Christ the eternal Tao.........., page 1

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Topic started on 9-3-2003 @ 09:09 PM by helen

just a few thoughts ....also links for anyone to read..................also books in interest..........

religion-cults.com...

www.amazon.com...=pm_dp_ln_b_6/002-8486479-3576060?v=glance&s=books&vi=reviews

From Part I: The Gospel according to Lao Tzu:

"There are those," said the Ancient Sage,

"Who would conquer the world and make of it what they desire.

I see they will not succeed.

The world is like a hollow utensil

And cannot be manipulated.

That which is not the Way soon fades away.

Hence the sage assists the natural development of all things,

Even though he does not venture to interfere."

When something accords with the Way,

All creation aids it.

But when the Way rejects something,

Creation too opposes it.

The stream flows gently

But its course is inexorable.

There are many directions,

But there is only one Way by which the stream flows.

The Way has given to the soul freedom of movement

And power over herself.

Exercising this freedom and this power,

She may think she is fulfilling her true nature,

Not knowing that her nature was made, not merely to move,

But to move in the right direction.

As free of the Way, one can go in many directions,

But then one becomes a slave of those directions.

As a slave of the Way, one can follow naught but one Course,

But then one is free.

Universal freedom is a lie

Because there is only One Course in the universe, not many.

Yet universal freedom is true

Because, in following the One Universal Course,

One encompasses the cosmos.

Having the freedom of choice,

One chooses freedom from choice.

From Part III: Uniting Oneself to the Incarnate Tao through Watchfulness and Prayer: We take refuge in our thoughts, fantasies and emotions because they give us a deceptive sense of security. But Christ tells us to abandon that security and make ourselves vulnerable, relying wholly on our Creator. Both Christ and Lao Tzu likened this state of self-abandonment to the mind of a little child who has not yet developed a mature ego.... "Become as little children," they said. A child, although also touched by the primordial fall, is closer to the true Source of knowing than an adult. Simple and spontaneous, he knows without knowing how he knows. He can be happy without knowing he is happy. What adults often consider happiness is in reality the emotional excitement of the ego; while a little child's happiness consists in the simple, selfless joy of being alive.

When Christ told each person to "deny himself" and "lose his life," he was not saying to obliterate the conscious mind. Rather, he was saying to purify it by casting off the ego that has grown on it like a parasite. Thinking, imagining, dreaming and emotion are not destroyed in the follower of the Way; rather they are wholly submitted to a higher Source.

reply posted on 9-3-2003 @ 10:17 PM by Protector

I agree. I believe Christ was part Taoist. I heard a sermon this weekend that even used a line found in the Tao Te Ching, but was spoken by either Jesus or one of the disciples. Christ may have used a sightly different perspective than Lao Tzu, but they both seemed to find great truth in a wisdom that is far from normal human perception. If I get a chance, I will try to pick up that book.

reply posted on 9-3-2003 @ 10:21 PM by helen

reply posted on 10-3-2003 @ 02:59 AM by Hammerite

Well, from a less tollerant point of view.

I believe Christ was a nut, just as everyone here believes "Brian" is a nut.

How can you call a guy today who calls himself Jesus a nut...and not call a man who called himself the Son of God a nut?

Hypocritical if you ask me.

reply posted on 10-3-2003 @ 06:00 AM by MidnightDStroyer

...Lots of scripture was written about Christ, his life & ministry. Much of the writings about Christ were never authored until a couple of centuries after his crucifiction. There's no denying the power & influence that Christ introduced into the world.
On the other hand, Brian...Comes across like a conman & even uses profanity against people who ask him too many logical questions. Not very Christ-like, huh?

Comparing Christ as described in the scriptures to Brian is like comparing apples to the worms that eat out the cores...

[Edited on 10-3-2003 by MidnightDStroyer]

reply posted on 10-3-2003 @ 09:38 PM by Toltec

Hi Helen that was fascinating and well prepared. Saved the link to my favorites it is definitely worth looking into very carefully

Hello Hammerite from what I understand the Israelis are not the only culture to acknowledge the existence, of a person who lived about 2000 years ago. This person is the man Christians today calls Jesus Christ.

They all confirm the abilities presented in relation to this man as described in the Holy Bible.

With regards to Brain, MD seems to have offered a rather unique and in all probability, a very accurate depiction.

reply posted on 10-3-2003 @ 09:47 PM by Hammerite

I'm not saying the man Jesus didn't live. I'm just attacking several points here...one the fact Jesus is made out to be the "Son of God" and two the fact that people here criticize Ycon and Brian for both believing Brian is Jesus reborn.

My point has no "deeper meaning" other than the hypocrisy of the two statements.

If I say I am the Son of God, who is to doubt me, 2000 years from now if everyone 2000 years from now believe it.

I like all other religions BUT christians, doubt Jesus was the "son of god".

And I don't remember now this did have a point to do with this thread, but I haven't looked at it for a bit.

One thing, is Taoism has nothing to do with Jesus, other than both offered a "path". Jesus's path was "through him" to get to heaven.

Taoism taught that everything was just one thing, one existance, and so on and so forth. Totally unrelated.

reply posted on 10-3-2003 @ 11:21 PM by Toltec

To be honest if you can raise the dead, walk on water, heal the sick and move mountains. And then succeed in presenting your ability to perform these acts, in the presence of scholars and those who's responsibility it is to discern such issues a valid or invalid. You would probably be afforded some type of title, which made clear. That these capacities were valid from the perspective of culture drawing the conclusion.

Buddha' are accepted as Hands of God, the interpretation of which can be taken as literal.

An interesting sideline here is that in Exodus Death in relation to the Story of Moses, is also called a Hand of God. The Black Buddha is known as death.

The Tao is so vast that when you use it, something is always left.
How deep it is!
It seems to be the ancestor of the myriad things.
It blunts sharpness
Untangles knots
Softens the glare
Unifies with the mundane.
It is so full!
It seems to have remainder.

It is the child of I-don't-know-who.
And prior to the primeval Lord-on-high.