In
Zen Parables there are three stories. The first is about a two monk, one who
escorts a women across the street. The other monk says that monks should not
carry women. The first monk explains that his friend is the one carrying her in
his thoughts. The second story is about a man who is being chased by a tiger,
he then flees up a tree and when death is certain, he indulges himself with the
sweet taste of a strawberry. The third story is about how four monks, who have
made a vow in silence, breaks that silence with something as trivial as a
flickering lamp. The second story teaches us about how “Man is nothing else but
what he makes of himself” (Sartre). There also is a story of how a man must
make the choice to stay with his mother or leave to fight in the war to avenge
his brother, even if it mean his mother will wither into despair. The only similarity
in both the readings is that the choice that the monk makes to help the woman
and the decision of the man to leave his mother is a choice in character and in
a universal and that he must take responsibility for his actions. The
differences in the story however, are apparent. Each story in Zen Parables
teaches us a different lesson, the first being to not carry misdeeds in though.
The second being to know when to give up, and the third being to not be
bothered with trivial things. The second story has one universal message which
whether or not god exist, the choice and responsibilities lies with the man who
makes those choices.
I agree with you. Both readings talk about how man and their actions. In "Zen Parables" the story about the monks and what they are suppose to do and what they are not suppose to do. In "Existentialism" the author talks about how "man is aware of itself" meaning that they are only focused on them and not others. Also it talks about how " man is free" and in the "Zen Parables" the story on the monks trying to meditate and be quite, but they couldn't because one started talking and the others joined. You are free to what ever you want in existentialism.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your blog in all the reading they tell us how we are responsible for our actions. in Existentialism the author says "even if God did exist , that would change nothing." that right there sums up all the readings in each story told there is always a question as to what to do and what is more important. like you said in the story of the two monks and the lady, the monk carries the lady across the street and forgets it he moves on from that moment yet the other monk doesn't he still carries her in his mind he chose to let it bother him, in the second story the man jumped off a cliff holding onto nothing but a vine, that vine can only hold him yet two mice go and start chewing on the vine instead of worrying about his inevitable death he decides to cherish that moment by eating a sweet strawberry, and lastly the vow the monks took to be quiet for seven days was a decision they made that decision was broken once one monk got bothered by a dim lamp which had a domino effect that caused every monk to talk they all had a choice to either say something or just stay quiet but they all decided to point the finger at the monks that talked. we all have decisions and we are responsible for our actions alone.
ReplyDeleteThe only similarity is not just the universal message but it is the universal message given by the stories. This message of character and what we make of things is the most important similarity the readings could have. Not only do the reading cause one’s self to question one’s own actions and beliefs due to these powerful reading but one finds hidden answers to the ways of character. Within the first story of the monks’ one can see the concept of diffusion of responsibility and how the monk’s character did not allow him to act in the situation and then affect him later. In the second story of the man running from the tiger one can see the how things are inevitable no matter how hard you attempt to avoid them but you still can make the best of the situation. In the last story of the four monks one can see how one shouldn’t allow trivial things to bother them and how as one person deviates from the rules one by one start to deviate as well. And lastly, in Existentialism one can observe the intellectual pondering of a well-known topic and how each outlook and choice affects all. These all tie together into the central idea that decisions build character and effect the way one thinks and perceives others and their actions. Although yes each story is extinguishly different, they all have the same universal theme and cause you to contemplate character, actions and will to make one’s decisions that affect all.
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