For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.God is upset with King Asa because the king called on an ally to help him defeat an enemy (something that happens quite frequently in the Old Testament). It is declared that God shows his strength to those who solely worship him.
~ King James version ~
Tao makes no show.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~
Tao is not into PR campaigns. Tao is the world around us, plain and simple. You can worship Tao is you want to, but it is of no interest to the Way.
If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.
See, this bible verse sounds Taoist to me, if you look at it a little deeply. God's sight runs to and fro throughout the whole earth... just as the Tao is everywhere. He shews himself strong on the bahalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him... just as a man of Tao is a master, while a fool is not.
ReplyDeleteI agree the bible externalizes God... but probably just as a way of talking. The ancient world, Hebrews included, didn't have the material/spirit, subject/object split we have today. The world was imbued with spirit. It's a whole other worldview. Of course, this is the problem. We have a different worldview, and read the bible literally, and run into all sorts of craziness and contradiction and superficiality.
In many cases the bible is just history of the jews and their tribal wars, but I still think there's great wisdom in other parts. The Tao, you might say, was available to them even back then. They couldn't have been totally blind to it.
Per the Taoist sages, Tao fills the low places, not the high.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, it seems, I agree with Brandon here.
ReplyDeleteWhen the individual or society turns away from or is alienated from God--or Tao--whatever, you are doomed to have chaos and conflict. That it is eternal is part of the human condition. Taoism and all great religions aim to restore the connection to the divine. That they can succeed only on individual levels is the sad part.
What about the emperor-sage? The enlightened ruler? Tao is available to all, no?
ReplyDelete