Tao Te Ching Values

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In today’s society, the guidelines by which an individual should live are rarely considered an important asset to living an enjoyable life. Under constant pressure striving for perfection, modern Americans rarely stop to evaluate the values they deem important in life today. Americans forget what they as an individual want out of life because of the chaos and stress experienced in the world around them. Western civilization rarely stops to think of the important values in life or actions perpetrated before execution. American’s base this conduct from the mindset of continual growth; always pressing to keep moving forward in life and constantly striving for more. Unlike modern Americans, in early Chinese history, individuals such as the First Emperor and Chinese peasants were raised to have an open-minded approach to life; therefore embracing the ways of the Tao came easier to them. The Tao Te Ching would guide Americans to a peaceful life through the realization that the key to happiness exists within the source rather than material possessions. …show more content…
Living a minimalist lifestyle follows the belief that, “If you want to be given everything, give everything up.” (22). In order to gain insight into the values that comprise a happy life, Americans must relinquish the desire for perfection and material prosperity. If every American followed this, the search for perfection would dissipate due to the unnecessary need to obtain such an idealism. The need for wealth would be irrelevant if the need for constantly wanting more was taken away. The search for perfection would then cease to exist, thus eliminating all the stresses that come along with it. Without having an immense amount of stress constantly bearing down on them, Americans would be able to establish a pure inner purpose of being and embrace the message of the

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