Page:Oriental Religions - China.djvu/25

Rh His Isolation and Impersonality. The Tao-te-king. Unique in Chinese Literature. Doctrines falsely ascribed to Lao-tse, and not in this Classic. Its Characteristics. Its supposed " Obscurant- ism." Its Practical Purpose. Meaning of its " Non-action." Of its " Non-existence." Its Originality. Meaning of Tao as Law and Intelligence. As Right Way. The "Unspeakable." Its Im- manence, yet Reserve, of Force. " Hiding its Claim." The Inward Witness. Summons to the State to recognize Spiritual Liberties and Laws. The Signs of Public Demoralization. " The State cannot be Manufactured." Lao-tse's Political Gospel. Extracts from the Tao-te-king. I. The Eternal Way. Laws of Growth and Good. Life in Tao. Sovereignty of Spiritual Forces. II. Per- sonal Character. The Law of Contraries. Least is Greatest. Substance and Show. Strength in not Striving. Self-restraint. Self-reliance. Respect for One's Work and for One's Self. In- ward Harmony and Rest. Union with Tao. The Three Treasures. The Immortal Armor. Sincerity and Love. III. True Govern- ment. Ruling through Humility and Service. Through Repression of Desires. Trust in Instincts of the People. Effects of Suppress- .ing Spontaneity. Against Conceit of Wisdom and Virtue. Sim- plicity against Smartness. The State ruined by Over-regulation. By Luxury. By War. Saved by Humanity. A Model State. The Tao-sse 881-904 Rise of the Tao-sse. Use of the Tao-te-king as Basis for Mythology and Occult Studies. Similar Perversions in Other Religions. Universal Magnetism of Spiritual Genius. Merits of the Tao-sse as Reformers. Their Physical Studies. Their Large Claims in Religion and Letters. Moral and Spiritual Elements in the Search for Occult Powers. Its Relations to Progress. Wide Sympathies of the Tao-sse. Grounds of the Great Influence of the Tao-te-king. Sayings of its Disciples. — The "Book of Eternal Spirit and of Eternal Matter." — The Tao Saints and Public Affairs. Ch'ang Ch'un and Tchinggis Khan. Popular Imaginative Elements ab- sorbed by the Tao-Idea. Points of Attachment to the Tao-te-king. Significant Titles of Tao-sse Works. — The " Book of Rewards for Good Acts done in Secret." — "The Kan-ing-pien," or Book of Rewards and Punishments. How Bibles mingle the Wisdom and Foolishness of Man. Police Management of the Universe in Mod- ern Religions. The Kan-ing-pien on Moral Freedom and Immor- tality. Sources of the Illusion that Virtue ensures a Long Life. Persistence of Fixed Beliefs against Experience, through Moral Associations. Kan-ing-pien Theory of Ideal Retribution on Earth.