Another View on the Tao Te Ching

In the comments section for an earlier post, a new reader, Chris, mentioned that he too is beginning a day-by-day and verse-by-verse analysis of the Tao Te Ching. Here's what he wrote as away of introduction:

I have spent several months debating whether or not I should start this series. A lot of people will misunderstand it as some shallow, new-age syncretism. Some people simply won’t be interested. But I think some people may be; and anyway, I might like to look back on it after a few years have gone by. So, here we go. I don’t get many comments here, but I hope a few will chime in and maybe start some discussion.

Taoism is a Chinese philosophy with a long history. My ‘point of entry’ into this world is the Tao Te Ching, written (I think) about two-and-a-half thousand years ago. I assume most people have not read it, so I’ll be quoting from an accessible translation and try to cover one chapter in every post.

The fact that I am a Christian is important, because it means that I come to the Tao Te Ching from a particular perspective, and my Christian faith is one of the reasons why this philosophy has become so important to me. Many Christians (following Martin Luther) think that their Bible has a monopoly on truth, and anything else is a lie. I am (absolutely, positively) not one of those people! Humanity has a long history of spiritual and moral philosophy, and when people in these traditions are honestly searching for the truth, I think they are very likely to find it.

If an ancient civilisation with no connection to my own spiritual tradition was able to discern truths which seem strangely familiar to me, how amazing is that? Not only that: how much more amazing if those philosophies are able to deepen my understanding of Biblical truths and strengthen my own faith? I believe that Taoist philosophy is beginning to do this for me, and I will try to explain how. I hope others might find it useful, even (or especially) those who might disagree — respectful disagreement is a healthy exercise for anyone!

So: I hope you will accept this invitation to follow along with me in the Tao Te Ching.

While I feel privileged that many of you have decided to accompany me as I journey through the TTC, I believe it's vitally important that you seek out other perspectives as well. Not one of is an island and our own personal consciousness can be expanded by sharing in the thoughts and meditations of others. While it is certainly true that we each must find our own truths and our paths, it is almost always helpful to glean insight -- both positive and negative -- from the paths chosen by others.

More importantly, Chris's efforts may speak better to those of you coming from a Christian perspective. As I've made abundantly clear, I am no fan of religion whatsoever and this colors my writings. So, I invite all my readers to check out the blog, Transformations.