Dao De Jing

The practices and teachings of many eastern religions are exotic and foriegn to most western traditions. In Zhungzi's writings, he argues that words are meaningless but are also the way, a core value in the Dao De Jing. Somewhat obscure to read the first time, eventually the idea of the "enlightened hero" makes more sense through the Tao lense. Fighters fight, and leaders lead because that is who they are, not just what they do and the aknowledgment of "the way" is a core trait of a hero. This trait is like the methods of Odysseus at the start of the Odyssey, even though he has a change of heart towards the end, and explains more one dimensional heroes like Beowulf and Buliwyf. This circular flow of actions is contary to other heroes like Gilgamesh because they have a moment of "Moksa" or enlightenment that changes thier point of view. "By defending others, you save yourself", goes the mantra of Kambei in the film "Seven Samurai" (Kurosawa, 1954), which is one way of altruism taken up by the ancient Japanese heroes, the Samurai. The spiritual teachings of the Dao De Jing help us understand the flow of events in all hero tales, but not define it.