great works in literature II 2850 kta 2:55-4:35— Shades of Truth . . .

Monkey was given the name Wake-to Vacuity by Patriarch Subodhi, who has achieved immortality. Personally speaking, Monkey was given the name in order for him to recognize that he is missing crucial aspects of life to achieve Nirvana. The term “wu” or “wake-to” may refer to the Monkey’s inability to open its eyes and see that emptiness is not an element of life in which you obtain with just patience and action: “Your pupil drifted across the oceans and trudged through many regions for more than ten years before finding this place” (435). The path to emptiness also required the perfection of Wisdom. Patriarch asked Monkey “what is your xing,” perhaps to get an idea of his origins, and experiences, which Monkey lacks.; Monkeys replies by telling Patriarch he does not have a xing (435). Patriarch suddenly became aware that Monkey has yet to see hardship or even a situation in which a hard decision is to be made. Wake- to Vacuity is a name which closely entails Monkey’s closed eyes to all he is to experience and know before immortally. Monkey has yet to perfect Wisdom; one of the six perfections.

-Rosshelle Munoz

“We think the significance of the Monkey’s name contains the theme, Wisdom. The Patriarch explains in details why his surname shouldn’t be “Hu” due to the definition after dropping out several letters of the word. He even explains how the monkey’s personal name was chosen. Therefore, his name has a lot of meaning and behind it. “Smashing stubborn vacuity requires wake-to-vacuity.” When the monkey’s name is “awake to vacuity”, I feel like it’s a direct message from the Patriarch to tell the monkey to pay more attention with his life. Since he was born without parents, he basically raised himself up by trying out new things and that means he doesn’t have any common knowledge about the world. Although he does have his own thoughts or opinions of how the world is, they might not be the right ones hence why he thought the woodcutter was an immortal. “If you are not an immortal, how is it that you speak his language?” He was treated as a Monkey King for so many years that he’s so used to getting things his way which can explains why he “drifted across oceans for more than 10 years” just to find the immortals. The Patriarch named him Sun WuKong at last because he needs to be more wise with the decisions he makes or probably beware of his own mind.” –

-Crystal

The Monkey King was given the name Wake-to Vacuity to highlight the wisdom necessary for complete awareness, and ultimately, the immortality he so desired. As Rosshelle mentioned, wisdom was a missing trait for Monkey, and was crucial to his achievement of nirvana. In discussing his surname, the patriarch opts not to bestow the surname Hu upon the Monkey, and instead decides to bestow upon him the surname Sun. This piece of dialogue between the patriarch and Monkey offers significant insight, specifically where the patriarch states, “In other words, you were born of Heaven and Earth.” This exclamation readily suggests that monkey lacks the prior knowledge, or xing, to exhibit the wisdom necessary for immortality. Further, the phrase “To smash foolish emptiness he had to be awakened to emptiness” would indicate that, prior to his growth and on his way to immortality, Sun WuKong needed to be made aware of the impediments towards his growth and immortality.  According to patriarch, the aforementioned impediments spoken of are primarily a result of a lack of wisdom, and therefore his cultivation of “The Way” is dependent upon his becoming wise.

Jonathan K.

William Dayan

ENG2850

Blog post one

Twenty Five

In this poem, the Tao is being described as something so great that it cannot be described. “Something mysteriously formed, Born before heaven and Earth.” The Tao is being described as something man will never truly understand. The Tao is being described as something man cannot comprehend, and is not supposed to be able to comprehend. When it quotes “I do not know its name. Call it Tao”. Another major theme that this poem is faith. “Man follows earth. Earth follows heaven. Heaven follows the Tao.” The Tao is being described as something so great that it is on the same level as heaven. The poem is not stating any proof or real evidence that the Tao exists. Therefore, hinting that man may never have actual proof of the Tao’s existence, and must rely on faith to believe in its greatness.

Hello Everyone,

Thanks to all of you who responded.  You made some really interesting and provocative comments!

Tao poetry:

The Tao Te Ching is a set of several poems (you have seen only a few here) generally attributed to the poet Lao Tzu, and possibly dating from the 4^th century B.C. E.  These poems are celebrating the philosophy of Taoism, a philosophy that attempts to show the path to spiritual enlightenment.

 Below I have gleaned the more salient comments and interpretations from your peers.  Notice that you all begin to get an excellent sense of what these poems of the Tao are saying.  These comments will also be helpful and important to remember, when you’re reading Journey to the West:

 #22 (Diana; Emily; Brian)

The idea of humility and the humble, simple life to gain a sense of wholeness;  the idea of growth, to become ever better, is to know failure, and that what seems to be contrary to growth and strength (such as humility) actually works to help us grow and to become stronger.  What may at first seem a series of paradoxes, in in fact a guideline to becoming “whole.”

#25 (Denny; Kamran; Elizaveta)

The idea of the Tao as something “great,” something unnamable, which seems to be an all encompassing spiritual presence, and yes, some see this as an all powerful, all knowing god.  Others don’t see this as a god, per se, but as a natural presence of some kind, and something which can be found on Earth, within one’s own life.  There is also the idea that the Tao can be considered thoughts that guide us, to keep us questioning the world around us.

#13

(Zuzanna; Chi; Borys; Zeyu; Sabera; Mark)

Here is again the theme that we see throughout all of these poems, that to be humble, to surrender oneself to “misfortune,” or to loss, and to learn that to be “important” is not the path to a better, more fulfilled life.  This connects to the idea that accepting misfortune and disgrace will actually help to strengthen you, and help you to grow.  Thanks to Zuzanna for bringing in the idea of “self-enhancement defense,” and the psychological problems that arise from not taking responsibility for our short-comings. There is also the idea, again strong in all of these poems, that self-awareness is the path that will lead us to enlightenment, and that, ultimately, self-awareness means “extracting the self from the body” (Zeyu’s quote) which is one of the important and difficult paradoxes of  the Tao.

#16

(Hawanatu; Myra; Crystal)

Yes, there is the strong idea, again running through all these poems, that to be truly present in the world, we must “empty” ourselves of “everything.”   And this indeed reminds us of meditation, and specifically Zen meditation, or to “Take a step back,” as Crystal says, and let the mind be still.

#4

(Radia; Jonathan)

The idea of “emptiness” is in this poem, as in so many of the Tao poems; in other words, one must “empty” oneself, to surrender to what is happening, and then let the answers come to you.    There is also the idea of ambiguity, which is another strong thread running through all these poems.  It is important to accept ambiguity in order to finally see the harmony and balance in life.

#10

(Kelly; Mel)

Yes, this poem embraces the idea of “equilibrium of coexistence” (as Mel nicely puts it).  It isn’t so much about being a “man” or a “woman” but being whole.

#1

(Roshelle)

Roshelle has nicely summed up a theme of Tao, and that is that the Tao, or our existence, is a mystery, that, at least in some sense, accepting this mystery (our “ignorance” of the universe) is, paradoxically, are salvation.

Although two of our classmates have used this poem, I couldn’t help but to be drawn to it. Obviously, one of its overarching themes is loss and because I am a human being, it is unfortunately something Ive expereinced last year and throughout my entire life. However, I take solace in the fact that loss is a relatable experience for us conscious beings. For us, loss represents an ending which in turn means the

end of a life, friendship, or intimate relationship. In my own experience Ive learned that we must “Accept disgrace willingly” no matter how hard it is to accept. In the last 6 months of my life, Ive had to come to terms with the fact that I am parting ways with certain people. I think about these people every day and their absence in my life. It is one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. However, I know I must accept the reality of this situation and avoid ruminating about what is already done so I can move forward. Just as the poem says I know I must ““Accept misfortune as the human condition” and that this situation is just a part of being a human being or part of “having a body”.

After reading this marvelous poem, “Twenty-five” by Tao Te Ching, I thought about its meaning for a very long time. In my opinion “Twenty-five” is about an idea, which was formed before anything else in the world. I believe, when the author used this line, “born before Heaven and Earth”, he wanted readers to understand, or think at least, that idea is a former of our civilization. Furthermore, author says, “standing alone and unchanging…”, I believe that by this line, Tao Te Ching tried to show to the readers that idea is the independent and primary source of our thoughts and decisions. Ideas can be converted into reality, they can disappear, they can pop up in mind. Ideas are the ruler. Ideas force humans to think, to progress and to keep our civilization alive. In author’s opinion, ideas follow what is natural, men follow Earth, and “Earth follows heaven”; and this thought forces me to understand that without someone’s idea in the very beginning there won’t be what we have now. To sum up, this poem is a beautiful piece of literature which made me think about very important and beautiful things.

Chapter 13 in Tao Te Ching talks about how to deal with disgrace and misfortune, which are both important parts of the Tao. On the whole, chapter thirteen is consisted of 4 parts. First two lines are an introduction which brings up the two main elements in this chapter: Disgrace and misfortune, meanwhile it directly tells us two conclusions: Accept disgrace willingly and accept misfortune as the human condition. Then, in line 3 to line 6 Lao Zi explains to us where does the conclusion on disgrace comes from. I strongly agree with his reasoning in this part and I particularly like his expression of “being unimportant,” which seems like a very modern idea and evokes thoughts about self-awareness. The next three lines are the most well-known part of chapter thirteen in China. It leads us to go further on this topic, further than self-awareness, until the idea of extracting the self from the body. At last, there comes the greatest theme of Tao Te Ching, which is the “nature.” Everything before are about individual, and now Lao Zi enlightens us by telling us the self-transcendence is the hidden path that leads us to the nature.

Tao is the Chinese word that signifies way or path and is often times also referred to as doctrine or principle. In Chinese culture and religion, the Tao cannot be fully understood or defined by an individual and each individuals experience to Tao differs and as a result there is no clear cut definition for Tao. In poem twenty-five, the poet emphasizes many of the cultural definitions of Tao, saying that “Standing alone and unchanging, Ever present and in motion, Perhaps is the mother of ten thousand things.” The poet provides the reader with a very ambiguous definition of Tao, saying that is stands alone and has existed since the beginning of time, and has not changed.  In the following verse, the poet provides yet another ambiguous definition of Tao by stating that it could be the mother of ten thousand things, which implies that the definition and meaning of Tao differs  for each person and it is dependent on their personal experience with Tao. The theme of this poem is the importance of Tao to an individual and the natural exposure of Tao that an individual goes through during their lifetime. This can be seen in the following verses in which the author says “Man follows Earth. Earth follows heaven. Heaven follows the Tao. Tao follows what is natural.” The author is implying that if an individual wants to reach heaven, they must follow what is natural and what is natural is the earth and Tao is found on the earth

One omnipresent theme throughout this work is that accepting defeat is not the end; it’s actually just the beginning. As Tao states, one must “accept disgrace willingly and misfortune as a human condition”. By incorporating this belief, that not everyone could succeed, into one’s life, he/she could truly begin living. Making mistakes and enduring misfortunes is essentially part of being human. There’s much more to life than winning or losing, and Tao states that one shouldn’t “be concerned” these things because they blind us from seeing what’s truly important.

When one isn’t occupied with attempting to be successful and scheming ways to get  to the top, he/she will begin to notice the beautiful world around them. We could vastly improve our lives by not chasing things we don’t need and caring about other people’s opinions of us; in essence “accepting being unimportant.” Tao believes there’s much more to life than being respected and acquiring materialistic goods. The poet preaches that one should “Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things.” The key to happiness and being a good human being is making the effort to accept imperfection and figuring out what is truly important in life.

One commonality within the human struggle is the need to be better; better than oneself, better than others. People are constantly on the hunt for ways to improve their lives and to feel “complete.” Our drive for success itself is not a downfall. Life and the pursuit of happiness (usually) go hand-in-hand. Where human beings often fall short of finding fulfillment is in their misunderstanding of what it means to fail, and their discomfort with doing so.

“To fail” has, for many, become synonymous with being a “failure.” We assume too quickly that our – even little – mistakes define us. To err would then mean we are imperfect and we assume that our imperfections can never allow us to be whole. What Tao Te Ching is describing in “Twenty-two” contradicts such a limiting mindset. The author not only accepts the fact that people will fumble and, even fall: he encourages them to. “Yield and overcome; Bend and be straight;” without stopping or without twisting out of line at times, where is there any room left to recover and advance? Without any missteps one would walk too effortlessly, too quickly. “Wear out and be new;” lose strength and regain it; feel like you cannot move no longer and somehow keep going. The easy path is not the best, the right one. Life is never easy. Instead of fearing failure, we should embrace our mistakes and learn from them. Move on and prevail.

Another strong theme in the poem, “Twenty-two,” is the importance of staying humble. This applies to when we experience periods of success, but really, the author is speaking generally. “The wise embrace the one And set an example to all. Not putting on a display, They shine forth… Not boasting, They receive recognition.” Boasting not only makes those around us insecure, but it also reveals that one feels as if they need to prove themselves to others. If you live your own life, with modesty, you will no longer fear that failure and its implications for how you may look in other peoples’ eyes. Once you’ve accepted yourself and your flaws, what else can stop you from being “complete”? “Be really whole, And all things will come to you.”

The poem begins with a series of paradox’s, “Yield and overcome; Bend and be straight; Empty and be full; Wear out and be new.”  If taken literally it can be assumed that the author must be confused or mistaken.  However it seems that the author is giving us a sort of guideline to living a fulfilling life.  If one decides to “yield” to obstacles that they may meet in life it is only then that they will be able to “overcome” it.  If one decides that they do not need worldly possessions to be happy they will be “empty” in that sense but will be “full” of content with what they do have.  If one has “little” then everything they get will be a “gain.” Even when you “have much” in the sense of knowledge, you should “be confused” because there is much for life to offer and it is impossible to know it all unless you are open to it.

The poem goes on to say “Therefore the wise embrace the one, And set an example to all.” This shows how when one follows these guidelines in life, others will take notice of how well a life “the one” seems to be living and use them as an example to live their own life. Furthermore, the poem continues to imply that the one who listens to these rules should be humble and modest, setting an example for others by simply being and not asking for others to take notice.  For if they seek the attention of others then they will find themselves faltering, or in quarrels with others.

The poem ends with “Be really whole, And all things will come to you.”  To me the author is stating that if a person is content and feels fulfilled in their life by following these guidelines, that only then will everything that they encounter will feel like a gift in its own sense.