Rev.
Ann C. Fox
(508) 992-7081
RevAnnFox@aol.com
Unitarian Universalist
Society of Fairhaven
Flowing with the Tao
a sermon by Rev. Ann C. Fox
April 22, 2007
Note: A reading is attached, which you might like to read first.
Today’s sermon, “Flowing with the Tao,” was one of those requested in response to a survey of sermon topics. Although I thought I had done such a sermon on this recently, I found that it was 5 years ago. The secrets of Taoism are not easily absorbed. They require an open mind, a willingness to look deeply, and a desire to learn some new concepts. Are you ready and willing?
Today is Earth Day. Now that Global Warming is on our doorsteps, Earth Day has a more urgent meaning for us. We are only just beginning to learn how to live more in harmony with nature so that our earth will be healthy enough to support us and also future generations.
The ancient Chinese honored the earth and nature believing that it and all creatures were a creation of the Tao and all had in it the energy of the Tao that they called “Chi” (pronounced Chee). To the Chinese, human beings were not more important than the things of nature. They showed this relationship in their art. Let us look at the cover of your Order of Service. (Dear Reader, They looked at a very wide painting of hills and a valley with lots of pine trees.) This is a painting called “Befriending the Pines.” Notice the tiny size of the human figures. We cannot see what they look like but to the Taoists that wasn’t important. Notice that the buildings are also small and they blend in with the surroundings. I am sure that in your life, you will come across more of such paintings with mountains and rivers and you will have to look carefully to find the human beings. You can be sure that the painter was a Taoist who believed that peace and harmony comes from being in quiet relationship with nature, with the Tao, which is Nature and so much more. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. So, therefore, here ends the sermon! (Okay, just kidding!) In some ways, it could be for if you pondered deeply you might come to the conclusion that there is Tao and knowing that is sufficient.
In the reading, you heard that the Tao is very mysterious. One cannot speak of the Tao because it is inexpressible. Even if you know or understand Tao, you cannot express it. The writer of the Tao Te Ching (pronounced Dao Day Jing) says that if you express it, you do not know it. Is this so strange to us? If someone asks you, “What is God to you?” What would you say? Some people say “God is Love.” And if someone asks you, “What does that mean, ‘God is Love.’?” You might find it difficult to explain. If you grew up in a religiously traditional home you might say, “God gave us Commandments. God loves us.” You might point to the teachings of the Bible.
The Tao is another way of understanding who or what God is, or rather, what the creative source of the Universe is. Whereas there are many authors of the Jewish/Christian Bible, the author of the Tao Te Ching is said, by legend, to have been written by a wise old man called Lao Tzu. He is said to have lived in the sixth century BCE at the same time of the Buddha and Confucius. There is actually no evidence that Lao Tzu lived. In fact, Lao Tzu means “Grand Old Master.” The title of book that he wrote, Tao Te Ching, means Book of The Way and Its Power. Scholars believe that it was probably written by a “school” of people who were expressing the Tao’s relationship to the world. Its words advise us to be quiet and observe the world and our inner self—our mind. It uses water as a metaphor for the Tao because water does not resist; it flows around, under, and over all things and takes the path of least resistance. The Tao Te Ching is only about 30 pages of poetic words. It is said that it can be read in half an hour or a lifetime. Its philosophy encourages us to be at peace and not enter into conflict for when we enter into conflict we are less effective because we are no longer flowing with the Tao. About armed conflict, the Tao Te Ching says:
Whenever you advise a ruler in the way of Tao,
Counsel him not to use force to conquer [others].
For this would only cause resistance….Never take advantage of power….
Force is followed by loss of strength.
This is not the way of Tao.
That which goes against the Tao comes to an early end.
~(Chapter 30, Feng & English translation)
Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man’s tools.
He uses them only when he has no choice.
Peace and quiet are dear to his heart,
And victory no cause for rejoicing.
If you rejoice in victory, then you delight in killing;
If you delight in killing, you cannot fulfill yourself.
~(Chapter 31, Feng & English translation)
It might be useful for us to know that in the 6th century, BCE, China had suffered many decades of terrible war, famine, and unspeakable abuse at the hands of war lords and emperors. People were looking for answers to life’s problems and to the violence and suffering of their time. Confucius offered structures of politeness, kindness, and obedience. Lao Tzu offered flow—flowing with the mystery of the Tao.
We do everything perfectly when we flow with the Dao. The Tao Te Ching counsels us to come to know the energy of the Tao and learn to flow with it so that we can be the most effective, as effective as the Tao itself. Conflict robs us of effectiveness. Let us hear more of the words of the Tao Te Ching:
1.
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao…
2.
The Tao is like an inexhaustible well: used but never used up.
It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities.
It is hidden but always present.
4.
The Tao is called the Great Mother:
Empty yet inexhaustible.
It gives birth to infinite worlds.
It is always present within you.
You can use it any way you want.
51.
Every being in the universe is an expression of the Tao.
It springs into existence, unconscious, perfect, free,
It takes on a physical body, and lets circumstances complete it.
That is why every being spontaneously honors the Tao.
(Translations are from Novak, pp 146-164):
We call the people who meditate upon the words of the Tao Te Ching “philosophical Taoists.” They try to expend their energy efficiently, without conflict, and by flowing with the Tao in peaceful ways.
Can you hold this creative and mysterious source called the Tao, whose metaphor is water, in your mind while we expand it into another concept of the ancient Chinese? Health practices and herbal medicines of ancient China relied on a belief that the Tao’s energy, Chi (chee), flows through everything, as well as our bodies. Chi flows through two channels in the body—through the head, shoulders and arms, one channel on each side of the spine, and down each leg. Ill health occurs when the flow of Chi energy is blocked. Or, perhaps the other way around—Chi is blocked because of illness. Either way, the Taoist health practitioner will try to unblock the flow with acupuncture or acupressure and herbal compounds and special diets to restore flow so that the flow of Chi can help the healing.
I used to walk every morning through Boston Common at 6:30 am on weekday mornings on my way to work. I saw many Chinese people doing Tai Chi. A few were next to a tree and I saw that they were pushing air towards them from the tree. Each person pushed Chi towards a different area of the body—the liver, the heart, the stomach, and so on. I knew they were taking Chi from the tree into themselves; they were increasing their vitality and helping the healing process. If I looked directly at them, they would stop in embarrassment. What they were doing was flowing with the Tao through the practice of having a quiet mind while doing Tai Chi movements. If you go through the Boston Common early in the morning, you must be satisfied to look at them from your peripheral vision while you walk if you want to continue observing them. These Daoists try to increase their physical vitality by getting more Chi.
The Chinese, do not think of this energy as God, or at least the concept of God that we know and may worship. They may not believe in God per ce , but they may believe in Chi as a divine principle substance. Chi flows through everything there is. It is in you and around you and in and around everything else. This is Taoism for health. Most Chinese combine this health oriented Taoism with philosophical Taoism. When Buddhism entered China around the time of Jesus, the Chinese embraced it and took many of its concepts into Taoism; from this grew Zen Buddhism.
Like our western religions, there is also a Taoist religion with churches and priests and sacraments and prayers for people who haven’t the time to be pondering the philosophy of the Tao Te Ching and practicing its mysterious advice. It has Gods and Goddesses. It is practiced widely in Taiwan and is only just now being allowed to reestablish itself in China after being banished totally for many decades by the formerly communist government.
When people say, “I like Taoism. Taoism is very important.” What they usually are referring to is the philosophical Taoism of the Tao Te Ching. It speaks meaningfully to Unitarian Universalists because its concept of the divine is the mysterious flow, the benign creative force. We can be with it and can feel renewed. We might even describe it as Love or Spirit of Love and Life. It sounds very much like process theology that makes so much sense to liberal religionists, probably because there are few words that turn us off. I hope you’ll remember that you can attend Process Theology 101 at the District Conference next Saturday.
The Tao is there for us. It asks nothing of us and gives all. If we learn to flow with it, we will always do the right thing. We will have peace in ourselves and bring peace to the world. And how do we do this? We read and ponder the Tao Te Ching. We set aside times for quietness and communing with nature. And we practice the arts of non resistance and effectiveness. May the Tao inform our lives.
References
English, Jane and Feng, Gia-Fu, translators. Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu, New York, N.Y.:Vintage Books, 1989.
Novak, Philip. The World’s Wisdom, New York, N.Y.: Harper Collins, 1995.
Smith, Huston. The World’s Religions, New York, N.Y.: Harper Collins, 1991.
Reading: from “Taoism” Chapter V in
The World’s Religions by Huston Smith
“The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao.”
This is the first line of The Tao Te Ching [Dao De Jing], the “Bible” of the philosophical Taoists.
Tao is the way of ultimate reality. This Tao cannot be perceived or even clearly conceived, for it is too vast for human rationality to fathom. . . . Nevertheless, this ineffable and transcendent Tao is the ground of all that follows. Above all, behind all, beneath all is the Womb from which all life springs and to which it returns. Awed by the thought of it, the author/editor of the Tao Te Ching bursts recurrently into praise, for this primal Tao confronts him with life’s basic mystery, the mystery of all mysteries. [We read in its pages:] “How clear it is! How quiet it is! It must be something eternally existing!” “Of all great things, surely Tao is the greatest.” . . . . “Those who know don’t say. Those who say, don’t know.” . . . .
Basically spirit rather than matter, it cannot be exhausted; ….it is infinitely generous. Giving life to all things, it may be called “the Mother of the World.” (from p.198)
© The Rev. Ann C. Fox