"Daoism" - A leading world religion
See this PRI Documentary Segment
Daoism (the politically correct spelling of "Taoism") flourishes as a religion in China, virtually unrecognizable by Western followers of the simple philosophy outlend in the Tao Te Ching. In China, Daoism is basically Chinese traditional culture, along with all the gods, priests and mythology.
The fact is that culture grows religion like manure grows weeds.
My first serious brush with Christianity came in 1970 when a friend gave me the Gospel of Thomas, which opens with these compelling lines:
These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.
(1) And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death.
"
(2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."
(3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
There is something about the style that draws you in. Of course, this "Gospel" was rejected by the early Roman Church and is not included in the Bible. All the same, there are now and were then many who built their view of Jesus and "his" religion on this text. Of course, understanding of all this was, for me, far in the future. I went out and bought a Bible and read it through, free from any official influences. I created my own personal picture of the life and teachings of Jesus, eventually leading me to put myself forward as a candidate for the Ministry. When studying for my Master of Divinity, I ran across another compelling text, the "Hidden Words" of Bahá’u’lláh. I was charmed by the Bahai community at Kingston University who seemed to be far more sincere about their faith than my fellow Christian Divinity students. In the long run, I began to formulate a rather sweeping conclusion that most, if not all, of the great religious "prophets" were charismatic fraudsters. I always held Jesus himself apart from this judgement, finally accepting (years later) the view of Resa Islan, that Jesus was one of many vocal critics of the Jewish establishment who cooperated with the Roman occupation of Palestine at the time. In this case, the "fraud" was perpetrated in subsequent generations, who built a religion around the person of Jesus. I don't believe that Jesus saw himself as a founder of a religion, nor do I believe that he himself saw himself as divine. Of course, this view makes no sense to the vast majority of "Christians" who treat the Bible like an on-the-spot factual documentary. To me, the charisma of Jesus shines through all the subsequent encrustation of dogma and theology. See my blog on the subject here. In my view, the voice of Jesus is just one of many compelling voices in the Bible.
These days, "Christians" take it upon themselves to extract from the vast body of Christian history and culture those bits that are comfortable to their own personal life style and community. This process is not unique to Christianity. It can be most clearly observed when other great world religions, such as Buddhism, Taoism and Zen is strained through the sieve of Western ideology to emerge as a simple philosophy supporting (surprise!) the values and life style fashionable at the time.
Daoism (the politically correct spelling of "Taoism") flourishes as a religion in China, virtually unrecognizable by Western followers of the simple philosophy outlend in the Tao Te Ching. In China, Daoism is basically Chinese traditional culture, along with all the gods, priests and mythology.
The fact is that culture grows religion like manure grows weeds.
My first serious brush with Christianity came in 1970 when a friend gave me the Gospel of Thomas, which opens with these compelling lines:
These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.
(1) And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death.
"
(2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."
(3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
There is something about the style that draws you in. Of course, this "Gospel" was rejected by the early Roman Church and is not included in the Bible. All the same, there are now and were then many who built their view of Jesus and "his" religion on this text. Of course, understanding of all this was, for me, far in the future. I went out and bought a Bible and read it through, free from any official influences. I created my own personal picture of the life and teachings of Jesus, eventually leading me to put myself forward as a candidate for the Ministry. When studying for my Master of Divinity, I ran across another compelling text, the "Hidden Words" of Bahá’u’lláh. I was charmed by the Bahai community at Kingston University who seemed to be far more sincere about their faith than my fellow Christian Divinity students. In the long run, I began to formulate a rather sweeping conclusion that most, if not all, of the great religious "prophets" were charismatic fraudsters. I always held Jesus himself apart from this judgement, finally accepting (years later) the view of Resa Islan, that Jesus was one of many vocal critics of the Jewish establishment who cooperated with the Roman occupation of Palestine at the time. In this case, the "fraud" was perpetrated in subsequent generations, who built a religion around the person of Jesus. I don't believe that Jesus saw himself as a founder of a religion, nor do I believe that he himself saw himself as divine. Of course, this view makes no sense to the vast majority of "Christians" who treat the Bible like an on-the-spot factual documentary. To me, the charisma of Jesus shines through all the subsequent encrustation of dogma and theology. See my blog on the subject here. In my view, the voice of Jesus is just one of many compelling voices in the Bible.
These days, "Christians" take it upon themselves to extract from the vast body of Christian history and culture those bits that are comfortable to their own personal life style and community. This process is not unique to Christianity. It can be most clearly observed when other great world religions, such as Buddhism, Taoism and Zen is strained through the sieve of Western ideology to emerge as a simple philosophy supporting (surprise!) the values and life style fashionable at the time.
Comments
Post a Comment