Here are your last questions for the Tao te Ching, which will be due Wednesday, OR, if the university closes for snow, on Friday. But let's assume we'll all be able to meet on Wednesday until we hear differently.
Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: Bruce Lee was a staunch advocate of the Tao te
Ching, and claimed that it worked very harmoniously with the martial arts.
Which poem might have specifically inspired him? Also, how can the Tao help someone
defeat an opponent mentally as well as physically?
Q2: Though the Tao te Ching often advises against
attachment and emotions such as anger and desire, Verse 67 claims that "I
have three treasures that I cherish and hold dear/the first is love...With love
one is fearless." How can love be one of the most important qualities in
cultivating the Tao when selfish attachment/desire to the world brings
confusion?
Q3: We've talked a little about how applicable these poems are for a college student, and why they might be the ideal introduction to the intellectual journey of higher educaiton. What
poem do you think would function as the best College 101 advice for an incoming
student (and why)?
Q4: One final paradox: the Tao te Ching often says
that knowledge must begin with the self, and yet in Verse 72, it states,
"The Sage knows himself, but not as himself/he loves himself, but not as
himself/he honors himself, but not as himself." If you're not your
self, who are you? What do you love/focus on? What else are you? Does
this poem, or a related one, explain?
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