The Bible teaches that there are twelve gates into the City, metaphorically meaning that there are many paths back home to God. Drawing strongly from both Eastern and Western religious and spiritual traditions, this series offers some of the many perspectives on how to approach enlightenment.
Enter the 7th gate into the city through teachings on the Tao, completing your
dharma, and transmuting negative karma.
7th Gate Chapters — (Click to jump to a topic)
> Oneness With the Tao
> The Tao Te Ching: Examples of Sayings
> Dharma
> Transmuting Negative Karma
Oneness With the Tao
Taoism (pronounced DOW-ism) is a mystical path, a path that teaches us how to have inner contact and union with God. It teaches us how to become the highest man we can manifest while wearing these bodies of flesh. Tao is translated as “The Way,” referring to the inner workings of the universe…the natural order of things, and specifically to how man can become one with these workings.
The Tao Te Ching, which is the foremost Taoist Chinese text, was considered to have been written in the 6th century by Lao Tzu, his name meaning ‘Old Master.’
Tao Te Ching means ‘The Classic of the Virtuous Way,’ and is a ‘how to’ book on this virtuous way, the way to become the perfect man. In this text, we are taught how we can be successful in whatever we undertake; how we can embrace our destiny; how we can govern the inside and live without confusion; and how we can focus our attention internally and stand balanced representing the most perfect being that we can be, the quintessential man.
Lao Tzu
In all religions, there are teachings as to what constitutes a “holy” man. Taoism has its own teachings on this subject, calling the holy man the “the perfect man.” Lao Tzu described the perfect man as one who could ascend to the loftiest height without fear, enter water and not get wet, or enter fire and not get burned. Taoism’s perfect man governs his ‘inner’ self and embraces his destiny. He travels a road that is never blocked, and arrives wherever he goes; he leans on a pillar that is steady, and learns from a teacher that never dies. What are these beliefs referring to?
The teachings of the Tao are thousands of years old, and impart a path of true pragmatism. It includes teachings on ethics, government, and diplomacy. Much of the text is addressed to the ‘sage ruler.’ The ‘sage’ in this case, is not an elite person, but rather the ‘ideal holy’ person which every one can become, and must become, in order to find serenity in inner wholeness.
To find the way of the Tao, we must enter the wisdom of the second ray masters on a daily basic, least we think we are separate from the great Tao. There is the yin and the yang relationship of the teacher and the student in the lessons from the masters of illumination, such as Confucius, Kuthumi, and Lord Lanto who help us to become the Tao. These masters lead us on to the ultimate goal of wholeness.
The wholeness that we attain to is actually a wholeness and a oneness which we already have, we simply need to get in touch with that wave length. Therefore, instead of saying that we ‘can’ become the Tao, which means we have the “potential” to become whole, we must instead embrace the fullness of this potential and state that this wholeness will indeed be realized. Therefore, we must state that we ‘shall become’ the Tao. What we need are the heart and the will to unlock the mysteries of the Tao.
In the symbol of Taoism, the character on the left side of the symbol means “feet”, or moving on, to run, or to progress by degrees. The symbol on the right represents the “head” or the “leader.” Together they symbolize the way, the path or the road. Also, it represents a pupil following a master. Tao is infinite, boundless, and all-pervading. Lao Tzu says that the Tao preceeded the creation of heaven and earth. It is the essence of everything.
The Tao Te Ching: Examples of Sayings
“Those who know, do not speak, those who speak, do not know.”
“Even a 1,000 mile journey starts with a single step”.
“I hold and protect three treasures: benevolence, frugality, never trying to be number one.”
“If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.”
“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.”
“If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty. If you want to be reborn, let yourself die. If you want to be given everything, give everything up.”
“Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself.”
“The wise man is one who, knows, what he does not know.”
“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”
“All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power.”
“If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. If you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them.”
Dharma
The mysteries of the Tao are the mysteries of the Christ, Melchizedek, Abraham and the prophets, Lord Maitreya, Padma Sambhava, the Apostles of God, and the Sons and Daughters of Solitude. All of these teach how to become the ‘real self’ and how to have contact with God and the Ascended Masters. Lao Tzu’s teachings give us the ‘way’ to become one with the great Tao, how to attain union with it, and with all those who have attained it before us.
Whereas the Tao is a Chinese concept for the natural order of the universe and implies contact and union with God, as well as the proper or right way of existence, in Buddhism, the word ‘dharma’ is used to refer to this ‘cosmic law and order.’ Hinduism uses ‘dharma’ to refer to all that is in accord with rta, the order that makes life and the universe possible. In Jainism, ‘dharma’ refers to the doctrine of purification and moral transformation of human beings. For the Sikhs, ‘dharma’ refers to the path of righteousness. All of these contain aspects of the Tao, but are not the Tao.
Why are you here? What are you meant to be doing? The Ascended Masters teach that dharma (also known as the divine plan) is our path back home to God and is our duty to life. Dharma…is the ‘right way of living’, because it is a way provided for us to serve and to minister to life! It is a higher calling, a persistent spiritual longing that simply won’t go away. Fulfilling one’s dharma is an individual path, and to complete our dharma — we must balance our karma.
Transmuting Negative Karma
Karma is a sanscrit word meaning “act”, “action” or “deed.” In general, it refers to the consequences of one’s thoughts, words and deeds in this and in previous lives. Karma refers to the law of retribution, the law of the circle, the concept of ‘as you so so shall you reap’, the law of cause and effect.
We are all on the karmic wheel, returning to different bodies through reincarnation in order to pay our debts to life for our misuses of God’s light, energy and consciousness. Re-embodiment is God’s mercy and grace to us.
To fulfill the path of the Tao, to achieve union and contact with God, two essential requirements are set forth by spiritual hierarchy. We must fulfill our reason for being, our dharma. — and we must balance a sufficient portion of our karma.
The cosmos is governed by immutable laws, and one such law is the Law of Karma. Karma is exact and inexorable. And it is the mercy of God that we are given opportunity upon opportunity to balance and transmute it.
To assist us in balancing our karma, the gift of the violet flame was released in the twentieth century. The violet flame is a spiritual flame, the flame of the holy spirit, that transmutes our negative karma, freeing us to better live the Tao, and to ultimately achieve contact and complete union with God.
The violet flame, as the gift to mankind for the Aquarian Age, is a spiritual unguent to be used for those wishing to balance karma — and to do so quickly. For more information about the violet flame and how to use it to balance karma, see the 1st Gate.
Additional Resources:
SummitLighthouse Playlist on the TAO
Mystical Paths of the World’s Religions
The Violet Flame
You Have Been Called
Karma and Reincarnation
Mark Prophet Loved The Mystical Paths of East and West
*All materials published with permission from The Summit Lighthouse® and Summit Publications, Inc.
