Introduction to the Tao te Ching

 

If you want to nourish a bird, you should let it live any way it chooses. Creatures differ because they have different likes and dislikes. Therefore the sages never require the same ability from all creatures. . .concepts of right should be founded on what is suitable. The true saint leaves wisdom to the ants, takes a cue from the fishes, and leaves willfulness to the sheep.

      CHANG TZU

Practical Spirituality

Tuesday Evening

5:30 - 7:30 Pacific Time

Twelve Sessions: 2 Emerson Credits

Tuition: $200.00

The Tao te Ching class is a 2 unit course (12 weeks).   We focus entirely on the Tao itself and its metaphysical interpretation, using one verse per day for meditation practice and journaling. Also explored are Tao practices, historical background and the course draws comparisons and parallels to the ideas of New Thought. The Tao te Ching is one of the greater spiritual influences on early New Thought, and we will be discussing how it contributes to our spiritual tradition. This level of study counts towards all ministerial, master's and doctoral level studies.

A Tao te Ching shareware program with 16 translations is used as the primary text for the course and can be downloaded below.

This class will encourage meditation on a verse from the Tao each day. Classes incorporate regular practice in treatment (the form of prayer taught by Ernest Holmes) and meditation. I also encourage conscious living practices, mindfulness, thinking before speaking, service etc. Much of this is a matter of personal choice, and we are committed to supporting students on their spiritual path.


Some comments from online students:

"You could not misrepresent the depth and intensity of my feelings about Religious Science, this opportunity to study it, and your pioneering leadership"--GAK

"Thank you so much. Again, at the risk of repeating myself, I cannot begin to tell you how much these classes have helped me to understand. I feel as if a door has been suddenly yanked open wide and bright, gloriously light is flooding in. It is marvelous!--KN

 

Required Texts:

• The Tao te Ching, edited by Ursula LeGuin
• The Science of Mind,  Ernest Holmes
• Ernest Holmes Dictionary of New Thought Terms, Ernest Holmes

Supplemental Readings:

Click to download:  16 TRANSLATIONS OF THE TAO TE CHING supplied by Emerson Online Studies.

All is Ultimately One.

The birds have vanished into the sky.

and now the last cloud drains away.

We sit together, the mountain and me,

Until only the mountain remains.

Li Po

When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.

Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess,
acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.

Tao te Ching
Stephen Mitchell,Translator

1645 Pebble Beach Trail

Bellingham, WA 98226

Scholarship Opportunities

 

Book Resources:   

 

Purchasing texts through the following Amazon link supports Emerson Online Studies with a share of the profits from sales: Science of Minds Texts @ Amazon

 

DeVorss & Co.    

1-800-843-5743   or    www.devorss.com

 

You can also locate good inexpensive used copies of many books which are currently out of print through:

 

http://www.addall.com/Used/

 

Registration Form (PDF File) 

Online Course Catalog

Advanced Studies

1 Year Course in Practical Spirituality

Sermons at Emerson Center