Ethics Within the Class

I don’t think I can say anything about my final philosophy class that hasn’t already been said or worse yet I don’t think I can say something without using a cliché. First and most importantly the design of the class facilitated learning in so many ways. Not just learning the subject matter but getting to learn one another. I thoroughly enjoyed all the in depth conversations that took place over the course of the semester and believe that this was not only more fun but more meaningful to everyone and the lessons learned from speaking with one another will resonate more than any reading from a book.

Personally my favorite section of the course was the Native American section, mostly because I had not had any prior education to them as a people and what their plight is in the present day. I feel as a people they still have a great deal to offer Western Civilization and I hope one day as a people that they and their culture are accepted into society without prejudice.

I had the most fun not only getting to know people within the class but also writing and telling my own story and hearing the stories of others. This class gave me the ability to express my own values and learn and respect others in the process. I’d like to express a congratulations to Dr. Salazar for undertaking this class in a new bold way, but most importantly making it the success it was.

Two Truths, One Reality

 

 

Within Buddhism, there is a need to address the reality we deal and walk in and the ultimate reality we seek to attain. The first is relative truth (samuiriti satya). Which states facts in the finite; it is cold, my head hurts, I am hungry etc. The other and the “real” truth we hope to have knowledge of is absolute truth (paramartha satya). This states that there is no cold or hunger or things of a temporary nature.

The most widely discussed subject matter in all Buddhism is pain and suffering. Though we may experience pain and suffering and it seems very real to us ultimately there is neither pain nor suffering. Pain is a relative term. A deserts heat may cause pain, but to the creatures that dwell within they are at home. Do not be misled by thinking that suffering exists to all things and all creatures if you are in pain. Pain is real, but there is no ultimate pain that one must experience to achieve nirvana. In fact when one achieves nirvana they will learn that there is no real pain at all, all pain is perceived. All suffering is made up of things that are not suffering.  

Attempt at Right Concentration

I recall when I began competing in wrestling at a high level; one of the pre-match rituals my coach was in favor of was lying down on the mat and focusing a mental image of the match. This would begin with regimented breathing the clear all our thoughts and then. From beginning to end envision a match from start to finish. Picture everything, what you are good at, what you are not good at, and eventually having you win at the conclusion of the fictitious match. It was a good exercise, except I couldn’t do it!

No matter how hard I tried roaming thoughts would always creep into my mind when I was thinking about what should be the most important endeavor I was engaged in. This lack of pure concentration extended not just to wrestling but all facets of my life.

Within Buddhism, the Noble Eight Fold Path speaks to many products in our life that we have control over that will help lead us to enlightenment. I have always felt that I can express the other seven with success (Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort etc.) but I have struggled with Right Concentration, perhaps I am concentrating too much on concentration?

Yoga and Tao: Very Similar, Very Different

 

The aims of both Yogic and Taoist ethics are alike, if not the same. Would differs greatly is what one would go about doing to attain these aims. They both embrace physical, mental, and spiritual harmony to assist one with becoming one with the “divine” but in practice Taoism and Yoga are very different.

 Yoga follows a strict set of rules and progressive steps one needs to follow. Once you have mastered a step you are to turn and reject it; for one cannot come to know Samadhi by clinging to ideals that bind us to the finite. This process of conditioning one’s body and mind to learn, embrace, and reject is at its core the methodology of Yoga.

Taoism on the other hand has no methodology. Although like Yoga it recognizes all things are one and one is made of all things. “What is reduced, must first be made expanded, what is to be weakened, must first be made strong. (Tao Te Ching p. 140) One does not realize this by practicing any rules or mores. A follower comes to know the Tao itself because the Tao just is. The Tao is the river that flows from no mouth and empties into no ocean, it simply exists. It is the “unmoved mover” as St. Thomas Aquinas would put it. It is not a divine it does not punish or reward. We come the understand the Tao through wu wei , the creative letting go. We understand through inaction, if the Tao was a pool of water we cannot see our reflection if we have made waves in the water only when the water is still, simply let the water be to see the true self.

Yoga and Taoism both aim to have their followers discover the true self, and both believe that what is natural needs to return to the world, but where one practices beliefs and conditioning, the other practices silence.