The inner life and the Tao-teh-king (Chinese
originally lectures to a small, but select company. They are now revised and published for a larger world.
They claim not to be exhaustive, but only an attempt in direction of a mystic interpretation of the Tao-The-King, a manner of reading that famous book but little practiced and less understood.
The only proper way of reading that book is in the light of mysticism- The book can certainly not be handled like a Confucian document. I lay no claim to be a Sinologist. I have, however, in many places examined the texts and made translations differing somewhat from others. Elsewhere I have used all the known translations, with which I have usually agreed. It is more than thirty years since I began in this country to call attention to the Tao-Teh-King.
It was then an almost unknown book. Since then, several translations and paraphrases have been published in this country and articles of more or less value have appeared in magazines, but much remains to be done if this treasure is to become known where it ought to be known.
the main difficulty in speaking about the Inner Life is the language that must be used. The medieval and renaissance mystics and occultists were obliged for various reasons to use alchemical language and phraseology to express their wisdom of life because such language was picturesque and easily comprehended by minds of a mechanical and practical turn, minds crude and ignorant of their own psychic powers and processes. Today we have the same difficulty to overcome as the older mystics.
Our audiences are unfamiliar with psychology and so little in the habit of seeing themselves as units, that they really believe themselves to be mere bundles of faculties, forces, and states, and are unable to give an account of their mental, moral and spiritual condition. It is therefore necessary to present the Inner Life as if it were something in space and time.
Our audiences are unfamiliar with psychology and so little in the habit of seeing themselves as units, that they really believe themselves to be mere bundles of faculties, forces, and states, and are unable to give an account of their mental, moral and spiritual condition. It is therefore necessary to present the Inner Life as if it were something in space and time.
It is necessary to speak of traveling on paths as if such paths were actual roads; and yet, Inner Life and Outer Life, Traveling and Paths, are only terms of psychic conditions. I shall in this chapter speak of passing over bridges as if I literally meant it. I shall be using realistic language, but not talk about realistic bridges.
I shall talk about psychology. Spiritually understood, there is no Inner Life, there is no Outer Life, there is no Path, no Bridge, No East, No West, no High, no Low what is there? Well, wait till you have read these chapters and you may know! I will now do like the genial boy does who wants to know how his machinery is made and put together the picks it to pieces and examines it. I will likewise pick our deeper life to pieces and try to show what it is and how it works, and, as I proceed, I shall put it together again.
Contents:
Table of Contents
I. The Inner Life and the Tao‑Teh‑King
II. The Inner Life
III. Mysticism
IV. Simplicity
V. The Sage
VI. Laotzse
VII. Longevity
VIII. Nature Worship
IX. Tao
X. Teh
XI. Life
XII. Love
XIII. Non‑Action
XIV. Nature
XV. Rousseau
📌 Reader’s Note:
The first five chapters are mystical sermons on the “inner life.” If you want to reach the Tao‑Teh‑King directly, begin at Chapter VI (Laotzse), and pay special attention to Chapter IX (Tao) and Chapter X (Teh). These are the core of the book’s promise.
- Author: C. H. A. Bjerregaard
- Publication date:1912.
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