Class Notes 11/18

Today in class we looked over all of the pictures taken on Wu Wei Day, and picked which ones looked most like Wu Wei. Our opening question was to pick the one that you think most represents Wu Wei and why. The picture of the water fountain was the most commonly used throughout all of the groups. We also answered the questions on the Te of Piglet story. Our answers were:
1) The main purpose of this article is to show how Piglet is the epidimy of the Te.
2) The key question that the author is addressing is how did man's Ego get in the way of his relationship with animals?
3) The experience of man seperating himself from nature is due to his Ego. The definition of the DEHr which means virtue in action.
4) Piglet has DEHr because she has special character, spritiual strength and hidden potential unique to the individual.
5) Some of the key concepts are the history that brought back Daoism and the history of the Seperation and what Daoism is now and the DEHr.
6) The main assumptions are that characters are animals in a story so they are hard to relate to our lives. Also Daoist concern themselves with perfecting the harmony of the Dao and by doing so they are not in the spirit of the Dao.
7) If we take this seriously the implications are that most wars won't occur. and no one would assert themselves with other people's behaviors. However no advancements in any area would be made because they live by the exact opposite philosophy. We would be simply like cavemen.
8) If we fail to take this seriously, the implications are that we would live in a state of continuous chaos: war and disaster. People would be searching for happiness through material goods instead of through relationships.
9) The main points of view are the destruction man kind has caused by ego, the harmony of the Dao, and the hidden potential unique to Piglet called the DEHr.
The rest of the class was a study hall. Have a good break! Happy Thanksgiving!

Class Notes 11/16

1.  Prayer
2.  Quiz #3--> Yin Yang
3.  Religious taoism--> handout
4.  Question: Jiao video--> cosmic ritual for village peace
5.  Collect 5 questions/ do fifth question= What elements of Taoism , religious physical, are in the Jiao ?video
6.  Read "Te of Piglet"

 brilliant minds

mr. gray

waiting for the copy machine 

doing homework and relaxing 

Class Notes 11/12

Today, we had Wuwei day and so walked around the school for about 20 minutes taking pictures of objects and people that represented Wuwei (Daoist principle of acting without action). Some of our pictures were of a plant, a flag blowing in the wind outside, Mr. Kohler, Mr. Gray, Mr. Dalphonse, the water fountain, art that depicted nature, and many other things.

After doing this, we went to the chapel and listened to a guest speaker, Brother Jim who spoke to us about vocations. The 4 vocations are marriage, holy orders, the consecrated life, and the single life. He talked about the importance of these vocations and we watched a short clip of who "brothers" are and their importance in religious life. He also connected it to XBSS as he is a part of the Xaverian Brotherhood.

Class Notes 11/8

1. Took quiz #2: Wu Wei, Lau Tzu, and Taixi
2. Taoism Notes

• Tao- the path or the way
• followers mainly in Taiwan
• Lao-Tse- founder and contemporary of Confucius
• Dao de Jing- “the way and it's power”
• describes the nature of life, the way of peace, & how a ruler should live his life
• focuses on the harmony of opposites, and peaceful flow of the Tao
• artificial structures in societies create discord
• Tao is transcendent, indistinct and with out form
• Different from other religions: no formal worship or prayer, no creation of universe, and no personal deity
• time- cyclical not linear
• concept of wu wei: quietism and avoids aggression. 
• natural order of the universe
• The Absolute: I Ching
• impersonal/invisible way of the universe
• Indifferent to human desires and artificial structures
• Humans can only discern it because it doesn't reveal itself
• The World:
• is beyond good/evil
• no sense of design or what “ought to be”
• trying to conquer or improve world is futile
• provides everything humans and animals need
• Humans:
• are essentially good
• can enjoy a good life in the world
• old age; wisdom, sage
• humans are best as they were born- weak and simple
• disharmony with the universe is the greatest challenge for humans
• suffering comes from trying to conquer nature
• civilization is the enemy of the contented human
• Humans resolve their problems by:
• returning to the simple life, in harmony with nature
• long life in accord w/ Tao
• practice of taixi--- goal of taoist meditation is the harmony of the human, divine, and cosmos
• Community and Ethics:
• inaction is the secret to a good life
• "live and let live"
• trying to do good leads only to trouble
• I Ching:
• symbol system designed to identify order in what seem to be chance events
• attempts to relate day-by-day life of the individual to the ways of the universe

3.) Watched clips from Mulan and compared them to Confucianism and Daoism

4.) Paper #1 Due Friday

11/3

1) Prayer
2) Quiz #1 on Tao, Tao Te Jing, Yang
3) More notes on Taosim
4) We went to the media center to learn about good databases to find information for our paper 2 project which is about religions. Our group has Christianity
5) Class ended while we were in the media center

Peace and Love!! :)

Class Notes 11/1

1.  Opening
: How could the image of a leaf on a stream help your life?

2.  Taoism vocab and reading guide--> turned in
p. 169-179

Homework: QUIZ #1