Tao « Prayers and Reflections
“One yin and one yang constitute what is known as Tao.” (I Ching) In “The Lau Tzu” (Tao Te Ching) the two forms of yin and yang refer to heaven and earth. This directly correlates with the concept of the Taoist trilogy, the San Ti, which postulates man is the same as heaven and earth.
1.. In Taoism, the basic, eternal principle of the universe that transcends reality and is the source of being, non-being, and change.
2.. In Confucianism, the right manner of human activity and virtuous conduct seen as stemming from universal criteria and ideals governing right, wrong, and other categories of existence. (American Heritage)
“Wu Chi creates Tai Chi, Tai Chi is the one Chi. One Chi generates Yin and Yang, and Yin and Yang can change in infinite ways.” This is also stated allegorically in the “Lau Tzu,” (“Tao Te Ching”
. ” Tao produced oneness. Oneness produced duality, Duality evolved into the ten thousand things. The ten thousand things support the yin, and embrace the yang. It is the blending of the breaths (of yin and yang) that their harmony depends.”
Now compare this idea with the description of the monad from the Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster….
This sequence of from the “Oracles,” reflects a parallel to the monad and Tai Chi that is unmistakable..
25. The Monad first existed, and the Paternal Monad still subsists.
26. When the Monad is extended, the Dyad is generated.
27. And beside Him is seated the Dyad which glitters with intellectual sections,
to govern all things and to order everything not ordered.
28. The Mind of the Father said that all things should be cut into Three, whose
Will assented, and immediately all things were so divided.
29. The Mind of the Eternal Father said into Three, governing all things by Mind.
30. The Father mingled every Spirit from this Triad.
31. All things are supplied from the bosom of this Triad.
32. All things are governed and subsist in this Triad
33. For thou must know that all things bow before the Three Supernals.
34. From thence floweth forth the Form of the Triad, being preexistent; not the
first Essence, but that whereby all things are measured.
35. And there appeared in it Virtue and Wisdom, and multiscient Truth.
36. For in each World shineth the Triad, over which the Monad ruleth.”
As you can figure the two concepts are the same, although they may be stated somewhat differently. We do not have to achieve Tao, we are already part of it. All we need to do is realize its potential.
--Tom Saunders
Come and behold: There is a dress that is visible to everyone. The simple people, when they see a person dressed beautifully, WHO APPEARS TO THEM DISTINGUISHED BY HIS CLOTHING, do not observe any further. THEY MAKE THEIR JUDGMENTS ABOUT HIM ACCORDING TO HIS DISTINGUISHED APPAREL and they consider the dress as the body OF MAN, and the body OF THE PERSON LIKE his soul.
Similar to this is the Torah. It has a body, which is composed of the commandments of the Torah that are called the ‘body of the Torah’. This body is clothed with garments, which are stories of this world. The ignorant of the world look only at that dress, which is the story in the Torah, and are not aware of anything more. They do not look at what lies beneath that dress. Those who know more do not look at the dress, but rather at the body beneath that dress. The wise, the sages, the servants of the Loftiest King, those that stood at Mount Sinai, look only at the soul OF THE TORAH, which is the essence of everything, the real Torah. In the destiny to come, they are destined to look at the soul, the soul of the Torah.
–the Zohar
A slave seeks only to be free and does not seek the master’s estate.
For a child it is not enough to be a child, but a child claims the
father’s inheritance.
Heirs to the dead are dead, and what they inherit is dead. Heirs to
the living are alive, and they inherit both the living and the dead.
The dead inherit nothing, for how could a dead person inherit? If a
dead person inherits the living, the living will not die and the dead
will come to life.
–Philip (Meyer translation)
