Returning to Source: Taoism and Faith of Heritage

Emily Baratta John F. Kennedy University August 18, 2009

I sometimes think that Ken Wilber's work can be boiled down to "transcend and include". Like many of my peers, my life thus far has been focused on transcending: taking accelerated coursework, graduating early, traveling, learning exotic spiritual practices, and the like. Of course we cannot forget to include, so we have animal spirit guides, chakra rebalancing sessions, and feng shui'd apartments adorned with Tibetan prayer flags. It seems that as Americans we are transcending and including everything but our own history and heritage. In my case, this process seems to have begun and ended with the Tao Te Ching as it fulfills its promise that, "the returning is the movement of the Tao" (40:1)[1]. Lao Tzu repeats over and over that there is nowhere to go and nothing to learn because Tao is here and now. Not only are "Heaven and Earth impartial" (5:1), but "the heavenly Tao has no favorites" (79:8). It would seem that whether we stray far or stay close to home, the Tao is with us equally. By pointedly including everything except our own histories we are doing a disservice to the cultures and the people we are seeking to emulate in our earnest adoption of disparate customs. For many of us, family history comes in the unglamorous form of Suburb, USA and parting with the church over a divorce, unplanned pregnancy, or other mundane human mishap. Funny that as "progressives" our disgust with American society also seems to generally fall upon the conservative suburbanites with their Christian bent, the very place many of us came from. Lao Tzu reminds us, "Those who understand others are intelligent, those who understand themselves are enlightened" (33:1) and yet we Westerners seem to have a particular distaste for Western spirituality. My long stint with atheism began to erode after I read the Tao Te Ching in college. Here was a system in which I could believe in something, but it certainly was not God and even more definitely was not Jesus. As I learned about Hinduism and Buddhism it was easy to put aside their pantheons as adorable relics of faraway villagers, while harvesting their practices and nondual teachings for my newfound "spiritual, not religious" worldview. An altar to Krisha was pretty and exotic, a crucifix just seemed distasteful.

I think Lao Tzu would agree that is it actually much easier to adopt someone else's religion after a long absence than to reconcile with your own. In poem 47 he urges us to be content where we are: Without going out the door, know the world Without peering out the window, see the Heavenly Tao The further one goes The less one knows Therefore the sage knows without going Names without seeing Achieves without striving By constantly looking outside ourselves we are merely delaying the returning motion of the Tao. Our Worldcentric value system is quick to claim that all religions are equal, but how much more likely am I to pronounce that equality from a trendy new yoga studio than from Bible study? Having successfully graduated from a conformist orientation to our culture's traditional faith we seem absolutely allergic to a return. Lao Tzu offers us advice on this difficulty as well. He says, "Only when one recognizes the fault as a fault can one be without fault" (71:3) and "The one who accepts the humiliation of the state is called its master" (78:9). These quotes seem to urge acknowledgement of the shadow of any situation, including our own. As a descendant of Italian and Polish immigrants I am well aware of the ugly side of the Roman Catholic Church. Zen looks pristine in comparison! How much easier to meditate away that Catholic guilt with my fellow "awakened" Californians than to find the light my own historical tradition and clean up my own cultural karma? When we become disillusioned with the exoteric trappings of our Western traditions and abandon them altogether, we are keeping those institutions and their membership at a lower level of development than is necessary. By relegating North American Christianity to the fundamentalist dumpster we are actually creating the divisive and destructive churches we so despise. If are willing to

accept the faults and humiliations of our historic traditions, we will be their masters and perhaps the esoteric teachings at their cores will shine through. Ironically, I think the Tao Te Ching might be just the exotic teaching we need to send us back to church. Lao Tzu advises us to be "genuine like plain wood" (15:10). The cultural appropriation that seems rampant among New Agers and progressives would not be an issue if we were content to be our genuine, plain selves. Spirituality is not a stress reduction technique, or a theme for home dcor, rather it is an honest and often difficult confrontation with our Truth. When we strip away the pithy koans and vedic breathing techniques, how many of us will find a disgruntled Lutheran underneath? In a nondual universe it does not matter whether Jesus is my personal savior or I ascend through my seventh chakra, for there is no difference, but as in psychology the most potent fuel is found precisely where it burns. My distaste for Christianity is the indication that I have unresolved issues there, issues that could hold the key to my reconciling with the Universe, the Tao, even with God. In poem 16 Lao Tzu illustrates the benefits of returning: Everything flourishes; each returns to its root Returning to the root is called tranquility Tranquility is called returning to one's nature Returning to one's nature is called constancy Knowing constancy is called clarity Not knowing constancy, one recklessly causes trouble Knowing constancy is acceptance Acceptance is impartiality Impartiality is sovereign Sovereign is Heaven Heaven is Tao Tao is eternal The self is no more, without danger

Having extended and elaborated our egoic selves in numerous quests across borders and ideologies, the Tao is calling us home. For Lao Tzu, no home is better than another, but likewise I cannot return to someone else's root. Being truly impartial means that no particular tradition is triggering for me. When I am triggered by my family's own historical tradition there is all the more reason to be suspicious. Returning to my root as pure being may have its mundane external manifestation in returning to my family roots, or at least accepting them as equally valuable and beautiful as the romanticized versions of Native American shamans and Hindu gurus I have collected in my wanderings. Finally, Lao Tzu advises that the people should be content in their homes, happy in their customs (80:11). If I am not content in my own home, my own culture, I am not content in the Tao. This is not to say that we should be blind followers of custom, but that until we are ready to play the hand we were dealt, the game will not get very far. From an Integral perspective, when we are ready to change ourselves in the UL we will see those changes reverberate across the Lower quadrants that we are embedded in whether we like it or not. When I change my daily routine to take time to pray, the effect is much more pronounced on my own family, friends, and community than it is on orphans in Darfur. In a strange way America seems to have soul-drain, similar to the brain-drain experienced in countries like India when their brightest graduates move to the U.S. and Europe for better jobs. Once we have graduated from our modernist disgust with religion, Americans seem to export their souls to faraway lands using correspondence course spirituality. If instead, we took our hard-won reconciliation with Spirit and returned to the tradition we rejected with profound State experiences and higher Stage orientation, the spiritual foundation of Western culture might be raised. This would have a huge impact, not only on our daily lives, but on American public policy which extends to every corner of the globe. Perhaps the most globally conscious act we can undertake as Americans is find the light in our own tradition and have that burn brighter than the darkness that so many have attributed to the West. I admit that the idea of going to a Catholic Bible study and bringing in my particular experiences is intimidating. If I insist that Christianity means loving your neighbor unconditionally, will I be accepted? If I ask the wrong questions will they tell

me to leave? If they find out about my past will they reject me? How much easier to go to the Zen Center twice a month for a quick dharma talk and meditation! The fact that returning is challenging is the very reason it needs to be done. Politicians are fond of saying we are a Christian nation and that seems to continue to be the perception no matter how much we dislike it. However, if we were to return to Christianity from a higher perspective and live the true ideals of Jesus, not only would the world be much better off, we would be reconciling with our own history and culture. Only after we truly hold all traditions to have value is an Integral spirituality possible.

[1]

I have not found a guide to citing the Tao Te Ching online, so I have decided to do it

like the Bible by poem number then line. All quote are from the Tao Te Ching, translated by Derek Lin, published by Skylight Paths in 2006.