About a year ago, Li Chin started taking one of her children to a classical Chinese literature class for children. When the class came to a passage where Laozi said that a mother must not feel that she owns the child to whom she has given birth, Ms. Li felt a sudden jolt of enlightenment. Now she wonders whether she hasn't perhaps been less demanding toward her children since then.
Inspired by the children's class, Li enrolled in a course on Laozi. The teacher there always used examples from everyday life to illustrate his points, and then used these examples to analyze the root causes of what's wrong with society. Since attending this class, Li has stopped getting so worried about what she hears on the nightly newscast. "Thanks to this class, I now feel that even though there is much that is wrong with the way we live in this particular day and age, it doesn't mean that human nature can't ever be any better than the way it is now. You have to see the bad clearly for what it is, but you also have to do the right thing yourself." Li feels that Laozi offers her a way to live amidst a troubled world without herself turning into a tragic figure, for Laozi continually reminds her that she is weak and must therefore avoid trouble; that she must take a fresh look at her life, paying attention to the basics; and that she must manage her life intelligently.
Asked whether she should take her children to the class, Li answers that the decision to forego life's ambitions and desires must come from within, but today's children don't even know what they want, because others make their choices for them. The desire to pass entrance examinations, travel abroad, and pursue various material pleasures are all cultivated in children by society, television, and family. Stuffed to the gills with what others think is important, children lack the impulse to seek out their own passions or ideals. Until they have their own desires and ambitions, how are they going to understand what it means to give them up? "Confucianism teaches very clearly about right and wrong. Maybe that's more appropriate for children. What do you think?"
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Li Chin
