I have read the Daodejing before. Three years ago my chosen (…assigned?) FYS course, titled “Yielding, Yin/Yang, and You” focused greatly on how principles from Chinese philosophy impacted ourselves, the community, and the world. Reading the Dao again I am met with difficulty, but also with great appreciation for its teachings. Learning about Chinese culture in a required course at a private university in middle America seems odd. The circumstances make it difficult to not compare their norms to everything we are accustomed to here in the States. But the Dao itself teaches against this. The Dao encourages us to leave behind all of our worldly desires, such as the very stereotypically American ones of superiority and entitlement; when we compare our situation to others we do not see things as they are, but rather we see the categories we divide the world into and we allow our lens to completely alter our view. When following the Dao (otherwise known as “The Way”), you can see things as they are rather than seeing things as you are.
So how does this fit into the course? What am I trying to say? To no surprise, I myself am not entirely sure, but with my current understanding I see the Dao teachings as highly relevant. They communicate that we cannot judge this culture that is different from ours, we cannot compare this government, economy, lifestyle, history, language, relationships, food, music, movies, and interests that are different from ours. In order to understand, in order to appreciate, and in order to apply the lessons we have to eliminate the labels and preconceptions of what we think it is like and instead we need to truly listen ––without adding our own information to the mix. It will be hard and uncomfortable, but to connect with Chinese Americans, and those in China, we need to see what they come from as they have experienced it. Like the FYS class I did not necessarily have a strong compulsion to take, this course, its readings, and all that we will learn about China, and Islam, will too have much to teach as long as we listen.
I look forward to learning about the culture, eating some Dim Sum, and hopefully learning how to write a blog post with embedded links without extensive copyright infringement.
I have attempted to insert one of my favorite readings about the Dao below. It is definitely in depth, but even skimming through it (read the bold words) you can achieve a better understanding of its principles. If for some reason you cannot see the PDF, I apologize in advance.
Thank you for sharing this!