An Intriguing Video About Gender Roles, Violence, And Rite Of Passage. Let's Break It Down As Such, With

An intriguing video about gender roles, violence, and rite of passage. Let's break it down as such, with a Daoist lens.

Being a member of modern society, the idea that men specifically have a duty to either impress others (males or females) with displays of masculinity is a bit disappointing to me. The fact that this video focuses so much on the self-imposed trials of Men not only illuminates the prevalence of this idea, but reinforces it. Are there truly no examples of female proving grounds? Or is it enough that they wed a man and bear his children? I do not believe that the Path particularly cares what sort of genitalia you possess; we all walk along it regardless of what our bodies look like.

Violence, on the other hand, is quite relevant to the Dao. It is, has been, and always will be an integral part of the human experience. We can choose to either ignore this, as the narrator (and the series as a whole) have implied, or we can recognize it and moderate it within our society. It takes place either in the form of athletic sports or violent rituals or actual combat, and there's a reason it has never left our societies. Rejecting it as a part of our identities would be as foolish as denying ourselves music or art; it is in our nature to fight. You might watch the stories presented and think the people and practices barbaric, but what defines barbarism? How does the absence of such violence in your life make you more civilized? In fact, it is more than likely that violence has simply taken a different form in your activities, making the line between civilized and barbaric essentially arbitrary.

With that said, however, the reason and cause behind violence in our lives becomes much more important. Once we accept that violence will exist as a part of our culture whether we want it or not, identifying the true nature of that violence is what allows us to create a harmonious state with it. More specifically, the idea that a group needs to express violence in order to prove themselves worthy of their peers is the most trouble I have with the episode. We are worthy enough to be ourselves, and should be judged by our own merits. None of the groups shown are in a state of war, and none are auditioning to be soldiers. Their performance in pseudo-combat is less about their actual skill and more like a quick way to discover traits about their character under duress. This is indeed useful, but a society following the Dao would need no such test, which is a second-handed way to learning one's true nature. A person's actions should be judged by how they live their normal everyday life, not by arranging circumstances around them to force them to act differently. The necessity to seek admiration and praise, to run from failure, to take oneself out of their actual reality so that they might be more than themselves in a different set of rules; these are indicative of an unstable base of persona. If we accept who we are without the need for others to approve us, then we can exist and perform as the person we choose to be.

This is not to say that the practices themselves are not beneficial to those that participate. The rigors of physical training, the tempering of combat, the satisfaction of executing a flawless gameplan or adapting to an unexpected setback; these are all incredibly useful and healthy for people to have, especially with violence being such an ingrained part of our nature. But they should be sought out and practiced by our own personal choices along the Path, not because they are needed to gain social status. If a people forge themselves to be stronger and sharper than they were before by their own choices, success and social status will follow.

The separation between the two, like the separation between many other things, is but an illusion.

What are you studying in college?

I completed my undergraduate studies in Environmental Policy, with a focus on the International side of things. I had originally started as an Environmental Sciences major because I wanted to study dinosaurs, but I didn't apply under Evolutionary Biology (the naming of majors was a bit confusing, so I figured I'd just change it later). In my first couple years of college, however, I failed my math and science courses pretty badly, and I started questioning whether doing hard sciences was right for me. I met with my adviser a number of times, switching my focus from Environmental Sciences - Biology to Environmental Sciences - Sociology, and then finally to Environmental Policy, which avoided the math and chemistry classes I had struggled with.

On one hand, I suppose I could have kept pushing ahead on my desire to be a paleontologist and studied harder, stayed up later, and basically just fight my way into the industry. But my adviser said something at one of our many meetings that really stuck with me over the years. She explained that as we talked, I was so much more excited and animated talking about people and their relationship with each other and the environment, much more than when I was talking about wanting to be a biologist. She told me that to her, it seemed silly that I would try and push myself to study something I didn't seem that interested in, when it was obvious I would rather be studying people.

Strangely enough, even after I had this moment of clarity, I still had a bit farther to go to fully realize where I belonged or what I wanted to do. At the time I was working with the college newspaper, and drawing editorial cartoons, laying out pages, and doing other production related things. I was drawing my own comics on the side, and felt like I would much rather be an artist than be in school, drawing cartoons and comics for people to enjoy the world over. I had always struggled with this part of myself, because I had this sense of duty to the world, especially after deciding to study Policy. I felt like I would be wasting my potential to just sit around and draw, that I would be selfish by taking myself away from a field where I could really help people.

This all changed after I saw Pixar's Wall-E. To this day, that film holds a special place in my heart because it showed me that I could find a third option, that I could make art and draw cartoons and make the world a better place all at the same time. It dawned on me that other cartoons had been doing it all along and I just never noticed (Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke come to mind), but they had played their part ever so subtly in getting me to this point. I had done a couple internships with environmental non-profits and wasn't feeling especially jazzed about working with groups like that for the rest of my life. I would have switched my major at this point, but to be perfectly candid the art department at my college wasn't that great, and from what I had heard it was better at helping you conceptualize your art than it was at improving your skills.

So fast forward a few years, and here I am, currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Storyboarding at art school. It fits everything that I've ever wanted to do in my career, from drawing cartoons to telling stories to changing the world. It's been a bit of a winding road getting here, but I think that every step along the way has been necessary in putting me where I needed to be for the next step. This, of course, is part of walking the Path.

Live in the moment, live in the Dao.

Remember, Daoism isn't about following your impulses, it's about seeing and aligning with truth. This article is a great explanation on the hows and whys.

Nice compilation!

So much happens on your Dashboard that you end up missing so many great articles. So I decided to compile a list of blogs in Z-A order (A-Z for the articles) to help you guys out! If you reblog this, please reblog as a Text so your followers can see the entire post. Thank you.

The Non-Dualist

Brand Consciousness

For those interested in learning more about Buddhism

Race, Ethnicity, and Culture

Religious Education

Service as Part of Your LifeStyle

Stochastic Life

On the East vs. West: Perceived Differences

On Meditation

On Karma and Psychology

Practical Compassion

Ritualism and Buddhism

Samsaranmusing

Comfort for the Living and Comfort for the Dying

Hate is not a Softdrink

Instant Karma

Meditation is not just sitting quietly

Spiritual Teachers and the Western Cult of Celebrity

E-Sangha

Aging and Death

Anxiety Due to Clinging

Change is Constant

Gathas for your Daily Life

How can we stay excited about our practice?

Daoism Discussions

Defining the Dao

Four Agreements

The Mystery of the Cross

Thoughts on Opposites

Thoughts on Tragedy

Buddhazen101: 

A Mini Lesson On Pain

Dark Knight Zen

Why Incense?

Why I, Or Anyone Else, Can’t Make You Happy

Zen Buddhism, Martial Arts, and Non-Attachment