08 March 2010

Christ the Eternal TAO... Now in Chinese!

Tonight I received a personal email from Father Damascene, author of "Christ the Eternal TAO", which is more than a book for converting those from Eastern Religions to Orthodox Christianity, but  great Catechesis or Faith-Invigorator for a cradle or long time Convert, needing a spiritual boost. Recently I read it thoroughly and it connected a lot of dots I needed connected recently. It is probably one of my favorite books of all time! The book would be great for catechizing Chinese who know of The Way/Tao, and how it can very easily lead them to realize who The Way/Tao truly is.
Anyway, if you know someone who is Chinese, the book can be found at http://LogosTao.CN. But for native-English speakers, you can buy the book here.
Here is the product description from AmaZon.com:
Not until now has the ancient wisdom of Lao Tzu been presented alongside the otherworldly revelation of Jesus Christ in a way that encompasses the full significance of both. Christ the Eternal Tao presents the Tao Teh Ching as a foreshadowing of what would be revealed by Christ, and Lao Tzu himself as a Far-Eastern prophet of Christ the incarnate God.

Through heretofore unpublished translations and teachings of Gi-ming Shien  -- perhaps the greatest Chinese philosopher to have ever come to the West -- this book uncovers the esoteric core of the Tao Teh Ching. Then, through the transmission of mystics of the ancient Christian East, Lao Tzu's teaching is brought into a new dimension, exploding with new meanings. Christ, in turn, is seen in a unique light, His pure image shining in the clarity of Lao Tzu's intuitive vision.

With its practical, time-tested advice on how to unite oneself with the incarnate Tao and acquire uncreated Teh, this is both a philosophical source-book and a spiritual manual, touching the heart and leading one to profound inward transformation. It is a long-awaited Answer to those who, having turned away from modern Western "churchianity," are drawn to the freshness, directness and simplicity of Lao Tzu, and at the same time are strangely, inexplicably drawn back to the all-compelling reality of Jesus Christ.

The book is adorned with Chinese calligraphy and seals (created especially for it by well-known Chinese artists), and with traditional Chinese paintings of the life of Christ.

5 comments:

  1. Ni hao! I will share this with my Zhongguoren friends. Thinking about this post, I realize that in my own mind, I do think of Jesus and his teachings as being the way of / pointing the way to Dao.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would like to see a movement within Orthodoxy of those free to observe the Christ-Dharma-Sangha. That is, an Asian styled Orthodoxy that would 1.)draw back former Christians who left the Church for Buddhism, etc. 2.)catch those who are about to leave the Church for an Asian non-Christian practice, and 3.)to inspire the Orthodox Christians of Asian descent to practice Orthodoxy in their cultural context (not that of the Greeks or Russians).

    Unfortunately, Fr Damascene's book is out of print and extremely expensive to obtain.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would like to see a movement within Orthodoxy of those free to observe the Christ-Dharma-Sangha. That is, an Asian styled Orthodoxy that would 1.)draw back former Christians who left the Church for Buddhism, etc. 2.)catch those who are about to leave the Church for an Asian non-Christian practice, and 3.)to inspire the Orthodox Christians of Asian descent to practice Orthodoxy in their cultural context (not that of the Greeks or Russians).

    Unfortunately, Fr Damascene's book is out of print and extremely expensive to obtain.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting concept. How would you see this different than Eastern Orthodoxy in the Far East today? May I suggest a blog you may enjoy at http://ecumenicalbuddhism.blogspot.com which ties in Taoism and Buddhism to Orthodox Christianity as precursors?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I would offer the following as to the shudoshi's Asianization of Orthodoxy:

    With the use of native language, vestments in accord with native style while keeping in mind the meaning of each article (from all schools of Buddhism & Taoism there are plenty similarity to borrow from) and the Divine Liturgy under goes a slow asian adaption i.e., modification of the Slavo-Byzantine OR adapt the Assyrian or Thomas Liturgy as a foundation. In the West, a para-church or a missionary outreach unit could be established with lay monks or hieromonks operating in locations similar to Western Buddhist Sangha utilizing various Asianized paraliturgical services (Akathists, Prayers for the Dead, such) sessions of Neptic Meditation and Shu Kirisuto Chant (Jesus Prayer)...these as some preliminary ideas.

    ReplyDelete

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