Last week in class we discussed Daoism and tried to interpret the best we could of what Daoism explained because it is very difficult to read and understand it well. We discussed how Daoism is a religion and also a philosophy that many people believe in. For example, in class we compared Daoism with 'the force" of star wars because it is similar in that it can't be seen, but people know what it is. The force can be thought of as the way that everything happens naturally without having to do anything, like the flow of life. I like how our instructor related the way of describing Daoism to having to describe what salt tastes like to a person that has never tried salt. It seems impossible to describe exactly what salt tastes like with our language and words because it is like having to describe a color. People know what salt tastes like and also what a certain color looks like because we were born naturally with the capabilities to do so. Daoism is similar in that it is very hard to explain to someone that has never experienced the Dao because it is something almost unexplainable, it is something that occurs naturally. I think that Daoism is very interesting, but like other philosophies it is very difficult to understand so you have to read and reread everything to understand it better. Daoism can be interpreted in different ways by different people from different perspectives because of the way it is written, it doesn't really state something, it leaves the reader having to interpret the reading however he/she may choose. Last week we also watched the first part of Kung Fu Panda and I think that it has some Dao characteristics like when master Shifu and the furious five tell master oogway that the panda can't be the dragon warrior because it was an accident that the master chose the panda as the dragon warrior, but master oogway says that there aren't no accidents. I think that master oogway meant is similar to destiny and to daoism because it happens naturally. My favorite line of the movie so far is when master Oogway tells master Shifu that " yesterday was history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift that's why it's called the present" because it makes you think about why the present is really called the present. I had never though or questioned why we call the present the present until I saw the movie.
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I also found it very interesting when Mr. B compared Daoism to salt. It can’t be explained, yet we all know how it tastes. Same thing with Daoism, it’s complicated to explain yet it’s something that kind of comes naturally. Also, the quote you bring up from the movie made me think about the whole concept of the “present” as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the salt concept resonated with you. I think it helps when we look at daosim and say, "why can't you just get to the point" when we understand how hard it is to describe something as simple as salt.
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