So this fall I'm taking Cultures of Asia, which is not nearly as exciting as I hoped, but oh well. The rest of my classes are great, BTW!
Anyway, right now I'm reading about Taoism, and I am so glad to be reading about Taoism. I fell in love with it a year ago during World Religions. I particularly fell in love with The Tao of Pooh. I highly recommend reading this book at some point in your life. Now would probably be a good time, but you know, let it happen when it happens.
The reading I'm looking at for class has some fantastic quotes about the Tao:
"The Tao has represented the [...] gentleman in his private chamber or mountain retreat, seeking surcease from the cares of official life, perhaps a little drunk, but more likely intoxicated from the beauties of nature or of the world of the spirit."
You see, the Tao is nature as it should be. It is The Way. The Tao is "undivided unity in which all the contradictions and distinctions of existence are ultimately dissolved."
Following the Tao is acting (or rather, not acting - wu wei) and letting things be as they should be. You do what you do, don't interfere, don't worry, don't meddle, and let the Tao run it's course. All things will fall into place if you let them.
Wu wei is like water:
"Of all things weak and yielding in the world,
None is more so than water.
But for attacking what is unyielding and strong,
Nothing is superior to it,
Nothing can take its place.
That the weak overcomes the strong,
And the yielding overcomes the unyielding,
Everyone knows this,
But no one can translate it into action."
The Tao of Pooh is great because it uses the characters and stories to illustrate Taoism. Pooh is simple, right? Pooh is just Pooh and doesn't try to be anything but Pooh. And sometimes things go his way, sometimes they don't. But it always works out on the end.
The Owl is too busy being a smarty-pants to really pay much attention to the way things really are. Eeyore is too busy feeling sorry for himself and wishing things to be different than they are to ever actually achieve anything. Tigger bounces around too much to be aware of the world around him, and Rabbit is too busy trying to control everything to ever get anything done! But Pooh, dear Pooh, is just Pooh.
That's what wu wei -- nonaction/inaction/acting without action is about. Not worrying too much or pushing against nature, but knowing yourself, being aware, and letting life happen. Be free. Be love.
Anyway, right now I'm reading about Taoism, and I am so glad to be reading about Taoism. I fell in love with it a year ago during World Religions. I particularly fell in love with The Tao of Pooh. I highly recommend reading this book at some point in your life. Now would probably be a good time, but you know, let it happen when it happens.
The reading I'm looking at for class has some fantastic quotes about the Tao:
"The Tao has represented the [...] gentleman in his private chamber or mountain retreat, seeking surcease from the cares of official life, perhaps a little drunk, but more likely intoxicated from the beauties of nature or of the world of the spirit."
You see, the Tao is nature as it should be. It is The Way. The Tao is "undivided unity in which all the contradictions and distinctions of existence are ultimately dissolved."
Following the Tao is acting (or rather, not acting - wu wei) and letting things be as they should be. You do what you do, don't interfere, don't worry, don't meddle, and let the Tao run it's course. All things will fall into place if you let them.
Wu wei is like water:
"Of all things weak and yielding in the world,
None is more so than water.
But for attacking what is unyielding and strong,
Nothing is superior to it,
Nothing can take its place.
That the weak overcomes the strong,
And the yielding overcomes the unyielding,
Everyone knows this,
But no one can translate it into action."
The Tao of Pooh is great because it uses the characters and stories to illustrate Taoism. Pooh is simple, right? Pooh is just Pooh and doesn't try to be anything but Pooh. And sometimes things go his way, sometimes they don't. But it always works out on the end.
The Owl is too busy being a smarty-pants to really pay much attention to the way things really are. Eeyore is too busy feeling sorry for himself and wishing things to be different than they are to ever actually achieve anything. Tigger bounces around too much to be aware of the world around him, and Rabbit is too busy trying to control everything to ever get anything done! But Pooh, dear Pooh, is just Pooh.
That's what wu wei -- nonaction/inaction/acting without action is about. Not worrying too much or pushing against nature, but knowing yourself, being aware, and letting life happen. Be free. Be love.
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