"What you have just seen
is an attempt to demonstrate the first movements of a traditional Chinese
exercise routine called Tai Chi. While I was teaching in China in the 1980s
there was one 2-year period when I l practiced Tai Chi early every morning
under the guidance of a Chinese English professor in the university.
Unlike more vigorous early morning activities of other foreign
teachers who sailed by us on their jogging rounds, Tai Chi is a quiet peaceful
exercise that nevertheless requires
intense concentration. The slow gentle movements are not difficult
but you need both energy ans self
control to maintain balance for an easy flow from one movement to the next.
After a time this quiet and concentration blends into a spirit of reverence for
the sense of order and peace that comes.
Tai Chi is but one gift
Americans have received from contact with Asia. Other gifts are the Asian children who are growing up in families
of our congregation. Let us explore the
interconnections between Unitarian Universalism and Chinese philosophy as we
celebrate the approaching Chinese New Year together this morning.
The Way
The Way that can be experienced is not true;
The world that can be constructed is not real.
The Way manifests all that happens and may happen;
The world represents all that exists and may exist.
To experience without abstraction is to sense the world;
To experience with abstraction is to know the world.
These two experiences are indistinguishable;
Their construction differs but their effect is the same.
Beyond the gate of experience flows the Way,
Which is ever greater and more subtle than the world.
Harmony
Embracing the Way, you become embraced;
Breathing gently, you become newborn;
Clearing your mind, you become clear;
Nurturing your children, you become impartial;
Opening your heart, you become accepted;
Accepting the world, you embrace the Way.
Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not owning,
Giving without demanding,
This is harmony.
Tranquility
The Way takes no action, but leaves nothing undone.
When you accept this
The world will flourish,
In harmony with nature.
Nature does not possess desire;
Without desire, the heart becomes quiet;
In this manner the whole world is made tranquil.
Sermon
Few Western religious
traditions have been as sympathetic to Chinese philosophy as Unitarian
Universalism. From the time of the
Transcendentalists and the Free Religious Association of the nineteenth century
to the Humanist movement of the early twentieth century, we have looked to the
East for inspiration and guidance as well as the West. The human centered approach found in Chinese
wisdom encourages individual development and morality. It appeals to our interest in living fully
in this world and our resistance to the other worldly focus of often found in
Christianity.
Boston Unitarians became
associated with Chinese philosophy through trade. The troubles with England around the time of the American
Revolution had merchants looking for trading partners in other parts of the
world. Sailors would bring back art and
books along with merchandise from trips to Asia that stimulated the Unitarian
ministers. What especially grabbed
their attention were the first translations of these works that started
appearing in the early 1800’s.
Unitarian ministers were some
of the first
interpreters of Chinese thinking to America. Emerson was fascinated with Asian thought reading the books in
Aunt Mary Moody’s library as a young man.
He often quoted from Confucius and classic Chinese books, though he was
more reserved about Chinese thought than he was about Hinduism. The ethical concern, activism, and common
sense of the Chinese thinkers won his admiration.
James Freeman Clarke’s Asian
scholarship published in 1871, in his popular book, Ten
Great Religions introduced Confucian and Taoist thought to a wider
audience. His scientific approach was
comparative, looking for the strengths of each tradition rather than sifting
the texts available for ways to denigrate or dispute them. He appreciatively quoted such Confucian gems
as:
"A man's life depends on virtue; if a bad man lives,
it is only by good fortune."
"The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply
it; not having it, to confess your ignorance."
"If my mind is not engaged in my worship, it is as
though I worshipped not."
"Formerly, in hearing men, I heard their words, and
gave them credit for their conduct; now I hear their words, and observe their
conduct."
"Some proceed blindly to action, without knowledge;
I hear much, and select the best course."
"To rule with equity is like the North Star, which
is fixed, and all the rest go round it."
You can see how such quotes
would appeal to the Unitarian appreciation of the mind, a practical approach to
morality, and devotion to family and duty.
Clarke also introduced Taoism to his American readers, a tradition
Emerson hadn’t encountered in his exploration of Chinese wisdom. If he had, I think Emerson would have
delighted, as many do today, in its Transcendentalist like embrace of seeking
the harmony of the natural world.
While Clarke celebrates these
traditions and their contributions, he goes about proving in his final chapter
they are merely precursors to Christianity which is the perfection of all the
directions they point.
Samuel Johnson was the other
Unitarian scholar of Asia writing in the middle of the nineteenth century. He published three books under the title, Oriental Religions and their Relation to Universal Religion studying first India, then
China and finally Persia. Sadly he died
before penning the last words of this book.
His approach was different than Clarke’s as he didn’t see Christianity
as the ultimate religion. He saw the
different religions as each having a part of a larger religious message that
could be assembled together to create a Universal religion. While he treated each major religious
tradition equally, he still felt a synthesis would be greater than any one of
them.
About the time of Johnson’s death, American Universities
began to take an interest in comparative religions and started adding it to
their curriculum. The end of the
nineteenth century saw a strong interest in Buddhism that eclipsed the interest
in other Chinese philosophic traditions.
So, what are the elements of Chinese thought that we might
want to draw upon for our own inspiration, guidance and moral foundation
today? The three predominant schools of
thinking that have shaped Chinese Philosophy, Confucianism, Taoism, and
Buddhism, all have strong connections to our interest in the mental and
individualistic components of our tradition.
Chinese thought has tended
toward humanism rather than spiritualism, and rationalism rather than mysticism
which parallels the orientation of many Unitarian Universalists.
From Confucianism, the focus on good conduct, practical
wisdom and ethical social relations certainly appeals to us. At its core is the ethics of jen variously translated as love, goodness, humanity and
human-heartedness. Jen is the means of
human relations and the best of our human qualities. It manifests in chung or faithfulness to oneself and others,
and shu or the altruism of the golden rule,
“Do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself.”
Confucius was born in 551 BCE, into what we might consider
today as a middle class family. He lost
his father, a warrior, at a young age forcing him to work as a hired servant of
a noble family. He showed an aptitude
for study and educated himself in his spare time, opening a school at the age
of 22. His intelligence and loyalty
were noted and opened the door for a promotion to the office of minister of
justice. Under his wise administration,
his Lord’s state attained unheard of prosperity and order. Unfortunately his lord wouldn’t follow his
guidance in moral virtue so he resigned his high office.
He traveled from state to state suffering many deprivations
seeking a wise ruler to serve for 13 years.
At last he returned to his home and lived out the remaining five years
of his life encouraging others to study and practice virtue, leading by his own
example. He died just two years after
the Buddha died but they had no contact with each other that is known.
His call for self discipline and order have shaped Chinese
thought ever since. Confucianism has a
model for leadership that our political elite could benefit from
considering. He thought a good ruler
should cultivate moral perfection so they can set a good example.
How was one to develop one’s virtue? Confucianism abounds with advice on this and
can be a good advisor to modern Unitarian Universalists. No divine intervention is required for us to
be good. The means for cultivating
virtue are natural and providential, nothing more. He encouraged people to revere heroes and sages of the past and
learn from their example. His
encouraged his students to associate with the truly great and to make friends
with the most virtuous. The guidance of
these friends should be taken to heart to help correct one’s faults. Like Socrates, Confucius taught education
would lead unfailingly to the good.
Education should be coupled with daily self examination. Interestingly, he felt developing the art of
music an invaluable aid in kindling enthusiasm for the practice of virtue. He would sing odes with his students
accompanied by lutes and harps. That’s
the way I want to learn to be virtuous, by singing!
Being a parent, I have grown into an appreciation for
Confucian ideas of filial
piety. A son is bound “to love and
respect his parents, contribute to their comfort, bring happiness and honor to
their name by honorable success in life.”
Unfortunately that kind of devotion can be carried to an extreme that is
not attractive to us. After marriage
sons were obligated to live under the same roof with their father and to give
him a childlike obedience as long as he lived.
That wouldn’t have worked with my dad nor would he have wanted it.
The tradition that is usually considered a foil to
Confucianism is Taoism. Lao-tzu lived
just before Confucius did so their lives may have overlapped but no credible
evidence can be found that they met.
Lao-tzu left us the Tao-de-ching, a group of poems that describe the way
to live by following the Tao.
Rather than focusing on developing virtue and service to
society, Taoism abandons perfecting the human enterprise and looks to the
natural world for direction, particularly the Tao. The Tao or ‘the way’ is an unknowable guiding force or presence
to which one can be attuned but one cannot analyze, describe or capture.
Alan Watts had an insightful definition of Taoism as
follows:
Taoism [is] the way of man's cooperation with the course or
trend of the natural world, whose principles we discover in the flow patterns
of water, gas, and fire, which are subsequently memorialized or sculptured in
those of stone and wood, and, later, in many forms of human art.
The river is a powerful Taoist metaphor. The river moves around obstacles but retains
its nature and its goal of finding the sea.
Chuang-tzu, a follower of Lao-tzu, explains following the Tao as:
"adjusting oneself to the flow of events". The way can not be learned in school or transmitted directly from
a teacher. Metaphor and story can
direct the student but personal experience was the ultimate teacher.
Sometimes following the Tao is interpreted as a quietism
that means withdrawing from the world.
The poetry of Taoism often focuses on nature and not social
relations. This misses the balancing of
the yin and the yang that is integral to the way. Flowing with the river does not mean inaction, only harmonious
and responsive action that moves away from violence and toward peace.
Taoism found a natural partner in Buddhism with Ch’an or Zen Buddhism being the confluence
of the two. Buddhism helps one discover
the sources of craving and aversion within the self and proscribes a method to
be free of their compulsion. Centered
in emptiness, the middle path of Buddhism has strong resonance with the way of
balance practiced in Taoism.
In preparation for this service, I asked Peggy Slocum what
the Chinese people she met thought about their rich philosophical
heritage. Sadly, many were largely
unaware of it. Mao’s communism worked
hard to obliterate this past. All the
Buddhist monasteries were eliminated and the monks forced to work. The schools taught Marxism rather than
Confucianism or Taoism. Yet these
traditions have survived and with the liberalization in China they are coming
back.
While Confucianism and Taoism have attractive qualities, I
admit I’ve glossed over quite a lot that we would not want to emulate in
Chinese culture and practice like their caste system, the oppression of women,
superstition, ancestor worship and divination.
The spirit I offer these connections between Unitarian Universalism and
Chinese philosophy is one of appreciation rather than analysis. If there is one thing westerners need to
learn is how to find balance in their busy lives. I know I could learn a lot about moving harmoniously with the
moment rather than rushing into the next one.
Just the idea that this is a worthy goal is helpful.
What I find particularly attractive that comes from Asia is
the integration of the mind and body.
The path to peace, harmony, and virtue is not just in our heads. That path has a component that includes
movement and body awareness. Rather
than rejecting this vessel of the mind, Asian philosophy integrates it. We can learn as much from the body by
studying it’s wisdom from the inside as we can from books about how to live a
good life.
Neither Confucianism, Taoism
nor Buddhism enslaves us to a text or a jealous God. None look beyond this world for redemption. Each has a human focus in this world not
another someplace else. Unitarian Universalism, like
Chinese wisdom, is human centered. Both
reach beyond the individual for meaning but see individual development as
central to integrating that meaning into our lives. An open minded and open hearted approach to find that harmony
will draw from many sources unique to each individual. When mind, body and spirit find harmony with
each other, great benefit for society, the family and the individual are the
result.
That is the Unitarian Universalist way to meaning, fulfillment and peace.
I close with the Confucian
wisdom of Master Meng:
The feeling of compassion is the origin of humaneness;
the
feeling of shame is the origin of righteousness;
the
feeling of consideration for others is the origin of good manners;
the feeling of right and wrong is the origin of wisdom.
If you love others but are not loved in return,
examine
your own feeling of humaneness.
If you try to govern others and do not succeed,
turn
inwards and examine your wisdom.
If you treat others with courtesy but evoke no response,
examine
your inward feeling of respect.
Whenever our actions fail to produce the effect desired,
we
should look for the cause in ourselves.
For when a man is inwardly correct,
the
world will not be slow in paying him homage.
So as you leave this place,
let
your emotions open you to compassion,
let
your wisdom keep you from danger
and may inspiration from China help guide
your way home.
Copyright © 2005 by Rev. Samuel A. Trumbore. All rights reserved.