Quantum Mysticism: Part 4, The Logos and the Tao

It will be good to back up just a second and quickly review some previous thoughts. In the first post in this quantum mysticism series I stated that my goal was to demonstrate that the creative source revealed itself to many people from many varying cultures and languages across the ages. Here is a fact that I find quite interesting. The period of time from the sixth century BCE to the fourth century BCE was a prolific period in mystical revelation. It is the timeframe that the Hebrew Prophets were foretelling the Messiah and the New Covenant. It was the time frame of Heraclitus and the Stoics. It was the time of Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching. It was the time of the Buddha and Zarathustra of Zoroastrianism, and it was the time of the birth of Jainism. Two hundred plus years is such a small dot on an otherwise long timeline that I cannot help but marvel at it. This is evidence that God was giving revelation of spiritual nature of the natural world to many cultures.

It was during this time period that Heraclitus and the Stoics were writing about the Logos being the divine seed, the creative source of the universe. It was also during this period of history that Lao Tzu began to teach about the Tao. The word Tao means "the way" or "the path." Compare what Lao Tzu said about the Tao with what John would ultimately write about the Logos. "And yet this ineffable Tao is the source of all spirit and matter; expressing itself, it is the mother of all created things." (Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching . Ancient Renewal. Kindle Edition.) The bottom line is that the creative source, God is seen as the unseen, unknowable source of creation. 

Lao Tzu also talked about Qi or chi. It is the primordial breath. This in the Taoist view is the source of life. It is the animating force. I find that interesting in view of the Hebrew "Ruach" and the Greek "Pneuma." This is where the concept of the Holy Spirit originated. Certainly, this is evidence of universal consciousness revealing similar ideas to disparate cultures. In the Genesis account you have the "Ruach" hovering in the very beginning. There is in this story, the "I am" the "Ruach" and the "Logos." It is the Logos by inference as the text reads and God said. We can see a similarity in Taoism 

Here is another quote from the Tao Te Ching: "The Tao produces unity;  unity produces duality; duality produces trinity; trinity produces all things.  All things contain both the negative principle (yin) and the positive principle (yang).The third principle, energetic vitality (chi), makes them harmonious." (Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching . Ancient Renewal. Kindle Edition.) I believe that one could easily exchange the word Tao with Logos and it would still make sense in view of the basic understanding of what both Logos and Tao really are. It is also reasonable to understand it in view of the "I Am," the "Ruach," and the spoken word. 

It is not so much that we should add to our beliefs as it is we should tolerate and include the revelation given to others, and not insist on exclusion because the terms and cultures are different. This is not so much a call for people to embrace Taoism along with their Christ discipleship as it is to realize that in Jesus the Tao also became flesh. In fact, in the Chinese translation of the New Testament John 1:14 says exactly that; "the Tao became flesh and dwelt among humanity."

What I believe the revelatory spirit of our current age is calling us to realize is that inclusion is the order of the day and exclusion is counter productive. More important is to realize that we too are not only the incarnation of the Logos but are the incarnation of the Tao as well. When we exclude who is saved, who is loved, who is in fellowship with the creative source we diminish the creator God to being arbitrary and capricious. There is so much richness that Christ followers have to offer other belief systems without being exclusive and demanding that they drop their traditions and understandings in favor of a different more correct set of beliefs. One of the richest offerings Christians have is the concept that "the Tao" is love. I do not need to adopt Taoist ethics as I have sufficient patterns to follow with the teachings of Christ. But, I can benefit greatly by adopting some of the ideas of the interconnectedness of the teaching of the Tao between the Tao and humanity. By embracing Taoism I can bolster my metaphysical understanding of the universe, and begin to improve in my methods of intentionally manifesting the world in concert with the Logos and the Tao.