11/12

We began class today with prayer intentions and an Our Father. Ms Egan than talked to us about Heifer International, an organization that provides livestock and promotes sustainable animal husbandry for people in third world countries. After this, we watched a clip of an interview with a Taoist priest and monk. The monk said many things that gave us insight into understanding the philosophies and practices of Taoism. He said not to fret about chaos, for within it is harmony. This harmony is pre-existing. We learned that there is no creation story in Taoism; the yin and the yang interacted and hence everything in the world was created. The monk said that many of the Taoist traditions are rooted in Chinese traditions. The monk lived in a cave in the mountains, because it is more tranquil in the mountains; the more tranquil a place is, the easier it will be to find the Tao. The Tao is the life force behind everything. The monk said that those who find the Tao can achieve immortality.

After watching the interview, we did Wuwei day where we took pictures of things in the school that were wuwei. We took pictures of Jordan jumping, grass growing, a painted pictures of trees growing, the sunlight, and our shadows. All of the things represent wuwei becuase they are acheiving without struggle.


After this we listened to Brother Jim speak. Brother Jim is a Xaverian Brother. He explained to us what the brothers do and exactly what a brother is. He compared being a brother to being in a fraternity, except, he said, the brother are gathered around God rather than a beer keg. Brother Jim showed us a short video about the Xaverian Brothers in which other brother explained why they had chosen to become a brother and the benefits of it.