I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned the parallels between the lyrics here and what is taught in Buddhism and Taoism. It could just be a case of only hearing what I want to hear, but the resemblance seems too coincidental to be unintentional.
For example, "Those who know don't talk, those who talk don't know," is a line from the Tao Te Ching. So given this information, my interpretation of the song is a little different. I do believe it's still a song about God, but I think that it incorporates broader principles than are made obvious in the Bible.
The idea of being freed from the possession of an individual "self" could be considered the primary focus of Buddhist teaching. "Goodbye I" could easily be taken to be the seeking of liberation from that illusory "self", because in fact we are all a part of that unknowable thing which can be variously called God, the Tao, Allah, Buddha, the Void, etc. Again this is my interpretation. Aaron Weiss would say it is God, but "God" is different things to different people whether there is one Absolute or not.
Returning to the thought of "Those that talk don't know..." Said briefly the meaning of this in Taoist or Buddhist terms would be that the Truth cannot be said because it is more than can be contained in words. Expressions of speech are mere descriptions and not the actual thing, and so are rendered incapable of portraying the Truth. This same Taoist thinking is hinted at in another song, "The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate," when it is the king says, "We didn't ask what it seems like, we asked what it is!" But our words will always fall short. The first line of the Tao Te Ching reads "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao, the name that can be named is not the eternal Name."
Also meditation is the act of sitting just to sit, because doing is not necessarily better than not doing. "Let's all stand completely still," and "There's a movement in our stillness," to me is reminiscent of this idea. There is the hummingbird, fruitlessly beating his wings, contrasted to the tortoise who is moved by his surroundings - very similar to the idea of wu-wei (action through inaction).
So these are just some comments I wanted to add. Again I do not think the similarities are coincidence, but I also don't think that Aaron Weiss is a Taoist or Buddhist. Elements of truth can be found in many places, and he seems to be one who understands this well. God is love.
I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned the parallels between the lyrics here and what is taught in Buddhism and Taoism. It could just be a case of only hearing what I want to hear, but the resemblance seems too coincidental to be unintentional.
For example, "Those who know don't talk, those who talk don't know," is a line from the Tao Te Ching. So given this information, my interpretation of the song is a little different. I do believe it's still a song about God, but I think that it incorporates broader principles than are made obvious in the Bible.
The idea of being freed from the possession of an individual "self" could be considered the primary focus of Buddhist teaching. "Goodbye I" could easily be taken to be the seeking of liberation from that illusory "self", because in fact we are all a part of that unknowable thing which can be variously called God, the Tao, Allah, Buddha, the Void, etc. Again this is my interpretation. Aaron Weiss would say it is God, but "God" is different things to different people whether there is one Absolute or not.
Returning to the thought of "Those that talk don't know..." Said briefly the meaning of this in Taoist or Buddhist terms would be that the Truth cannot be said because it is more than can be contained in words. Expressions of speech are mere descriptions and not the actual thing, and so are rendered incapable of portraying the Truth. This same Taoist thinking is hinted at in another song, "The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate," when it is the king says, "We didn't ask what it seems like, we asked what it is!" But our words will always fall short. The first line of the Tao Te Ching reads "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao, the name that can be named is not the eternal Name."
Also meditation is the act of sitting just to sit, because doing is not necessarily better than not doing. "Let's all stand completely still," and "There's a movement in our stillness," to me is reminiscent of this idea. There is the hummingbird, fruitlessly beating his wings, contrasted to the tortoise who is moved by his surroundings - very similar to the idea of wu-wei (action through inaction).
So these are just some comments I wanted to add. Again I do not think the similarities are coincidence, but I also don't think that Aaron Weiss is a Taoist or Buddhist. Elements of truth can be found in many places, and he seems to be one who understands this well. God is love.
Aaron considers himself Buddhist to some degree -- you can be Buddhist and also Christian, like him.
Aaron considers himself Buddhist to some degree -- you can be Buddhist and also Christian, like him.