Teachings of Tao

Lao Tzu, founder of Tao (Godless religion like Buddhism) or Tao Te Ching lived in 6th century BC in China. For ninety years Lao Tzu lived and did nothing. He was forced to write by his disciples to share his knowledge with the world when he was about to leave.

Basics of Tao :

Tao means the way. Tao don’t talk about the goal at all. The goal will take care of itself ; you need not to worry about the goal. The way is like a bird flying in the sky – it leaves no footprint.

Principles of Tao :

The ultimate synthesis : Tao is ultimate synthesis – the synthesis of man and woman, positive and negative, life and death, day and night.

yin and yang : There are always two opposite forces , but these forces are not opposite but complimentary to each other. Feminine principle is called Yin and male principle is called yang (Or Sun and Moon).

No goal , no technique : All techniques are against nature, against Tao. Effort as such is against Tao.

The watercourse way : Letting go. You are not to swim, but to flow with the river.

Contributors of Tao:

Lao Tzu :

• The Tao that can be told of is not the absolute Tao.
• When highest type of people hear the Tao, they try hard to live in accordance with it. When the mediocre type hear the Tao, they seem to be aware and yet unaware of it. When the lower type hear the Tao, they break into loud laughter – if it were not laughed at, it would not be Tao.

Chuang tzu :

• Easy is right. Begin right and you are easy. Continue easy and you are right. The right way to go easy is to forget the right way and forget that the going is easy.
• The value of that which is useless. Usefulness has only meaning with Uselessness. If you take away uselessness , even the useful will become useless. Life exists because of death. Death is not the end and not an enemy.

Lieh Tzu :

• Expressing the inexpressible . Be an artist, poet or storyteller. parables cannot be dissected and you have to live it to experience it.
• The nature of knowing. Any activity can be turned into sacred activity. Only through knowing does one come to know oneself, only through the knowing is the truth revealed.

Ko hsuan :

• The classic of purity. It is existential and not intellectual at all. unless you have tasted something of no-mind. you cannot understand a paradox.

References : Tao, its history and teachings – by osho

Teachings of Japuji Sahib

Japuji sahib is the first Vaani of Guru Granth Sahib, sacred book of Sikhism. Japuji are the very first words uttered by Nanak after self realization. Nanak attained God by singing – his path was decorated by songs. Japuji sahib is composed of 39 paudi’s with 40^th shlok in the end.

1 – 7 God is truth attained by dhyan(contemplation) and bhakti(devotion).

8 – 19 Four paudi’s with three paragraphs about shravan (listening), manan (thinking) and awareness.

20 – 27 God cannot be explained, powers are beyond our mind.

28 – 40 It is sadhana. First pranam to god, greatness of Namjup and the sadhak’s duties.

God is truth, creator, timeless and can be attained by guru’s grace and can’t understand by human mind and only be attained by submission. Everything happens by his  divine order and who understand his orders become freed from his self. There is no end to his attributes no matter how you sing. He is without a care, endlessly blissful.

God can be attained by listening, contemplating and awareness. Through listening devotees attain bliss and sin and sorrow are destroyed. Everything can be accomplished by listening only. Only contemplating (manan or chintan) can know it and all other ways are waste. Awareness or Attention is the guru of all five senses. It is difficult to perceive in any other way.

There are countless ways of worship and purification. So whatever pleases you (God) is best for me. Love for his name can dye you in his hue. All virtues are yours, O lord nothing is in me. Nobody knows about him, he alone knows. Vedas and all holy books have searched for him but end in exhaustion. Even the lure of infinite cannot compare with lowly ant with remembrance of God in his heart. There is no end to his virtues. One only knows his greatness when raised to his heights and his order alone gives freedom or bondage. He is king of kings. He is priceless of the priceless. He cannot be described. No one predicts him. Whatever he feels – so it happens. If someone boasts of knowing him, then he is the fool of fools. Everybody sings your glory. He is truth – Satnam. He created Maya, creates everything and watching over them. He is the king of kings.

God cannot be attained by knowledge but by dhyan as lots of yogi carry bag of dignity and honor. . If you must bow, bow to him. He is the true reality and all his works are true. He directs and with help of Maya created Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He watches them but they cannot see him. He is attained by his grace. The power lies in his hands and not in any other way. No one is high and no one is low before him. He created infinite things which are considered according to his own deeds. Only before the lord each one is tested. Raw is sifted from the ripe and One who is raw will dissolve away. There is no end to it. He who tries repents later. Memory, mind, understanding, and intelligence are all formulated here and the consciousness of Gods and enlightened ones. He exults in his creation. He flowers in happiness. To describe him is like chewing on iron. Self restraint is the furnace, patience is the goldsmith. Intellect is the anvil, knowledge is the hammer. Fear is the bellows, austerity is the fire, feeling is the crucible into which the nectar falls. Only those receiving his grace can succeed in it. One becomes exalted by his compassionate look

Good and bad deeds are read out in his court by religion, and our own actions determine whether we are near or far from him. Those who meditate on his name and many others are liberated by contact with him.

References:

The True name :  …. By Osho

Japuji Sahib …. By Chatar Singh & Co. Publisher

Teachings of Buddha

Buddha was born in 543 BC and died in just over eighty years of age.At the age of 29, He was shocked to see the realities of sick, aged and suffering. So he left his palace to search for answers. In Buddhism the teaching is the important thing- not the teacher. The Buddha’s final injunction was that out of respect for him believe nothing he said but investigate, investigate for yourself. Try to avoid  any desire or bad conduct as  much as possible.  Buddhism is based on spiritual philosophy and generally lacks an absolute creator God.

The Four Noble truths

1. The Truth of Suffering: Life – this existence of all sentient beings is Dukha (suffering).
2. The Truth of Origin of the Suffering: The cause of Dukha is desire.
3. The Truth of Cessation: There is a way out of all this Dukha.
4. The Truth of the Path: The way out of Dukha is to live by the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold path

1. Right views or understanding, free from superstition
2. Right aims, high and worthy of the intelligent, earnest person.
3. Right speech, kindly, open and truthful
4. Right conduct in all aspects of life
5. Right livelihood, doing no harm to sentient beings
6. Right perseverance in all steps of the Eightfold path.
7. Right mindfulness: the ever-watchful, attentive mind
8. Right contemplation (meditation); earnest thought on the deep mysteries of life

The Five Precepts: Basic guiding principles for practicing lay Buddhists

1. No killing
2. No stealing
3. No harsh words
4. No unlawful sexual activity
5. No intoxication by drugs and alcohol

Within above there is profound teaching of Impermanence and Dependent-arising.Impermanence means constant change. Everything is in a state of flux and nothing remains the same even for an instant. Dependent-arising is the concept that all things are connected; nothing emerges without relationship to other things.

Two last but not the least teachings : Anicca (no-self) and Anatta (no soul).

Anicca is to recognize what we call the self.  All the parts we think of as making up our “self” is in state of flux and there is nothing we can grasp at or hold onto. Anatta means that there is no such thing as soul which is considered as eternal and unchanging.

References:

The Naked Buddha speaks …. by venerable Adrienne Howley

The Four Noble Truths      …. by Dalai Lama