As humans we try to understand the
divine or try to make sense of the larger universe that we live in. In the Zen Parables, three stories are told
with each sending a different message. The “Muddy Roads”, is the story of two
monks who are walking throw heavy rain and they come across a woman that is
having trouble because she cannot cross the muddy road. Because of this one of
the men (Tanzan) carries the woman across. Afterwards the fellow monk reminds
the other who helped the woman across the mud that “monks don’t go near females…”
as well as questions why Tanzan even did it. Similarly in Existentialism by Jean-Paul Sartre, he gives an example of a boy
given the choice to leave his mother in need or to join the Free French forces.
Sartre then states that the boy is deciding between two kinds of ethics, “an
ethics of sympathy, of personal devotion; on the other, a broader ethics, but
one whose efficacy was more dubious.” The concept of the two are similar
because both Tanzan and the boy were put in situations where they had to make a
choice, to follow what they believe to be instinctually right or to choose a
path that could lead to different possibilities.
Although the two readings share similarities they do share differences in how each one is perceived. Throughout the readings in Zen Parables a man’s actions all lead to a despair type ending. From the “Muddy Road”, the monk’s actions are influenced by the woman because she is in need of assistance so she can get across the mud which results him to disobey is teachings of staying away from women. In “A Parable” the man who will soon fall to his death is influenced by nature around him for example, the strawberry to find the good in a bad situation. As well as in the “Learning to be silent” reading where when one student spoke it lead to all of the fellow students into speaking which results in the failure in understanding meditation. These examples are how the actions of man lead them to anguish. However in Existentialism, Sartre states that existentialism is a more optimistic view point, it includes sayings like, “Conquer yourself rather than the world” and “nothing ventured nothing gained”. Therefore the ideas in the Zen Parables take a negative approach while the Existentialism article takes a more optimistic approach.
Although the two readings share similarities they do share differences in how each one is perceived. Throughout the readings in Zen Parables a man’s actions all lead to a despair type ending. From the “Muddy Road”, the monk’s actions are influenced by the woman because she is in need of assistance so she can get across the mud which results him to disobey is teachings of staying away from women. In “A Parable” the man who will soon fall to his death is influenced by nature around him for example, the strawberry to find the good in a bad situation. As well as in the “Learning to be silent” reading where when one student spoke it lead to all of the fellow students into speaking which results in the failure in understanding meditation. These examples are how the actions of man lead them to anguish. However in Existentialism, Sartre states that existentialism is a more optimistic view point, it includes sayings like, “Conquer yourself rather than the world” and “nothing ventured nothing gained”. Therefore the ideas in the Zen Parables take a negative approach while the Existentialism article takes a more optimistic approach.
I completely agree with your statement as to why these readings are similar. Each of these pieces focus on decisions, decisions that could jeopardize the respect each of the characters receive from others involved. While in the Zen Parables the stories are meant to serve as a teaching method for its readers, leaving valuable lessons woven within every word. Jean-Paul Sartre’s essay Existentialism also leaves his readers with important information concerning decisions to contemplate. But behind each reading is a separate hidden message, while the obvious message is to consider the possible consequences to certain actions. The hidden message is to follow ones personal beliefs and instinct regardless of public outlook. In the Zen Parable “Learning to be Silent”, when the first pupil exclaimed to the second, "Fix those lamps." the child was unaware of the slippery slope that would inevitably take place, interrupting the seven day meditation the children agreed upon. While this proves the irresponsibility of children, the lesson to take away from the reading is to not only to consider the consequences one must face, but also to put others before oneself. The first child that spoke up did not take the time to think about what may come from speaking and the effects it could have on the other pupils. Jean-Paul Sartre illustrates this same lesson through the boy and his choices, but emphasizes the time he takes to consider his options. The boy is faced with the option to leave England fulfill his brothers vengeance or leaving his mother alone to fend for herself. In paragraph one Sartre says "when we say man is responsible for himself, we do not only mean that he is responsible for his own individuality, but that he is responsible for all men." This relates back to the boy and his decision, he must consider the responsibility of joining the free French forces or staying with his mother, and consider the people he could affect in the process.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your statement of the similarities and differences to the stories. They both have lessons to be learned without actually implying the lesson. These pieces of literature were both very interesting to me because they were easy to read and also made it easy to apply what they were trying to teach to your own life. In Zen Parables, you talked about the three different passages but you specify in “Muddy Roads”, you didn’t elaborate on what you thought about it but I think he did it because in his heart, although it was against the rules, it would be better to save the woman; rather than to watch as she struggled to come across the intersection. You make the similarities from Existentialism, when the boy wants to leave his mom or join the forces and that made an extremely great point as to why and how they are similar because they are both faced with choices that could both face consequences but they also could open doors that could lead new possibilities also. That was a great point to make. I believe the differences may vary in opinion. I believe that the two could be different in the way you described but I think they are also similar in this example you used also, making them both optimistic. The quotes and the example show ways of the author of Existentialism being optimistic but I took the last story “Learning to be Silent” as a positive outlook also as them learning a lesson instead of just plain failure.
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