Excerpt from the Book of Tao, #38:
"High Virtue is non-virtuous;
Therefore it has Virtue.
Low Virtue never frees itself from virtuousnessness;
Therefore it has no virtue.
High Virtue makes no fuss and has no private ends to serve;
Low Virtue not only fusses but has private ends to serve.
High Humanity fusses but has no private ends to serve;
High morality not only fusses but has private ends to serve.
High ceremony fusses but finds no response;
Then it tries to enforce itself with rolled-up sleeves.
Failing Tao, man resorts to virtue.
Failing Virtue, man resorts to humanity.
Failing humanity, man resorts to morality.
Failing morality, man resorts to ceremony."
This is such a beautiful expression of what we Muslims have become.
posted by ICVA Refugee Committee @ 5:56 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
First: I'm not ashamed to admit that I had to read it 3 times in order to understand it.
More importantly: I find this an interesting parallel to draw: adherence to ceremony (a.k.a. "literalism"?) coming from failed morality (a.k.a. "abject righteousness").
Sad how the more important we believe the message to be, the more we lower it on the scale presented here: "This is so important for you to embody that instead of simply embodying it within myself (no fuss, no agenda), or proclaiming it to anyone who will listen (fuss without a cause), or even just advocating for it (fuss with an agenda), I chose to beat you over the head with it so that all that is left is an empty and hollow act.
sad...
Submission, ignorance, intolerance, subjugation and inequality suck.
Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all preach these as truths. It's true.
Support the rights of women, homosexuals, and people who just don't think the same way you do. There ARE moral people who exist outside of any narrow-minded orthodoxy.
Actually, Islam does not teach all those things you think, suck. The first pillar of Islam- There is no controlling power except Allah, is a very powerful formula. It brings about individual empowerment, individual responsibilty and individual accountability to its practitioners. Imagine being free of all bonds of culture, kinship, wealth, even ego. Now make your decisions.
There are many verses in the Quran that say, to the effect that there is no compulsion in religion. I would like to add that my understanding of religion is, that you have a set of beliefs and you act on them. If you believe that gravity is not always strictly enforced you may walk off a cliff, but if you do believe that the natural laws are inexorable then you will act accordingly
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