Society does not want individuals who are alert, keen, revolutionary, because such individuals will not fit into the established social pattern and they may break it up. That is why society seeks to hold your mind in its pattern, and why your so-called education encourages you to imitate, to follow, to conform. — J. Krishnamurti
The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn — Gloria Steinem
In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired.
In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.Less and less is done
Until non-action is achieved.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.The world is ruled by letting things take their course.
It cannot be ruled by interfering.— Tao Te Ching, 48
As commonly used, individual refers to a person or to any specific object in a collection. In the 15th century and earlier, and also today within the fields of statistics and metaphysics, individual means “indivisible”, typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meaning “a person”. (q.v. “The problem of proper names”). From the seventeenth century on, individual indicates separateness, as in individualism. (Abbs 1986, cited in Klein 2005, p.26-27) — Wikipedia
6 Responses
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Thank you for a post that spurred a conversation about why I don’t shop at Wal-mart and why I buy fair-traded coffee. Also, thank you for the reminder from Lao Tzu. The Tao Te Ching has been my guide for over 20 years. The wisdom inside, if followed, has never failed me.
Thanks, Kelly. Good to know a fellow traveler on the path – Tao feels like a lonely road at times. ;^)
>>Tao feels like a lonely road at times.
As Master Po once said,
“Do you not see the butterflies around you, the birds in the air, the turtles in the pond? How can you be lonely in such a crowded place?” ;>)
Nice article, Kelly.
Oops – sorry, I meant Donna. *shakes head*
This quote by J.Krishnamurti may just get to the heart of the matter. The matter being that I, being loud in my individuality and incessant challenging of students to THINK FOR THEMSELVES, have been stonewalled in my efforts to get a full-time elementary school teaching position. Meanwhile, quiet and demure teachers, openly CHRISTIAN-Jesus-is-your-saviour-read-the-bible-at-work-and-teach-Sunday-school teachers get put in line ahead of me.