Chronology Entry
Year
1910
Text
Laotse [Laozi]. Izrecheniya kitaiskovo mudretsa Laotze [ID D36253]. [On the essence of Laozi's techings].
"The foundation of Lao Tzu's teaching is the same as that of all the great and true religious teachings. It means : Man first of all recognizes himself as a corporeal being, distinct from all others and filled only with egoistic desires. But besides the fact that the individual man considers himself to be a Peter, a John, a Mary or a Catherine, he also recognizes each as an incorporeal spirit which lives in all beings and gives life and growth to all forms of existence. Thus man may exist either as a physical personality, distinct from all others, or as an incorporeal spirit which moves in him and desires the growth of all existing things. Man can live either for his body or for his soul. If he lives for his body, his life is a continual suffering, inasmuch as the body endures pain, becomes ill and dies. But if he lives for his soul, his life is blessed, inasmuch as for the soul there is no suffering, no illness and no death…
According to the teaching of Lao Tzu, the only way for man to unite with God is through Tao. Tao is achieved by abstinence from all that is personal and corporeal. The same teaching is to be found in the First Epistle of Saint John, and just as, by the word Tao in Lao Tzu's teaching, is to be understood not only the means of uniting oneself with Heaven, but also Heaven itself, so, according to Saint John, by the word love is to be understood not only love, but also God himself. (God is love.) The essence of both teachings consists in the fact that man can conceive of himself as either separate or indivisible, body or spirit, temporal or eternal, animal or divine. In order to gain consciousness of oneself as spiritual and divine, there is, according to Lao Tzu, only one means, which he defines with the word Tao, a word which also includes in itself the idea of the highest virtue."
Derk Bodde : When Tolstoy equates 'Tao' with Heaven, and through his term with God, this in itself could not be objected to, if by 'God' he really meant a naturalistic principle similar to what Lao Tzu and the other Taoists intended when they used the term 'T'ian' or 'Heaven'. When he introduces the love of Saint John into his equation and when he creates a dichotomy between spirit and body and advocates 'abstinence from all that is personal and corporeal', it is obvious that his view of Taoism has been colored by his own Christian spectacles.
"The foundation of Lao Tzu's teaching is the same as that of all the great and true religious teachings. It means : Man first of all recognizes himself as a corporeal being, distinct from all others and filled only with egoistic desires. But besides the fact that the individual man considers himself to be a Peter, a John, a Mary or a Catherine, he also recognizes each as an incorporeal spirit which lives in all beings and gives life and growth to all forms of existence. Thus man may exist either as a physical personality, distinct from all others, or as an incorporeal spirit which moves in him and desires the growth of all existing things. Man can live either for his body or for his soul. If he lives for his body, his life is a continual suffering, inasmuch as the body endures pain, becomes ill and dies. But if he lives for his soul, his life is blessed, inasmuch as for the soul there is no suffering, no illness and no death…
According to the teaching of Lao Tzu, the only way for man to unite with God is through Tao. Tao is achieved by abstinence from all that is personal and corporeal. The same teaching is to be found in the First Epistle of Saint John, and just as, by the word Tao in Lao Tzu's teaching, is to be understood not only the means of uniting oneself with Heaven, but also Heaven itself, so, according to Saint John, by the word love is to be understood not only love, but also God himself. (God is love.) The essence of both teachings consists in the fact that man can conceive of himself as either separate or indivisible, body or spirit, temporal or eternal, animal or divine. In order to gain consciousness of oneself as spiritual and divine, there is, according to Lao Tzu, only one means, which he defines with the word Tao, a word which also includes in itself the idea of the highest virtue."
Derk Bodde : When Tolstoy equates 'Tao' with Heaven, and through his term with God, this in itself could not be objected to, if by 'God' he really meant a naturalistic principle similar to what Lao Tzu and the other Taoists intended when they used the term 'T'ian' or 'Heaven'. When he introduces the love of Saint John into his equation and when he creates a dichotomy between spirit and body and advocates 'abstinence from all that is personal and corporeal', it is obvious that his view of Taoism has been colored by his own Christian spectacles.
Mentioned People (1)
Tolstoy, Leo
(Jasnaja Poljana 1828-1910 Astapowo) : Schriftsteller
Subjects
Literature : Occident : Russia
Documents (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1950 | Bodde, Derk. Tolstoy and China. With the collaboration of Galia Speshneff Bodde. (Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1950). S. 69-70, 72. | Publication / Bod12 |
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