What is Trinity?

The personal and triune God of Christianity and a look at other belief systems

According to Christianity, God reveals himself to be personal and triune. He exists as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, without beginning and without having his origin in a primordial impersonal essence.

Therefore the Holy Trinity should be understood neither as a sum of three Gods, nor as a mono-personal God that assumes successively three distinct forms. God’s being does not exist outside the three persons, but only as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and they are the only way for God's existence.

The triune God exists by himself.

In his revelation to Moses, God called himself "I am That I am" (Exodus 3, 14). This means that he is self-sufficient, that he does not depend on any exterior element. His existence is expressed through love, omnipotence and omniscience, among which there is perfect unity and harmony. None is manifesting itself by infringing on the other because the Holy Trinity is perfect in love, will and deed.

The Apostle John proclaims that "God is love."

(1 John 4, 8)

Gregory of Nyssa (Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen, was bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death. He is venerated as a saint in Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism). ‘On not three Gods, we properly declare the Godhead to be one, and God to be one, and employ in the singular all other names which express Divine attributes’.

I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God

(Isaiah 44, 6)

Most churches teach that the triune nature of God has as having three personalities or even three personages, the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the 0Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal and co-eternal. Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being. The Trinity is considered to be a mystery of the Christian faith.

According to this doctrine, God exists as three persons but is one God, meaning that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have exactly the same nature or being as God the Father in every way.

Sages and Mystics Upanishads and Vedanta

The Ultimate Reality according to the Upanishads and Vedanta philosophy. In the Brahmana writings (Shatapatha Brahmana is a prose Text Describing Vedic riduals, history and mythology) it is stated that the whole universe has its origin in non-existence (ASAT), meaning that existence must be the product of some unmanifested potentialities. This topic is made clear in the Upanishads, which claim that the origin of all existing things is Brahman, the One of the Vedic hymns:

As the spider moves along the thread, as small sparks come forth from the fire, even so from this Self (Brahman) come forth all breaths, all worlds, all divinities, all beings. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2, 1, 20)

According to the Upanishads, the Ultimate Reality is Brahman. Brahman has two aspects: immanent and transcendent, unmanifested or manifested. However, in the manifestation, the One becomes the many, not only as matter, but also living beings, and humans. The cause of the manifestation process is Brahman's desire to be multiplied: "Let me become many.  At the end of a cycle, all its products tend to return back to the initial state of unmanifestation, evolving from one level of manifestation to another. Then another manifestation will occur:

As from a blazing fire, sparks of like form issue forth by thousands, even so, O beloved, many kinds of beings issue forth from the immutable and they return thither too. (Mundaka Up. 2, 1, 1)

The primary focus on the early Upanishads is the knowledge of Brahman and the knowledge of Atman (Self, soul), what it is and how it is understood. The texts do not present a single unified theory; rather they present a variety of themes with multiple possible interpretations, which flowered in post-Vedic era as premises for the diverse schools of Hinduism.

The concept of Brahman in the Upanishads expands to metaphysical, ontological such as it being the primordial reality that creates, maintains and withdraws within it the universe. Brahman as the principle of the world is the Absolute, the Universal, the cosmic principle, the Ultimate that is the cause of everything including all gods. He is the Divine being, Lord, distinct God, or God within oneself, the "knowledge, the "soul, sense of self of each human being that is fearless, luminous, exalted and blissful. Brahman is the essence of liberation, of spiritual freedom, the "universe within each living being and the universe outside, the "essence and everything innate in all that exists inside, outside and everywhere.

In summarizes the concept of Brahman (God) in the Upanishads is said to be the essence, the smallest particle of the cosmos and the infinite universe, the essence of all things which cannot be seen, though it can be experienced, the self, soul within each person, each being, the truth, the reality, the absolute, the bliss" (ananda).

In contrast, the Advaita Vedanta espouses nondualism. Brahman is the sole unchanging Reality. There is no duality, no limited individual souls nor are there separate unlimited cosmic souls, rather all souls, all of existence, across all space and time, is one and the same. The universe and the soul inside each being is Brahman, and the universe and the soul outside each being is Brahman, according to Advaita Vedanta. Brahman is the origin and end of all things, material and spiritual. Brahman is the root source of everything that exists. He states that Brahman can neither be taught nor perceived (as an object of knowledge), but it can be learned and realized by all human beings. The goal of Advaita Vedanta is to realize that one's Self (Atman) gets obscured by ignorance and false-identification ("Avidya"). When Avidya is removed, the Atman (Soul, Self inside a person) is realized as identical with Brahman. The Brahman is not outside, separate, dual entity; the Brahman is within each person, states Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism. Brahman is all that is eternal, unchanging and that it truly exists. This view is stated in this school in many different forms, such as "Ekam sat" ("Truth is one"), and all is Brahman.

The universe does not simply come from Brahman, it is Brahman. According to Adi Shankara, a proponent of Advaita Vedanta, the knowledge of Brahman that shruti (hearing) provides cannot be obtained in any other means besides self inquiry.
In Advaita Vedanta, nirguna Brahman, that is the Brahman without attributes, is held to be the ultimate and sole Reality. Consciousness is not a property of Brahman but its very nature. In this respect, Advaita Vedanta differs from other Vedanta schools.

The philosophical system (darshana) that follows the pantheistic teachings of the Upanishads is called Vedanta. The most important organizers are Badarayana (4th century AD) and Shankara (9th century AD); the one who conferred to it a pure monistic character as Advaita Vedanta - "the Vedanta of pure monism".

Shankara's vision of the relation of the Absolute with the phenomenal world is reflected in an old Hindu parable that of the rope mistakenly perceived in the dark as a snake. As the coiled rope in the dark is thought to be a snake, in the same way the empirical world is mistakenly considered to have a distinct existence, independent of the Absolute, through the illusion (maya) produced by ignorance (avidya). As only the rope exists, not the snake, only Brahman has a real existence (sat) and is the true reality. The phenomenal world is real only if perceived as Brahman, as the "reality" of the snake's existence lays in the substratum that produced the confusion, namely the rope.

The plurality of the phenomenal world is an illusion (maya), a veil that has to be put aside in order to perceive Brahman. The universe is not unreal, but has the same value as the snake in the parable - it produces confusion and causes humans to pursue a wrong spiritual direction. All that goes beyond this vision of the world is illusion, produced by ignorance.

Shankara tried to settle the relation of the Absolute Brahman (Nirguna Brahman - the One without any definable characteristics) with the origin of the world by proclaiming two distinct points of view: the absolute and the relative. In an absolute sense, Brahman is above any duality and external relation; nothing real exists outside him. But from our empirical and relative point of view, Brahman is the cause of the universe we know. In fact there is no real causality; the world is only an illusory sight of Brahman, as with the rope seen as a snake. Brahman's activity in the world and among human beings is nothing but lila, divine play. In conclusion, the Vedanta of Shankara is somehow different from Upanishadic philosophy; the universe is only a phenomenal appearance of Brahman and not his transformation. From a substantial manifestation, the universe becomes only a dream (or self-forgetting) of Brahman.

We can see that the world's religions hold very different views on Ultimate Reality. More than merely different, they are irreconcilable one with another. Indeed, the impersonal Brahman of the Upanishads, who balances between His manifested state and un-manifestation. Even the three great monotheistic religions of the world state irreconcilable positions concerning the nature of the personal God. He must be either tri-personal (the triune God of Christianity), or mono-personal (as in Judaism and Islam).
More on Immanent and Transcendent as often seen as inconsistent by preachers of Christianity

Thomas Aquinas offers a very compelling account of how to reconcile the transcendence of God with His immanence. This reconciliation is most compelling because Aquinas claims that God is most transcendent from, and most immanent in creation for the very same reason, i.e. because God is Ipsum esse subsistens, meaning: ‘in Him there is no real distinction between essence and existence.

According to Thomas Aquinas, all creatures are fundamentally composed of essence and existence. He argues that because one can know the essence of a created thing, i.e. what a thing is, without thereby knowing anything about whether it exists in reality, essence differs from existence. Thus, every created thing is a composition of what it is and an act of existing whereby it is a real, actual thing.

However, since no creature exists through itself of itself, every creature is continually kept in existence through continual active causality of God. God is the cause of the being of all things precisely because He is Subsistent Being Itself.

May this message shed some light and understanding on the subject of Spirituality and the nature of God. May it lead one to the realization, that being spiritual means living every day consciously and with love and seeing God everywhere and in everything.

May peace be with us all.

Terms explained

Om – Tat – Sat

Om - as Word

Tat - means that, it refers to God only

Sat - means Truth, Existence, Being

Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Father – Sat – beyond vibratory creation

Son – Tat or Christ Consciousness – aspect of God in vibratory creation, everywhere present

Holy Ghost – Om

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva –Creation, Sustenance - Dissolution

Sat, Chit, Ananda – subjective experience of the Ultimate- Brahman - God

The Soul

The Soul

What is the soul?

In Christian teachings we find the soul described according to the church one attends. For a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of the soul, we need to go to the Eastern teachings with its long spiritual history.

Most Christians understand the soul as an ontological reality

(the argument that God, being defined as most great or perfect, must exist) distinct from, yet integrally connected with, the body. Its characteristics are described in moral, spiritual, and philosophical terms.

Richard Swinburne, a Christian philosopher of religion at Oxford University, wrote that "it is a frequent criticism that dualists cannot say what souls are. Souls are immaterial subjects of mental properties. They have sensations and thoughts, desires and beliefs, and perform intentional actions. Souls are essential parts of human beings".

According to a common Christian eschatology, meaning that when people die, their souls will be judged by God and determined to go to Heaven or to Hell. Though all branches of Christianity – Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Evangelical and mainline Protestants teach that Jesus Christ plays a decisive role in the Christian salvation process, the specifics of that role and the part played by individual persons or ecclesiastical rituals and relationships, is a matter of wide diversity in official church teaching, theological speculation and popular practice.

Some Christians believe that if one has not repented of one's sins and has not trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, he/she will go to Hell and suffer eternal damnation or eternal separation from God. Some hold a belief that babies, including the unborn and those with cognitive or mental impairments who have died will be received into Heaven on the basis of God's grace through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Other Christians understand the soul as the life, and believe that the dead are sleeping (Christian conditionalism). This belief is traditionally accompanied by the belief that the unrighteous soul will cease to exist instead of suffering eternally (annihilationism). Believers will inherit eternal life either in Heaven, or in a Kingdom of God on earth, and enjoy eternal fellowship with God.

John 5:28-29 (KJV)

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Did Jesus teach bodily resurrection of the dead?

In the age of logic it is hard to believe in the literal interpretation of Christ’s words in these verses. The word grave used by Jesus gave Biblical interpreters who had little or no intuitional insight the idea that after death souls would be entombed in the body, only to rise on Resurrection Day when Archangel Gabriel blows his trumpet. Obviously Gabriel has not blown the tramped for twenty centuries, because the skeletons of millions can still be found in graves. This reasoning seems revolting and unreasonable.

Teachings of various denominations:

The present Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the soul as the innermost aspect of humans that which is of greatest value in them, that by which they are in God's image described as 'soul' signifies the spiritual principle in man. All souls living and dead will be judged by Jesus Christ when he comes back to earth. The Catholic Church teaches that the existence of each individual soul is dependent wholly upon God: "The doctrine of the faith affirms that the spiritual and immortal soul is created immediately by God.

Protestants generally believe in the soul's existence, but fall into two major camps about what this means in terms of an afterlife. Some, following Calvin, believe in the immortality of the soul and conscious existence after death, while others, following Luther, believe in the mortality of the soul and unconscious "sleep" until the resurrection of the dead.

Various new religious movements derived from Adventism—including Christadelphians, and Jehovah's Witnesses similarly believe that the dead do not possess a soul separate to the body and are unconscious until the resurrection.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the spirit and body together constitute the Soul of Man. "The spirit and the body are the soul of man."Latter-Day Saints believe that the soul is the union of a pre-existing, God-made spirit and a temporal body, which is formed by physical conception on earth.

After death, the spirit continues to live and progress in the Spirit world until the resurrection, when it is reunited with the body that once housed it. This reuniting of body and spirit results in a perfect soul that is immortal and eternal and capable of receiving a fullness of joy. Latter-Day Saint cosmology also describes "intelligences" as the essence of consciousness or agency. These are co-eternal with God, and animate the spirits. The union of a newly created spirit body with an eternally-existing intelligence constitutes a "spirit birth" and justifies God's title "Father of our spirits".

One may find it difficult to attain a clear view concerning the nature of the soul when we ponder the various views expressed by the different Christian denominations.

Yoga and esoteric Christianity

The following are excerpts from “The Second Coming of Christ by Paramahansa Yogananda.

The purpose of these writings is to present the teachings of Jesus from an esoteric perspective. This will provide a deeper understanding of the intent of what is written in the Old and New Testament.

The writings will also show, that the teachings of all legitimate religions lead to the One God. The ways are many but the goal is One.

In the beginning …with these words the cosmologies of the Old Testament starts to explain creation. BEGINNING refers to the birth of finite creation, for in the Eternal Absolute – Spirit – where there is neither beginning nor end. When no object of any kind had come into being, Spirit existed as the Unmanifested Absolute, ever existing, ever conscious, ever-new Spirit.

Prior to creation, there was no space or time, no dual conception or law of relativity, as space, time and relativity are categories of objects.

This field is also referred to as the Void, as it is Void of any phenomenon.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

“In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God.

All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men.”

                                                                       John 1:1 – 4

“Word means intelligent vibration, intelligent energy, going forth from God, giving rise to the creative process.

Yoga often describes the universe as being a vibratory dream motion picture of God’s thoughts on the screen of time and space and human consciousness.

Why then came creation into being? We can only speculate.

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, “saith the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

                                                                   Isaiah 55:8 – 9

 All creation is nothing but Spirit, seemingly and temporarily diversified by Spirit’s vibratory activity. The unmanifest Spirit became God the Father, the creator of all creative vibration.

God the Father in the Hindu scriptures, is called Ishvara (the Cosmic Ruler} or Sat (the supreme pure essence of cosmic consciousness), the transcendent. That is, God the Father exists transcendentally untouched by any tremor of vibratory creation as separate Cosmic Consciousness.

In the creative process, the vibratory force emanating from Spirit is the Holy Ghost., also referred to as the Word. In Hindu scriptures it is called Aum or Maha-Prakrit (Great Nature, the Cosmic Mother had given birth to all creation).

These things said the Amen (Word, Aum), the faithful and true witness, the beginning of creation of God. Thus, the Holy Cosmic Sound of Aum, Amen is the witness of the unmanifest Divine Presence in all Creation.

Trinity explained

The transcendental consciousness of God the Father became manifest within the Holy Ghost vibration as Son – Christ Consciousness, (first born out of the pure transcendental field),  God’s intelligence in vibratory creation. Hence, the pure reflection of God in the Holy Ghost indirectly guides it to create, preserve and mold creation according to God’s divine purpose.

God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are similarity acknowledged in the Hindu scriptures as Sat, Tat and Aum.

Christ Consciousness or Son is the conscious presence of God’s intelligent Divine Plan in creation, and the eternal witness of the work of the Holy Ghost, which is called Holy, because it acts according to the will of God and manifests in the immanent Christ Consciousness.

Spirit as the manifest Holy Ghost, creative Aum vibration, transforms itself into matter by changing the rate of the cosmic creative vibration.

Cosmic Intelligence becomes cosmic intelligent motion, or vibration of consciousness, which changes into cosmic energy. Intelligent cosmic energy changes into electrons and atoms. Electrons and atoms change into molecules of gas, gases change into water and solid matter.

As cosmic vibrations, all things are one; but when Cosmic Vibration becomes frozen into matter, it becomes many – including man’s body, which is a part of this variously divided matter.

Science and the stuff the universe is made of

Recent recoveries in theoretical physics on the subject of string theory are leading science toward an understanding of the vibratory nature of creation. Refer to Brian Green, John H. Schwarz, Edward Witten, or The elegant Universe, Superstring Hidden Dimension.

The theory suggests that the microscopic landscape is suffused with tiny strings whose vibrational patterns orchestrate the evolution of the universe. Professor Green writes that the length of a typical string loop is about a hundred billion times smaller than an atomic nucleus.

Different Dimensions

Spirit through the creative vibrations of the Holy Ghost, produce a triune creation. An ideational or causal world of fine vibrations of consciousness; an astral world of light and life force and lastly, the material world comprised of gross atomic vibrations of matter.

These worlds are super-imposed on one another. The grosser depends on the subtler and all three ultimately on the sole support and consciousness of God.

Macrocosm and Microcosm

As in the macrocosm of the universe, so in the microcosm of man there are three independent bodies. Man’s soul dons three coverings that serve as instruments through which the incarnate spirit can perceive, comprehend and interact with God’s creation.

The first covering, the soul, which individualizes it from Spirit, is one of pure consciousness; it is composed of God’s ideas, that cause the other sheath and is referred to as the causal body. The energy emitted from it produces the astral or energy body, which empowers all the senses and functions of the physical body. The physical body is merely a gross materialization of the causal ideas activated by the life and energy of the astral body.

All of these vibratory manifestations of the macrocosm and the microcosm are derived from the Holy Ghost Vibration and the transcendent consciousness of God.

Son of God

“God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son. “

                                                                                   John 3:16

to redeem it; that is, God the Father remained hidden beyond the vibratory realm that went out from His Being, but then secreted Himself as the Christ  Intelligence in all matter and in all living beings in order to bring all things back to His everlasting blessedness.

Sons of God

Saint John said: “As many as receive him, to them gave he the power to become sons of God. “John 14:6. The plural number in sons of God shows distinctly, from the teachings he received from Jesus, that not the body of Jesus, but the state of Christ Consciousness was the only begotten son; and that all those who could clarify their consciousness and receive God, could become sons of God.

Yoga and esoteric Christianity II

And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:5

There are two manifestations of the darkness of delusion:

One is maya, cosmic delusion and the other avidya, which means ignorance or individual illusion.

Maya or cosmic delusion is the mass hypnosis of God by which he makes every human being believe in the same illusory reality of creation as perceived by the senses.

We say that perception is reality, but we fail to ask the question, what reality are we talking about?

In philosophical terms, Reality is that which never changes. Yet, when we speak of sense perception as reality, we realize that sense perception depends on the state of mind of the observer.

Avidya or ignorance implies that one perceives that which is unreal as real. Man looks at the world and perceives it as real, but in fact, the world is in a constant flux of change and therefore, according to philosophical terms, unreal or illusory. It is not what it appears to be.

The light that shineth in darkness is the light of God.

In St. John 1:5 we read: “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”

In the intelligent creative Cosmic Vibration that went forth from the cosmic consciousness of God were His first two expressions in manifested creation, sound and light

Genesis 1:1, 3 In the beginning God said, let there be light. Units of divine light, finer than electrons and other subatomic particles are the substance of which all matter is composed.

Because of the limitations of the senses, man does not even perceive the full spectrum of material manifestation. Needless to say, the senses do not allow man to perceive higher realities.

Man possessed of delusion obliterates his true perceptions and prevents him to be aware of the light of God vibrating everywhere. This delusion obscures the soul’s intuitive sense of God’s omnipresence.

In meditation this darkness of sensory dependence vanishes, intuition becomes pronounced and one can experience oneself as light in this universal light.

That was the light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.  John 1:9

The light of the cosmic energy flowing out of the cosmic consciousness of God is the life that informs all human beings and lights their consciousness. This light is the true light because it is infinite and everlasting. Man borrows from it his temporary mortal existence from one life to the next.

Yoga teaches how to join the immortals by contacting that light and realizing the unity of human consciousness with “the true light, which lighteth every man.”

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. John 1:11

He was omni-presently immanent in creation; all things have been made or materialized from the cosmic light coming forth from God’s cosmic consciousness, His own Self.

God objectified himself as matter, life and mind. His spirit is thus reflected in “his own,” since matter, life and mind are direct manifestations of Spirit, just as man’s soul has manifested itself into body and mind imbued with life.

Although these physical instrumentalities belong to the soul, the limitations imposed on the body and mind by delusion prevent man from knowing his ever perfect, blissful soul, his true Self. He rather thinks of himself as a form, name, and specific characteristics subject to worries, troubles, and other afflictions of delusion.

So it is said that the spirit of God came into his own, meaning became manifest in matter and life and His conscious process in human beings and his own received him not. That is to say that, because of cosmic delusion, matter, life and mind do not truly reflect and express the Divine Immanence.

Tao Te Ching

Not much is written on Taoism; yet its values give us an appreciation of its gentle nature when compared to what we experience in our current society.

Particular attention is being paid to the following topics:

   1)    What are Lao Tzu’s principles of Non-Contention?

   2)    Why does the Sage not Contend?

   3)    Why can no one contend against the Sage?

   4)    How can Non-Contention be applied in daily life?

   5)    What is the difference between 

   6)    Wei (Action),

   7)    Wu Wei (Inaction), and

   8)    Wei Wu Wei (Spontaneity)?

Lao Tzu’s principle of Non Contention is similar in spirit to that of the Buddhist concept of Dukkha (Pali, in Sanskrit Duḥkha). The Buddha taught there are three main categories of Dukkha. These are:

    Suffering or pain (dukkha-dukkha) in the four Noble Truth we read, that we suffer because of desire and ignorance.

    Impermanence or change (viparinama-dukkha)

    Conditioned states (samkhara-dukkha); the yin/yang of Discomfort and Desire.

To contend or confront is to compete. Why do people compete because they desire, to be more than they are, to be better than someone else, to have power over others, to have power over themselves. In the same fashion, that discomfort/desire are the root of ego in the Buddhist tradition, so also is contending the root of ego in the path of the Tao.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate elements of the Tao as “Duḥkha” would be, to reflect them against its main contemporary, at the time,

of Confucianism.

Confucianism was the dominant religion, and Taoism was a counter-culture. The Way of Confucius was a way of ethical, social, moral, and intellectual disciplines, and a Way of ethical, social, moral and intellectual VALUES. This is important because values are societal constructs by humans to elevate or subjugate other humans. We can assume that it was rather difficult for the common man to fit comfortably into Confucianism because of its high regard for values that he could never hope to attain. An example would be education.

The Tao turns sharply away from labels like beauty, intellect, loyalty, goodness, integrity, cleverness, virtue, because in creating them, we create the antithesis of them: ugliness, stupidity, betrayal, evil, moral corruption, gullibility, and immorality.

The Confucian values of humanity are justice, wisdom, loyalty, goodness, cleverness, virtue and integrity. The valuation of these subjective elements leads to a hierarchical values system for the social group. It generates the “haves” and the “have not’s”. This leads to the never ending cycle of discomfort on the one hand and desire on the other. Contention/Duḥkha, leads to division of the “haves” and “have not’s” to those who can and those who never will be able to. These fragmentations lead to hopelessness and despair/desire and Contention.

#2

The teachings:

(When all) below heaven know beauty as beauty,

There arises ugliness.

(When they all) know the good as good,

There arises evil.

Therefore,

Being and Non-being arise together

Difficult and easy complete each other.

Long and short take shape together.

High and low lean toward each other.

Sound and tone make harmony together.

Front and behind accompany each other. #1

By refusing the identification of Values the Tao develops as a Way that everyone can follow with a hope of success. The nature of the path narrows considerably based upon the state of the practitioners consciousness. A farmer’s Tao is simplicity because a farmer’s awareness is limited; a Sage’s Tao is more difficult because his/her awareness is broader. He knows what he is releasing.

#3

Exalt not the virtuous,

So that the common people will not contend (Want, Desire),

Treasure not goods difficult to obtain,

So that the common people will not steal.

Display not the objects of desire,

so that the common people’s minds will not be confused.

Therefore, in the government of the Sage,

(The people’s) minds are empty,

Their bellies are full,

Their ambitions are weakened,

Their bones are strengthened.

(As) their minds are always

Free of knowledge and desire,

The clever will not dare to interfere.

(Through) action without action,

All will be at peace.

One becomes a Sage by achieving to live according to the Natural order, by releasing labels (Values). Taoists refer to “The Natural” as harmony with rhythms of the cosmos. As previously stated, Values are a construct of humans, and human social structure. The Natural knows how to treat others, how to live an honorable life just for the sake of doing so.

The Ideal of the Sage is freedom from desire or discrimination, (knowledge of the world) calmness and Tranquility (knowledge of the true nature of self), and spontaneity of action and non-attachment (spiritual knowledge).

Born of these is a direct knowledge of the energy of the world (Te).

(One who) knows – does not speak

(One who) speaks – does not know

(If one) closes the mouth, shuts the doors,

Dulls the edges, unties the tangles

Harmonizes the light, and unifies the dust,

(One reaches) the mysterious unity.

Then it will not be possible for love and hatred

To touch (you), for gain and loss to affect (you),

Nor for honor and disgrace to move (you).

Therefore, (you) would be the honored one of the

(World) below heaven.

A Sage is like a brand new infant who can do nothing else but take life in as it comes. He cannot judge it, he can only experience it, let it go and move on to the next experience. He is like water, still and calm, until a stone is tossed in, and then after the upset of the ripples, returned to calm and still. He desires nothing, He does not contend.

The Sage’s heart is not fixed,

And so takes the people’s heart as (his own) heart.

The good (ones) I treat well.

The bad (ones) I also treat well.

(This is) the Te of goodness.

The honest (ones) I treat with honesty.

The liars I also treat with honesty.

(This is) the Te of honesty

The Sage dwells harmoniously with all,

Blending his heart (with all things)

(In the world) below Heaven.

The people’s ears and eyes are all fixed.

(Thus) the Sage (regards) them all as (innocent) children. #3

If the Sage walks the path in the Natural, (does not Contend) then what about the others who are not on the path, the others who may Contend against the Sage? (see above) The answer is simple.

The honest (ones) I treat with honesty.

The liars I also treat with honesty.

It takes two to Contend. It takes two to quarrel. If the Sage is truly in the Natural, he will not engage the one who contends against him, and the Contention is neutralized. It isn’t that he chooses non contention or non-engagement, but rather that since he is in the Natural, to Contend or not Contend simply does not exist. It is not labeled; it has no state of consciousness/awareness.

Everywhere, they say the Way, our doctrine,

Is so very like detested folly;

But greatness of its own alone explains

Why it should be thus held beyond the pale.

If it were only orthodox, long since

It would have seemed a small and pretty thing!

I have to keep three treasures well secured:

The first, compassion; next, frugality;

And third, I say that never would I once

Presume that I should be the whole world’s chief.

Given compassion, I can take courage;

Given frugality, I can abound;

If I can be the world’s most humble man,

Then I can be its highest instrument.

Bravery today knows no compassion;

Abundance is, without frugality,

And eminence without humility:

This is the death indeed of all our hope.

In battle, ‘tis compassion wins the day;

Defending, ‘its compassion that is firm:

Compassion arms the people God would save! #5

The Way of the Tao approaches social action from the standpoint of inaction. By being, not doing. A result is achieved by allowing the result to happen, rather than by interfering, manipulating or in other ways causing the result to happen.

#2 continued...

There for the Sage

Manages affairs without acting, and

Travels (the path of) the wordless teaching.

The Ten Thousand Things interact,

But (the Sage) does not turn away (from them).

(They) spring up, but (the Sage) does not grasp (them).

(The Sage) acts, but does not rely on (actions).

Accomplishes, but does not rest on (accomplishments).

Because (the Sage) does not rest on (accomplishments),

(They) cannot be taken away. #6

This apparent inaction is called Wu Wei.

If a Sage happens also to be a ruler, Wu Wei means to govern by letting the people do what people do, not by telling them to do what you think they should do. Most if not all rulers have controlled the masses through Wei that is: action. The reciprocating result of the influence of a ruler is the establishment of an aristocracy. If there is an upper class, there must be a lower class for the upper class to rule, and be better than. And so here we are back with the “haves” and “have not’s”

Use the normal to govern the state.

Use surprise to fight battles.

Use not doing to regulate (the world) below heaven.

How do I know this is so? Through this:

(When) superstitions and taboos abound in the land,

The people will become impoverished.

(When) beautiful things fill the Imperial courts,

The state and the family will become confused.

(When) there are many clever and cunning people,

Strange things will begin to happen.

(When) laws and decrees are made prominent,

Thieves and rebels will appear.

Consequently, the Sage says,

I take no action, and the people reform themselves.

I love stillness, and the people regulate themselves.

I (engage in) no business and the people enrich themselves.

I have no desires, and the people (return to) the Natural.

When wise rulers stop interfering in the daily affairs of the people, the people are free to return to their traditional lifestyles. They return to a life of simplicity and satisfaction - naturally.

(When) the ruler is dull and idle,

The people will be simple and pure.

(When) the ruler is discriminating and clever,

The people will be discontented and resentful.

(Since) calamity is founded on good fortune,

(And) good fortune is concealed in calamity,

Who could know the ultimate (result)?

(It the ruler) does not (use) the normal,

The normal will revert to the strange,

And the good will revert to the sinister.

For so long have the people gone astray.

Therefore, the Sage is Square, but not cutting,

Pure, but not harming, Genuine, but not indiscreet,

Bright, but not dazzling.

To experience Wu Wei in everyday life implies effortless living, it teaches us not to force actions but let them take their course of nature.   An example is, if we grow a plant by following the teaching of Wu-Wei, we would work the soil, plant the seed, fertilize and water it and keep the soil loose; then we would let the plant grow on its own.   

Heaven is everlasting and Earth is eternal.

The reason Heaven is everlasting and Earth is eternal

Is that they do not live for self.

Thus they are able to live long.

Therefore, the Sage puts himself last,

And finds himself in the forefront.

(The Sage puts) his body outside,

And so his body is preserved.

Is not the Sage then without personal interests?

Thus he is able to complete his interests.

If we can really walk in the Way of the Natural, then we walk in Wei/Wu/Wei (acting without acting) and everything we see and do and touch is as if for the first time. It is a continual spontaneous experience with no prior expectations, no judgments, and no attachment.

 It is necessary to understand that I Am, in order that I may know that I (ego) am not, So that at last I may realize that, I am not, therefore I Am.“Ask the Awakened”        

The wise person deals with things through wu-wei and teaches through no-words. The ten thousand things flourish without interruption. They grow by themselves, and no one possesses them.  

Every being in the universe

Is an expression of the Tao.

It springs into existence,

Unconscious, perfect, free,

Takes on a physical body,

Lets circumstances complete it.

That is why every being

Spontaneously honors the Tao.

The Tao gives birth to all beings,

Nourishes them, maintains them,

Cares for them, comforts them, protects them,

Takes them back to itself,

Creating without possessing,

Acting without expecting,

Guiding without interfering.

That is why love of the Tao

is in the very nature of things.

Taoism teaches us to flow with life, and to drop expectations. The more expectations we have from life, the less we will become. A Taoist lives in the here and now fully. Taoism teaches that by expressing life as it comes to us, we will express our true nature.  

What is Taoism?

Taoism takes its name from the word "Tao" ("the Way"), the ancient Chinese name for the ordering principle that makes cosmic harmony possible. Not a transcendent ultimate, the Tao is found in the world (especially through nature), and can be encountered directly through mystical experience. It is the ultimate reality as well as the proper natural way of life humans must follow. Taoism prizes naturalness, non-action, and inwardness.

There are two kinds of Taoism: philosophical and religious. Philosophical Taoism is rational, contemplative, and nonsectarian, and it accepts death as a natural returning to the Tao. Religious Taoism is magical, cultic, esoteric, and sectarian, and it emphasizes health and healing as ways to gain long life or even immortality. T'ai chi and the medical practice of Qigong are modern manifestations of Taoism.

For further reading visit:

http://www.with.org/tao_te_ching_en.pdf

Tao Te Ching

by Lao-tzu

J. Legge, Translator

http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/taote.htm

The need for a greater comprehension of what real Love is. 1 of 2

The word, love is so widely used today? It is defined as not only a strong liking but an ardent attachment, with reference to persons or things that arouse the deeper or higher emotions. The real meaning of the word, love, is lost today primarily because it is used for trivial things. For example, "I love candy," or "I love to go to the theatre." It replaces the words, like and enjoy. For things which are merely pleasing, but evoke no great warmth of feeling or desire. Love is also used for, enjoy. This habitual use of the word, love, to express other feelings minimizes the real potential of love in its true sense. Love is also interwoven with sacrifice in the sense of denying oneself for the sake of someone or something else. The habitual use of the word, love, in our society is distorting its real content through misuse and misguidance. The basic meaning of love is understood primarily in relationships between persons, but it is expressed in its best quality through devotion, loyalty, intimate knowledge and responsibility.

What is the source of love from a Western perspective?

The Greek word that refers to the love of God, one of the kinds of love we are to have for people, is agape. Agape is the very nature of God, for God is love, for a full description, you may want to read (1 John 4:7-12, 16).  The big key to understanding agape is to realize that it can be known from how one acts. People are accustomed to thinking of love as a feeling, but that is not necessarily the case with agape love. Agape is love because of what it does, not because of how it feels.

In the New Testament we read, "God is Love" and that human beings are made in the image of God, who is Love. Every person is able to practice love and give himself to God and others (agape) and then receive and experience God's love in contemplation.

The third word for “love” is phileo, which means “to have a special interest in someone or something, frequently with a focus on close association; have affection for, like, consider someone a friend.” friendship.

There are other expressions about love, "Love conquers all" to The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love". St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle, defines love as "to will the good of another."Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of "absolute value," as opposed to relative value. Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz said that love is "to be delighted by the happiness of another."

We can see, that Love is described as a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection, love for one’s mother, to pleasure, I loved that meal. It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment. It can also be a virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection, "the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another". It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals.

When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, John 8:28. Lifting up the son of man implies giving up one’s ego.

A person who walks the path of devotion destroys his egoism through self-surrender to God. He says: “I am Thine”. All is Thine, Thy will be done. He feels he is an instrument in the hands of God. He feels that there is nothing but God and that everything is done by Him. Even an atom cannot move without Him and that all live, move and have their very being in Him alone.

Eastern religious thought has always fascinated, and often confused, the Western mind. It emphasizes values the West has forgotten. It celebrates the self, and yet it's the opposite of selfishness. It shows us a reality that goes beyond our world, yet it is not otherworldly. Far from being impractical, disengaged, and indifferent Eastern religions offer the physical, mental, and spiritual tools to enable a person to live life more fully and deeply. They lead the way not off into some weird, indefinable ether, but a path deep down into the truest self.

Let’s take a look at Divine Love.

Divine love makes no demand. It is spontaneous and constant. It is unlimited in every way. It is like the sun. The sun is for everybody. Everybody enjoys the sunlight, but if we keep our doors and windows shut, what can the sun do?

It is God’s divine Love that expresses through our human love. But if we do not open ourselves to this love that is flowing around us and wants to flow in us, then the divine love cannot express in and through us.

Human love binds, Divine love illumines. Divine love starts with our awareness of a higher reality. It represents the highest truth. Divine love at every moment illumines us, and in this illumination we find total fulfillment.

God loves unconditionally each and every human being.

The need for a greater comprehension of what real Love is. 2 of 2

The very nature of human love is unfortunately reserved for only a small number of people, but in divine love, which is unlimited and infinite, the question of acceptance and rejection does never arise. In divine love there is no possession, but only a feeling of oneness.

Divine love tells us that our life is infinitely more important than we imagine. Divine love means constant transcendence toward God.

Divine love connects with our soul. It liberates and expands our consciousness. Love means oneness of divinity, oneness of reality, oneness of the individual consciousness with the unlimited Universal.

When we enter into the Universal Consciousness through our meditation, we do not think of human love. We think only of Divine love and oneness and our capacity for divine love becomes unlimited.

Divine love will come from God and from our own meditation, but only when we do not cherish expectation which results in limitations.

When we become unconditionally surrendered in God’s Will, we attract infinite Divine love. Everything will come in the form of love. We will get peace, but it will come in the form of love; and this peace we will need to share with our brothers and sisters.

God Himself manifests everything through Love, here on earth and in any other realm. God is the highest and most illumined influence in our lives.

Everything that comes from God is unconditional. His Love is given unconditionally; all we have to do is receive it with an open heart.

Summery

Ordinarily, in human love, consciously or unconsciously, we think in terms of subject and object. I subject – desire something personal or impersonal, care for, like, sacrifice myself, all for the sake of love. Being dual in mature, it will never quite satisfy the heart. There seems to be always something missing in the experience,

When we look for that missing something, we need to start looking into our own self, for a deeper love that lies within. But how can I, we access it?

We can start searching Psychology and look into those teachings for some of the components that describe love, like intimacy, passion, and commitment. Intimacy encompasses feelings of attachment, closeness, and connectedness. Passion encompasses drives connected to both infatuation and sexual attraction. We still end up seeing ourselves as body, mind beings.

So what are we missing? We are missing to know about our spiritual nature. We need to look at wholeness. Here our search becomes more complicated. When we bring spirit into the equation, we must also look at the source of our existence. Most cultures refer to this source, in whatever language it may be, as the Absolute, the Infinite, God or Original cause. Next we have to ask, what is the nature of this Original cause? Let’s say it is Love.

If the nature of the cause is love, and we are a part of this cause, then it stands to reason, that our intrinsic nature is love and that the love of God resides in all of us. Hence, not only are we connected with God, but we are also connected with one another; we finally realize that all is One.

Now the reason, that we don’t naturally realize this is because of conditioning. Christians are told they are sinners and secular people look for love and pleasure in the world. But when we realize that our true nature is love, which flows from the source through us all, then what we share with one another is love and what we attract to ourselves is love.

We all need to uncover this love in our own being and then connect it with the source and with one another.

Where do we start? We start by realizing that we are more that our personality self, the ego, in fact, we have to let go of the ego, when this occurs, we automatically connect with our soul and finally our soul with Spirit. “The Father and I are one”, the proclamation of Jesus.

This is liberation, freedom while being in this world, yet knowing that we are not of this world.

God's Sea Of Love

                                       Like floating on the sea of God's limitless love,

Or flying free on the wings of a pure white dove,

I'm lost in the arms of an endless embrace -

No subject, no object, no time, no space.

                                A perfect expression of the Creator's image,

While we're in this material, human stage,

Is experiencing oneness of essential self

And knowing the Knower, it's being beyond belief.

All the harmonies of nature before us,

Celestial sounds of angelic chorus:

Perfection's gateway is through the heart;

Peace, beloved, we'll never part.

                                               - Jennifer Wenzel -