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DR. TOM STANKS
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Excerpt from Finding Oneness in Loving Awareness
By Thomas D. Stanks
                                                                   Chapter V
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​​                                                                     The Tao
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      The Tao seems particularly adept at dispelling the delusion of duality. It sees proper meditation as a means to do this. I will be quoting and paraphrasing Deng Ming-Dao's work, 365 TAO: DAILY MEDITATIONS.
     "...to pair meditator and object creates a dualistic relationship between self and environment that leads one astray. Therefore, the only true meditation is one that does not put us into a relationship of viewer and object. Any object, no matter how holy, still reinforces the illusion that there is a reality outside of ourselves....The ultimate meditation is the realization that we ourselves are empty of distinctions, that our sense of identity is only the result of dualistic clinging" (p 221)....As long as we adhere to intellectual ideas over experience, then we can never have a genuine perception of Tao." (p 225)
     "The holy person transcends all identity. Therefore, wealth or poverty, good or bad, violence or peace makes no difference. Dichotomies are no longer valid to such a person. Do you find this hard to believe? The degree that you find this difficult to accept indicates the degree to which you are shackled by dualism. True enlightenment comes from understanding the oneness of all reality." (p 224)
     "...there is no separation between void and phenomena. Therefore, Tao cannot be gained from denying the world....In all of life, the only thing that separates from Tao is the human ego, because one places oneself above all other things." (p 156)
     Not only does the Tao seek to overcome duality, through meditation it aims at what might be called "direct spiritual knowing. Wholly internal, this mode is the direct experiencing of truth through the opening of higher faculties. Meditation gives one perceptions of absolute certainty. There is no doubt or need of other investigations; this knowledge is beyond words, descriptions, and rationalizations. In fact, one must be careful not to let the fruits of one's meditations pass into the realm of rationalization. This will subject you to a relativity of external truths and ruin your confidence. To avoid doubts and conflicting opinions, followers of Tao keep their revelations secret. Then what is known directly is absolutely yours." (p 161)
 

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