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The Tao of Jesus
I've always thought of the Tao as all encompassing - including thoughts. When MDahlen says we can detect the Tao, I think of that as being our perspective/thoughts about the experience. I have had my moments of "feeling" the Tao, or being "one with the Tao" But these are my perceptions; they are only part of the Tao, they aren't separate.
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I love finding Taoist views that correspond to the core views of Jesus. Recently I realized how this Taoist cornerstone, The way that can be spoken of is not the constant way and Christ's 'Judge not, that ye be not judged both drive home a similar point. Both are easy to understand intellectually (i.e., not rocket science), and yet both are exceedingly difficult to know and put into practice emotionally. The following example illustrates how I see these views corresponding to each other. Following this are a few words on why we may have difficulty 'practicing what we preach', and why we preach what we preach in the first place.
A Oneness Of Consciousness
First, I think we can all agree on one thing: You and I each walk down the road of life in our own shoes. While the myriad particulars of our 'private tao' are unique in countless ways, the tao[1] we share is profoundly the same. I like to think of this as our illusionary awareness of difference within a Oneness of consciousness.
Known As Mysterious Sameness
Now let's say we're mowing a lawn, with each of us following our 'private tao'. You prefer to mow it fast and loose in the view that "good enough is good enough", while I prefer to mow it slow and precise in the view that "perfection is superior". The question is, which way is right and closer to the constant way? How can this be answered given that each way is a unique culmination of our 'private tao' at that moment? The only obvious constancy lies in the overarching commonality of our differences. (Is this not a peek into what [chref=56]is known as mysterious sameness[/chref]?)
Judged On The Shadows Cast
Nevertheless, we tend to pass judgment, with each person feeling that their way is right and the other's way is wrong. Judging that something 'should' be a particular way merely reflects our own fears, needs, and desires to be right about what is most important to each of us. Thus, as Jesus suggested, we who judge end up being judged on the shadows cast by our subjective judgments. The judgments we make say volumes about us, and nothing about the objects we judge.
By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them
Essentially, the judgments of superiority we make mirror a personal sense of superiority and merit that we yearn to feel within, often subconsciously. So, in mowing the lawn, I'll judge you fast and careless, while you'll see me as slow and obsessive. Alas, this only trumpets what we fear losing, or feel we need to gain (e.g., I fear the loss of respect for the virtue of perfection; you need 'good enough' to be given greater respect). Moreover, the greater the fear or need we feel, the more clarity our judgment will have. This parallels Christ's 'Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them', with the fruit in this case being the certainty of the judgments we cast.
That Which Is Naturally So
All things share [chref=14]the thread running through the way[/chref]. I like to think of this common thread we share as a universal light of consciousness. The degree of similarity or difference we see within that light depends upon how virtuous we need to believe our way is compared to another's way. Only when we need [chref=2]lay claim to no merit[/chref] (i.e., we have the humility of the [chref=61]lower position[/chref]) are we impartial enough to sense [chref=56]mysterious sameness[/chref] most deeply. Only then do we have faith enough to follow [chref=25]the way that models itself on that which is naturally so[/chref]. Finally we know 'naturally so' encompasses both perfection and good enough.
Scapegoats Abound
Even so, we will still feel tinges of emotional conviction in the differences we see and assess. This is so even when we are courageous enough to admit that all our judgments arise from a self-centered bias. Despite a sincere acceptance that this is the case, why is the compassionate impartiality we feel we know still so difficult to [chref=70]put into practice[/chref]? Who or what is to blame for this failure? Scapegoats abound: parents, upbringing, culture, ignorance, karma, false teaching, false prophets, the devil, money, drugs, original sin, diet, etc.
Keep Nature's Pot Stirring
We have a hard time accepting that it is just nature's way. Our biology simply didn't evolve to be impartial. In this game of life, both cooperation and competition, impartiality and subjectivity, are necessary to keep nature's pot stirring. So why does religion preach mostly the cooperative and impartiality side of this coin? Well, isn't this just symptomatic of how much the other side dominates our way of life? Religion is simply our attempt to rebalance life. Furthermore, isn't our way of life (i.e., post-hunter-gatherer civilization) symptomatic of a species [chref=16]who willfully innovated while ignorant of the constant[/chref]? :oops:
Just Use The Light
Some believe God does the final 'that ye be not judged' part, and that's fine. The principle still holds regardless of who judges or if no one judges. Moreover, this reflective principle also applies to positive judgments as well. Neither positive or negative judgments are impartial; each [chref=2]produces each other[/chref]. Ah, but that's another story. Personally speaking, I prefer to 'judge' everything I see as nothing more than a symptom of deeper causes. Doing this takes the edge off judgments I make by pulling me in to look deeper and deeper until things get so [chref=21]indistinct and shadowy[/chref] that I often [chref=52]give up the discernment
[1] Tao in Chinese literally means 'road, way, path, channel, course.'