“How complete was (the operation of the Tao)in the people of old!

It made them the equals of spiritual beings, and subtle and all-embracing as heaven and earth.

They nourished all things, and produced harmony under the heavens.

Their beneficial influence reached to all classes of people…Great and small, fine and coarse— all felt their presence and operation.

Their intelligence, as seen in all their regulations, was handed down from age to age in their old laws, and much of it was still to be found in the writings of the Historians.

But there ensued great disorder in the world, and sages and worthies no long shed their light on it.

The TAO and its characteristic ceased to be regarded as uniform. Many in different places got one glimpse of it, and congratulate themselves on possessing it as whole.

They might be compared to the ear, the eye, the nose, or the mouth. Each sense has it own faculty, but their different faculties cannot be interchanged.

So it was with the many branches of the various schools. Each had it peculiar excellence, and there was a time for it, but notwithstanding no one covered or extended over the whole range of truth.

Thus it was that the Tao, which inwardly forms the sage and outwardly the king, became obscured and lost it clearness, became repressed and lost it development.

Everyone in the world did whatever he wished and was the rule to himself. Alas! The various schools held onto their several ways and could not come back to the same point, nor agree together.

The students of that later age, unfortunately, did not see the undivided purity of heaven and earth, and the great scheme of truth held by the ancients.

The system of the Tao was about to be torn into fragments under all of heaven.” ~ CHAUG-TZU

TAO in the People of Old

There was a time, many centuries ago when people were far more spiritual than they are now. I don’t mean that they spent more time studying scripture or going to chuch, that has happened in recent centuries. I am talking about those who developed their spiritual side far more than the physical. Some were so developed that they glowed with the Light of God, could exist on very little physical food because they fed on Spiritual Light, and it is said that some were so spiritual that their physical bodies were nearly transparent. This is what it means when it says they were “ subtle and all-embracing”. Such beings could communicate directly with the Angels in Heaven, and even with God.

They Nourished All Things

The nourishment referred to here is spiritual nourishment, not physical. It is possible for highly developed spiritual people to take in more Spiritual Light than they need, then send the access out to other “things”. That nourishment is sent out with thoughts of love, peace, and harmony attached to it. Of course, other people should take in the spiritual Light on their own, but it doesn’t hurt to help some get started on that path.

Their Intelligence Was Handed Down

I think it is more accurate to say their wisdom was handed down because intelligence is associated with the more materialistic mind and body. This wisdom was not handed down at random but was given only to those who could deal with such knowledge and use it properly, which is to further the goals of God, not those of men. It was mostly handed down orally. When some of it was put in writing, it was always coded in some way, usually through the use of allegory, to prevent evil people from understanding it and misusing it.

Ceased to be Uniform

At one time, the concepts of God—what He is and what He does—were very uniform because the spiritual people of those days could communicate directly with God. But as humanity became more and more material and materialistic, people started to form different ideas of what God and Heaven are. Often people who believe in God see him as just a person much like themselves, but with greater power. Many even went so far as to make the prophets and emissaries of God into gods. This has resulted in the hodge-podge of religions and sects we have today.

Change is Upon Us

What the quote doesn’t tell us is that a time will come in the future when all of this turning away from God and spirit will change. The prophet Malichi did say something about it when he wrote of a future time when the Sun of Righteousness would come to burn all Darkness and evil out of the world. That time is now, and people are starting to change and become more spiritual. Sadly, there are frauds at this time also who preach spiritual ideas they have collected from various books, but have never experienced themselves. Hopefully, those speaking of and practicing real spiritual development will win out.