Sean Faria

07/06/2010

Chapter 15 Discussion Questions

1. I am a believer of reincarnation I do this because I do believe that my soul is old. I was told this
since I was small because it is easy to be spiteful or do the easiest thing in life. Yet I always stay
on the path of taking the long road like I have taken the short cut before and know it doesn’t
work.
2. I do believe in Confucius’s belief in the goodness and perfectibility of humans but you to a
certain degree. My reason for this is because everyone in the world is capable of great things in
goodness and perfectibility. Yet where I stop is because our ability of free will is what makes that
decision for us. Meaning will you decision is for great kindness or goodness or great
malevolencies’, I don’t believe in the perfection part.
3. Tao is a concept found in Taoism, Confucianism, and more generally in ancient Chinese
philosophy and East Asian religions, which is supposed to be the ultimate principle of the
universe.
4. Roughly, it's like the difference between an "authoritative" government and a "laissez-faire"
one. Lao Tzu is held to be Confucius' real adversary. But it is more accurate to say that the
essential difference is the difference between Lao Tzu's direct way to the Tao and Confucius'
detour by way of the human order: "Confucius represents the classical, Lao Tzu the romantic,
Confucius stresses social responsibility, Lao Tzu praises spontaneity and naturalness,
Confucius' focus is on the human, Lao Tzu's on what transcends the human, Confucius roams
within society, Lao Tzu wanders beyond." Confucius personified the yang side of Chinese reality.
He was rational, thoughtful, left-brained, and part of the establishment. His object was to
reform existing institutions. Lao Tzu (the name simply means "the old man"), is considered to be
the architect of Daoism (or Taoism). He was a contemporary of Confucius, and some traditions
claim they met. Confucius was said to have remarked, "Of birds, I know they have wings to fly
with, of fish, that they have fins to swim with, of wild beasts, that they have feet to run with. For
feet, there are traps, for fins, nets, for wings, arrows. But who knows how dragons surmount
wind and cloud into heaven? This day I have seen Lao and he is a dragon." Lao Tzu was yin to
Confucius's yang, the liberal to his conservative, the hippie to his establishment. He was
romantic, intuitive, feelings-oriented, and right-brained. His thinking was that reason and society
were not answers to the problem but had become the problem itself. I would take the side of
Lao Tzu because of the freedom or “laissez-faire” because I can still be spiritual or what
transcends the human.
5. I do believe that suffering is opportunities to develop independence and peace of mind but
leave them to circumstances not to literally bring it upon a person deliberately. I am a son of a
single parent mother who was a victim of abuse to me and my mother. Thanks to these scar I
have the ability of great kindness without needing anything in return. Also this made a
significant imprint on me to want a man really is.
6. I am not sure of this answer because it raises a lot of questions. If the "subjects” elect highly
ethical legislators, then did the people themselves have the high ethics first? Leaders lead by
legislation; if the legislation or the other actions of the leaders are unethical, is it the fault of
ethical people who elected them? Yet I will say it is the other way around because not everyone
actually follows the ethics of their leaders. For example the senator that was force to retire after
Obama was elected because of his unethical actions.
7. The statement means that everything in life has its weakness. For instance Fire is weak towards
water, and Electricity is weak against earth. Another way of understanding this is if I won the
lottery the first thing I think of is being rich what I don’t think of right way is the other people I
could help with this money, Selfishness is weak against a good conscience.
8. I do not believe Lao Tzu believes to be practical but it is a good way to think. It is not practical
because if it was that easy or that true we all would have been in this religion because it would
make everyone within the religion happy and everyone in life thrive for at least to find
happiness. Then we all will in this perfect world and there would be no war or racism. Yet we all
live with the opposite in the modern world today.
9. Power and Riches are chains because with great wealth comes needing just as great protection.
People can be envious of you and steal all your riches away to promote their own wealth.
Another thing is with great power comes even greater responsibility.