Christina Galbraith - Tao and Lao-tzu

Discussing Tao ("the way") in class reminded me of a reading from a leadership class that I took freshman year. In that class we discussed the teachings of Lao-tzu, an ancient Chinese sage who lived in the sixth century B.C., in his book Tao Te Ching, or How Things Work. In his book, Lao likens leaders to water saying, "like water, the leader is yielding. Because the leader does not push, the group does not resent or resist." In class Tao was described as the flow of a river; sandbars change as the tides increase and decrease, and sailors on the channel must pay attention to the changing flow to avoid ground their boat. The philosophy of Taoism is appealing to me in the sense that it evokes a code of behavior in addition to yin and yang that is in harmony with the natural order. I believe this philosophy fits in well with what we have been discussing in class, specifically the cosmic web. All things are connected and recognizing the flow of energy within the cycle allows us as humans to be more participatory members in the cosmic web.

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