"Christ the Eternal Tao" was the first book on Eastern Orthodoxy that I acquired when I was on my 10 year neti-neti search through Eastern Mysticism. I am now Eastern Orthodox and a monastic aspirant.
@@daddycool228 The statement is meaningless. The word "heretical" has a meaning, but Joe Smith cannot make the required determination and pronouncement.
I do not think this work is syncretism, or claiming taoism itself is Orthodox. It is saying that lao tsu and the taoists sought the truth, and found a glimpse of it as they could understand it. However the fullness of what they sought is Chrst. Paul taught to the Greeks that the unknown god they sought was actually Christ. Not that the Greek religion was Orthodox, but that what they were looking for is Christ, even if they couldn't see it fully and even if they had some incorrect understandings. Taoism and other religions or philosophies are not empty of all truth, but they lack the full picture, which is Christ. If Christ is the full truth, then all who earnestly seek the truth will find Christ, even if only partially and even if they cannot recognize it. However, God has revealed himself to us as the full truth, and established the Church for us. Christ fulfills not only Hebrew Judaism, but all religion and philosophies that seek truth, because to seek truth is to seek Christ. As Christ said, he is the way truth and life.
St. Justin Martyr referred to this as "spermatikos logos" or the truth of Christ in all things. As God is responsible for the existance of all creation, Truth is found throughout creation even where the light of Christ's Church has not fully revealed to people desperately searching for the Truth.
Well said; I beleive Jesus is the “Shang ren” heaven man prophecied in the tao te ching; this is in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy; Laotzu was seen by Daniel the prophet. Who showed him the scroll of truth. This would be the tao te ching sealed; and finally Jesus was🏈🎣🪀🌸🪹able to open the scroll in revelation 5 when the tao te ching being revealed. Finally the Dao🌗🌸🪸💐💫🥀itself if revealed in revelation 22 as the crystal clear river!
This is excellent... I've of course heard of the Tao, and Taoism, but only recently learned what it actually was. Obviously it most certainly resonated with me, and in my mind was recalling many verses of the Biblical scriptures as I went through the 81 chapters. I am so pleased that this could be discussed in a clear objective way, and seemingly only in Orthodoxy.
One of the first books I read when venturing into Orthodoxy. I thought I was one of the only ones who saw Jesus as the fulfillment of Taoism. He is the Lion and the lamb, King and servant,etc.He said He is the Tao("Way")John14:6Great book.
@the way The Tao as presented in the Tao Te Ching is observational wisdom. Simplistic and profound. Later on gods/"Immortals", magic, etc was added on. I agree that structured "Taoism" is not the original Tao. The above mentioned book definently opened up "roots" of Tao thought to me; Tao being short for Way of Heaven, itself reflecting an ancient Chinese belief in a Supreme god(Shang Ti, I believe...). All that tying together and tracing back many cultures/peoples similar belief in a One Supreme deity. Very enlightening book.
📌 Yes 🙌 great video, but someone actually needs to hear this, you've got to stop saving all your money. Venture into investing some, if you really want financial stability.
@@firearms914 Lately I've been thinking of buying cryptocurrency or stocks for retirement, I've set asides $350k to invest but along the line, I usually get cold feet, maybe because I have no idea what I'm doing, please I could really use some guidelines.
@@larizoclack1541 Even with the right technique and assets some investors would still make more than others, as an investor, you should've known that by now, nothing beats experience and that's final, personally I had to reach out to a market analyst for guidance which is how I was able to grow my account close to a million, withdraw my profit right before the correction and now I'm buying again
If anyone is interested, I’m one of the Few people that has a copy of Emptiness and Fullness in the Lao Tzu by Eugene (Seraphim) Rose. It’s his master thesis and it’s a key reason why this book was written.
As a former practitioner of Buddhism I saw the same thing in eastern Buddhism, especially the Buddhism of the pure land and zen, which was influenced heavily by the Tao
The church in Persia (Asyrian/Chaldean) sent missionaries all the way to Tibet and China. Metropolitan Jonah (ROCOR) said in a talk that these monks were an influence on Pure Land Buddhism in Tibet.
I have had this book for years and I have never read it properly until now and I have just finished it.. I believe that taoism is a reflection of the inner struggle and reflection of the truth within us.. The ultimate truth is Jesus.. He is the answer and the light and the life and the way and the way of ways.. Can taoism lead a man to christ?.. That I don't know but I certainly believe that the taoist people were coming close to the truth.. This book is only a suggestion and I enjoyed it.. However we need christ..
I got the old Kung fu show on dvd for Christmas. I have loved this show since I was a child. The wisdom in the show comes from taosim. I have been listening closely to what is said and find it interesting how taoist philosophy parallels with Christ and our faith. Jesus truly fulfills taoism but all major religions in one form another, including judaism, buddhism, hinduism, zorastrianism, and Islam. I believe Jesus did visit India and other Asian lands prior to his public ministry, and Polynesia and the Americas after his ressurection.
Lots of you commenting would do well to listen to/read what is actually being said instead of arguing against or condescendingly hand-waiving away what you think is being said. Good grief.
Everything comes through chance, and chance comes purpose. There will be a person who lives according to Dao, hence Jesus is 100 percent real as if it is theoretically possible, it is physically possible too.
Exactly, He's the fullest embodiment of the Logos, the creative person through whom all things exist. Amazing how the Taoists expressed things differently.
Jesus Christ is not just a man, He is very literally God. God who became man. Not any random person can simply live according to Dao and become like Jesus Christ, because we are all created beings. We are entirely dependent on Jesus Christ to make us exactly how we need to be. It is very dangerous to mix Taoism with Orthodoxy. And of course Jesus Christ is possible, He is real and He lives and He is with us always. It is us who are imperfect and turn away from God in a spiritual sense. Please do not confuse manmade philosophies and religions with the Truth revealed to us by God.
@@couchking1 The only way for God to create is to give his entire being. Thus the core nature of us is God. Our imperfection lies within the internal conflicts we have with ourselves, of which Christ was born without conflict within himself. Sin is a failure of our understanding of the true nature of our being.
Instead of working to understand Taoism from the perspective of those who are satisfied by it and reconciling that understanding with a Christian perspective, this work seems to be forcing Taoist teaching through a Western Eurocentric lens. No compromises, simply Christian dominance. For example, saying that Lao would have followed Christ speaks volumes about the author’s intentions. Unless Taoism exists as subservient to Christianity, an inferior belief system, then it is instead a threat that ought to be ignored completely out of fear of offending the Abrahamic God. The first words of the Tao Te Ching are “the Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao”, yet this statement is reframed as if Lao simply didn’t know the name. No, he’s calling the Tao formless, liquid, separate from all concepts. Yet this is intentionally misinterpreted as uncertainty and this perceived weakness is exploited by offering Christs name in place of the unnameable Tao. Lao Tzu did not follow nor lead.
That's not what is said. Compare dao and eo, church of the eternal logos has video on it, eo statement is that logos is Christ, second person of trinity, through Him God is revealed ( and here you see that eternally existing God who's outside creation, who has no beginning, who can't be described is revealed while hiding under the garments if flesh and limitations ) and point being eo fulfils what dao is lacking, and as any other eastern mysticism I'd assume dao having no metaphysics, no personal God, who can be known
@@i_assume I can tell you lack basic understanding of the history of China. The original work was written around 500 BC, and was simply philosophical poetry that existed amongst the “hundred schools of thought” but had no large organizational structure like a church UNTIL 2nd century CE when the Celestial Masters church began (they prayed to Lao Tzu and had a personal relationship with him). Also keep in mind it took 500 years for Indian Bhuddism to enter China to influence Taoism and create what we call “Zen” in the 5th century CE. I say all that to point out that the founding work, the Tao Te Ching, predates the Bible, and the concept of the Dao is very difficult to grasp by definition, but it isn’t exclusionary enough to contradict Christianity. It’s described like water, flowing down to the lowest point, occupying all empty space. It was simply describing reality, and the Christian God looks a lot like the Dao until you start praying to it. I’m not saying this to discredit or even disagree with Christianity, but to show that the oversimplification of Chinese culture is much too common.
@@CosmicMystery7 Christianity is not European but the church is clearly European. Please read my comment all the way through, I provided a very clear example. He’s ignoring thousands of years of scholarship and the surrounding “100 schools of thought” to pretend Taoism is Christianity in disguise or something. There’s nothing wrong with Christianity, I’m a Christian, but you can’t just erase other cultures as many European Christians have done throughout history.
Be careful with Buddhism. While Buddhism and Christianity share some comminalities (as pointed out by TNH), the final aims of each are quite different. While some Buddhists may argue over trivial semantics, their end goal (simply stated) is spiritual suicide - for the Mind (collective consciousness) to cease all desire, thought, and activity. For the "wheel to stop turning." To die and never return. In contrast, through Jesus Christ, Christianity offers a model and path for us to follow (marked by courage, humility, self-sacrifice, and selfless love) to become one with the Father in eternal life and peace.
I beleive Jesus is the “Shang ren” heaven man prophecied in the tao te ching; this is in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy; Laotzu was seen by Daniel the prophet. Who showed him the scroll of truth. This would be the tao te ching sealed; and finally Jesus was🏈🎣🪀🌸🪹able to open the scroll in revelation 5 when the tao te ching being revealed. Finally the Dao🌗🌸🪸💐💫🥀itself if revealed in revelation 22 as the crystal clear river!
After leaving Christian cultism and Pharaseeism of all but meetings of no denomination(EGOLESS) no leader but Christ but did not know this I threw out the bible and said if you are real you gotta show me cuz you don't now(to me due to hypocricy etcetc) And the next day found myself reading the Tao te Ching saying every 20 minuetes or so to myself "Where have I read this?!?" Then tword the end he paralelled Christ so closely It all hit me at once! @nd the bible became a different - beutiful work.- 500 years before his earthly sojourn! And my paradigmn on religion, life , the Bible But it was presented from such a different point of view i might as well have been reading Russian my whole life- selfless love- of God, logos, Spirit, self. Christians must except this or say jesus was not the eternal Creator. and either accidentally quoted hm several times- or plagarised! to say "I am the way(Tao)" was a mistake, but if Jesus is God he knew he was pointing to the Tao- HAD TOO! Thankyou PaPa! -
No, true Christians will not accept this because the Lord Jesus Christ is the Eternal Living God, but the philosophy of Taoism is manmade. It cannot be mixed with the pure Truth revealed to us directly by God. I respect your journey and your path, but I am telling you this based on the Tradition of the Orthodox Church, the Holy Scriptures, and the teachings of the Holy Fathers. Nothing can be mixed with the pure Truth of God! There is no “esoteric” revelation, everything that we need to know is taught to us by God. You do not get to pick and choose which doctrines to believe and which ones not to believe, either you are 100% in Christ’s Truth or you are out!
What do you mean “if Jesus is God”? Of course He is God. You are making a lot of conclusions that we were not taught in the Orthodox Church. You need to study the right things...
have you read the work of Bedde Griffiths? "A Christian Vedanta? Bede Griffiths and the Hindu-Christian Encounter " by Pål W. Thorbjørnsen (could refer you to Griffiths couple last books, but this pdf is much more compiled) Or the issue where the logos could never be the scripture alone? for the logos is eternal and the scripture of the bible is not. Or the work of Meister Eckhart? Point is: Who are you or "the orthodoxy" to decide what "doctrine" is absolute truth? Since you are making a fundamental truth claim. Other than the "holy spirit" (which can be sidelined with intuition and creative inspirational symbolism) what is the source to your claims? Historical evidence? because the pointers historically is very vague and non-obvious. Even at the Council of Nicaea "Arianism" was a rather significant and valid doctrinal opposition to "Orthodoxy". What we need to do is to study "the wrong" things so we can see "the right" things in the right light. For to study "the right" things without "the wrong" things, you wont know the wrongness of the right things. To make the right things seem absolutely right, you have to ignore and reject a significant part of reality in ignorance. That is not truth. That is deception and censoring of truth.
@@SomeRandomGuy777x Your testimony sounds like me when I was lost in New Age thinking, and that you have likewise filled yourself with lots of fancy, yet shallow, convoluted words and ideas, leading to self-sophistry.
This is a noble attempt to synthesize the two teachings. Nevertheless, this analysis misses the mark by far. The Tao IS NOT the Word of God. Taoism is a natural philosophy that express the highest state of consciousness that can be realized naturally by man. The Tao essentially is the Spirit and the realm of the creative Spirit of God. Many religions and natural philosophy speak to this unified state of “oneness with all things”. The Logos was not revealed to man until the incarnation and arrival of the revelation of Christ in the man Jesus of Nazareth. This is one reason that Christ said that no one can “ come to the Father except through Me”. The “state of consciousness” of Christ the Word and that of the Father are very different states of consciousness and Being. The state of the Spirit is know to all the world religions. When one receives Christ, the Word of God, then Christ will reveal, “to those He chooses”, To the Father. One is then brought before the Godhead Himself. This level of being is far above the Tao and only through Christ the Word can one come to the Father. When before the Father we can ask anything “in the name of Christ Jesus” and it will be granted to you. The analysis above is an example of trying to write theology that is not based on personal experience. Nevertheless it was a good scholastic attempt. Glory to God for all things! ✌️❤️☦️
"“The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. " I think you'll find it is you who misses the mark by far.
You wrote: "Taoism is a natural philosophy that express the highest state of consciousness that can be realized naturally by man." Which is why Hieromonk Damascene basically said this @ 12:04
@@SamGarcia Stating something can not be named is not a description of it, and the line states that it isnt... "the tao that can be is NOT the eternal tao" ie that all human sense parameters label and name things for our understanding but even this is inaccurate as what is so is beyond these senses, it's a description of habitual behaviors and a realization of that which is beyond us.
That’s true as far as Orthodox Christianity goes isn’t it? This was BEFORE Christ. Therefore he was talking about the Holy Spirit, which cannot be conceived, a mystery, no?
Krishna consciousness has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. I used to study all kinds of esoteric studies, even various types of yoga. This is false light. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Truth.
It was donated to our parish library. I read it and decided to not allow it on the shelf because in the end it's meaningless and useless to instruct and educate inquirers and the Orthodox faithful. The time spent reading this book could be better spent reading the holy fathers and attending the services of the church. Besides, CS Lewis was much more concise in a single chapter of Mere Christianity than Fr Damacen in this tome, and Lewis wasn't even Orthodox. The Eternal Tao serves little purpose overall, I put it in the category of drivel, along side F Mathews-Green books.
Not everyone is still an inquirer. Not everything we Orthodox Christians read has to be the Fathers or the Scriptures. This is a fantastic book showing the concept of Logos Spermatikos, that everything anyone ever believed at any point in time that was true, ultimately points to Christ Jesus. Kh. Frederica's books certainly aren't drivel. They aren't high-minded scholarship, but they're great for inquirers, especially women.
@@CosmicMystery7 The pointing goes both ways. But ultimately these cultures never interacted. Christianity points to Taoism as the ultimate truth as much as the other way around, yet you don’t respect this perspective due to eurocentrism.
Paul thought the Greeks that Christ was the fulfillment of the Logos. They didn't have everything right, like a short glipse of someone, you do not remember them in perfect detail, you would recall some thing wrong. What this book is trying to say is that what they were trying to grasp with the Tao, is actually Christ. Like saying to someone, I think the man you are describing is so and so, even though you got some things wrong, here is who he is, this is indeed the fulfillment of your attempt to describe what you saw. Assuming that this book is saying oh taoists were orthodox is wrong, but they were a reflection, of Christianity. A puzzel peice yet to meet the hand of it's maker to become complete.
I don't think you understand 无为. "Absent-minded," or "no self-will," is a better way to translate the idea than "noninterference." This is more intuitive when you know Chinese words like 为什么 being "why" with the 什么 being "what" and the difference between 成为 and 成变 which are two different ideas of "change," the 为 indicates a purpose.
It nonsense, chaung tzu the second greatest taoist scolar. Stated the tao is not Christianity. Christ comes from the Greek word christos meaning light. It not Hebrew. Lao Tzu called the light Tao, not christ. Tao has no dogma in it. Unlike western religion. The problem is when you try mixing Apple's an oranges. They are not the same. Though it may sound like they are there not. You are the tao. Tao is within you , that means you are the light an power. An enlighten person, is called a buddha. , or Christ. Enlightenment simply means finding The light within ones self.
you got so many things wrong its not even funny. Christ means the anointed one. But yes it does come from Greek. Light in Greek is Phos. I want even to say less about your "new ageish" understanding of Tao. Perhaps you should first read Tao Te Ching before posting a comment?
I am Sinitic myself and I read Tuh-tieh Ging (Tao-Te Jing porunced in Hokkien, while Tao-Te Jing is the mandarin perninciation ) in its original text I can affirm that what the speaker say about Tao and logos is an appropriate reasonable and constructive connection
Gospel of Thomas 3: Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."
You are correct to ask questions. The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao. This was attempted to be explained by many.. But the attempt to explain it makes the concept concrete.. Which it is not.. and therefore the explanation will be both correct and incorrect. Now how does relate to Christ? This is why Lao tzu said you cannot explain it but you can be it. Jesus said I am the way and the truth. Effectively saying I am the Tao. Don't worship me. Do what I do and become me. So as you cannot explain the Tao by describing Lao tzu you cannot explain Christ by describing the man Jesus. Both lived the way and could not be understood in our terms of description. Man cannot see past the persona therefore do not understand that Christ was a way of being.. Not a human being. Available to all. Just like the Tao. And this is why we still suffer. We want a savior when the savior is us once we do the interworking and reconnect with the Christ/Tao that is eternally flowing. Shining like the sun. Jesus attempted to explain the seperation that was translated as the holy spirit. 2000 years of misinterpretation adds a lot of layers to those words that did not exist when Jesus spoke them. Semantics will always be there for us to argue over. Nothing but a distraction from the way.
"Christ the Eternal Tao" was the first book on Eastern Orthodoxy that I acquired when I was on my 10 year neti-neti search through Eastern Mysticism. I am now Eastern Orthodox and a monastic aspirant.
Joe Smith a creative contribution would be to follow up your statement with a reason
@@daddycool228 The statement is meaningless. The word "heretical" has a meaning, but Joe Smith cannot make the required determination and pronouncement.
Joe Smith According to whom? You?
@Joe Smith You are likely a Protestant.
@@mostlydead3261 i second to that :D burn the icons!
pura sola scriptura! haha
I do not think this work is syncretism, or claiming taoism itself is Orthodox. It is saying that lao tsu and the taoists sought the truth, and found a glimpse of it as they could understand it. However the fullness of what they sought is Chrst. Paul taught to the Greeks that the unknown god they sought was actually Christ. Not that the Greek religion was Orthodox, but that what they were looking for is Christ, even if they couldn't see it fully and even if they had some incorrect understandings. Taoism and other religions or philosophies are not empty of all truth, but they lack the full picture, which is Christ. If Christ is the full truth, then all who earnestly seek the truth will find Christ, even if only partially and even if they cannot recognize it. However, God has revealed himself to us as the full truth, and established the Church for us. Christ fulfills not only Hebrew Judaism, but all religion and philosophies that seek truth, because to seek truth is to seek Christ. As Christ said, he is the way truth and life.
Well said
St. Justin Martyr referred to this as "spermatikos logos" or the truth of Christ in all things.
As God is responsible for the existance of all creation, Truth is found throughout creation even where the light of Christ's Church has not fully revealed to people desperately searching for the Truth.
It all goes back to seraphim Rose
Well said; I beleive Jesus is the “Shang ren” heaven man prophecied in the tao te ching; this is in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy; Laotzu was seen by Daniel the prophet. Who showed him the scroll of truth. This would be the tao te ching sealed; and finally Jesus was🏈🎣🪀🌸🪹able to open the scroll in revelation 5 when the tao te ching being revealed. Finally the Dao🌗🌸🪸💐💫🥀itself if revealed in revelation 22 as the crystal clear river!
Nonsense
This is excellent... I've of course heard of the Tao, and Taoism, but only recently learned what it actually was. Obviously it most certainly resonated with me, and in my mind was recalling many verses of the Biblical scriptures as I went through the 81 chapters. I am so pleased that this could be discussed in a clear objective way, and seemingly only in Orthodoxy.
One of the first books I read when venturing into Orthodoxy. I thought I was one of the only ones who saw Jesus as the fulfillment of Taoism. He is the Lion and the lamb, King and servant,etc.He said He is the Tao("Way")John14:6Great book.
@the way
The Tao as presented in the Tao Te Ching is observational wisdom. Simplistic and profound. Later on gods/"Immortals", magic, etc was added on. I agree that structured "Taoism" is not the original Tao. The above mentioned book definently opened up "roots" of Tao thought to me; Tao being short for Way of Heaven, itself reflecting an ancient Chinese belief in a Supreme god(Shang Ti, I believe...). All that tying together and tracing back many cultures/peoples similar belief in a One Supreme deity. Very enlightening book.
📌 Yes 🙌 great video, but someone actually needs to hear this, you've got to stop saving all your money. Venture into investing some, if you really want financial stability.
@@firearms914 Lately I've been thinking of buying cryptocurrency or stocks for retirement, I've set asides $350k to invest but along the line, I usually get cold feet, maybe because I have no idea what I'm doing, please I could really use some guidelines.
@@larizoclack1541 Buy index funds if you wanna be safe, though you are probably be better off just going to Vanguard or something for that
@@larizoclack1541 Even with the right technique and assets some investors would still make more than others, as an investor, you should've known that by now, nothing beats experience and that's final, personally I had to reach out to a market analyst for guidance which is how I was able to grow my account close to a million, withdraw my profit right before the correction and now I'm buying again
If anyone is interested, I’m one of the Few people that has a copy of Emptiness and Fullness in the Lao Tzu by Eugene (Seraphim) Rose. It’s his master thesis and it’s a key reason why this book was written.
As a former practitioner of Buddhism I saw the same thing in eastern Buddhism, especially the Buddhism of the pure land and zen, which was influenced heavily by the Tao
The church in Persia (Asyrian/Chaldean) sent missionaries all the way to Tibet and China. Metropolitan Jonah (ROCOR) said in a talk that these monks were an influence on Pure Land Buddhism in Tibet.
A wise man once said, “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”
Thank you. I needed to hear that.
Just started this book. Loving it so far..
I have had this book for years and I have never read it properly until now and I have just finished it.. I believe that taoism is a reflection of the inner struggle and reflection of the truth within us.. The ultimate truth is Jesus.. He is the answer and the light and the life and the way and the way of ways.. Can taoism lead a man to christ?.. That I don't know but I certainly believe that the taoist people were coming close to the truth.. This book is only a suggestion and I enjoyed it.. However we need christ..
Yes: m.th-cam.com/video/qA8d15fAoe8/w-d-xo.html
I got the old Kung fu show on dvd for Christmas. I have loved this show since I was a child. The wisdom in the show comes from taosim. I have been listening closely to what is said and find it interesting how taoist philosophy parallels with Christ and our faith. Jesus truly fulfills taoism but all major religions in one form another, including judaism, buddhism, hinduism, zorastrianism, and Islam. I believe Jesus did visit India and other Asian lands prior to his public ministry, and Polynesia and the Americas after his ressurection.
Love to see the proof, proof of any of this...opinion
Great book ....
Lots of you commenting would do well to listen to/read what is actually being said instead of arguing against or condescendingly hand-waiving away what you think is being said. Good grief.
OH MAN!!! So glad that I found you!!!! It is my belief that Jesus at one point in his life studies The Tao, then came back to teach it.
Everything comes through chance, and chance comes purpose. There will be a person who lives according to Dao, hence Jesus is 100 percent real as if it is theoretically possible, it is physically possible too.
Exactly, He's the fullest embodiment of the Logos, the creative person through whom all things exist. Amazing how the Taoists expressed things differently.
Pano Kostouros It is also interesting how Chinese prophecies also predict Jesus’s arrival
@@christopherlin4706 Of course, the most important man ever born because he was also God. Would have created ripples across the world with his coming.
Jesus Christ is not just a man, He is very literally God. God who became man. Not any random person can simply live according to Dao and become like Jesus Christ, because we are all created beings. We are entirely dependent on Jesus Christ to make us exactly how we need to be. It is very dangerous to mix Taoism with Orthodoxy. And of course Jesus Christ is possible, He is real and He lives and He is with us always. It is us who are imperfect and turn away from God in a spiritual sense. Please do not confuse manmade philosophies and religions with the Truth revealed to us by God.
@@couchking1 The only way for God to create is to give his entire being. Thus the core nature of us is God. Our imperfection lies within the internal conflicts we have with ourselves, of which Christ was born without conflict within himself. Sin is a failure of our understanding of the true nature of our being.
thanks for the upload -- any other books you can recommend on the ways orthodoxy and buddhism align?
Instead of working to understand Taoism from the perspective of those who are satisfied by it and reconciling that understanding with a Christian perspective, this work seems to be forcing Taoist teaching through a Western Eurocentric lens. No compromises, simply Christian dominance. For example, saying that Lao would have followed Christ speaks volumes about the author’s intentions. Unless Taoism exists as subservient to Christianity, an inferior belief system, then it is instead a threat that ought to be ignored completely out of fear of offending the Abrahamic God. The first words of the Tao Te Ching are “the Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao”, yet this statement is reframed as if Lao simply didn’t know the name. No, he’s calling the Tao formless, liquid, separate from all concepts. Yet this is intentionally misinterpreted as uncertainty and this perceived weakness is exploited by offering Christs name in place of the unnameable Tao. Lao Tzu did not follow nor lead.
That's not what is said. Compare dao and eo, church of the eternal logos has video on it, eo statement is that logos is Christ, second person of trinity, through Him God is revealed ( and here you see that eternally existing God who's outside creation, who has no beginning, who can't be described is revealed while hiding under the garments if flesh and limitations ) and point being eo fulfils what dao is lacking, and as any other eastern mysticism I'd assume dao having no metaphysics, no personal God, who can be known
@@i_assume I can tell you lack basic understanding of the history of China. The original work was written around 500 BC, and was simply philosophical poetry that existed amongst the “hundred schools of thought” but had no large organizational structure like a church UNTIL 2nd century CE when the Celestial Masters church began (they prayed to Lao Tzu and had a personal relationship with him). Also keep in mind it took 500 years for Indian Bhuddism to enter China to influence Taoism and create what we call “Zen” in the 5th century CE.
I say all that to point out that the founding work, the Tao Te Ching, predates the Bible, and the concept of the Dao is very difficult to grasp by definition, but it isn’t exclusionary enough to contradict Christianity. It’s described like water, flowing down to the lowest point, occupying all empty space. It was simply describing reality, and the Christian God looks a lot like the Dao until you start praying to it. I’m not saying this to discredit or even disagree with Christianity, but to show that the oversimplification of Chinese culture is much too common.
A Western Eurocentric lens? Please read the book and learn a little about Orthodox Christianity; it is anything but Western and Eurocentric.
@@CosmicMystery7 Christianity is not European but the church is clearly European. Please read my comment all the way through, I provided a very clear example. He’s ignoring thousands of years of scholarship and the surrounding “100 schools of thought” to pretend Taoism is Christianity in disguise or something. There’s nothing wrong with Christianity, I’m a Christian, but you can’t just erase other cultures as many European Christians have done throughout history.
Another good book was living Buddha, living Christ by TNH. But not as good as Fr Seraphim
Be careful with Buddhism.
While Buddhism and Christianity share some comminalities (as pointed out by TNH), the final aims of each are quite different.
While some Buddhists may argue over trivial semantics, their end goal (simply stated) is spiritual suicide - for the Mind (collective consciousness) to cease all desire, thought, and activity. For the "wheel to stop turning." To die and never return.
In contrast, through Jesus Christ, Christianity offers a model and path for us to follow (marked by courage, humility, self-sacrifice, and selfless love) to become one with the Father in eternal life and peace.
Can I please get more loud fan/projector sound in this audio!? Some one edit this out plz for the love of Christ.
Someone really needs to run this through an AI noise reducer. 🙏
Were the moments of Theophany in the Old Testament also examples of the Logos present in the world in bodily form?
I just spent some time with Abbot Damascene! He’s cool!
Where can I listen to the other talks by Abbot D at this church?
What church is this at?
TAO the way or "ORDER" , TAU "cross" at-Tauwab acceptor of repentance. TAU-Ros "apostol of the TAU" -Rostzefer
Where can you get this book? Its not on Amazon and im assuming no longer in print
Check again I bought a copy only late last year.
you can get it on ebay but its pretty rare and not cheap.
Buy an Orthodox book instead
I beleive Jesus is the “Shang ren” heaven man prophecied in the tao te ching; this is in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy; Laotzu was seen by Daniel the prophet. Who showed him the scroll of truth. This would be the tao te ching sealed; and finally Jesus was🏈🎣🪀🌸🪹able to open the scroll in revelation 5 when the tao te ching being revealed. Finally the Dao🌗🌸🪸💐💫🥀itself if revealed in revelation 22 as the crystal clear river!
Very interesting!
Fr Turbo Qualls? Awesome!
It must have been when he was still a layman, hence just “Turbo.”
@@SlimStew1 he’s amazing!
This talk is from 17 years ago.
The word tov is tao
( Elohim sees tao!
After leaving Christian cultism and Pharaseeism of all but meetings of no denomination(EGOLESS) no leader but Christ but did not know this I threw out the bible and said if you are real you gotta show me cuz you don't now(to me due to hypocricy etcetc) And the next day found myself reading the Tao te Ching saying every 20 minuetes or so to myself "Where have I read this?!?" Then tword the end he paralelled Christ so closely It all hit me at once! @nd the bible became a different - beutiful work.- 500 years before his earthly sojourn! And my paradigmn on religion, life , the Bible
But it was presented from such a different point of view i might as well have been reading Russian my whole life- selfless love- of God, logos, Spirit, self. Christians must except this or say jesus was not the eternal Creator. and either accidentally quoted hm several times- or plagarised!
to say "I am the way(Tao)" was a mistake, but if Jesus is God he knew he was pointing to the Tao- HAD TOO!
Thankyou PaPa!
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No, true Christians will not accept this because the Lord Jesus Christ is the Eternal Living God, but the philosophy of Taoism is manmade. It cannot be mixed with the pure Truth revealed to us directly by God. I respect your journey and your path, but I am telling you this based on the Tradition of the Orthodox Church, the Holy Scriptures, and the teachings of the Holy Fathers. Nothing can be mixed with the pure Truth of God! There is no “esoteric” revelation, everything that we need to know is taught to us by God. You do not get to pick and choose which doctrines to believe and which ones not to believe, either you are 100% in Christ’s Truth or you are out!
What do you mean “if Jesus is God”? Of course He is God. You are making a lot of conclusions that we were not taught in the Orthodox Church. You need to study the right things...
have you read the work of Bedde Griffiths?
"A Christian Vedanta? Bede Griffiths and the Hindu-Christian Encounter "
by Pål W. Thorbjørnsen (could refer you to Griffiths couple last books, but this pdf is much more compiled)
Or the issue where the logos could never be the scripture alone? for the logos is eternal and the scripture of the bible is not.
Or the work of Meister Eckhart?
Point is: Who are you or "the orthodoxy" to decide what "doctrine" is absolute truth?
Since you are making a fundamental truth claim. Other than the "holy spirit" (which can be sidelined with intuition and creative inspirational symbolism)
what is the source to your claims? Historical evidence? because the pointers historically is very vague and non-obvious. Even at the Council of Nicaea "Arianism" was a rather significant and valid doctrinal opposition to "Orthodoxy".
What we need to do is to study "the wrong" things so we can see "the right" things in the right light. For to study "the right" things without "the wrong" things, you wont know the wrongness of the right things. To make the right things seem absolutely right, you have to ignore and reject a significant part of reality in ignorance.
That is not truth. That is deception and censoring of truth.
@@SomeRandomGuy777x Your testimony sounds like me when I was lost in New Age thinking, and that you have likewise filled yourself with lots of fancy, yet shallow, convoluted words and ideas, leading to self-sophistry.
We are all God!
I've messed this video up somehow, it won't play on my computer. Gutted.
This is a noble attempt to synthesize the two teachings. Nevertheless, this analysis misses the mark by far.
The Tao IS NOT the Word of God. Taoism is a natural philosophy that express the highest state of consciousness that can be realized naturally by man. The Tao essentially is the Spirit and the realm of the creative Spirit of God. Many religions and natural philosophy speak to this unified state of “oneness with all things”. The Logos was not revealed to man until the incarnation and arrival of the revelation of Christ in the man Jesus of Nazareth. This is one reason that Christ said that no one can “ come to the Father except through Me”.
The “state of consciousness” of Christ the Word and that of the Father are very different states of consciousness and Being. The state of the Spirit is know to all the world religions.
When one receives Christ, the Word of God, then Christ will reveal, “to those He chooses”, To the Father. One is then brought before the Godhead Himself. This level of being is far above the Tao and only through Christ the Word can one come to the Father. When before the Father we can ask anything “in the name of Christ Jesus” and it will be granted to you.
The analysis above is an example of trying to write theology that is not based on personal experience. Nevertheless it was a good scholastic attempt.
Glory to God for all things! ✌️❤️☦️
"“The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name. " I think you'll find it is you who misses the mark by far.
You wrote: "Taoism is a natural philosophy that express the highest state of consciousness that can be realized naturally by man." Which is why Hieromonk Damascene basically said this @ 12:04
Emperor Guang_Xu predicted the birth,, suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. Thus, they are the father of the Hebrews. Mystery solved...
The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao.
Because Orthodoxy and Taoism do not mix. No one can justify manmade philosophy with the Truth revealed to us directly by God Himself.
By saying Tao cannot be named, you are naming it and describing it.
@@SamGarcia Stating something can not be named is not a description of it, and the line states that it isnt... "the tao that can be is NOT the eternal tao" ie that all human sense parameters label and name things for our understanding but even this is inaccurate as what is so is beyond these senses, it's a description of habitual behaviors and a realization of that which is beyond us.
You're conflating the essence of God with the person of Christ. He is a hypostatic union.
That’s true as far as Orthodox Christianity goes isn’t it? This was BEFORE Christ. Therefore he was talking about the Holy Spirit, which cannot be conceived, a mystery, no?
Sorry, it's working now :) I'm a clutz.
Horrible audio! Can’t you hear the noise???!!!
Realize the Krishna consciousness within
Krishna consciousness has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. I used to study all kinds of esoteric studies, even various types of yoga. This is false light. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Truth.
It was donated to our parish library. I read it and decided to not allow it on the shelf because in the end it's meaningless and useless to instruct and educate inquirers and the Orthodox faithful. The time spent reading this book could be better spent reading the holy fathers and attending the services of the church. Besides, CS Lewis was much more concise in a single chapter of Mere Christianity than Fr Damacen in this tome, and Lewis wasn't even Orthodox. The Eternal Tao serves little purpose overall, I put it in the category of drivel, along side F Mathews-Green books.
Not everyone is still an inquirer. Not everything we Orthodox Christians read has to be the Fathers or the Scriptures. This is a fantastic book showing the concept of Logos Spermatikos, that everything anyone ever believed at any point in time that was true, ultimately points to Christ Jesus. Kh. Frederica's books certainly aren't drivel. They aren't high-minded scholarship, but they're great for inquirers, especially women.
@@CosmicMystery7 The pointing goes both ways. But ultimately these cultures never interacted. Christianity points to Taoism as the ultimate truth as much as the other way around, yet you don’t respect this perspective due to eurocentrism.
How can Jesus be the Tao made flesh if the Tao is not interfeering and Jesus whipped the merchants off the temple? not a very taoist way of acting
Paul thought the Greeks that Christ was the fulfillment of the Logos. They didn't have everything right, like a short glipse of someone, you do not remember them in perfect detail, you would recall some thing wrong.
What this book is trying to say is that what they were trying to grasp with the Tao, is actually Christ. Like saying to someone, I think the man you are describing is so and so, even though you got some things wrong, here is who he is, this is indeed the fulfillment of your attempt to describe what you saw.
Assuming that this book is saying oh taoists were orthodox is wrong, but they were a reflection, of Christianity. A puzzel peice yet to meet the hand of it's maker to become complete.
And that was a good Question by the way.
I don't think you understand 无为. "Absent-minded," or "no self-will," is a better way to translate the idea than "noninterference." This is more intuitive when you know Chinese words like 为什么 being "why" with the 什么 being "what" and the difference between 成为 and 成变 which are two different ideas of "change," the 为 indicates a purpose.
It nonsense, chaung tzu the second greatest taoist scolar. Stated the tao is not Christianity. Christ comes from the Greek word christos meaning light. It not Hebrew. Lao Tzu called the light Tao, not christ. Tao has no dogma in it. Unlike western religion. The problem is when you try mixing Apple's an oranges. They are not the same. Though it may sound like they are there not. You are the tao. Tao is within you , that means you are the light an power. An enlighten person, is called a buddha. , or Christ. Enlightenment simply means finding The light within ones self.
you got so many things wrong its not even funny. Christ means the anointed one. But yes it does come from Greek. Light in Greek is Phos. I want even to say less about your "new ageish" understanding of Tao. Perhaps you should first read Tao Te Ching before posting a comment?
I am Sinitic myself and I read Tuh-tieh Ging (Tao-Te Jing porunced in Hokkien, while Tao-Te Jing is the mandarin perninciation ) in its original text I can affirm that what the speaker say about Tao and logos is an appropriate reasonable and constructive connection
Gospel of Thomas 3: Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you.
When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."
You are correct to ask questions. The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao. This was attempted to be explained by many.. But the attempt to explain it makes the concept concrete.. Which it is not.. and therefore the explanation will be both correct and incorrect. Now how does relate to Christ? This is why Lao tzu said you cannot explain it but you can be it. Jesus said I am the way and the truth. Effectively saying I am the Tao. Don't worship me. Do what I do and become me. So as you cannot explain the Tao by describing Lao tzu you cannot explain Christ by describing the man Jesus. Both lived the way and could not be understood in our terms of description. Man cannot see past the persona therefore do not understand that Christ was a way of being.. Not a human being. Available to all. Just like the Tao. And this is why we still suffer. We want a savior when the savior is us once we do the interworking and reconnect with the Christ/Tao that is eternally flowing. Shining like the sun. Jesus attempted to explain the seperation that was translated as the holy spirit. 2000 years of misinterpretation adds a lot of layers to those words that did not exist when Jesus spoke them. Semantics will always be there for us to argue over. Nothing but a distraction from the way.
Bryan-Unless you believe in Christ you will die in your sins-Do not add on to Christ.