Although part of Chuang Tzu's mission is to show us how things are, that they are so and thus, this showing is not the usual sort employed by a teacher when teaching his or her subject. The way we experience the world, the way we react to ourselves, to others, and the situations we encounter results from a long period during childhood, adolescence and early adulthood of socialization and acculturation. Clearly, the world we experience is not independent of the culture that has already moulded our attitude to the world.
Chuang Tzu would say that the culture we grow up in teaches us to pursue what is good, and avoid what is bad...By what standard do we discover what is good, beautiful, or worthy? There are none.
~ from Learning the Tao: Chuang Tzu as Teacher, Chapter One ~Chuang Tzu would say that the culture we grow up in teaches us to pursue what is good, and avoid what is bad...By what standard do we discover what is good, beautiful, or worthy? There are none.
Knowing is what results from jettisoning what we were taught, and observing, for ourselves, what is.
ReplyDeleteFirst-hand knowledge is the only real knowledge.
Free from the interpretations of second-hand misinterpretations.
This reminded me that movie, 'The Matrix'.
ReplyDeleteWell, we build 'standard' using past experiences to prevent future 'bad' things to happen. But is useles.