Chapter 4: Culture & Religion
Strayer begins this chapter by mentioning China, one of the First Civilizations. There was disunity in China due to the Zhou dynasty taking power thus Chinese thinkers began to think about how order can be restored. There were different answers to the problem of disorder: the legalist answer and the Confucian answer. Legalists entertained a pessimistic view of human nature (in general), while Confucian values established expectations for superior parties. There was also the Daoist answer where Daoists urged withdrawal into the world of nature and encouraged behavior that was natural and individualistic (155). It was particularly interesting to learn about the different views on how to restore China. This can be relevant today as there are consistently new and different views on how to better our nation.
Strayer also includes the Cultural Traditions of Classical India. He mentions that the cultural development of the Indian civilization was very different from China. For example, Indian elite culture focused on the Divine while Confucianism paid little attention to the gods and spirits. Furthermore, Hinduism was different from other religions as well due to the fact that Hinduism had no founder but grew over many centuries. At the same time Hinduism emerged, so did Buddhism. The founder, Siddhartha Gautama was a prince from a small north Indian state (159). Receiving "enlightenment" at the age of 35, he did so by going on a six-year spiritual quest. Buddha (Gautama) is known as the Enlighted One, "a human being who had awakened" (159).
The rest of the chapter reflects on the origin of different religions such as Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and the Birth of Christianity.
I enjoyed reading the part at the end of the chapter where Strayer states, "At the very least, all of us can appreciate the immense human effort that has gone into the making of religious traditions, and we can acknowledge the enormous significance of these traditions in the unfolding of the human story. They have shaped the meanings that billions of people over thousands of years have attached to the world they inhabit" (181).
Close Reading
http://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=940
I enjoyed reading about the difference between helping and serving. The author, Rachel Naomi Remen, mentions that when we "help" others, we focus on our own strengths and tend to look at the others like they are of lesser value. However, when we "serve" others, we do not serve with our strengths, but rather with ourselves, drawing from various experiences. She mentions, "Service is a relationship between equals." She contrasts serving with helping to state that "helping" implies debt and favor. On the other hand, serving emits a feeling of gratitude and satisfaction. Remen also mentions that fixing is very different from serving. "Fixing" implies brokenness, while "serving" trusts the absolute wholeness of an individual. The best way to effectively serve one another is to do so with a "servant" attitude: to treat one another as equals.
Strayer begins this chapter by mentioning China, one of the First Civilizations. There was disunity in China due to the Zhou dynasty taking power thus Chinese thinkers began to think about how order can be restored. There were different answers to the problem of disorder: the legalist answer and the Confucian answer. Legalists entertained a pessimistic view of human nature (in general), while Confucian values established expectations for superior parties. There was also the Daoist answer where Daoists urged withdrawal into the world of nature and encouraged behavior that was natural and individualistic (155). It was particularly interesting to learn about the different views on how to restore China. This can be relevant today as there are consistently new and different views on how to better our nation.
Strayer also includes the Cultural Traditions of Classical India. He mentions that the cultural development of the Indian civilization was very different from China. For example, Indian elite culture focused on the Divine while Confucianism paid little attention to the gods and spirits. Furthermore, Hinduism was different from other religions as well due to the fact that Hinduism had no founder but grew over many centuries. At the same time Hinduism emerged, so did Buddhism. The founder, Siddhartha Gautama was a prince from a small north Indian state (159). Receiving "enlightenment" at the age of 35, he did so by going on a six-year spiritual quest. Buddha (Gautama) is known as the Enlighted One, "a human being who had awakened" (159).
The rest of the chapter reflects on the origin of different religions such as Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and the Birth of Christianity.
I enjoyed reading the part at the end of the chapter where Strayer states, "At the very least, all of us can appreciate the immense human effort that has gone into the making of religious traditions, and we can acknowledge the enormous significance of these traditions in the unfolding of the human story. They have shaped the meanings that billions of people over thousands of years have attached to the world they inhabit" (181).
Close Reading
http://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=940
I enjoyed reading about the difference between helping and serving. The author, Rachel Naomi Remen, mentions that when we "help" others, we focus on our own strengths and tend to look at the others like they are of lesser value. However, when we "serve" others, we do not serve with our strengths, but rather with ourselves, drawing from various experiences. She mentions, "Service is a relationship between equals." She contrasts serving with helping to state that "helping" implies debt and favor. On the other hand, serving emits a feeling of gratitude and satisfaction. Remen also mentions that fixing is very different from serving. "Fixing" implies brokenness, while "serving" trusts the absolute wholeness of an individual. The best way to effectively serve one another is to do so with a "servant" attitude: to treat one another as equals.
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