Tu-Shun

Out of the five readings, I found Tu-Shun to be the most complex but was the most enjoyable because of it. The fact that a jewel is used as a metaphor for individuals is exceedingly abstract but also very clever. A jewel, no matter what the cut, always has many sides that are reflected in ever direction. An individual also has many sides, mentally speaking, that creates a personality that connects with all aspects of life and of course other people. After reading Ramana Maharshi, and especially this, I feel as if looking deeper into how you as an individual reacts in society and to oneself can effect not just oneself but everyone. Inherently, this is a profound reading just on the basis of the metaphor and because there are clauses with questions each followed by an answer. The bit of Q and A seems very informal but very informative with insight that really grabs the readers attention and makes them question their role. I agree with what Tu-Shun has to say and think that by incorporating jewels as a comparison, layers the morality with little adjectives that can also be inferred by what he is trying to say.

Ramana Maharshi

The passage on Ramana Maharshi is an interesting one. Each “mini story” is different yet seems to convey a similar moral. That moral is to question oneself and look deeper such as with a liberated master, is the master truly liberated from misery? Also, the last story which speaks about grace towards God seems to speak of its redundancy which infers that God already knows that you are graceful since he is essentially in you and in everything. I enjoyed reading this because of the above examples and I feel that more people should pay attention to their inner self. Obviously, I feel that the ideas were philosophically moving especially since I do not come across such brilliant observations or introverted thoughts when reading a book like Harry Potter.

Chief Seattle

I did not like Chief Seattle very much because the read was rather depressing than uplifting. In this speech, it appeared as if Chief Seattle was being submissive to the white man. His submissiveness to the white man irked me because I do not feel a perfectly good civilization should "bow down" and allow another civilization to take advantage of them. Also What I did like about his speech was that the Indians respect the dead and the earth, and I agree that more people, not just white people, should behave this way. Respect for the earth is important because it is our environment and everything we do causes a ripple effect, effecting other things.

Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha

Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha was an enjoyable read that really beckons the reader to understand the "red man's" plight. I agree with what Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha is speaking about. I thought it to be very profound for him to mention the irony of the white man leaving England because of religious oppression though they seek to oppress the Indians' religious beliefs, and for me this was the notion that should have opened the white people's eyes. I just do not understand how the Christian Missionoary could have been so cold as to essentially call Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha and the rest of the Indian population devil worshippers especially when they know very little of their religion except for a few facets such as not having a written text akin to the Bible. This mass ignorance led to much disaster much like how all ignorance ends up. It is just baffling especially since (it appears) they believe in the same god that the Indians happen to call the Great Spirit.
This speech really portrays the innocence of the Indians and how they were essentially taken advantage of. Indians gave them food and the white man gave rum, something they knew was not good for the body and mind. It the white man would have stayed and behaved the same as they did initially, there would probably be more Indians among us. The selfishness, ignorance, and overall indecency the white man expressed to the "red man" is atrocious.