The Tao Teh Ching and Me

First of all, an introduction:  The Tao Teh Ching is a book of ancient Chinese wisdom written around 600 BCE.  I've read that it is the second most-translated book into English.  The book is attributed to a Lao Tzu, but scholars disagree as to whether he wrote the book initially or simply compiled aphorisms that were general knowledge at the time.  In fact, scholars debate whether there was a single person called "Lao Tzu" at all.

The book is comprised of 81 "chapters"  Most chapters take up less than a single page in a book and many of them take up less than a half page.  So it's a very short book.  Recurring topics in the book include personal integrity, respect for the natural world, escape from dualistic thinking, the futility and danger of owning earthly treasure, and advice for those who rule over others. 

Here's a sample:

  "Thirty spokes are gathered at each hub:
   absence makes the cart work.
   A storage jar fashioned out of clay:
   absence makes the jar work.
   Doors and windows cut in a house: 
   absence makes the house work.

   Presence gives things their value,
   but absence makes them work."  (Translation by David Hinton)

I love the book.  I own over a dozen different translations, each of which reveals a new facet of the author -- and (for better or worse) of the translator.

I came across the book in the mid 1970's and was immediately taken with its terse prose and deep wisdom.  Back then, my wife and I were relatively new at Quakerism, and we were enchanted with the theological freedom we had found in our local Quaker Meeting.  (My wife had been a lapsed Catholic for years by then, and I had been a lapsed Episcopal for even longer.)  

When I started going to Renee Crauder's 8-day silent retreats (described elsewhere in this document), I developed a newfound respect for the Bible in general and Jesus in particular.  And I didn't find any conflict between what I read in the Bible and what I read in the Tao Teh Ching and how I understood Quakerism.  And at the same time, I found a closer relationship between the Tao Teh Ching.  And this closeness was supported and validated by my understanding of Quakerism.  

So for decades, I had these three "pillars" of my faith: Jesus, Quakerism, and the Tao Teh Ching.  And I felt no conflict between any of these.  But my connection to "formal" Christianity -- which I think was never that strong -- waned ever fainter.  There were all the scandals of people calling themselves "Christians" -- TV evangelists, predatory Catholic priests, political conservatives who adjusted Scripture to meet their right-wing agendas.  And then there was the outstanding issue of: "What about all those deeply devoted Muslims, Jews, Native Americans etc. Does Christianity deny them the path to salvation and holiness?"  

So it seems to me that as my interest dwindled in being a "full-bore" Christian, my interest in Jesus went along with that.  Just too much "baggage."  And so that "pillar" of my faith fell away -- which felt was okay (when I thought about it at all), as I had two pillars left.  

So for decades, I drew my spiritual nourishment from the Tao Teh Ching and participation in Quaker Meeting.  But with time, my interest in the book became more and more of an intellectual pursuit rather than a source of wisdom and solace.  And my involvement with Meeting became more and more a matter of social and organizational commitment rather than a spiritual home.

In the months of my involvement with The School of the Spirit, I have come to see that I've allowed myself to settle into a rather small Spiritual Home, as described elsewhere in this paper.