A few last questions for the book before we move on to another work in another land. Answer TWO of the following, and be specific as often as possible: it will help you more on future papers/assignments if you can focus on short passages that illustrate your ideas.
Q1: Bruce Lee was a staunch advocate of the Tao te Ching, and claimed that it worked very harmoniously with the martial arts. Where do we see this in one or more of the poems? How can the Tao help someone defeat an opponent mentally as well as physically?
Q2: Though the Tao te Ching often advises against attachment and emotions such as anger and desire, Verse 67 claims that "I have three treasures that I cherish and hold dear/the first is love...With love one is fearless." How can love be one of the most important qualities in cultivating the Tao when selfish attachment/desire to the world brings confusion?
Q3: I always thought that every college should make incoming first-year students study the Tao te Ching, since it offers invaluable advice for the myriad activites and responsibilities of a college student. What poem do you think would function as the best College 101 advice for an incoming student (and why)?
Q4: One final paradox: the Tao te Ching often says that knowledge must begin with the self, and yet in Verse 72, it states, "The Sage knows himself, but not as himself/he loves himself, but not as himself/he honors himself, but not as himself." If you're not your self, who are you? What do you love/focus on? What else are you? Does this poem, or a related one, explain?
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