"THE TAO OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM" 

 

                                                 A Sermon by the Rev. Bruce Clear

                                                        Sunday, September 7, 2003

All Souls Unitarian Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Let me preface my remarks with this brief excerpt from Lao Tze, in the book the Tao teh Ching, roughly 1,500 years ago: 

 

I have three treasures:

To care, to be fair, to be humble.

Those who care are unafraid,

Those who are fair

leave enough for others,

Those who are humble

can grow and mature.[67] *

 

Each year at this time, as we begin a new church year, we join together as a complete congregation once again.  Each year, I see my task on this Sunday to be the same:  to remind us of why we gather together as a congrega­tion, and to celebrate those values and principles which bring us together as Unitarian Universalists. 

 

This year, for something dif­fer­ent, I choose to try and look at our  Unitarian Universalist tradition through Eastern eyes, rather than West­ern eyes, and specifically to invoke some of the princi­ples of Taoism. 

 

My point in these comments is not to give a sermon on Taoism, or try to explain Taoism.  (I've done that, or at least tried to do that, in other ser­mons).  And my point is also not to say that Unitarian Universalism is the same thing as Taoism.  It is not, though they are in many ways quite compatible.  Rather, my point is to understand Uni­tar­ian Universalism, but do so from a different perspective, the perspective of Tao, as I understand it.

 

There is a sense in which that brief excerpt from the book of Tao pro­vides a starting point for what we are and what we are about or at least a starting point for what we aspire to be.

 

I ask you to consider this excerpt for a moment, and I wonder whether you see anything odd, or at least unusual, about it as a religious philosophy.

 

Let me not play too long with your imaginations.  I'll just "cut to the chase," as they say, and tell you what strikes me as odd or unusual about this statement.  As a religious philosophy, this says absolutely nothing about what to believe, but says a great deal about how to live. 

 

I am not concerned at this point (though I will be later) with the con­tent of what is being asserted here.  What I wish to highlight is that this religious statement makes no claim of religious belief about reality. 


 

We who were raised in the Western religious tradition have been taught that to be religious means to have cer­tain beliefs about the nature of reality.  In the dominant Christian religion, for example, we have been taught that Christianity is a set of beliefs which include beliefs about

 

 *         The Trinity, or how God is organ­ized

 *         The Resurrection, or how Jesus over­came death

 *         An Afterlife, or what happens to our souls when we die

 *         The Virgin Birth, or how Jesus was born by miracle

 

The list of beliefs can go on and on.  Many other Western religions, most of which branched off of the Christianity and Judaism, share in this curious charac­teristic of being centered on what we are supposed to believe.  The Mormons require very complex beliefs about where human souls come from and where they go, for example, or about Jesus visiting North America in ancient times.  Advent­ists believe that Jesus will return to earth, and very soon, indeed.  Catholics believe that a communion wafer is trans­formed into the actual body of Christ.  Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only 144,000 souls are destined for heaven. 

 

We who were raised in these Western religious traditions have been taught that to be religious means to have cer­tain beliefs about the nature of reality.  But this is not so in some of the Eastern traditions, and particularly in Taoism.  One can search the entire book of the Tao teh Ching, and never find anything remotely resembling the kind of "belief" system like those I just men­tioned. 

 

What is odd about the Tao, plain and simple, is that it says nothing about what to believe.  It tells us instead about how to live.  For example:

 

I have three treasures:

To care, to be fair, to be humble.

Those who care are unafraid,

Those who are fair

leave enough for others,

Those who are humble

can grow and mature.

 

I suggest this morning that Unitar­ian Universalism shares this characteristic, perhaps this oddity with Taoism.  Unitarian Universalism is a religion that emphasizes values rather than beliefs.  If someone is looking for a religion that tells what we must believe about reality, they will not be satis­fied with Unitarian Universalism, and I modestly recommend that they look somewhere else. 

 

I do not want to suggest for a moment that beliefs are unimportant.  Nor, I think, would Lao Tze, author of the book of Tao, ever suggest that beliefs are unimportant.  But it seems to me that beliefs are more properly a product of our religious orientation than the source of it.


 

 

Let me add here, as an aside, that I don't think Jesus taught a religion of belief.  Jesus' religion was, like Taoism, about how to live, or, like Unitarian Universalism, about what to value.  When Jesus was asked to summarize his most important teachings, he talked about "love."  He said not one word about metaphysical belief in a trinitarian godhead or in supernatural faith.  He talked about love.  But Christianity, alas, was not ultimately defined by Jesus; it came to be defined by those who followed him, and they, not Jesus, succeeded, and insisted that belief be central.   

 

Let me put it differently.  Tradi­tional Western religion is about what to believe, Taoism is about how to live, Unitarian Universalism is about what we value.  How to live and what to value have a great deal in common. 

 

Let me rephrase it one more time.  For most of Western religion, belief is basic, and how we are to live arises out of what we believe.  In Taoism, how we live is basic, and what we believe ari­ses out of how we live.  In Unitarian Universalism, values are basic, and our beliefs come from our values.

 

In the reading from David Rankin, he attempt­ed to summarize Unitarian Univer­salism into what he calls "ten beliefs."  It is, I think, a useful list.  Rankin calls them "be­liefs" though, because in this culture religion is largely equated with belief.  Yet if you examine any of the ten, they are not really "beliefs" comparable to the beliefs I men­tioned earlier, such as beliefs in the Trinity or in the Resur­rection.

 

For example, he writes, "we believe in the freedom of religious expression," and "we believe in tolerance of reli­gious ideas."  These beliefs are unlike a belief, say, that the world will soon come to an end.  They are more properly a list of what we value.  We value free­dom of religious expression, and we value tolerance of religious ideas.  And so forth. 

 

In going through this list, we find that our values are fairly compatible with Taoist values.  Let me illustrate.

 

We value, says Rankin, freedom of religious expression.  What is meant by this is that each person is encouraged to explore freely and affirm his or her own beliefs.  That our beliefs are freely acquired is more important to us than what those beliefs are.  This is why we as a community can have atheists and theists, mystics and humanists, Christians and Buddhists, among us. 

 

This emphasis on freedom is expressed by the Tao this way: 

 

One who is open-eyed

is open-minded,

One who is open-minded

is open-hearted,

One who is open-hearted is godly,

One who is godly is useful,

One who is useful is infinite,

One who is infinite is immune,

One who is immune

is immortal.[16]

 

Rankin's second point about Unitar­ian Universalism is that we value toler­ance in religious ideas.  He writes, "The religions of every age and culture have something to teach those who lis­ten."  This openness has, in fact, been quite characteristic of our history.  This openness, for example, gives me the impetus to try to understand my own religion by using Taoism as a tool, like I'm doing this morning.  This is how tolerance is expressed by the Tao:

 

Can you so cleanse your vision

As to dwell among others

without prejudice?

Can you be humbly receptive

Before the mystery of things? 

To bring forth, to nourish,

This is called

the inward myster­ious power

Of those who live according to

the core of life.[10]

 

The third Unitarian Universalist value Rankin identifies is our accep­tance of reason and conscience as our authority.  The personal decision and choice of the individual is the ultimate arbiter in religion for us.  Or, accord­ing to the Tao,

 

People through finding

something beautiful

Think something else unbeautiful.

Since the varying of tones

gives music to a voice

The sanest person

sets up no deed,

Lays down no law,

Takes everything that happens

as it comes. [2]

 

Fourthly, we value the search for truth.  As with Taoism, this looks somewhat odd to the traditional Western eyes, for the search itself is more appealing to us than the truth itself seems to be.  Truth, paradoxically, is contained in the search more than anywhere else.  Like Lao Tze, we tend to be suspicious of anyone who claims to have ownership of final truth.  With the Tao (and I might say, with Socrates, who said some­thing very similar), we would say:

 

When you know that you know not,

You truly know.

When you think you know,

and you know not,

Your mind is sick.

To be aware of this disease

Is not to have it.

A sound mind helps people

To know their not knowing,

And thus cure them of it. [71]

 

Fifthly, according to Rankin, we value the unity of experi­ence.  What he means here is that we do not make an arbitrary separation between the reli­gious and the secular, between faith and knowledge.  Science and religion are equally useful tools for our search.  Experience, in this sense, is unified for us, as it is for the Tao:

 

The universe, like a bellows,

Is always emptying, always full:

The more it yields,

the more it holds.... [5]

 

The surest test of our sanity

Is to accept life whole, as it is.[21] 

 

Existence might be likened

to the course

Of many rivers

reaching the one sea.  [32]

 

 

The next value identified by Ran­kin is our affirmation about the worth and dignity of every human being.  Together with the seventh value, the ethical application of religion, this value lays the groundwork for Unitarian Universal­ist participa­tion in community concerns about justice that have played such a central role in our history.  Most people who know a little about Unitar­ian Universal­ism probably know first that we, as individ­uals, care deeply and work actively for creating a more just soci­ety for people.  This is the way that value is expressed by the Tao: 

 

The wise person's heart

is not shut within itself

But is open to

other people's hearts. 

To the good people, be good,

To the bad people, be good,

So goodness is increased.

So those who are wise feel the

heart-beats of others

Above their own.

Thus the peoples of this world

May be brought into harmony. [49]

 

The next value is inherited from our Christian roots, an affirmation of the force of love as the governing prin­ciple in human relationships.  In Ran­kin's words, the principle of love "seeks to help and heal, never to hurt or destroy."   Like Jesus, the Tao has much to say about love of others, even for love of one's enemy: 

 

To see the enemy only as opposite

And never as along side

or within (you)

Is to underestimate one's foe

And risk losing one's treasure.[69]

 

Rankin's ninth value on the list is the importance of democratic process.  While democracy has become an important value in Western societies, it is not particu­larly common in Western religions.  But from the very beginning of our history, Unitar­ians and Universalists have organ­ized themselves openly and with self-government by church members.  The Tao, it is interesting to note, which was writ­ten in the seventh century B.C., says a great deal about government, and what it emphasizes we today might describe as democracy.  For example: 

 

The leader is best

When the people barely know

that he exists.

Where a ruler no longer trusts

and honors the people,

The people no longer

trust and honor their ruler.

He then demands their loyalty.

The good ruler talks little;

And when his work is done

And his aim fulfilled,

The people say, "we did this." [17]

 

The final value listed by Rankin is, I confess, somewhat peculiarly West­ern.  We value the importance of reli­gious commu­nity, a network of mutual support.  While the East does have com­munity, of course, their religious prac­tices are rarely performed as ours are, in congre­gations.

 

Having moved through Rankin's list, I bring us back to where I began.  Noth­ing in the list, and nothing in the Taoist passages to which I have referred, resem­ble the kind of "belief" requirements involved in traditional Western reli­gion.  These religions deal, rather, with values and with living, not with what must be believed. 

 

This can be confusing, I know B especially to many Western minds, including our own.  This is why, I think, we have so much trouble explain­ing Unitarian Universalism to people who ask about it.  When they ask, they want to know what we believe, and we, being products of the Western tradi­tion, feel we need to tell them a list of beliefs, as Rankin tried to do.  Yet we do not have quite the kind of list that they are looking for, and that makes us uneasy.

The Tao has something to say about this, too:

 

To those who are so sure

of them­selves,

I seem muddled and confused.

Among the busy and purposeful,

I move aimlessly and adrift.

Yet I am patient as the sea;


I am a babe drawing sustenance

 from life. [20]

 

The point is that, contrary to the normal Western bias, religion is not necessarily just about belief.  It is much more.

 

Religion can be a scary word at times, for it has too often been the source of fanaticism and violence, as we have witnessed from the days of the Crusades to our own time.  Religion has encouraged bigotries and hate crimes. 

 

But religion is also a word of beauty at other times.  Over centuries, religion has inspired adherents to serve others, and especially people who are the most in need.  Religion has built hospitals and schools, it has sought to heal the sick and feed the hungry. 

 

Throughout history, religion has given people a vision of a better and more just world.  It was the fuel that drove the fight for civil rights, it has been the motivation for most leaders of every movement for peace around the world, and in every culture.  It is this beautiful word, "religion," that teaches us to look upon others as brothers and sisters.

 

In quiet ways, religion is so often a beautiful word, or can be.  Through religion an individual is able to look beyond the specific day to day world of routine life, and find a meaning, a wholeness that transcends the mundane.  In religion, millions of people seek and find hope and courage, millions of peo­ple seek and find a more bountiful mean­ing to their existence.  Our knowledge of the world supplies so many pieces of the puzzle of life, but it is our reli­gious sensibilities that combine those pieces into a whole picture of what life is about, or at least of what we can do with life. 

 

In these and many other ways, reli­gion is a beautiful word, or can be. 

 

In our own religious tradition, Unitarian Universal­ism cannot be character­ized by a single coher­ent system of beliefs about reality.  It is, however, a way of filling life with meaning and giving life aspir­ation, touching the best of the human spirit.  It does so in a way not dissimilar to Taoism, at least in this expression of Taoism: 

 

I have three treasures:

To care, to be fair, to be humble.

Those who care are unafraid,

Those who are fair

leave enough for others,

Those who are humble

can grow and mature. [67] 

 

Unlike many religious scriptures, the Book of Tao is not a narrative story.  It is a simple collection of short verses sharing small pieces of wisdom and insight.  Taken together, these short verses tell us of values for living.  They help us understand the meaning of living well and living right.  As I have shared a dozen or more of the Taoist verses this morning, I am reminded of another similar brief statement about values and how to live, a statement familiar to everyone in this congregation. 

 

Listen once more to these words, and look for the Tao in us: 

 

"Love is the spirit of this church,

 and service is its law. 

To dwell together in peace,

 to seek the truth in love,

 and to help one another.

This is our covenant." 

 

 

* [[NOTE: numbers at the end of quota­tions refer to sections in the Book of Tao.]]

Readings follows.

 

 

READING from UU minister David Rankin, in a UUA pamphlet from some time ago: 

 

What do Unitarian Universalists believe? 

 

1.  We believe in the freedom of religious expression.  All individuals should be encouraged to develop their own personal theology, and to present openly their religious opinions without fear of censure or reprisal. 

 

2.  We believe in the toleration of religious ideas.  All religions, in every age and culture, possess not only an intrinsic merit, but also a potential value for those who have learned the art of listening. 

 

3.  We believe in the authority of reason and conscience.  The ultimate arbiter in religion is not a church or a document, or an official, but the personal choice and decision of the individual. 

 

4.  We believe in the never-ending search for Truth.  If the mind and heart are truly free and open, the revelations which appear to the human spirit are infinitely numerous, eternally fruitful, and wondrously exciting.  

 

5.  We believe in the unity of experience.  There is no fundamental conflict between faith and knowledge, religion and the world, the sacred and the secular, since they all have their source in the same reality. 

 

6.  We believe in the worth and dignity of each human being.  All people on earth have an equal claim to life, liberty, and justice B and no idea, ideal, or philosophy is superior to a single human life. 

 

7.  We believe in the ethical application of religion.  Good works are the natural product of a good faith, the evidence of an inner grace that finds completion in social and community involvement. 

 

8.  We believe in the motive force of love.  The governing principle in human relationships is the principle of love, which always seeks the welfare of others and never seeks to hurt or destroy. 

 

9.  We believe in the necessity of the democratic process.  Records are open to scrutiny, elections are open to members, and ideas are open to criticism B so that people might govern themselves. 

 

10.  We believe in the importance of a religious community.  The validation of experience requires the confirmation of peers who provide a critical platform along with a network of mutual support. 

 

 

                                           READING from The Light of a Thousand Suns

                                                  by Jacob Trapp, retired UU Minister

 

 

The Tao Te Ching has been called the Sermon on the Mount of China.  In form, in flavor, in philosophy, it differs from, more than it resembles, the Sermon on the Mount of St. Matthew.  Yet there are interesting parallels.

The spirit of "be not anxious for the morrow" and "consider the lilies" is here. 

As Jesus taught humility, meekness, poverty of spirit, so Lao Tzu taught the importance of being an empty vessel, waiting to be filled.  The Tao says:

 

Humble yourself, and remain whole.

Be willing to bend, and remain unbroken.

Empty yourself, and find fulfill­ment.

 

As Jesus taught that the last shall be first, the humble shall be exalted, and the greatest shall be servant of all, so Lao Tzu taught that the sage is humble and serviceable, like a brook.  The Tao says: 

 

One seeks the lower levels, and is a valley to which all things flow.

 

 

Both taught the virtue of noncon­tention and noncompetitive­ness, the overcoming of hatred with love, of evil with good.  The New Testament paradox of the strength of the weak and the weak­ness of the strong is in the Tao: 

 

Nothing under heaven is softer

And more yielding than water.

Yet when it attacks things hard and resistant,

There is not one of them that can withstand.

So the strong are overcome by the weak,

The hard by the yielding.

The haughty by the humble.