The Point of the Journey
Term: Journey
Method: The Tao Ching
Neil Peart (see below) has a pithy translation of one of Lau-Tzu's pieces of wisdom from the Tao Ching. It reads simply "the point of the journey is not to arrive." I give this advice to my students on the last day of class without explanation, though I provide the codicil, "I hope that you think of this over the course of your lifetimes." Eighteen-year-olds aren't particularly self-reflexive so I figure it's best to let them find their own way, but with hints.
Anyway Peart's pithune is a negative definition. The point of the journey is NOT to arrive. What is it then? The point of the journey is everything but to arrive. It is life, not death. It is the world passing by, not a complete stop. It is consciousness, not unconsciousness.
Recommended Reading: Lau Tzu, "The Tao Ching"
Recommended Listening: Rush (lyrics by Neil Peart), "Prime Mover" from Hold Your Fire (1987)
Method: The Tao Ching
Neil Peart (see below) has a pithy translation of one of Lau-Tzu's pieces of wisdom from the Tao Ching. It reads simply "the point of the journey is not to arrive." I give this advice to my students on the last day of class without explanation, though I provide the codicil, "I hope that you think of this over the course of your lifetimes." Eighteen-year-olds aren't particularly self-reflexive so I figure it's best to let them find their own way, but with hints.
Anyway Peart's pithune is a negative definition. The point of the journey is NOT to arrive. What is it then? The point of the journey is everything but to arrive. It is life, not death. It is the world passing by, not a complete stop. It is consciousness, not unconsciousness.
Recommended Reading: Lau Tzu, "The Tao Ching"
Recommended Listening: Rush (lyrics by Neil Peart), "Prime Mover" from Hold Your Fire (1987)
posted by Definer at 4:06 AM
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