COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS H O U R 3

REVIEW: WHAT IS CONFUCIANISM? Based on teachings of Confucius The greatest teacher.

REVIEW: GROUP How do you understand Smith s metaphor of the eagle that adjusts its wings to the currents of the Five Constant Relationships? (pg 113-114). Identify 3 examples of how members of your group have seen in other families, or experienced within their own the family, the type of familial relationships espoused by Confucius Five Constant Relationships.

WHAT IS CONFUCIANISM? KEY TEACHINGS Goal: To Be Chun Tzu Superior Person, Ideal Person 1. Jen (ren) Love for others. 2. Li Proper conduct and practice.

WHAT IS CONFUCIANISM? KEY TEACHINGS How To Be Chun Tzu Li Proper Conduct & Cultural Practices 1. The Five Constant Relationships 1. Ruler subject 2. Parent child 3. Husband wife 4. Elder brother younger brother 5. Elder friend younger friend Each member in the has certain responsibilities Each relationship implies a hierarchy between the two (that should be earned).

WHAT IS CONFUCIANISM? KEY TEACHINGS How To Be Chun Tzu Li Proper Conduct & Cultural Practices 2. Xiao (Filial Piety: reverence for family ) Respect for one s parents and ancestors. Profound respect for one s living elders. While your parents are alive, a good son (or daughter) does not wander far afield.

WHAT IS CONFUCIANISM? KEY TEACHINGS How To Be Chun Tzu Li Proper Conduct & Cultural Practices 3. Doctrine of the Mean Live in moderation. Strive not for excess. Value compromise.

WHAT IS CONFUCIANISM? KEY TEACHINGS How To Be Chun Tzu WEN Arts of Peace (as opposed to arts of war ) By poetry the mind is aroused; From music the finish is received. The odes quicken the mind. They induce self-contemplation. They teach the art of sensibility. They help to restrain resentment. They bring home the duty of serving one s parent s and one s prince.

SELF AS COMMUNITY Who are you? Humanity Nation Community I am my relationship to Friends Family

WHAT S THE CORE? (EVEN IN NON-RELIGIOUS TERMS) Human Condition? Doesn t really say. Addresses social dis-order. How to Transcend the Human Condition? Doesn t really say. But values benevolence and proper relationships. What s the key idea to you? A person as a social being; the sum of the quality of their relationships. What is the Ultimate Doesn t really say, but assumes Taoism and values Chun Tzu Do you see similarities with any religions you re familiar with?

CONFUCIANISM QUESTION Have you ever felt like you re immersed in chaos?

TAOISM QUESTION Have you ever felt like you re out of sync with life? Not in harmony?

What do you associated with Taoism?

TAOISM

WHAT IS TAOISM? Taoist philosophy originated in China 2500+ yrs ago: 6 th (?) century BCE. Short book of 81 short chapter; words of wisdom entitled the Tao Te Ching The author is often referred to as Lao Tzu ( old master ). Lots of paradoxical statements teaching how to live in harmony.

THE MYSTERIOUS OLD MASTER Lao Tzu (604 BCE 404 BCE?)

WHAT IS TAOISM? When he looked at reality, what did he see? I. The Tao II. A Reality of Opposites

I. TAO: THE WAY From Ch.1 of the Tao Te Ching The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. Tao: The way, The pattern, The process The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

I. THE TAO So what did he see? 1. There seems to be a natural intelligence to life. Examples? Think of the growth of a person Think of the body s processes Think of nature and the web of life. 2. There seems to be natural ebbs and flows (patterns) to life. Examples? The Tao is -This natural intelligence -This natural flow of life The way of reality, the universe, and human life.

I. THE TAO Ch. 30 of the Tao Te Ching The Great Tao flows everywhere. It may go left or right All things depend on it for life. and it does not turn away from them. It accomplishes its task, but does not claim credit for it. It clothes and feeds all things but does not claim to be master over them.

I. THE TAO 1. Tao s inherent power - 2. Tao s inherent virtue - Te: (power of the flowing river) (virtue of the flowing river)

I. THE TAO VARIATIONS ON TAOISM 1. Vitalization Taoism: Embodied Te Harnessing the life force of the Tao: Ch i (breath of life)