《道德經》

老子的《道德經》the Dào De Jing by Lao Tzu

Translated by Thomas P. Kunesh

Chattanooga, Tennessee

The Shaman Atheist:: the Dao of Atheism critical mass press, Chattanooga TN 1992

1.

The atheism that one can come to by argument is not true atheism.

A definition given to atheism in one age is not the unchanging atheism nor its permanent meaning.

From the original experience of being human atheism arises.

Being the original human experience, it is the parent of all religion.

From theism, we derive the essence of atheism, although, from their names, we see only the conflict.

Both ways of experience have the same origin only different names.

Their mutual identity is the mystery of experience.

And in this mystery is found the doorway to the universe.

道可道，非常道。

名可名，非常名。

無，名天地之始；

有，名萬物之母。

故常無欲，以觀其妙；

常有欲，以觀其徼。

此兩者，同出而異名，同謂之玄。

玄之又玄，衆妙之門。

"There is a new definition of atheism not found among the current orthodox: it is the non-experience of deity. It is not anti-theist, it is supportive of the natural quest for meaning in myth, symbol and practice, and challenges any construct that places itself in the position of worship or unquestioning obedience, whether it be called deity or law. Atheism is substantiated by the experience of no-god, or the lack of experience, not by belief or rational counter-arguments to theism. This definition comes, in part, from Pascal who conceives of a person so made that s/he cannot believe - a person who by nature is experientially limited to atheism. (Pensées, translated by W. F. Trotter, Chicago 1952)

Long before we concern ourselves with the problem of deity's existence or non-existence, we need to ask the fundamental question of epistemology: how do we know what we know? There are several methods that we commonly use to arrive at what we call knowledge, but the most frequent is a communal experience. Yet even communal experience as a source of knowledge is only a barometer of public opinion at the time taken, and ultimately leaves us no closer to the truth of deity's existence or non-existence. Communal rationalism and logic in religion can get us no closer to certainty. Thus we are left without any shared knowledge of the deity's objective reality. Personal experience as a source of knowledge, however, has never been pursued by atheist thinkers. In fact, subjective experience is considered antithetical to atheists who want to prove that deity is objectively false."

― Thomas P. Kunesh

the Dao of Atheism :

: the Shaman Atheist 1/81

1

The atheism that one can come to by argument is not true atheism. A definition is given to atheism in one age is not the unchanging atheism nor its permanent meaning. From the original experience of being human atheism arises. Being the original human experience, it is the parent of all religion. From theism, we derive the essence of atheism, although from their names, we see only the conflict. Both ways of experience have the same origin only different names. Their mutual identity is the mystery of experience. And in this mystery is found the doorway to the universe.

How does a person prove that a god exists? There are the claims of ancient stories that simply say so. After the myths come to the logical arguments from cosmology to ontology to teleology to say that the existence of a god is rational. Others say that there is no proof and that a god's existence must be taken on faith alone. And still, others claim that the proof of a god is in the experience and that they have experienced the existence of a deity or even have a relationship with it. None of it is enough to satisfy the atheist. How do people prove that a god does not exist? The passage of time, which has silently but effectively buried most gods in history, is the most evident proof that not all gods exist in perpetuity nor are all-powerful. Isis and Apollo are now cultural fictions whose reality died with the culture that created them. Arguments against deity often centre around inter-textual contradictions, or the miracles and physical impossibilities claimed as fact in the religious text. Rational proofs against the existence of a deity, such as the argument of evil and psychological hero projection, also exist, together with the arguments based on the historical abuse of religious institutions in contradiction to their religious tenets and the use of religious belief as a means of social control. But none of it is enough to satisfy the atheist. Reason cannot always help. Belief and disbelief exist by themselves, sometimes innately within a person. Some people, like the apostle Thomas, Jesus' twin brother, cannot create mental belief without first-hand sensual experience. The mental doubt exists until physical evidence is demonstrated. Until the experience of deity itself.

1― Arthur Waley

The Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying Way;

The names that can be named are not unvarying names.

It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;

The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind.

Truly, “Only he that rids himself forever of desire can see the Secret Essences”;

He that has never rid himself of desire can see only the Outcomes.

These two things issued from the same mould, but nevertheless are different in name.

This “same mould” we can but call the Mystery,

Or rather the “Darker than any Mystery”,

The Doorway whence issued all Secret Essences.