dfnj
Well-Known Member
Perhaps no Taoist would ever put it quite so bluntly as I will, but the Tao (1) existed before the gods existed, (2) has nothing to do with the gods other than the Tao might (or might not) be responsible for determining the nature of the gods, and (3) is in some special Taoist sense, superior to the gods."The writer of the Tao Te Ching only mentions the divine a couple of times, in passing, as if not at all convinced of their existence. He certainly doesn't give them a significant role in the universe he describes." -- Stefan Stenudd
So what is you take on it? Is the Tao god? Or is the Tao not god? And what is the relationship between the Tao and god?
I recently posted a thread where I said people who do not believe in God have a precise definition for the word God where the meaning of the word God must have limitations and boundaries like an "object" to be experienced in reality order for God to be considered to be real. Then I made the point all the major religions I have read use words that represent ideas without boundaries. In the list of words I used was the word "Tao". You responded by saying you were amused by the idea I was saying Tao equals God. I did not respond at the time. But at the time I did not mean Tao equals God. What I said was religions or spiritual ideas use words that represent parts of reality that do NOT have boundaries or limits. The idea of a word representing something meaningful in reality not having boundaries simply does not compute for types of people who presume "objects" are all that exists was the point I was trying to make.
I've always been fascinated by Taoism.
"If this seems complex, the reason is because Tao is both simple and complex. It is complex when we try to understand it, and simple when we allow ourselves to experience it. Trying to understand Tao is like closing the shutters of a window before looking for a shadow. We might close the shutters to prevent anyone from discovering our treasure, but the same shutters prevent the moonlight from entering the room. All there is in the room is darkness, and in total darkness we cannot find the shadow, no matter how hard or diligently we seek."
When I think about the Tao I envision a semantic envelope around my mind where thoughts coming into my mind are pieces of yang and the space between my thoughts are the yin.
I think the trinity of having a three phase idea is a classification of ideas called a Unity of Opposites. Essentially for meaning to have any meaning at all you have to have three things. Two things in tension and an observer. For example, "up" cannot be defined without "down" and neither can be understood without a point of reference we call the "observer".
Unity of opposites - Wikipedia
So in a way I do equate the word Tao to God but in the following context:
Time = Tao = holy-ghost-God
mass = Yin = body-of-Christ
Energy = Yang = blood-of-Christ
The words "time", "Tao", and "God" all have the same property of not being able to hold them in your fingers.
https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-09/book-excerpt-there-no-such-thing-time/
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