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Posts Tagged ‘Tao’

Divine Visitation

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2013| 4 Comments »

Divine Visitation

Divine Visitation

And the Tao Logos became flesh

And was tabernacling among us

And we were gazing at his glory,

A glory as of an only begotten beside Father,

Full of grace and truth.

John, the disciple beloved by Yeshua, had a great way with words, and an equally shocking take on the transcendence of Divine Love. In this post I want to look at this revealing little passage from the Johannine spiritual tradition.

And the Tao Logos became flesh

This declaration by John would have freaked out both the Greek philosophers and the Jewish theologians of his day. The Tao (Chinese) or Logos (Greek) referred to the transcendent organising principle of the cosmos to all who used the terms. An unseen mystery whose effects were only manifest in the visible world of Nature. Both the Chinese and Greek philosophers believed that this living force or energy underpinned all the material world, an ocean of sorts upon which the ship of our space-time world floated. It saturated the visible realm of all living things like water in a freshly drenched sponge, yet remained a teasing mystery to the mind of man.

John shocks us by suggesting that this Tao-Logos became flesh, in other words took on human form, or more startling become one of us! The Intelligent Mystery that upheld all things somehow poured itself or himself into a human being, in a unique Way.

And was tabernacling among us

The Presence of the Tao-Logos camped among us in human form. There is something very daring in such a risky venture on the part of the Source of All. How can the Divine Wisdom limit itself to an individual human Being. Stepping into the apparently dangerous, skewed world of form seems like a ludicrous plan for such an all-encompassing One. Why the visit? Why the intimacy of a shared human experience?

And we were gazing at his glory

The Johannine writer suggests that those who brushed up against this incarnated Tao-Logos were unknowingly given a chance to observe at close quarters the very manifest Essence of the Divine visitor’. In some strange way, the Tao-Logos could be observed face to face, rather than the rare glimpses that it previously revealed to the spiritual seekers of all cultures. The Shekinah Cloud of Presence that had previously visited Solomon’s Temple on rare occasions had now moved into the earthy area of human existence. Yet, unsurprisingly such a Presence was missed by the majority of the crowd, content to play the old religious games of their Jewish forefathers.

A glory as of an only begotten beside Father

The glory or shining of the visiting Tao-Logos was in some way unique. Not the reflected glory of all those made in the Divine image, but the glory of One intimately in on the God thing before the beginning of space-time. One birthed in some mysterious Way by the Creative Father Source outside the limitations of material cause and effect. One in companionship and partnership with the Divine Cause of All. A co-worker in the hilarious Dance of Creation and Being. One there to enjoy relationship within the Mystery that we call God.

Full of grace and truth

So what of the nature of the One who birthed Nature? The flow of Life known as the Tao-Logos knows only one direction, viz. that of giving. Secure in its own Being it pours out its Divine energy into the fabric of All Things, us included. A non judgemental Presence whose only aim is to heal and restore the psyche-soul of mankind.

Once we come to the liberating realisation that Truth is not a set of beliefs our world is turned upside down. To discover that the Tao-Logos is just not an impersonal force as in Star Wars, but a Presence that manifested itself in the person of a Man, is a psycho-spiritual shock to our systemized world view. That which was Mystery has made the quantum leap into humanity to demonstrate its Nature in a way that we can easily understand viz compassion and unconditional love for the creation it has birthed.

So, if we wish to discover the invisible Tao-Logos, or Way-Word for ourselves, let’s look no further than the Nazarene, Yeshua Bar Yosef. In observing him, we may surprisingly get in touch with our own inner chamber, our sacred space within where the Mystery of Mysteries has also come to dwell; the Spirit Breath that unites us with the timeless Life Flow between Father and Son.

Dylan’s Author page ~ http://www.amazon.com/author/dylanmorrison

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The Mysticism of John

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 19, 2013| 2 Comments »

The Mysticism of John

The Mysticism of John

‘In beginning was the Tao/Logos

And the Tao/Logos was toward God ……..

All was coming into being through it

And apart from it nothing has yet come into being …..

In it was life

And the life was the light of humanity.

And the light is appearing in the darkness

And the darkness grasped it not.’

John ~ the Beloved

In today’s post I wish to revisit some well-known words accredited to the Johannine stream of the early Yeshua movement, hopefully opening them up to a broader and more exciting take on the Mystery that is the Godhead.

In beginning was the Tao/Logos

And the Tao/Logos was toward God ……..

Outside space-time there is no beginning as such. Was the writer referring here to the timeless Eternal Now where Divine Love dwells or just is? Or is he alluding to the beginning of space-time itself? Either way, he seems to suggest that the Creative Intelligence or Organising Principle of Chinese and Greek philosophical thought is the great Constant in what we perceive to be existence. The Tao/Logos always was and in some strange relational way constantly gazes into the face of Divine Love itself. This mysterious connection and directional flow of life appears to be central to all that the writer goes on to expound.

All was coming into being through it

And apart from it nothing has yet come into being …..

All that exists outside this Eternal Essence is birthed and continues to have its being in and through its Divine Self. Nothing lies outside its Organisational Mind and Creative Energy. Everything that truly is hangs on the transcendent coat stand of its Being.

In it was life

And the life was the light of humanity.

Life, whatever life truly is, finds its origins in the Tao/Logos. It is the womb from which this consciousness that we call life has emerged. In some mysterious way there exists a deep union between life and light. In our space-time world light is a must for the propagation of life. In Ultimate Reality, the Divine Life reveals its Presence as Light, a Light that is meant for the spiritual eyes of mankind; a Divine radiance that targets the heart of humanity.

And the light is appearing in the darkness

And the darkness grasped it not.

Where does darkness dwell but in the fragmented psyche of our inner self? Does darkness have any independent existence apart from our wounded souls. Is it real as the Tao/Logos is real. Or is it a virtual reality dream world created by the trauma of withdrawn love. Whatever its essence it is impossible for such darkness to keep Divine Light at bay. Once it has decided to shine the Light of the Tao/Logos can enter the world of our psychic darkness at will. Yet if we cling to the inner darkness that promises to protect us from further rejection and psychic wounding we can remain blind to the revelation of Ultimate Reality via the ever-present Light. Preferring to remain in the apparent safety of our programmed darkness we miss the liberating life and wholeness of the visiting Light.

There’s one thing for sure: we cannot escape the Presence of the Tao/Logos even if we bury our heads in the psychic sand of our fragmented self. When we chose to open our eyes to Ultimate Reality, tired of our days of darkness, our whole world will take on a new splendour. Like a previously shuttered window now opened to the stream of sunshine and its generating warmth, our cold, dried out soul will welcome the transforming Life of the Tao/Logos. No longer will life be a struggle to survive in the jungle of our misperceived reality but a joyful Dance in the Eternal Light, a wild abandon to the underpinning Love that holds the whole space-time thing together. A Presence that now carries the illusory load of our fear filled psyche, One in which we can lie back and kick off the shoes of Self Effort and religious duty.

Dylan’s Author page ~ https://www.amazon.com/author/dylanmorrison

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The Truth Behind The Myth

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on December 18, 2012| 16 Comments »

The Truth Behind The Myth

The Truth Behind The Myth

As I sit here in my local coffee shop staring out at the shoppers passing by with their heavy bags of ‘stuff’ for the celebration of Christmas, I really do wonder what the Nazarene would make of it all. Struggling shopkeepers trying to make a living in the midst of deep recession, try to tempt us into the commercial Yuletide spirit, with copious amounts of fake snow and semi glittering tinsel, all undoubtedly birthed in the great Chinese manufacturing drive for world domination.

Many dread the big day with its pseudo celebratory take on the birth of Yeshua, a working class Jew who, if many of us were totally honest, would have no place around our festive Christmas table. Family smiles often disguise deep hurts and wounds from years gone by. Presents are given to hide the hidden agendas of our rivaling relationships. Food and drink together conspire to drug us into the illusion that all is well with the world whilst the poor continue to be just that….poor. Cable TV transmits its fake take on the Season, as James Stewart, once more decides not to jump! B and C list personalities smile with broader smiles than usual, whipping up our manufactured feel good factor for the big day.

Yes, in the darkest days of Winter we humans love a good party, something to give our psyche a leg up in the sun starved days of  cold December. Once upon a time it was Paganism, closely followed by Christianity who authenticated our annual knees up but now its Amazon and  Apple who lend their commercial clout to our mythical merriment.

Am I a bit of a Scrooge or a sour faced, joyless Northern Irish Puritan? Well, no. I’m just a recovering religious junkie who yearns for authenticity and peace in the midst of our lemming like rush to the stores. May I be frank? Is there actually anything to celebrate under the orgasmic, multi-layered religio-commercialism that worships at the glitzy altar of trans- global Capitalism?

Thankfully, I believe so.

No matter where and when he was born, it appears that Yeshua, the Nazarene, really did emerge onto the world stage in first century Palestine. Forget the mythical donkey and the myrrh bearing magi. Such sweet icing on the metanarrative religious cake doesn’t actually matter. What matters is whether Yeshua really lived and what his teaching revealed about the mystery of Divine Source, the birth point of the Cosmos, and, more importantly, our purpose within it.

Many have tried to deconstruct the Nazarene from the pages of human history. They’ve almost managed it but good old Josephus, a first century Jewish historian, in the pay of the Romans, just won’t let them get away with it. No friend of the early Yeshua movement, the literary historian fleetingly refers to the ‘Christ’ in two separate references. No it would appear that Yeshua was a real fresh and blood guy, albeit one with a radical take on the nature of Divinity that set him against the status quo religion of his day.

So what is there to celebrate?

Simply put, two things!

1) Yeshua lived.

Think of a world without the Nazarene’s character, compassion and teaching. A much poorer place leaving the spirituality of man in the prophetic hands of the Buddha, Krishna, Lao Tze and other enlightened souls.

2) God is not obsessed with ‘sin’ or human dysfunction.

Yeshua’s view of a welcoming Divinity who doesn’t listen to the ‘sinners prayer’ before authenticating us is surely something worth celebrating. If this sounds too good to be true do have a wee reread of the parable of ‘The Prodigal’ – the returning son couldn’t get his rehearsed ‘repentance’ out before being smothered in Divine generosity and acceptance.

So, in this season of silliness and over indulgence, may I wish you all a blessed moment of Divine revelation. When we’ve had enough to eat, tire of our family and friends and are fed up with the saccharine TV fare let’s go into the solitude of our sacred space and wait for Divine Presence; an authentic Breath that longs to touch our saturated psyche in the bleak Mid-Winter.

Dylan’s Author page ~ https://www.amazon.com/author/dylanmorrison

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