I usually do not post on political themes, but I could not pass up sharing these words of a prophet of God, particularly when they are so in tune with current political ideologies.
Below is a YouTube video of President Ezra Taft Benson speaking about socialism on April 12, 1977. (post continues below)
Since President Benson’s words are so pertinent today, I have included them below: [Read more…]
An ancient painting of Nüwa and Fuxi unearthed in Xinjiang, holding the tools of creation - compass and square.
Hugh Nibley gave a lecture in 1975 on “Sacred Vestments” which was later transcribed and included in the collected works volume Temple and Cosmos (pgs. 91-132). The entire paper is fascinating, and highly recommended reading. One of the things he wrote about were certain Chinese artifacts which had been found depicting two mythological gods, Nüwa and Fuxi, and the tools they hold:
Most challenging are the veils from Taoist-Buddhist tombs at Astana, in Central Asia, originally Nestorian (Christian) country, discovered by Sir Aurel Stein in 1925… We see the king and queen embracing at their wedding, the king holding the square on high, the queen a compass. As it is explained, the instruments are taking the measurements of the universe, at the founding of a new world and a new age. Above the couple’s head is the sun surrounded by twelve disks, meaning the circle of the year or the navel of the universe. Among the stars depicted, Stein and his assistant identified the Big Dipper alone as clearly discernable. As noted above, the garment draped over the coffin and the veil hung on the wall had the same marks; they were placed on the garment as reminders of personal commitment, while on the veil they represent man’s place in the cosmos. (pg. 111-12)
Nibley included drawings of this depiction found on veils in the Astana Tombs in Xinjiang, China, with a caption that reads:
In the underground tomb of Fan Yen-Shih, d. A.D. 689, two painted silk veils show the First Ancestors of the Chinese, their entwined serpect bodies rotating around the invisible vertical axis mundi. Fu Hsi holds the set-square and plumb bob … as he rules the four-cornered earth, while his sister-wife Nü-wa holds the compass pointing up, as she rules the circling heavens. The phrase kuci chü is used by modern Chinese to signify “the way things should be, the moral standard”; it literally means the compass and the square. (pg. 115)
See the photos at the end of the post for more examples of this icon. The veil redrawn in Temple and Cosmos is shown photographed in the second row, fourth from the left. [Read more…]
President Harold B. Lee - 1973
[Update/Disclaimer (8/1/08 8:10pm MDT): Because of the different use of the term “liberal” that President Lee uses in this talk, in contrast to the common modern political usage, care should be taken when reading it. President Lee’s use of “liberal” was strictly used in the sense of a standard of living the gospel, and is therefore applicable to all members regardless of political affiliations. I personally found much good counsel for myself in the prophet’s words.]
A couple days ago, Tim Malone from the excellent blog Latter-day Commentary pointed me in the direction of a talk in 1971 by President Harold B. Lee on the subject of religious liberalism. Last night, by random coincidence, as I made a passing remark to my father about some members in the Church who claim it improper to use the terms “the only true Church,” he immediately referred to a quote in the same talk. Something is telling me to pay close attention to the words of President Lee. My hope is that all the Saints would too. This man was a living prophet of the living God:
I sincerely pray for the spirit of this great conference during the few moments that I shall stand here.
Sometime ago there appeared in the Wall Street Journal a thought-provoking article, written by an eminent theologian at the Columbia University, under the subject heading “An Antidote for Aimlessness,” which you recognize as a condition that is prevalent in the world today. I quote from this article by Rabbi Arthur Herlzterg:
“What people come to religion for, is an ultimate metaphysical hunger, and when that hunger is not satisfied, religion declines … the moment that clerics become more worldly, the world goes to hades the faster. [Read more…]
I think many times our culture produces preconceptions or stereotypes about words, images, cultures, forms, meanings, etc., that may not actually be true. I have found this to be the case with the word mysticism. Oft times I think we associate this word with gypsies, palm readers, fortune tellers, monks, or other so-called strange or mysterious things. But is this a correct perception? Often we just don’t know the origin of a word, which might give us great insight. [Read more…]
Yin Yang
I came across an article today in The Daily Utah Chronicle, a paper of the University of Utah. The article was published in 2006 by a member of the Church, Andrew Kirk, entitled, “Mormons ought to read Taoist scripture.” After having studied Chinese philosophy and religion in depth, particularly from the Taoist scripture Tao Te Ching, Kirk makes the statement that there are many similarities in the teachings between the two disciplines.
Mormons believe their church’s teachings come straight from God through prophets. LDS historians love to study how the teachings appear to be influenced heavily by the historical context of the teachers. I found ideas in the Tao Te Ching that agree with LDS Church teachings even though the historical contexts are as different as apples and orange xylophones.
The most interesting insight to me was what he said about temples: [Read more…]