Tom Robbins on Religion, God, & The Spiritual Life

Tom Robbins is the kind of author who people often say you either love or hate. All things considered, that is probably the best kind of author to be, as it reflects that level of truth telling which always inspires radically opposing emotions in others. Robbins is also the kind of author that we at The Living Hour would identify as an excellent example of the SBNR Progressive Christian, even though he would undoubtedly not describe himself in such terms. Regardless, Robbins displays the kind of attitude, wisdom, and joie de vivre that we admire.

The following are selected quotes from Tom Robbins covering the subject of God, religion, and the art of living:

**”A sense of humor…is superior to any religion so far devised.”

**”We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.”

**”If by the quarter of the twentieth century godliness wasn’t next to something more interesting than cleanliness, it might be time to reevaluate our notions of godliness.”

**”What difference does it make if the Gospel is mostly a lie? It’s an engrossing story and the words of its hero are excellent words to live by, even today.”

**”If you believe in peace, act peacefully; if you believe in love, acting lovingly; if you believe every which way, then act every which way, that’s perfectly valid – but don’t go out trying to sell your beliefs to the system. You end up contradicting what you profess to believe in, and you set a bum example. If you want to change the world, change yourself.”

**”Curiosity, especially intellectual inquisitiveness, is what separates the truly alive from those who are merely going through the motions.”

**”All depression has its roots in self-pity, and all self-pity is rooted in people taking themselves too seriously.”

**”Anyone who maintains absolute standards of good and evil is dangerous. As dangerous as a maniac with a loaded revolver.”

**”Solace? That’s why God made fermented beverages and the blues.”

**”I believe in nothing, everything is sacred. I believe in everything, nothing is sacred.”

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The Living Hour’s SBNR motivational series combines history, literature, philosophy, psychology, and religion to help bring about new perspectives on Progressive Christianity and spirituality. Sign up by entering your email address into the “Opening the Small Gate” box in the right corner of this web page.

Death & The Tao

Spiritual Progressives who have studied some Eastern philosophy are no doubt familiar with Lao Tzu, whose book the Tao Te Ching (The Way of Nature & Its Power) established the religion of Taoism. Not so many though are familiar with the second great teacher of Taoism, Chuang Tzu, who more than anyone preserved Taoism from the encroachments of Confucianism. One of the most memorable stories about Chuang Tzu surrounds the death of his wife, and now follows.

After Chuang Tzu’s wife died, his friend Hui Tzu went to his house to console him. When he got there, he found Chuang Tzu sitting on the ground, banging on a drum, and singing joyfully.

“This is too much!” exclaimed Hui Tzu. “To live with your wife and raise a son together, then not shed a tear after you’ve buried her in the ground, that would be bad enough, but to drum and sing! Surely, this is going too far!”

“Not at all,” replied Chuang Tzu. “When she died, I could not help being saddened by her death. But soon I remembered that she already existed as a spirit without substance or form. Substance was later added to that spirit, and her next stage was birth, after which she grew to become the person that I knew and loved. Now, by virtue of another change, she is dead, passing from one phase to another as spring turns to summer, fall, and then winter. Since she has passed into the next phase of life, for me to go about weeping and wailing would show that I am ignorant of the way of nature. Therefore, I refrain.”

Jesus of Nazareth took a similar view towards death, as is shown in the Gospel of Luke:

Jesus said: “Follow me.” “Let me first go and bury my father,” said the man. But Jesus said: “Leave the dead to bury their dead; but go yourself and carry far and wide the gospel of the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-60)

By living joyfully after his wife’s death, Chuang Tzu was carrying the gospel of Christ, and honoring both his wife and God.

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The Living Hour’s SBNR motivational series combines history, literature, philosophy, psychology, and religion to help bring about new perspectives on Progressive Christianity and spirituality. Sign up by entering your email address into the “Opening the Small Gate” box in the right corner of this web page.

Jesus’s Satori Experience

When the Zen scholar Daisetz (D.T.) Suzuki was asked what it was like to have satori, he said: “Well, it’s like ordinary, everyday experience, except about two inches off the ground.” This kind of experience isn’t something we usually associate with Jesus of Nazareth, a prophet with his feet firmly rooted to the ground on which we walk, and who we like to see as fully wise, not needing any satori of sudden enlightenment.

But there is another translation of satori, and that is “a kick in the eye.” It is this kind of satori that Jesus experiences in the Gospel story. It occurs when he finds his trusty disciples sleeping in the garden of Gethsemane, unable to stay awake while he prays and waits for Judas’s betrayal. Having a crisis of faith where he asked God if he might be spared his fate, Jesus returned to his comrades to find that not one could stay awake with him.¹

For Jesus, this was truly a kick in the eye. Stunned he asks the dozing Peter: “Could not you watch for one hour?” One imagines that he was also asking himself, “This is the guy I called ‘my rock’?”

Jesus experiences his satori at that moment. He realizes that he is truly on his own, as we all are, when it comes to matters of our personal fates, of the critical choices that are ours alone and which form our destinies.

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The Living Hour’s SBNR motivational series combines history, literature, philosophy, psychology, and religion to help bring about new perspectives on Progressive Christianity and spirituality. Sign up by entering your email address into the “Opening the Small Gate” box in the right corner of this web page.

1. ”I am sad at heart,” he said, “sad even to death; wait here, and watch.” Going on a little further, he threw himself on the ground, and began to pray that, if it were possible, he might be spared that hour. “Abba, Father,” he said, “all things are possible to thee; take away this cup from me; yet, not what I will, but what thou wills.” Then he came and found the three apostles asleep. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could not you watch for one hour?” – Luke 14: 34-37 [↩]

Matthew – Gospel 22 – Christ is Not the Son of David

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables. 2 �The kingdom of heaven,� he said, �may be compared to a king who gave a banquet in honor of his son�s wedding. 3 He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the banquet, but they were unwilling to come. 4 A second time he sent some servants, with orders to say to those who had been invited: �I have prepared my breakfast, my cattle and fat beasts are killed, and everything is ready; come to the banquet.� 5 They, however, took no notice, but went off, one to his farm, another to his business; 6 While the rest, seizing his servants, ill-treated them and killed them.�

7 �The king, in anger, sent his troops, put those murderers to death, and set their city on fire. 8 Then he said to his servants: �The banquet is prepared, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 So go to the cross-roads, and invite everyone you find to the banquet.� 10 The servants went out into the roads and collected all the people whom they found, whether bad or good; and the bridal-hall was filled with guests.

11 But, when the king went in to see his guests, he noticed there a man who had not put on a wedding-robe. 12 So he said to him �My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding-robe?� The man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants: �Tie him hand and foot, and �put him out into the darkness� outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.�14 For many are called, but few chosen.�

15 Then the Pharisees went away and conferred together as to how they might lay a snare for Jesus in the course of conversation. 16 They sent their disciples, with the Herodians, to say to him: �Teacher, we know that you are an honest man, and that you teach the way of God honestly, and are not afraid of anyone; for you pay no regard to a man�s position. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Are we right in paying taxes to the Emperor, or not?�

18 Perceiving their malice, Jesus answered: �Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin with which the tax is paid.� And, when they had brought him a florin, 20 He asked: �Whose head and title are these?� 21 �Caesar�s,� they answered; on which he said to them:

�Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar�s, and to God the things that are God�s.�

22 They wondered at his answer, and left him alone and went away.

23 That same day the Sadducees, who believed there was no resurrection, came up to Jesus. Their question was this: 24 �Teacher, Moses said: �Should a man die without children, the man�s brother shall become the husband of the widow, and raise a family for his brother.� 25 Now we had living among us seven brothers; of whom the eldest married and died, and, as he had no family, left his wife for his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and the third brothers, and indeed to all the seven. 27 The woman herself died last of all. 28 At the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be out of the seven, all of them having had her?�

29 �Your mistake,� replied Jesus, �is due to your ignorance of the scriptures, and of the power of God. 30 For at the resurrection there is no marrying or being married, but all who rise are as angels in heaven. 31 As to the resurrection of the dead, have you not read these words of God: 32 �I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob�? He is not the God of dead men, but of living.�

33 The crowds, who had been listening to him, were greatly struck by his teaching. 34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a student of the law, to test him, asked this question: 36 �Teacher, what is the great commandment in the law?� 37 His answer was: ��Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.� 38 This is the great first commandment. 39 The second, which is like it, is this: �Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thou dost thyself.� 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.�

41 Before the Pharisees separated, Jesus put this question to them: 42 �What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?� �David�s,� they said. 43 �How is it, then,� Jesus replied, �that David, speaking under inspiration, calls him �lord,� in the passage: 44 �The Lord said to my Lord: �Sit at my right hand, until I put thy enemies beneath thy feet��? 45 Since, then, David calls him �lord,� how is he David�s son?� 46 No one could say a word in answer; nor did anyone after that day venture to question him further.

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To read the next chapter of the Book of Matthew, please go to The Gospel of Matthew – 23.

This Online New Testament Gospel of Matthew is excerpted from the book The Living Hour: The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life (with New Century Gospels). Including over 200 bookmarked citations from the canonical Gospels, this Progressive Christian book appeals to the Unitarian spirit at the heart of all faiths.

Matthew – Gospel 23 – Jesus, Pharisees, & Hypocrites

Then Jesus speaking to the crowds and to his disciples, said: 2 �The teachers of the law and the Pharisees now occupy the chair of Moses. 3 Therefore practice and lay to heart everything that they preach but do not copy their works, for they do not follow what they preach.

4 While they make up heavy loads and pile them on other men�s shoulder�s they decline, themselves, to lift a finger to move them. 5 All their actions are done to attract attention. They widen their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and like to have the place of honor at dinner, and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and to be greeted in the markets with respect, and to be called �Rabbi� by everybody.�

8 �But do not allow yourselves to be called �Rabbi,� for you have only one Master, Christ, and all you are brothers and sisters. 9 And do not call anyone on earth your father, for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10 Nor must you allow yourselves to be called �leaders,� for you have only one leader, the Christ. 11 Those who would be the greatest among you must be your servant. 12 Whoever shall exalt themselves will be humbled, and whoever shall humble themselves will be exalted.�

13 �But woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You turn the key of the kingdom of heaven in people�s faces. For you do not go in yourselves, nor yet allow those who try to go in to do so. 14 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You destroy widow�s houses, even while pretending to make long prayers; therefore you shall receive greater condemnation.�

15 �Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You scour land and sea to make a single convert, and, when he or she is gained, you make them twice as deserving of the pit as you are yourselves. 16 Woe to you, you blind guides! You say, �if any swear by the temple, it counts for nothing; but, if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, their oaths are binding�! 17 Fools that you are and blind! Which is the more important? The gold? Or the temple which has given sacredness to the gold?�

18 �You say, too, �If any swear by the altar, their oaths count for nothing, but, if anyone swears by the offering placed on it, their oaths are binding�! 19 Blind indeed! Which is the more important? The offering? Or the altar which gives sacredness to the offering? 20 Therefore anyone, swearing by the altar, swears by it and by all that is on it, 21 And anyone, swearing by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it, 22 While anyone, swearing by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits upon it.�

23 �Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You pay tithes on mint, fennel, and caraway seed, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and good faith. These last you ought to have put into practice, without neglecting the first. 24 You blind guides, to strain out a gnat and to swallow a camel! 25 Woe to you, teachers of law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are filled with the results of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.�

27 �Woe to you, teachers of the law and dead men�s bones and all kinds of filth. 28 It is the same with you. Outwardly, and to others, you have the look of religious men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and sin.�

29 �Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the monuments of religious men, 30 and say: �Had we been living in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part in their murder of the prophets! 31 By doing this you are furnishing evidence against yourselves that you are true children of the men who murdered the prophets. 32 Thus you fill up the measure of your ancestor�s guilt.�

33 �You serpents and brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to the pit? 34 That is why I send you prophets, wise men, and teachers of the law, some of whom you will crucify and kill, and some of whom you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from town to town; 35 In order that upon your heads may fall every drop of innocent �blood split on earth,� from the blood of innocent Abel down to that of Zechariah, Barachiah�s son, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 All this, I tell you, will come home to the present generation.�

37 �Jerusalem! Jerusalem! She who slays the prophets and stones the messengers sent to her�oh how often have I wished to gather your children round me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not come! 38 Verily, your house is left to you desolate! 39 For nevermore, I tell you, shall you see me, until you say: �Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!��

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To read the next chapter of the Book of Matthew, please go to The Gospel of Matthew – 24.

This Online New Testament Gospel of Matthew is excerpted from the book The Living Hour: The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life (with New Century Gospels). Including over 200 bookmarked citations from the canonical Gospels, this Progressive Christian SBNR book appeals to the Unitarian spirit at the heart of all faiths.

Luke – Gospel 17 – The Kingdom of God is Within You

Jesus said to his disciples: “It is inevitable that there should be snares; yet woe to you who is answerable for them! 2 It would be better for you to be flung into the sea with a mill-stone round your neck, than that you should prove a snare to even one of these lowly ones. 3 Be on your guard! If your brother does wrong, reprove him; but if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he wrongs you seven times a day, but turns to you every time and says ‘I am sorry,’ you must forgive him.”

5 “Give us more faith,” said the apostles to the Master; 6 But the Master said: “If your faith were only like a mustard-seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be up-rooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

7 “Which of you, if you had a servant ploughing, or tending the sheep, would say to him when he came in from the fields, ‘Come at once and take your place at table,’ 8 Instead of saying, ‘Prepare my dinner, and then make yourself ready and wait on me while I am eating and drinking, and after that you shall eat and drink yourself’? 9 Does he feel grateful to his servant for doing what he is told? 10 And so with you—when you have done all that you have been told, still say, ‘We are but useless servants; we have done no more than we ought to have done.’”

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus passed between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. 13 Standing still, some distance off, they called out loudly: “Jesus! Sir! Pity us!” 14 When Jesus saw them, he said: “Go and show yourselves to the priest.” And, as they were on their way, they were made clean.

15 One of them, finding he was cured, came back, praising God loudly, 16 And threw himself on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done; and this man was a Samaritan. 17 “Were not all the ten made clean?” asked Jesus. “But the nine, where are they? 18 Were there none to come back and praise God except this foreigner? 19 Get up,” he said to him, “and go on your way. Your faith has delivered you.”

20 Being once asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come, Jesus answered: “The kingdom of God does not come in a way that admits of observation, 21 Nor will people say ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ for the kingdom of God is within you!”

22 “The day will come,” he said to his disciples, “when you will long to see but one of the days of the Son of Man, and will not see it. 23 People will say to you, ‘There he is! or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go and follow them. 24 For, just as lightning will lighten and flare from one side of the heavens to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man.”

25 “But first he must undergo much suffering, and he must be rejected by the present generation. 26 As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be again in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being married, up to the very day on which Noah entered the ark, and then the flood came and destroyed them all.”

28 “So, too, in the days of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29 But, on the very day on which Lot came out of Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from the skies and destroyed them all. 30 It will be the same on the day on which the Son of Man reveals himself. 31 On that day, if you are on your house-top and your goods are in the house, you must not go down to get them; nor if you are on a farm should you turn back.”

32 “Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever is eager to get the most out of his life will lose it; but whoever will lose it shall preserve it. 34 On that night, I tell you, there shall be two in one bed, the one will be taken and the other left; 35 Two shall be grinding together, one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two shall be in the field, the one taken and the other left.

37 “Where will it be, Master?” interposed the disciples. “Where there is a body,” said Jesus, “‘there will the vultures flock.’”

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To read the next chapter of the Book of Luke, please go to The Gospel of Luke – 18.

This Online New Testament Gospel of Luke is excerpted from the book The Living Hour: The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life (with New Century Gospels). Including over 200 bookmarked citations from the canonical Gospels, this Progressive Christian book appeals to the Unitarian spirit at the heart of all faiths.

Luke – Gospel 18 – Kingdom Belongs to the Childlike

Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never despair. 2 �There was,� he said, �in a certain town a judge, who had no fear of God nor regard for man. 3 In the same town there was a widow who went to him again and again, and said: �Grant me justice against my opponent.� 4 For a time the judge refused, but afterwards he said to himself, �Although I am without fear of God or regard for man, 5 Yet, as this widow is so troublesome, I will grant her justice, to stop her from plaguing me with her endless visits.��

6 Then the Master added: �Listen to what this iniquitous judge says! 7 And God�will not he see that his own people, who cry to him night and day, have justice done though he holds his hand? 8 He will, I tell you, have justice done them, and that soon! Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?�

9 Another time, speaking to people who were satisfied that they were religious, and who regarded everyone else with scorn, Jesus told this parable: 10 �Two men went up into the temple courts to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer. 11 The Pharisee stood forward and began praying to himself in this way: �O God, I thank thee that I am not like other men�thieves, rogues, adulterers�or even like this tax-gatherer. 12 I fast twice a week, and give a tenth of everything I get to God.��

13 Meanwhile the tax-gatherer stood at a distance, not venturing even �to raise his eyes to heaven�; but he kept striking his breast and saying, �O God, have mercy on me, a sinner.� 14 This man, I tell you, went home pardoned, rather than the other; for everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled, while everyone who humbles themselves shall be exalted.�

15 Some of the people were bringing even their babies to Jesus, for him to touch them; but, when the disciples saw it, they began to find fault with those who had brought them. 16 Jesus, however, called the little children to him. �Let the little children come to me,� he said, �and do not hinder them; for it is to the childlike that the kingdom of God belongs. 17 I tell you, unless you receive the kingdom of God like a child, you will not enter it at all.�

18 And one of the Presidents asked Jesus this question: �Good Teacher, what must I do if I am to gain Immortal Life?� 19 �Why do you call me good?� answered Jesus. �No one is good but God. 20 You know the commandments: �Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not say what is false about others, Honor thy father and thy mother.��

21 �I have observed all these,� he replied, �from childhood.� 22 Hearing this, Jesus said to him: �There is one thing still lacking in you; sell everything that you have, and distribute to the poor, and you shall have wealth in heaven; then come and follow me.� 23 But the man became greatly distressed on hearing this, for he was extremely rich.

24 Seeing this, Jesus said to his disciples: �How hard it is for men of wealth to enter the kingdom of God!

25 It is easier, indeed, for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God!�

26 �Then who can be saved?� asked those who heard this. 27 But Jesus said: �What is impossible for people is possible with God.�

28 �But we,� said Peter, �we left what belonged to us and followed you.� 29 �I tell you,� he answered, �that there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, on account of the kingdom of God, 30 Who will not receive many times as much in the present and in the age to come, life everlasting.�

31 Gathering the twelve round him, Jesus said to them: �Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem; and there everything that is written in the prophets will be done to the Son of Man. 32 For he will be given up to the Gentiles, mocked, insulted and spat upon; 33 They will scourge him, and then put him to death; and on the third day he will rise again.� 34 The apostles did not comprehend any of this; his meaning was lost to them, they did not understand what he was saying.

35 As Jesus was getting near Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road-side, begging. 36 Hearing a crowd going by, the man asked what was the matter; 37 And, when people told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing, 38 He shouted out: �Jesus, Son of David, take pity on me!� 39 Those who were in front kept telling him to be quiet, but he continued to call out the louder: �Son of David, take pity on me!�

40 Then Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. And, when he had come close up to him, Jesus asked him: 41 �What do you want me to do for you?� �Master,� he said, �I want to recover my sight.� 42 And Jesus said: �Recover your sight, your faith has delivered you.� 43 Instantly he recovered his sight, and began to follow Jesus, praising God. And all the people, on seeing it, gave glory to God.

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To read the next chapter of the Book of Luke, please go to The Gospel of Luke – 19.

This Online New Testament Gospel of Luke is excerpted from the book The Living Hour: The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life (with New Century Gospels). Including over 200 bookmarked citations from the canonical Gospels, this Progressive Christian book appeals to the Unitarian spirit at the heart of all faiths.

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