Gilbert Reid

“ This self-abasement is but an element in placidity and non-action, as they in turn are a form of virtue. Lao-tse says: "Who tiptoes, totters. Who straddles, stumbles. The self-displaying man cannot shine. An egotistic man is not distinguished. One who praises himself has no merit. The self-conceited cannot excel." The idea is that one must hide himself under the cover of Law and virtue, which are perfect, satisfying, eternal, and pervasive. The one who pushes himself forward is likely to diminish the glory and effectiveness of the Supreme and Infinite. ”

“ Law germinates, virtue nourishes. Through the material world they are given form, by the forces of Nature they attain to completion. Therefore amongst all the varieties of the universe nothing should be so revered as Law or so honored as virtue. To thus revere Law and honor virtue does not come through any command, but ever arises spontaneously. ”

“ Thus in the fourth chapter of the great classic it is said that this universal Law is as if it were the ancestor of the material universe, plainly teaching, as elsewhere it is taught, that before the heavens and the earth and all this material world, with its vegetable and animal life, there existed this eternal and universal Law. ”

“ In losing Law, virtue is lost. In losing virtue, brotherly love is lost. In losing brotherly love, righteousness is lost. In losing righteousness, the sense of propriety is lost." From this we see that every virtuous action must be traced back to eternal Law, summed up in the eternal God.
Nothing is more important, in the Taoist conception, than character saturated with virtue, which in turn is the truest expression of the voice of God, speaking imperatively in every human soul. ”

“ One is as follows: "He who by the aid of eternal Law assists the ruler of men, does not rely on arms to conquer the world. Where armies are quartered, there briars and thorns grow up. After a great war there comes the year of famine. A good man is determined, and goes no farther. He ventures not to take by force."
Again Lao-tse says: "Even beautiful arms cannot make them auspicious weapons. Even inanimate Nature despises them. Hence, he who follows the laws of the universe has nothing to do with them. Soldiers are instruments of ill omen, they are not agents or the Princely Man. ”

“ Law reveals itself in all the works of nature and in every individual being, and yet it existed before nature and man came into existence. " It is not merely immanent; it is supernatural and prenatural." ”

“ Thus if man conforms to the Law of heaven, he will aspire after passivity, non-assertion, freedom from useless exertion and troublesome meddlesomeness. He will regard as nothing his own deeds, and give full play to the inner working of the Law of the ages and the spirit of the Infinite. ”

“ The first chapter of the classic of Lao-tse begins with a most concise statement of Tao or Law, distinguishing two kinds. The one is everlasting, the nameless, the ineffable; the other is not everlasting, and bears a name. From other passages we learn that one is heaven's Law and the other man's Law, but that man to attain to highest virtue must conform, not to his own ideas, but to the Law of God written on the heart. ”

“ According to Taoism virtue is the working and manifestation of Law. Greater than this material world as an illustration of Law is virtue. The term used is a comprehensive one, including all the virtues. The word virtue used with the word Law is viewed as so important that the two together form the title of the great Taoist classic. "The appearance of comprehensive virtue," said Lao-tse, "is none other than conformity to Law. The character of Law is impalpable and eluding." Law is the root; virtue is the fruitage. ”

“ From this passage there seems to be implied that this immateriality or this universal Law bears within itself a distinction, called Being and Non-Being, or Existence and Non-Existence. Before this material universe came into shape there was an unseen, immutable, and omnipresent Law, which is like Kant's pure Form or Plato's "Ideas," but even this has a higher and lower state, the latter called Being and the former still more intangible and spiritual, demonimated as the great Nothing, as pure Non-Being. ”

“ By a process of non-action, i.e., by not forcing one's self to do a thing, one is able to do most. By striving, one fails to reach the best results — this is the lower form of virtue. By submitting one's self to the internal operations of Law the greatest results are reached — this is the higher form of virtue. It is by dependence on infinite power, rather than by self-assertion or personal exertion, that heaven finds scope for carrying out action in the soul. ”

“ Faithfulness is virtue." Thus Christ in many ways taught that we should love those who hate as well as those who love, even as God's love goes forth to the good and the bad alike. Lao-tse in one clause of only four characters says we should "requite hatred with virtue," like the biblical saying, "Recompense evil with good."
This teaching is the highest form of all human teaching; it brings the Law which governs God into the activities of man — God's grace and man's love, universal in their scope, without discrimination or partiality. ”

“ This quality of putting one's self into a state of quietness, but subject to higher influences, is taught again in these words : "Practice non-action; do the silent deed; have ambition to be without ambition; turn small things into great; make much out of little." ”

“ The sage or holy man, according to Taoism, is different from the Confucian conception. Lao-tse says: "The holy man abides by non-assertion in his affairs, and practices the lessons of silence."
Chuang-tsu, the disciple of Lao-tse, adheres to the same idea, though not emphasized to the same degree. We cite one of his sayings: "What is Tao or Law? There is the Law of heaven and the Law of man. Inaction and compliance form the Law of heaven; action and entanglement the Law of man. The Law of heaven is fundamental, the Law of man is accidental. The distance which separates them is vast. ”

“ Modern Christianity, with its institutionalism and many organizations, societies, and committees, is rather the converse of such teachings as these of the Chinese mystic, but a choice element in Christianity through all the ages has drawn instinctively to this meditative aspect of spiritual religion, has made use of retreats, and has cultivated self-abasement that " God may be all and in all." In fact the best type of Christian thought and life is in close agreement with this fundamental teaching of Taoism. ”

“ The last feature of Taoism which the Christian can appreciate is that he who does right — he who follows Law and possesses virtue — need fear no harm. "Venomous reptiles do not sting him, fierce beasts do not seize him, birds of prey do not strike him."
Chuang-tsu has also words of consolation for the good man in the face of threatened danger: "The man of perfect virtue cannot be burnt by fire, nor drowned in water, nor hurt by frost or sun, nor torn by wild bird or beast. ”

“ Both Taoism and Christianity have the hope of immortality and the thought of a spiritual body transformed from this body of flesh and blood, of animal passions, and restricted capabilities. Both are cheered by the belief that in the future life one passes from earth into the greater power and happier conditions of God's great universe. ”

“ Hence some have criticized Taoism, as they have criticized modern Confucianism, as being without God, as materialistic or atheistic. Thus, it is cited, Chu-fu-tsu of the Sung dynasty once used the expression "Heaven is li or principle," turning personality into a mere idea. The thought of this profound philosopher was rather that even' heaven must conform to the ruling principles of the universe, and so thoroughly does he conform thereto that both are brought together as one. ”

“ The sayings of Confucianism are useful in ethical instruction, and those of Taoism in spiritual instruction.
Both Taoism and Confucianism embrace within themselves the teachings prior to the time of their special founders, Lao-tse and Confucius, just as Christianity includes the records of both the Old and New Testament Scriptures. In ancient time there was only one religion in China, which had been handed down from the earliest days. Confucianism and Taoism were only two branches of the one ancient faith, two schools of thought interpreting a revelation from God. ”

“ A fifth teaching which every Christian can appreciate is that it is the weak who are to conquer the strong. One of Lao-tse's sayings is this: "In the world nothing is so delicate and flexible as water, yet for attacking that which is hard and strong, nothing surpasses it. There is nothing that can take its place. The weak conquer the strong, the tender conquer the hard. ”

“ In the pursuit of Tao or Law one is willing to decrease, until he reaches a state of non-action. By non-action there is nothing but can be done. To win the Empire, one must always be free of much doing. He who is a busybody can never win the country. ”

“ The Logos is God in the aspect of being revealed, culminating in a human incarnation. According to the Taoist idea, Law has these twofold aspects, both of which, but especially the aspect of manifestation, are concerned in bringing the material universe into being. ”

“ My acquaintance with the teachings, books, and followers of Taoism has been nearly as long as my acquaintance with Confucianism, and growth in acquaintance has brought growth in appreciation. On my part there is today more than tolerance of another faith ”

“ What he prizes most is quiet and peace. He will not praise a victory. To praise a victory means to rejoice in the slaughter of men." Farther on in the same section he adds: "The slayer of multitudes should bitterly weep and lament." ”

“ He who does the will of God has God's protection and need fear no harm. Thus the psalmist has spoken his message of consolation, which has stayed the souls of martyrs: "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent, for he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. ”

“ This is like the Christian saying, "He that is first shall be last."
One more saying of Lao-tse, very similar to the one already quoted, still further substantiates this truth: "The Holy Man embraces unity and becomes the world's model. He is not self-displaying, and thus he shines. He is not egotistic, and thus he is distinguished. He does not praise himself, and thus he has merit. He is not self-conceited, and thus he excels." These are sentiments closely allied with the sayings of Christ, and we may well say, "They are hard to hear." None the less they are great spiritual truths. ”

“ An eighth attraction is the teaching concerning immortality, shown in one sentence in Lao-tse's classic, viz.: "One may die but not perish — this is everlasting life." In many ways Taoism has brought to human hearts a feeling of satisfaction by the hope perpetually taught of life after death, life immortal, and life with a spiritualized body.
The Taoist looks forward to the dwelling of the immortals; the Christian looks forward to eternal life. The Taoist believes that through proper training life becomes perpetual ”

“ The Confucian branch represents the more practical and ethical side of religion, while the Taoist branch represents the more spiritual and mystical side. There are, indeed, but few references to the ancient books in Taoist literature, but the careful student will discern many religious ideas which were absorbed into the Taoist classic from the holy men before, just as one who drinks from a stream is drinking from a spring far up the mountains. ”

“ Whatever be the defects in the followers of Lao-tse, as in the followers of Christ, our admiration goes forth to both Lao-tse and Christ, and we believe in perfect confidence that their goodness, or grace, or truth, or gentleness, all come from God, "to whom be all the glory." ”

“ Having fully discussed the deep meaning of Too or universal Law, as unfolded by Taoism more fully than by any other religious system, it is easy to pass on to other features of Taoism which command the Christian's appreciation. ”

“ We seem to face in another form the gentle, forgiving spirit of Christ — the great Logos appearing in China before he appeared in Judea.
7. A seventh attractive feature of Taoism is that it teaches our duty to be good to all. Thus Lao-tse says: "The good 1 meet with goodness, the bad I also meet with goodness; goodness is virtue. The faithful I meet with faithfulness, and the faithless I meet with faithfulness. ”