Trust

Faith implies an element of trust.

In Christianity, it is a trust not unlike the trust you will have in a trustworthy friend, who will do you all kinds of favors and support you when necessary, even take your side against enemies.

In Taoism, this trust is of a different nature, for the Tao - as the impersonal, underlying principle of all things - cannot be given human qualities, and cannot be seen as a friend. In fact, the Tao does not discriminate and it "treats" you and your enemies identically. The trust you have in the Tao is more like the trust you will have in, for example, the Law of Gravity.

There is a big difference, though. Unlike the Law of Gravity, the Tao is vague and indefinable. Basically, you are expected to trust something you will never really understand. So, in a way you do need faith, and lots of it.

True faith
is
complete trust
without understanding:
It is to accept
silence
silently.

The Tao is Tao, 22

~The Power of Faith in Tao

Syncretism or Symbiosis?

Texts reveal that the Chinese Church differed from the Western Church in being multi-cultural, pacifist, vegetarian, and egalitarian in terms of gender and class. Thus, in some ways, it was a unique expression of Christianity that could have been closer in some ways to what Christ intended than what has developed in the Western Church.

While the Church of the West developed as a monolithic entity, the Church of the East was more a confederation of churches The fact that they did not force doctrinal agreement allowed more openness in their interpretations of the meaning of the Gospel. One result was that Christianity was able to adapt certain parts of its message to the unique aspects of many different cultures. For example, it addressed issues that were prevalent in Chinese culture but were absent in the West, such as karma and reincarnation.

~ Christianity, Taoism & Qigong in Ancient China--A Surprising Connection!

Selfish Love?

"Nature is definitely not humane. And Lao Tzu says we should be like Nature. We should not be humane either, in the sense that we should not sacrifice ourselves for others. Now that’s going to be very hard for Christian readers to accept, because they’re taught that self-sacrifice is a good thing. Lao Tzu says it’s a lousy thing. This is perhaps the most radical thing he says to a Western ear. Just don’t buy into self sacrifice. Any more that you would ask somebody to sacrifice themselves for you. There’s a sort of reciprocity – that’s the only way I can understand it.  I’ve been thinking about this since Mother Teresa’s recent death. I have never been comfortable with her or with any extreme altruism. It makes me feel inferior, like 'I ought to be like that, but I’m not.' And if I tried to be, it would be the most horrible hyposcrisy. But why, what is it that I’m uncomfortable with? And I think maybe Lao Tzu gives me a little handle on that. In a sense, this kind of self-sacrifice only occurs in a society that is so sick that only somebody going too far can make up for the cruelty of the society."

 ~ The Feminine and the Tao: an interview with Ursula K. LeGuin by Brenda Peterson

"Selfless behavior is immoral when it prevents you from knowing your own intrinsic and equal value as a human being.What kind of love asks you to discount your Self for the sake of the other? What kind of love asks you to deny your needs? Where’s the mutuality? Where’s the trust? Is this the kind of love God wants from us? That God has for us? Selfless love? No! There is no such thing. Everyone wants to be desired. Everyone wants to feel needed. Selfless love may seem ideal, but it eventually denies partners what they need—to be desired and needed as equals. In the words of Fulton Sheen, love is a mutual self-giving which ends in self-recovery. It’s what God wants for all of our relationships. Love means that each and every one of us is created in the image of the divine, co-workers with God in struggling for the liberation of humanity and for a world order that respects each one’s dignity. That’s what I yearn for in my own life. It’s what I want for all of us."

~ Selfish Love? By Matt Braddock, November 16, 2013 

Love in the True Sense of the Word

Know a person by their love;
Know a residence by its love;
Know a bowling team by its love;
Know a time and place by its love;
Know the World by its love.
How can I enter a world of no-pain?
By loving the World,
Even when it’s a goddamn moron.

from The Dude De Ching, Chapter 51

"Nor can any words come up to the inexpressible Good, this One, this Source of all unity, this supra-existent Being. Mind beyond mind, word beyond speech, it is gathered up by no discourse, by no intuition, by no name. It is and it is as no other being is. Cause of all existence, and therefore itself transcending existence, it alone could give an authoritative account of what it really is.... the theologians praise it by every name --and as the Nameless One...."

~ Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works by Pseudo-Dionysius (the Areopagite.)

Religious Vision Needed!

 

"Can we work out a vision of the future, a vision of peace and harmony among peoples and nations; based upon the traditional religious attitude of conflict between humans and nature? If religion is to be on the side of life today, it must shed its former ideology of domination and conquest to adopt the language of harmony, a harmony not only among all humans, but among all creatures. It is time we rejected the religion of hierarchy in which those in higher positions have the right to subjugate those beneath them for a religion of diversity that celebrates the worth and dignity not only of each and every human being, but of each and every species on earth. A religious vision that glories in the human conquest of nature must be replaced by one of harmony and symbiosis between humans and nature, for only when there is fellowship between humans and nature can we speak meaningfully of fellowship among peoples. Such a theology, vital for saving the spiritual heritage of humankind as well as the precious non-human life forms that have evolved on earth, is the urgent task today."

~Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary 

by Ellen M. Chen

The Taoist Christian?

The Taoist-inclined Christian is one who trusts

1. that Christianity is a way of living not a set of answers;
2. that the winds of the spirit blow in many directions, and that humans can be refreshed by these winds even if they are not Christian; 
3. that we live and move and have our being within the larger context of the Ten Thousand Things, each of which deserves respect, 
4. that the good life lies in living simply and honestly, without pretense and needing to be noticed;  
5. that spontaneous actions, which are natural and devoid of self-consciousness, can be a form of spirituality in their own right; 
6. that one key to understanding life is to imitate water, with its freedom to adapt to new circumstances in fresh ways, 
7. that blind ambition is a dead end and gentleness of spirit a high ideal, 
8.  that the people who are closest to truth are those who don’t speak about it at all, because they know the wisdom of silence. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if all Christians became ever more sensitive to howness and not so preoccupied with whatness, especially with what people believe? Wouldn’t it be nice if, in learning from Taoism, Christians became more…Christian?  We can hope.

~ exceprted from Wouldn’t It Be Nice if Christians Became Taoists? Hope for the Emerging Christian Church 
by Bruce Epperly and Jay McDaniel