Côte d'Ivoire

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you.” (Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching.) This quote about Taoism not only describes how I feel about Taoism but about life in general. The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff has helped me better understand the principles of Taoism. I enjoy reading this book because it helps to further understand why it is important to just be yourself and not try to conform to what society wants or expects you to be. The two topics I…

the persona Spirit in “Form, Shadow, Spirit,” Confucius discusses how to better oneself through the relationship with an enemy in The Analects, and Lao Tzu focuses on the responsibility of those in power to limit the public knowledge throughout Tao Te Ching. In “Form, Shadow, Spirit” by Tao Chien, one of the three speakers, Spirit, discusses…

Throughout the course, there were significant amounts of arts that we observed and the fact we have to choose a top four is just inconceivable. Even though it was difficult finding my four choices, I was able to narrow them down in terms of significance and purpose. My four works of art that I will be discussing about are Mona Lisa (painting), The Colosseum (architecture), Everyman (theater), and Dao De Jing (philosophy). The Mona Lisa, obviously, was created by Leonardo Da Vinci between the…

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.…

thinking that has persisted throughout time. It is an endless endeavor at trying to understand the universe and our place in it. Lao Tzu is a chinese philosopher who founded Taoism which is defined as a way of life. He wrote his ideas in a book called Tao Te Ching that is still known around the world today. Marcus Aurelius is a Roman emperor who wrote Meditations, a book that has details about Marcus Aurelius’ thoughts and stoicism in general. While these two philosophers may have been born in…

In ten minutes, what can you actually do? Actually very little, but when multiplied day by day, the significance of these ten minutes suddenly grows, becoming very influential. Entering the meditations, I was unsure of where my inner thoughts would take me. Reflecting now, it seems that I have actually traveled quite far. After ten days of meditating for ten uninterrupted minutes, I have begun to anticipate my departure from the rest of the world, finding solace in my own monologue. This retreat…

people experience more lows than highs; as a result, people have tried to find ways to increase the number of happy moments in their life. While many paths to happiness have been proposed, one of the earliest is a philosophy, based off the writing Tao Te Ching, known as Taoism. Those that follow Taoism (also known as Taoists) say they experience less stress and live a happier life. In modern American society, it is believed that a person must constantly try to live a happy life; while this may…

He believes that peace can be achieved when nothing is desired. Machiavelli will do anything to stay in power and to be feared, wanting the prince to acknowledge the art of war. Lao-tzu's writings offered a basis for Taoism. The Tao-Te-Ching is a philosophical document about good government and moral behavior. The teachings of Lao-tzu are the opposite of the materialist quest for power, dominance, authority, and…

When I read the passage, I can see the conception of Lao-Tzu, his opinion about “Tao” and “Wu Wei”. The passage said that we need to have patience to wait the mud settle and water clear. The patience is waiting, waiting the thing become clear, this is just like the conception of “Wu Wei”. Wu Wei means people being peace and accept the flow that the river give us, and the passage said “have patience to wait” means people should stay peace and waiting for right time until everything clear. People…

Reflections in Light The Coinherence of Opposites from the Tao Te Ching describes the balances between opposites in life through the Daoist (Taoist) religion. In the passage, Laozi begins on explaining that when something exists, it will always have an opposite (e.g. when people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly). In the text, Laozi informs the reader that these things are not just opposite, but they are connected and they work together in some manner, meaning without one,…