire act."

Seashore Philosophy: A Living Example of Taoism

http://superdirector.com/sunnieseashore.html

A philosophical ramble on the San Francisco beach with Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) and Hermeneutic Phenomenology, by Sunnie D. Kidd (deceased scholar).

"Seashore philosophy is looking to nature and everyday life experiences. There is no need to find anything it comes naturally. The resounding sea touches true. It is here that Chuang Tzu is so clear, so true. 'Make few your words, lessen your desires...'"

Teddy Bears and Holy Grails

http://smith2.sewanee.edu/texts/Sewanee/TeddyBearsHolyGrails.html

Gerald L. Smith (The University of the South, Sewanee, TN), in his 1995 freshman orientation talk, extols the Daoist qualities of Sewanee.

"There is another idea in Taoism as important as the path itself. It is this: the pattern is dynamic not static; evolving, not complete. It is like the path I follow along the riverbank where I fish: each spring after the winter floods have wiped out the old paths, the paths have to be made again--never in the same place. Such shifting paths do not make for an easy education: we can't sell you something and guarantee it forever."

The Coming of Yin Christ: Jesus Christ as the Tao

www.cca.org.hk/resources/ctc/ctc03-03/ctc03-03h.htm

Scholarly think piece by Heup Young Kim (Kam Nam University, Kyonggi-do, Korea, Theology) predicts a new paradigm, overcoming dualism through "christotao," with "tao as the root-metaphor in understanding Christ." From the Christian Conference of Asia site (HK).

"Whereas the time of yang Christ is waning, the period of yin Christ is waxing!... In the coming ages, Jesus as the Tao will be the mystical female, the cosmic womb."

Christ, the Eternal Tao [excerpts]

www.cs.ust.hk/faculty/dimitris/metro/aug01/AUG01.html#LOGOS

Excerpts from the 1999 publication by Hieromonk Damascene (St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, CA), a priest of the Serbian Christian Orthodox Church. Dao as a precursor to Jesus's teachings. From The Censer (Hong Kong).

"It was not without reason that sensitive Chinese translators of St. John's Gospel, knowing that 'Tao' meant to the Chinese what 'Logos' meant to the Greeks, have rendered the first line of the Gospel to read: 'In the beginning was the Tao"

Choosing the Tao

http://theosophytrust.org/tlodocs/ChoosingtheTao.htm

Stirring words from Raghavan Iyer (1930-1995, professor, theosophist) on Dao as the One, antecedent of all religions. 1978 article from Hermes magazine.

"One must become the Tao. One must meditate ceaselessly upon the Tao while seeming to be engrossed in the daily round and common task. One must find the secret sanctuary of inner peace and repose within it from dawn through dusk to midnight, while retaining calm continuity of contemplation in the soul's shrine through the sleep of night and even amidst dislocating dreams."

Renovation Follows Renovation without Cease

http://theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/asia/rel-rens.htm

Robert Rensselaer essay from Sunrise magazine (Theosophical Society).

"Taoism includes a cyclical conception of the universe in which an outbreathing from the Great Tao produces 'the ten thousand things.' When the limit of any such evolution is reached, be this of individual creatures, worlds or universes themselves, there ensues an inbreathing of all that particular creation back to the unmanifest state."

Lao-tzu and the Taoist Way of Virtue

www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/asia/rel-cary/htm

Stefan Carey, in the Sunrise magazine, uses R. B. Blakney's translation to present the philosophy of the Daodejing, which he finds to be:

"...an essentially ethical code of behavior... ethical meaning to act in accord with the inner laws of nature."

Discovering the Tao Teh Ching

www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/asia/rel-mark.htm

Mark Davidson, in the Sunrise magazine, finds parallels with other religious and mythological traditions, though Dao is "especially unlike the Christian concept of God."

"The Chinese language lends itself to philosophical expression quite effortlessly in that it does not rigidly define its terms in any restricted fashion... if we disassemble a complex character into its component parts, we can sometimes find a very interesting collection of ideas that can help us appreciate the concept as a whole."

Time: "the deep and placid pool"

www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sunrise/24-74-5/as-imo2.htm

Essay by I. M. Oderberg from Sunrise magazine expands upon R. G. H. Sui's 1974 book Ch'i: A Neo-Taoist Approach to Life, in which "Dr. Sui himself views 'light' as the origin of both ch'i and energy."

"Life ensouls manifestations in endless duration, and man and other beings are more than 'a heap of organized dust.' They have an essence that exhibits characteristics of a spiritual-magnetic kind."

On Tao

www.wisdomworld.org/additional/ancientlandmarks/OnTao.html

From the Ancient Landmarks series of the Theosophy magazine (1926).

"Once again we are able to see how very valuable HPB's [Blavatsky] Secret Doctrine proves itself to be in throwing light on these Chinese puzzles; without its aid, to grasp the doctrines of the Tao philosophy would hardly be possible. The latter also reveals the universality of Theosophy, for Theosophical metaphysics, ethics, and rules of conduct are to be found therein."

Herrymon Maurer and the Tao of Quakerism

http://quaker.org/quest/issue6-3-Maurer01.htm

Long biographical essay by Anthony Manousos (writer, youth worker, Whittier, CA) on Maurer, whose version of the Daodejing "is the only book length work by an American to explore Taoism from a Quaker-Hasidic (or as Herrymon would say 'prophetic') viewpoint." Includes excerpts.

"I learned about 'the Way' of Taoism and Quakerism through a small group that Herrymon helped to establish. It was called 'The Surrender Group.' Around one third of its members were AA and NA (Narcotics Anonymous) 'graduates,' the rest were recovering ego-holics."

The Way of the Ways: Tao

www.etfrc.com/Tao.htm

And here is Maurer's 1985 commentary/translation of Laozi, put online by the Eaton T. Fores Research Center (of psychopharmacology). A diatribe against the misguided ways of the West.

"If a man does not follow Tao, or in Western terms worship God, he will have nothing to follow and nothing to worship but himself. The deceit of this idolatry is so pernicious that it becomes a sickness."

God as Nature Sees God: A Christian Reading of the Tao Te Ching

www.terebess.hu/english/tao/mabry.html

John R. Mabry's (Anglican priest, poet, writer) introduction from his book includes his take on six Daodejing verses.

"Taoism is... a very non-threatening philosophy to people of other faith traditions because it imposes no doctrine or even metaphysics which could in any way irreconcilably clash with the doctrines that peoples of various faith traditions, Christian included, might hold."

Atheism, Heresy, and the Tao

www.alumni.caltech.edu/~jamesf/tao.html

Some clarifications by James Flanagan (environmentalist, Research Triangle Institute, NC), based on a tom kunesh course at a Unitarian Universalist summer camp.

Some might equate Tao with God, but the emphasis is different. The Tao is more like a rushing river in which everything is swept along. It is not personal. It is the universe and everything within."

Taoism, Part 1: Pooh & Friends, Seeking Oneness, on the Road to Iraq

www.pbuuc.org/worship/sermons/sermons0203/taoismpartone.html

September 2002 sermon by Jaco B. ten Hove (Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church, Adelphi, MD). See Part 2: The P'u Way here.

"Taoists never try too hard; they accomplish a lot without appearing to do much at all, because what they do is less about themselves and more about moving in harmony with The Way Things Really Are - basically the way Winnie the Pooh moves through the Hundred Acre Wood."

Sermon - Now:Tao

www.uuroanoke.org/sermon/NowTao.htm

Audette Fulbright (Unitarian Universalist Church of Roanoke) was inspired by Pooh and Laozi.

"Quiet yourself and know your inner nature. Let who you are determine your path and your action. Do without doing, or remember to be a human being rather than a human doing."

"Taoism - The Way and its Power"

www.uucava.org/sermons/TAOISM_sermon_030903.htm

Part 6 of a series on the "Challenge of Religious Pluralism," by Joan Gelbein (Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington).

"Why can't we speak of the Tao? One reason is that we are Tao, so there is nowhere to find an outside perspective from which to know it. Can the subject be the object of its own knowledge?"

Taoism, Part One

www.uce.ca/Library/Sermons/Brian/sermon_taoismone.htm

... of a two-part sermon by Brian J. Keily (Unitarian Church of Edmonton, Canada). From Part Two - The Way:

"It was through Bruce [Taijiquan instructor] that I saw the Taoist philosophy brought to life. It was a marvelous gift. You see, all you find in books are descriptions of philosophies. To truly comprehend a philosophy, you must see it embodied."

The Tao of Practice

www.trumbore.org/sam/sermons/s7b1.htm

By Samuel A. Trumbore (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Charlotte County, Florida).

"...the practice I discovered which holds, I think, much promise for unraveling this conundrum of consciousness is called the Integral Transformative Practice outlined in the book, The Life We Are Given: A Long Term Program for Realizing the Potential of Body, Mind, Heart and Soul by George Leonard and Michael Murphy, the source for the program which begins tonight, titled, 'The Tao of Practice.'"

"Something Blurred and Indistinct"

www.ziplink.net/~uu_scit/somethn2.htm

Richard M. Stower (First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, Seituate, MA) quotes Merton as well, and also T. S. Eliot and The Secret of the Golden Flower, to clarify the Dao.

"The golden flower symbolizes the essence of the Taoist path. Gold stands for light -- the light of the mind itself; the flower represents the blossoming or opening up of the light of the mind."

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