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Philosophy Midterm
Topic Started: Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:36 pm (484 Views)
Gryffin
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Han's Unifier
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Here is what I wrote for my philosophy midterm. I'm kinda proud of it myself.

Around the same time I entered high school, I began to experience a deep emptiness in my faith. Christianity, and most other organized religions, appeared to me to be shallow and ritualized, not to mention imbued with a superiority complex. This partly arose from my World History class, which introduced me to the concepts of other religions and gave me a wider, but still narrow, view. For the next two years, I awkwardly sought to balance my own misgivings with the strong faith of my family. However, in junior year, I read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, which gave me the encouragement I needed to finally seek faith for myself. By the end of the year, I had confidently convinced myself that I had developed a unique, “perfect” belief. However, my eyes were opened once again by my choice to take Philosophy this year.

The first, and what I consider to be the most influential, lessons came to me when we studied Taoism. I had heard something of it in World History, but I was quite unfamiliar with its true nature. Therefore, it came as quite a surprise to me when we read The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff, and realized that the fundamental beliefs of Taoism were similar, if not identical, to those I had developed. The main similarity arose from the Cottleston Pie Principle.

Cottleston Pie, Cottleston Pie
A fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly
Ask me a riddle and I’ll reply
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie

This coincided with my belief that things are fine the way they are, and there’s no reason to try to change their true being.

Cottleston Pie, Cottleston Pie
A fish can’t whistle, and neither can I
Ask me a riddle and I’ll reply
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie

This matched my acceptance of the saying “One must know their limitations.” Unfortunately, my Project Adventure teachers didn’t agree. (“I don’t care if you’re 98 lbs and he’s on the football team! You’re gonna belay him or else!”)

Cottleston Pie, Cottleston Pie
Why does a chicken, I don’t know why
Ask me a riddle and I’ll reply
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie

This was my philosophy of “Is it worth knowing?” (See also: “Why?” Essay)


However, I also discovered a number of important things from Taoism that I now accept as the way things are. For instance, Wu Wei, or inaction against action, has become the method at which I go about achieving a goal. If it doesn’t seem right, I don’t do it. It annoyed my parents to no end when I seemed to procrastinate with my college applications, but I felt unbelievably confident that I would be accepted, and not only that, but accepted by my first choice. As it turned out, I was right. Also, I had chosen not to send in my next application the day I learned I was accepted, saving my parents $50. These examples, as well as many others, have convinced me that Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu were correct in the formation of the theory of Wu Wei.

Another idea which I have grown to accept is that of balance, of Yin and Yang. Like many Americans, I originally regarded the Yin Yang as merely a cool symbol. Of course, I learned this was untrue, but even then, I only thought it demonstrated that both light and dark existed, not that they needed each other. Only when I saw it in class did I realize that balance is necessary. Without dark, how can one know light? Likewise, the only way to identify one as “good” is to compare it to one considered “bad.”

There was another important concept of Taoism which I have taken into acceptance, which is that of Ch’i. I had actually been exposed to, and consciously accepted, this concept a few years prior, when I began to practice yoga and Reiki during my “quest for enlightenment.” However, I had remained subconsciously skeptic to the idea, despite growing evidence to its credit. This changed over the course of time, as I noticed a steady improvement on my health following such events as my Reiki certification, when a friend of ours rearranged my room in accord with the principles of Feng Shui, and during the class’s presentations, especially those involving Feng Shui and T’ai Ch’i. Today, I don’t deal with pain, loss, or grief with anger or prayer; rather, I concentrate, meditate, and try to focus on my Ch’i. As I said, I have experienced a noticeable improvement to my life and health, (how many times over the past two years have I been out due to illness?) and my outlook on life is several times more positive than my previous “Life is out to get me” approach to living.

If Taoism was the Morpheus who opened my eyes, Hinduism was the Oracle that eased my soul. Like Taoism, I’d received a summary of Hinduism in World History. Again, though, I had seen it in the way a child sees a cloud: Nice looking, but with no real value. Fortunately, I have been rendered a new, honest perspective on the belief. Admittedly, I was somewhat skeptical when I heard that it involved the worship of a number of gods. However, I learned to look beyond that, and picked up some new knowledge along the way.

When we had touched on Hinduism with Teddy, I had listened to the concept of “God is all, and all is one” with more amusement than interest. Surely, he means that in the same way Jesus was the son of God: The fantastical belief of a devoted follower. However, as we looked closer and closer at Hinduism and its beliefs, I began to appreciate the concept’s true meaning and apply it in a practical sense. I had taken the expression “God” to mean a supernatural being. I had missed its other meaning, that which is godlike. All are godlike. When I realized this, I was struck by the beauty of such a simple statement. Everyone is not merely special, but sacred. This realization was warming and comfortable, and gives one a sense of universal love toward all.

One of the main obstacles in my self-exploration of life was the nagging sense of “What if they’re right?” Having been ingrained with the teachings of the Church from a young age, I was reluctant to risk straying from their path. However, two things had facilitated my liberation unto free-thinking. First, as mentioned, was Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The second, which finally erased the nagging feeling, was the Hindu concept of salvation. By this, I don’t mean the idea that we’d be saved. All religions have those. However, what freed me was the belief that salvation could be achieved through many ways. Karma Yoga, doing for the sake of doing, Jnana Yoga, knowing for the sake of defeating ignorance, Bahkti Yoga, total belief, and Raja Yoga, intense dominance of spirit over body…all were ways to reach Moksha. Why, then, couldn’t one achieve salvation through even more ways? This gave me yet another comforting realization to ease the difficulty of developing for myself.

Another cause of the difficulty was the realization that I would be challenging the system. Not only would my family be pressing me to conform (which they did), but society would try to dictate a path for me to follow. However, Hinduism again provided a cushion on which to rest my worries. Moksha was achieved by following one’s dharma. Although the actual essence of dharma was “know your role and play it,” I derived a new meaning from it. The concept of dharma was that everyone had a calling which they were to fulfill. Although this was used in a caste system to encourage conformity, in a less rigid society, it actually meant that one could follow the rules of their own moral duty, rather than going with society. Of course, society would argue against such action, (You hear about the Vietnam defector who’s been arrested?) but at the very least you would have something with which to hold yourself up with.

To continue the Matrix analogy, if Taoism was Morpheus and Hinduism was the Oracle, Buddhism was the Architect. That is to say, after “meeting” Buddhism, my already-budding philosophy was not only improved upon, but recalibrated. The reason for this sprung from what I consider to be the single most important lesson I have ever learned: Learn for yourself. Rather than seeking a teacher or following someone else’s path, discover knowledge and apply it yourself. This doesn’t mean one should eschew teachers. This very lesson was imparted to me by one such teacher (Guess who). However, one should take what teachers tell you and derive your own meaning from it. However, what is difficult is that you cannot be told to do this by the teacher himself, for it would no longer be truly your own application.

My favorite story of one applying something he hears to his own life is the story of Siddhartha and the musician on the river. Siddhartha hears the musician tell his student that the string of his instrument must not be too tight, lest it snaps, nor too loose, lest it won’t play. Siddhartha, merely hearing this, develops the philosophy of the middle path. I myself have taken this belief and applied it. The original idea of the middle path is that one must find a balance between rigid, disciplined faith and the material world. I find that balance is not only needed there, but in life. One must find a balance between “duty” and fun. As I said, I finished my college application when it was right to me, and that in turn was after I had enjoyed myself thoroughly.

One of the most widely known sects of Buddhism is Zen Buddhism. Of course, as with the other systems of belief, I was only partially introduced to it at first and thus misunderstood it. The extent of the knowledge I had about it for some time were a couple of jokes. However, I have learned the fundamentals of Zen from both this class and from The Japanese Art of War, and, like the other lessons, I have derived meaning from them. The basic principle of Zen that separates it from other forms of Buddhism is that enlightenment can come to someone in a moment. My favorite example of this is Zazen, or “The Way of the Monk with the Stick,” as I call it. However, this idea further helped my understanding of life, as I realized that one needn’t contemplate life and its mysteries to feel fulfilled. I had already learned this from Taoism and the Cottleston Pie Principle; however, I didn’t truly understand it until hearing it like this.

The other chief concept of Zen that made a great impact on me was what I call the concept of “Don’t think, Meat.” I call it that because I had originally learned the concept from the movie Bull Durham, in which an experienced catcher teaches a reckless pitcher control of his pitches by avoiding thinking of the action. Again, though, I failed to truly see the lesson, and only recently have grasped its meaning. When one concentrates on a task, one may think of the mistakes one can make, and will then surely make them. Fir instance, when I twirl a pencil about (much to the annoyance of the class), I try not to think about it, for I have learned from experience that the moment I think about it, I mess up. Of course, trying not to think about it is in itself thinking about it, which results in mistake, so one must become accustomed to a task so that it doesn’t bother them. This not only means practice, but feeling comfortable about the task the moment you start it, much like I was when I began to type it. I began to think less about what it was and more about how it sounded roughly near the end of the paragraph on Ch’i. I then considered deleting the paragraph, finding it ridiculous and forced-sounding. However, I decided to wait, and at pretty much the start of this example, I decided that I shall keep it, as it’s what I’ve written. I had again stopped thinking about it for the remainder of the essay, and I feel that it is one of my best, even though I can’t remember the specifics of the majority of the essay at the moment. I’ll probably look it over after completing it, but for the moment, I’m doing this task for the sake of doing it, not for the sake of completing it.

This gives rise to one last irony in that it is complete. I honestly didn’t plan this. I had originally expected to end with the “learn for yourself” section, but it felt good where it was, and thus, this is how it had flowed.
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Guan Yu's apprentice
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And so his first commander and boss has left this site.
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....speechless, after reading that for while, I was overwhelmed by your feelings towards religion
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Gryffin
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Han's Unifier
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Er...is that in a good way or a bad? I appreciate the comment either way, though.
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Dogman
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To victory!
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Your beliefs are pretty much identical to mine. I've always considered Abrahamic religion (Islam, Judaism, Christianity) to be nothing but dogma, without real philosophical basis.

Also, a Navajo reiki master told my parents that I should try reiki, but I've yet to look into it. Would you recommend it?

And, as a parting note, have you ever noticed the mathematical implications of the Yin-Yang symbol? It's surprisingly intricate.
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Hondam
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Harbaugh So Hard
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'Respect the gods, but do not rely on them'

I view religion as simply that. I'm a Christian by family and by birth, but I do not practice. I go to church every once in a while, but I dont like t o be there in any way, shape, or form. If you believe in god(s), why do you need to go to a house of worship to prove it? Irony, really.

To make my point more clear: I have no prefrence towards religion. They are what they are. Putting your fate in the hands of gods is suicide. Gods wont do jack poo for you, you need to do it yourself.

You take fate into your own hands, and well, make just that; Fate.

If it is someone's realization that fate is blasphemy, they go around and do whatever they want, and die the way they want to. Bygollygee, Fate. It was fate for that person to live like that.

No matter how you look at fate and destiny, there is a destiny, there is a 'ultimate fate' that controls our lives.


And that my friends, is my view on religion and such.
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Gryffin
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Han's Unifier
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Haragei
Jan 20 2006, 12:42 AM
Also, a Navajo reiki master told my parents that I should try reiki, but I've yet to look into it. Would you recommend it?

And, as a parting note, have you ever noticed the mathematical implications of the Yin-Yang symbol? It's surprisingly intricate.

Reiki? Personally, yes. It the very least, you should learn about it, if not try it.

And about the Yin-Yang: Er...no, not exactly. Care to enlighten me?
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Dogman
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To victory!
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I'll be sure to look into reiki sometime.

And as for the yin-yang symbol, it mostly has to do with the way the circles are arranged.

Posted Image
As the broken lines illustrate, the basic structure of the yin-yang is a pair of tangent circles contained within a larger circle tangent to both of them. The two interior circles represent dichotomy, and also the balance inherent in that dichotomy. The one becomes the other, and as the 'tails' of the circles show, they are in constant motion. However, the drop of yin in yang and of yang in yin show that things are not black and white- they all belong to the infinite shades of gray. In fact, everything about the symbol suggests infinity- a circle is, after all, made up of an infinite number of lines, and the rotation of yang and yin has no way of stopping.

But, ultimately, yin and yang are just different types of the same thing, symbolized by the overarching circle containing yin, yang, and the infinite changes of the universe.
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