Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Christ - The Eternal Tao

I just started reading this incredible book by Hieromonk Damascene, it is based on the work of Fr. Seraphim Rose, who found that many of the traditional spiritual beliefs and practices of the ancient eastern religions like Taoism, Hinduism and Buddhism echoed the truths of Christianity - actually pointing to Christ, rather than competing with Him.

Here's a portion of the introduction of the book, which I feel, speaks directly to me and perhaps many other Christians in today's world.

"In modern Western society; many people turn away from the Christianity of their formative years because they find its truths smothered under an unreal kind of religiosity. They see that the people in the churches are not changing and becoming better, but rather are comforting themselves and each other in their unregenerate state. They find the the spirit of the Western churches is, at its core, little different from that of the world around them. Having removed from Christianity the Cross of inward purification, these churches have replaced a direct, intuitive apprehension of Reality and a true experience of God with intellectualism on the one hand and emotionalism on the other. In the first case, Christianity becomes something that is acquired through rote learning, based on the idea that if you just get the words right - if you just memorize the key Scripture verses, intellectually grasp the concepts and repeat them, know how to act and to speak in the religious dialect of your particular sect - you will be saved. Christianity then becomes a dry, word-based religion, a legalistic system, a set of ideas and behaviors, and a political institution that operates on the same principles as the institutions of the world. In the second case, the Western churches add the element of emotionalism and enthusiasm in order to add life to their systems, but this becomes just as grossly material as religious legalism. People become hypnotized by their self-induced emotional states, seeing a mirage of spiritual ascent while remaining bound to the material world. This is not direct perception of Reality; it is not the Ultimate. It is no wonder, then, that Western spiritual seekers, even if they have been raised in Christian homes, begin to look elsewhere, into Eastern religions. It is also not surprising that so many are turning to the profound and enigmatic work of pre-Christian China, the Tao Te Ching. In reading Lao Tzu, they sense a spirit similar to that of Jesus Christ. They see a poetic glimpse of Christ in Lao Tzu - a reflection that is faint, but somehow still pure. And to them, this faint but pure image is better than the most vivid but tarnished image of Him that they encounter in much what now passes for Christianity. Some are satisfied to stay on this path. In others of us, however, a strange thing occurs. In one sense, we are making more spiritual progress than ever before, but at the same time we are inexplicably unfulfilled. In our newfound apprehension that there is something more than the realm of the ego and the passions, we become aware that there must be something EVEN MORE - more than even the authentic Chinese tradition supplies. And we find that although we have left behind the Western Christian confessions, we cannot leave Christ behind."

This was my experience. I felt strongly that something was missing from the "traditional" church - yet outside the church I couldn't find Christ. He draws me to Himself. In Eastern Orthodoxy I find the balance. Inner transformation and outward community.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the building is a place of celebration for God. One goes into the church to meet God there, and then, after the service is over, God comes with us back out into the world.

The emphasis of religion within Orthodoxy is self-transformation - this ultimately impacts the world. In the world of Protestant Christianity, especially, Evangelical Christianity, it appeared to me that the focus was on changing the world FIRST, so that it would make life easier for Christians. The Orthodox teach that changing the world is God's responsibility - our only responsibility as disciples of the Master, Lord Jesus Christ, is to obey Him and to be renewed within our own minds - which translates into serving the world as it is - living as "exiles" in the world as ambassadors of God's kingdom. Loving those that are in the world and helping them to catch a glimpse of the eternal kind of life that exists in God's kingdom.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Marty,

This is incredible. Thanks for posting that.

don