YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT Daily Taoist 25
Hey. Buddha Zhen back. I’m enjoying being THE DAILY TAOIST. This is totally cool. I’m pumping out a whole bunch of these– Here’s my author copy of this book, TAO OF TAOISM – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life. Written by Lao Tzu. I just took a bunch of translations of and said, “I don’t this guy’s got it… And I don’t think this guy’s got it…” Because I don’t translate Chinese. So I had to like take the translations, and what I knew of it, and from being part of the religion and the lifestyle for years and years. And try to see what makes sense. What was he really saying that I would say, “Harmonizes with the truth.” You know, the reality of using it in life.
I’ve been using Taoism since the eighties. Since… yeah… So if anybody could tell you what it is– [laughs] It should be somebody who’s been using it on a daily basis and teaching it to people. Inserting it in people and seeing how it affects them. Same with Buddhism. I called myself a “BUDDHIST SCIENTIST” for about twenty years. Because I considered myself, and all my students, and everything, were–I’m being facetious: I thought “lab rats” you know. But they’re– But they’re my test subjects in a way. They’re my children. And I’m constantly seeing the effects. I’m concerned. I don’t just throw stuff at them. “Hey, here’s some old wisdom.” SPLAT. “Here’s some more wisdom.” SPLAT. No, I like, look at it. Flavor it, and shape it. And say, “Okay. Can you understand that?” Then I come back, “How’s it working?” “How’d you like it?” “How’d it come out?” So anyway, I’ve kind of been able to see the effects of the Taoism and the Buddhism over the years. Confucianism too.
Actually no, the Confucianism– I wish. I didn’t start into that until about 2011. Sorry. Well I couldn’t tell you the affects of that. Because if I did I could’ve saved all kinds of marriages and businesses because that’s what that’s for. Marriages, businesses and politics. That’s what Confucius is for. Teaching. Oh that’s what I heard. I thought somebody was at my front door. Light’s falling down. And uh– I hope it’s going to stay there.
“Is that going to stay there Bear?” If that thing goes it’s gonna really pop. It’s a 150W bulb. Let me go and move it real quick.
Anyway, Daily Taoist here. No– I’m just– “Hang on…”
“Bear. Why did that move?” It wants to keep moving. Alright.
Okay. So I’m back. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll edit that out. As much as I’m an iPhoneographer. I’m getting all the software in my phone and everything–I don’t know how to use it. I don’t know what I’m doing yet. But I’m figuring it out. You can actually go to my other channel: Richard Del Connor at YouTube: You can see music videos and things that I’m making. So I’m learning how to use a gimbal. I’m learning how to use my iPhone. I’m learning how to use LumaFusion. I’m shooting in Filmic Pro. And then I’m learning how to actually then– well, just getting it off my phone and then getting it onto a hard drive. And then backing it up is a lot of work. I’m just figuring this out. So anyway.
Here we go. The Daily Taoist.
And we’re on NUMBER 14. What’d I do? I took two minutes and forty-two seconds of your time just getting started here? Sorry about that.
Oh! By the way. Never say you’re sorry unless you’re gonna do it again.
That’s one my slogans. And here I am–an anti-slogan person. But that’s actually something that I want everybody to realize. Look! It’s 100% true.
Everybody I tell people they always come back and go, “Yeah, you’re right about that.”
Never say you’re “sorry” unless you’re gonna do it again.
And if anybody ever says they’re “sorry” you can expect them to do it again.
So don’t say you’re “sorry.”
You can say you won’t do it again though. That’s different.
Here we go. NUMBER 14.
Watch it. Check– Watch yourself. When you say you’re sorry for something. It’ll be something you’ve done before. You’ll catch yourself. I said, “I’m sorry,” for that. And I did it to that guy. You know he’s stubbing his toe or–whatever it is. But yeah. Watch.
So don’t say you’re “sorry” and you’ll stop making mistakes.
The Daily Taoist here. Confusing you. [laughs] The truth is cool.
NUMBER 14. This is written by Lao Tzu supposed– well, originally. And then translated by other people and then me–synthesized into this book to make it more useful. But Lao Tzu’s book, Dao Te Ching is being presented to you in my Tao of Taoism by me, Buddha Zhen. I’m actually Richard Del Connor. If you want to look at my license.
Here we go, NUMBER 14:
Nature (and this is with a capital ‘N’ despite it being at the first–start of the paragraph).
Nature cannot be measured or controlled.
Yet, the operations of Nature (with a capital ‘N’) can be understood.
I’m using ‘Nature’ for ‘The Tao.’ Because there’s different versions. You could just call it, “The Tao.” I’m going to call “Nature” and “Tao” are the same thing. Okay?
Understanding the forces in motion creates an awareness of Nature. (The Tao).
This awareness comes from an inner harmony of each person that mirrors the outer workings of Nature.
Oops. Let’s read it. I’ve got to read it again.
So only by living naturally can one understand or be aware of Nature.
This is where people get all messed up. This is one of the ones that confuses people. They think they all the sudden have to become a plant to understand what a plant is. And you gotta act like a monkey to be a– to understand what a monkey is.
I’m not saying that but– He’s– Let’s just break it down real fast.
I really want to take the mumbo jumbo and the mystical godliness out of this. Cuz this is not a godly thing. Remember, this is science. This is science. It’s not God.
Here we go: Nature cannot be measured or controlled.
The Earth, its rotation, the seasons, the up and down things… The clouds. The moving. Whatever. Or gravity– Cannot be measure or controlled. That’s kind of what it’s saying. Everything. The reality– Okay? Nature… I’ve got that.
It’s beyond our control. We’re popped in here. Splat. We exist in it. I was comparing it to a big bowl of soup we’re in… we’re in the middle of you know. Moving around in this bowl of soup. We’re here for a little while and then we’re gone. The soup’s still here. Still going on. But we just come and go… within the soup. (Nature.)
Okay. So: Yet the = operations of Nature can be understood. So in other words they can’t really be measured or controlled because they change all the time. Even measuring what the temperature is on a certain day is going to be different that the next day. You can measure it, but you can’t really predict that it’s going to be the same. It’s always in flux, or– So anyway, that’s what we’re trying to say.
But you can understand it. You can understand it’s colder in the winter. You may not know exactly what temperature it is. You can’t measure it and predict in the next year in the same day it’s going to be the same temperature. And the same clouds… But you can understand in a broader sense. That’s what he’s trying to say.
Yet the operations of Nature– (The seasons and such. The day versus night.) –Can be understood.
Okay. So there’s our first two. The simple pragmatic science. Don’t get caught up in mystical mumbo jumbo again.
I don’t mind mystical mumbo jumbo. This isn’t the place for it. It’s not intended.
Ready?
Understanding the forces in motion creates an awareness of Nature.
Forces in motion: the seasons, the winds… The wind that comes before the storm. The kind of clouds that come to bring rain. The clouds that come that don’t bring rain. Understanding all these forces in motion. If you understand–you have an awareness of Nature. See? So you can start to understand–to recognize things. An awareness of Nature.
That’s good. So we’ve got the first three sentences. To be a scientist you’ve just gotta study things. Go take a meteorology class. One of my regrets: I never got one.
Here we go.
This awareness comes from an inner harmony of each person that mirrors the outer workings of Nature.
Aaaaaahhh. This is where it gets more complicated. And this is where people– If you’re really, like President Trump. He’s very out of harmony with Nature. I mean anybody I think–even his fans and supporters agree with that. This guy’s totally out of balance. [laughs] He’s miserable. He’s unhappy. He looks unhappy. He gives off negative energy. Hes an ugly creature. Anyway. Poor guy. You know, he’s just all messed up. His thinking’s wrong. He’s never gonna be happy because he’s working in a system that can never exist. His view of reality doesn’t exist. So he’s just all day long fighting to try to trick everybody to what reality is. And he’s not in any reality at all. He’s just living in this made up world in his brain that can never exist. Because even if it does it’s a crime and he’s gonna get in trouble. He’s gotta– Even if it exists he’s gotta get the money and run. [laughs] He never wants to be anywhere where he’s gonna be stuck. That’s his dilemma. He can never hold still. And if he does hold still he’s gonna get handcuffed. So he’s gotta keep moving. So that’s out of harmony with Nature.
Sorry to use him as a radical example. He just came to mind first. But he doesn’t understand the forces of Nature. He has no concern about Nature. He lives in his big city and…
Here we go.
Okay. So why’d I even point him out? Because his lack of awareness– he’s the opposite of what the next sentence is.
This awareness comes from an inner harmony.
Now, his inner harmony–
Of each person that mirrors the outer workings of Nature.
He does not mirror the outer workings of Nature. That’s why he makes people so unhappy. Nobody would want him for their babysitter. Nobody’d want him for their mother. He does not mirror Nature. If he does he mirrors the kind of Nature you shouldn’t be around like a crocodile. He’s just gonna eat you and drag you underwater. Doesn’t care. So anyway, maybe he does kind of mirror a part of Nature. Wow. Actually. Maybe Lao Tzu’s more right than I think. He’s saying even when you’r wrong–
This awareness–
Well he’s trying to talk in the positive. He’s saying that if you have an understanding that comes from your inner understanding which is in balance. Okay.
So what happens when you have an inner harmony that’s not in balance. That means you can never understand Nature. Or appreciate Nature. Never appreciate the other people in Nature. Keeps you completely separate from everyone. Because you have no balance that anyone should actually be attracted to. Which is the other problem. The people that are attracted to that imbalance are the people with the same imbalance. Kind of creates a– Yeah.
Okay. Now. So, last sentence: Only by living naturally. In other words, ‘naturally’ means in harmony with Nature. Not opposed to it. But comfortably living in harmony with it. Where there’s peace, accord and contentment… Can you understand or be aware of Nature.
See. That’s why he can’t be aware of it. He doesn’t have inner harmony. Doesn’t have that balance. He can’t sense it. He can’t feel it. It’s beyond him.
So I’m using him as an example. Hopefully he doesn’t represent you. Um, my family is…There’s all kinds of people like this. Let’s put it that way… that are not in balance with Nature.
And the ones that are in balance with Nature. That’s a step forward. But that doesn’t make you a complete person. That just means that you– at least physically can be a successful animal. So that’s all this is doing… is helping you to be a better animal…
Okay? That was NUMBER 14. What? I spent eleven minutes just explaining it? [laughs] I got carried away. That’s why I’m doing this. So I can get a lot of this out of my system. When I do the audiobook version of this I hope I won’t talk so much. The book’s gonna be too long for anyone to read or listen to.
Here we go.
But that’s why I like this as The Daily Taoist though. I was thinking of trying to keep this at five or six minutes. I’m already at eleven, thirty-three.
Let me just blast down. Let’s see how far we get. Maybe it’s gonna be a 20-minute thing today.
Ready? You on board? Because I’m gonna need a few minutes to unpack all this. There’s a bunch of questions here.
Explain your–
In fact, I’ll go fast. Because these are so vague and I’m not gonna elaborate on them. If I do it’ll take a long time. So let’s just see how fast I can go. It’s twelve minutes now. See how fast I can go.
Explain your understanding of Nature.
Explain your understanding of Nature.
Right now. I’ve changed. I was a Native American for some years. Following those traditions. I was a pipe carrier. Doing smudge… Anyway.
How do the forces of Nature influence your life?
They used to influence mine alot.
And again. I’m in a different situation now.
You. How do the forces of Nature influence your life?
Okay? Explain your inner harmony?
Remember that inner harmony we were talking. Here it says, “The awareness comes from an inner harmony of each person that mirrors the outer workings of Nature.”
So let’s look at your inner harmony and see how thatnat’s somehow a mirror of Nature.
So in other words if you live in a very cold igloo then you’re gonna mirror– your harmony of Nature is gonna be a little different than some guy one who lives next to the beach. So you’ll have a different inner harmony maybe. I don’t know. That would be intersting to find out. I’d like to talk to both you guys: Igloo and the guy on the beach. Compare your perspectives of reality.
Here we go.
Oh. How does your inner harmony mirror the forces of Nature?
See? Once agin. The igloo versus the beach. How are you mirroring Nature?
Once again: How does your inner harmony mirror the forces of Nature?
Explain how your life is natural.
So somebody in Arizona might have a different natural life than somebody in Washington state.
Explain how your life is natural.
Explain why your life is natural.
You know obviously like some people we know in presidential positions you can be very unnatural. So explain why you decided to make your life natural. How it came to be natural. Maybe somebody just trained you that way.
Explain how your life is mechanical or unnatural.
Ooh. Mechanical and unnatural. So you’re a machine. You’re doing something that’s contrary to Nature. But it’s your job. Maybe youre chopping down trees. That would be kind of unnatural.
Okay… What do you do out of obligation or necessity rather than by desire.
That’s probably 50% of the people on the planet there.
They just have a job. There just happy to get the paycheck. They don’t have any interst in that business or product line.
So what do you do out of obligation or necessity rather than by desire.
Own up to it. If you can’t be honest with yourself–You’ll never be smart.
Here we go: What do you do to satisfy others that does not satisfy you?
Ooh. That’s a good question. I’m quite the giver. But– Anyway.
One more time: What do you do to satisfy others that does not satisfy you?
What expectations of others are you currently satisfying?
Hey. Each of us is going to have a very different answer to that one.
What expectations of others are you currently satisfying?
How much time do you spend each day doing nothing?
Once again: How much time do you spend each day doing nothing?
If you had all the money you could need or spend–what would you do with your time?
If you had all the money you could need or spend–what would you do with your time?
Why aren’t you doing these things now anyway?
When I was homeless that was a question I was asking all the time.
Sorry to interject. See! I said I’m sorry. I’m gonna do it again. [laughs]
Why arent you doing these things now anyway?
Do you believe that to not work or to not have a job is wrong?
Do you beleive that to not work or to not have a job is wrong?
Do you believe that you should have children and a family?
Do you believe that you should have a children– have a children–a bunch– anyway. Have children and a family?
How many kids do you intend to have? And why?
How many kids do you intend to have? And why?
When you don’t have to go to work– there’s actually a typo here. Sheesh. Second one I’ve found. What time do you wake up and go to bed?
When you don’t have time to go to work–what time do you wake up and go to bed?
Interesting question.
How is this different than when you are working?
Okay. So when you don’t have a job. That’s why I didn’t– That’s why that was one of things I did.
So when you don’t have job–what time do you wake up and go to bed. Okay. So that changes your schedule. You don’t have to get up at any time.
How is this different than when you’re working?
So does it change? When you’re working in your normal occupation.
Okay. So there’s NUMBER 14.
And in 17-minutes.
Daily Taoist out of here.
