Ideas of Tao and Wu Wei to your own life.

Tao is literally, the way, or the way of nature. Tao means the path or the way. It is a universal principle that underlies everything from the creation of galaxies to interaction of human beings. Teachings of Tao are vast and beyond human logic. If you would like to understand Tao, reasoning alone will not suffice. You must also apply intuition. Don’t get too much involved with the knowledge. Do not work very hard. Do not boast about yourself. Life is to be lived very simply. Wealth is not to be aspired to. Fancy Cars, homes, should not be our top priority, that kind of thing. Do not be envious of someone else’s academic achievement. You should be interested into the day-to-day basis of everyday life. They did not have much interest into gods or life after death. The tallest tree will be cut down first. The lumberjack sees it first. This religious faith encourages you to bind with nature and its natural environment. Wu Wei is Taoist principle of non-aggression and pacifism. Pacifism means to join the antiwar protest. Help the Buddhism monks. You can join the Peace Corps. Work against domestic violence in America. Work against road rage in our country we live in. Vote for an anti-war presidential candidate. Refuse to pay income tax against as protes towards Iraq War. Wu Wei is defined as knowing when to act, and not to act. Wu is not to have. Wei may be to do, act, serve as, govern. Wu Wei is without action. To achieve a state of perfect equilibrium, or alignment with the Tao and, result is to obtain an irresistible form of soft and invisible. The animals live in harmony. Peaceful coexistence with the other animals, and the other beings on the planet is what we should care about most. We should live simpler lives. Use solar energy in our homes. Don’t rely on modern technology, such as air conditioning, and electricity, too often. This could save our natural resources. Too much development in our towns and communities could lead to a global catastrophe. Global warming is on the rise throughout the entire the earth. I am willing to carryout these tasks on a day-to-day basis. I feel by doing so, it will strengthen my soul, and compassion for people, and wildlife.

Chris Thoma

Relg109DFB

Wednesday 6:15 to 9:05pm

Fall 2007

Professor Susan De George