Hua Hu Ching - Verse 17

Verse Seventeen

Do not go about worshiping deities and religious institutions as the source of the subtle truth. To do so is to place intermediaries between yourself and the divine, and to make of yourself a beggar who looks outside for a treasure that is hidden inside his own breast. If you want to worship the Tao, first discover it in your own heart. Then your worship will be meaningful.

~ Translated by Brian Walker ~

If I get right down to it, this verse contains my central disagreement with the concept of religion. I don't accept the notion that I or anyone else needs an intermediary to explain the unexplainable.

To posit that such an entity is needed is to see oneself as distinct from that one worships. If I and the divine are one and the same, who would know how best to connect with it other than me? Who can tell another person what is in their heart? It can't be done.

Besides, if we look at the annals of human civilization, middlemen are an unsavory lot. Almost without fail, they skim profits off the top, misrepresent things to build their stature or to protect themselves from ruin, and victimize whomever (and whenever) they can get away with it.

Why then would I willingly and voluntarily place someone between myself and the sacredness of life?

This post is part of a "miniseries". For an introduction, go here.