Alright. How far will I go? I don’t know. I’m still enjoying myself. I think that’s a good sign. So– Let’s do– Let’s do two more.
We’re on NUMBER 10 now. (of the Tao Teh Ching)
Natural leadership is by example and balanced patterns. Resisting natural progress creates conflicts which are revealed as internal or external disturbances. More is accomplished by directing natural patterns than by forcefully changing the course of a river.
Unpacking this is a lot of work. Hearing me and not reading it probably makes it a lot harder. Let me just read the whole thing again.
Natural leadership is by example and balanced patterns. Let’s read that one line again.
Natural leadership is by example and balanced patterns. Okay? That makes sense. A parent animal.
Resisting natural progress— What the heck’s this? Like learning to walk maybe?
Resisting natural progress creates conflicts which are revealed as internal or external disturbances.
Ugh. If you were trying not to walk then it would seem like you had mental problems on the inside or whether there was an external problem like your legs are broken. So that’s resisting natural progress. You’ve got to look for what’s wrong. Maybe there isn’t anything wrong. Interesting.
More is accomplished by directing natural patterns.
Directing. Not creating. Directing natural patterns–that you’re kind of urging somewhere.
Than by forcefully changing the course of a river.
Yeah, that’s not urging. Gotta build a dam.
So yes. Okay. So more is accomplished by just gentle, I guess. Gentle pushes than– Same with teaching people characters. And that’s so true of– I was trying to help somebody the other day who’s got a very bad mental problem. He– I teach the mind like in psychology– Let’s get away from the soul thing entirely
I see that in your mind we have a– This goes back to San Diego State University days. I believe that the mind has a– it’s kind of like the subconscious and the conscious. I think we can all agree on that. But I believe there are actually two characters or IDs or egos there. The subconscious is very childlike, and trusting, and non-judgmental. It just believes everything. And then the conscious mind is scrutinizing and can be everything from trusting to not trusting. But it still makes the decisions like a soldier or a policeman. So it’s protecting the subconscious too.
So when a person watches horror movies, the conscious mind has decided, “Oh okay. I’ll get out of the way and let you watch this because it makes you excited… or gives you some emotion. Just creates chemical hormones you know. Transmit when you have fear. So unfortunately that’s not a wise decision for this guy to let the kid watch the horror movies and get scared. Feel those emotions and get those adrenaline rushes.
So anyway, I believe the mind has two different points. That was one of my examples. But anyway.
This person has a real problem with that because the little guy runs the ship. And the conscious person has almost no say in anything. It’s very, it’s really amazing. It’s– That’s why some people think this person is maybe retarded because it’s the kid mind that talks. And the kid mind talks like a little kid and says really five-year old type of things. So some people think this guy must be retarded. But he’s not. The conscious mind is very smart. Very smart. He can do– But for some reason he shut down to let this little kid take over. And his… overall life– we see that from backing up and looking at it: and we see that he’s totally like– his parents just like gave up trying to teach him. And he became a total drug addict and has no… ability to control– control himself.
So the little issue in the brain became the bigger issue in life. And you’ve got somebody whose– Yeah. So, anyway, so you can see how some people are homeless. But he really doesn’t have mental problems. He just– Well he does have a very bad mental problem, but he actually could fix it if he’d just learn how to govern himself. If he could be more self-governing: he’d be a decent person. But he’s given up and let the little kid take over.
Wow. Did I get off course there.
So here we go. I’m gonna read this thing again and then I’m gonna blast down the page and I’m not going to answer any of these questions. Because these would actually– It would depend on what business I’m talking about. How I would answer these questions.
Okay. NUMBER 10: of my book. Which is called Tao of Taoism based on Lao Tzu, the original author, a couple hundred years before Christ, writing his book the Tao Te Ching or Book of Changes. Or Book of All Changes. Or the book of How Everything is Always Changing.
Here we go: NUMBER 10: Natural Leadership is by example and balanced patterns.
That’s the natural kind.
Resisting natural progress creates conflicts which are revealed as internal or external disturbances.
So that’s that guy.
More is accomplished by directing natural patterns than by forcefully changing the course of a river.
And unfortunately the little kid screaming seemed like the river. But it wasn’t.
Okay. Here we go.
Do you enjoy leadership responsibilities?
Do you enjoy leadership responsibilities?
Remember, these are your answers. Don’t answer what you think you’re supposed to answer. Forget that. Don’t forget: this is not about the right answer. Nobody else is even supposed to see this. Okay? Unless you want to share it–which is fine. But this is only for you. So you can look at you.
Here we go: Do you enjoy leadership responsibilities?
What are your basic rules when being a leader?
If you’re a bad leader, you may have really bad rules. Fact is, if you are, you’re going to make rules. The bad leaders make the most rules.
Here we go: What are your basic rules when being a leader?
How do you enforce your rules?
How do you enforce your rules?
What examples do you set for others to follow?
What example do you set for others to follow
When do people tend NOT to follow you or disagree with you?
When do people tend not to follow your or disagree with you?
What are your balanced patterns that aid leading others?
That’s a little more interesting.
What are your balanced patterns– (your balanced patterns) that aid in leading other?
What problems do you consistently find in others?
What problems do you consistently find in others?
How do you influence other people to follow?
How do you influence other people to follow?
How do you reward those who do follow you?
How do you reward those who do follow you?
When people or jobs create difficulty or tension for you– How do you handle stress?
When people or jobs create difficulties, or tension– How do you handle the stress?
How patient are you with those who take advantage of you? Or don’t appreciate you?
How patient are you with those who take advantage of you? Or don’t appreciate you?
Then you can talk about how impatient you are. You get the topic.
Do you enjoy caring for other persons?
I’m not saying ‘will you.’ Remember, think of the truth. Answer truthfully. That’s the most important thing. If you lie to yourself– Gosh. How can you ever get smart?
Do you enjoy caring for other persons?
Do you inquire as to other people’s problems and try to help on a daily basis?
Do you inquire as to other people’s problems and try to help them on a daily basis?
How do you help people?
How do you help people?
Do you mind your own business and stay out of other people’s affairs?
Do you mind your own business and stay out of other people’s affairs?
Do you prefer to stay out of your affairs and private matters?
People are like “AAAAHHHH.” I don’t like my private affairs. I read that wrong.
Do you prefer OTHER people stay out of your private affairs?
Do you have privacy issues? What are they?
Are you usually reluctant to discuss your personal problems? And why?
Are you usually reluctant to discuss your personal problems? And why?
That’s a big answer. You might not get it. You might be, “Oh. My dad was that way.” Maybe actually you can go farther back than that.
Do you believe your privacy is very important and why?
There you go. That’s the last question here, other than: My Shifu’s suggestions. Which I can’t give you.
So anyway, Do you believe your privacy is very important and why?
This is an interesting concept. I wonder if I could use this as a counseling book. I’ve never thought of making money off it that way.
I’d give it to my students and talk to them about it for free.
But what if I did use this on the internet. People somehow respond to these pages. Charge something. I can’t work for free forever.
I’ve been working for fee for thirty years.
Okay. Oh. I’ve got to stop. Alright, eleven minutes?
Sorry. I may have started that last off by getting too involved in explaining how I was a hippie. [laughs] I don’t know if I could get in trouble for what I said, which I didn’t think was– Anyway.
NUMBER 9: Going to extremes is careless and unbalanced.
Wow. That’s interesting. Especially considering what I said. When I started that last one– Too bad I stopped.
Let me read the whole thing. Okay? Because I’m not going to talk during this next one. This is more– These are easy answers so I want you to just think of the answer. I’ll read each question twice. I think I’ve got a system here I’ve developing and I think this might work good.
Okay. So here we are. NUMBER 9 of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. But this is my book called the TAO OF TAOISM. I’ve kind of like reworked this whole thing and then created this question structure to help you integrate this into your life.
Here we go. NUMBER 9:
Unbalance? Imbalance? I said, ‘unbalance.’ Interesting. I’m not sure if I want to keep it that way. But maybe imbalance.
Going to extremes is careless and unbalanced. To display an outward lack of awareness reflects a deeper inner unbalance.
Know when to change direction. Know when to start a new goal. Know when a direction is completed.
Yeah. Interesting thing about directions in that last one. The mountain? Anyway.
Let’s read the whole thing again.
Going to extremes is careless and unbalanced.
Lao Tzu says so. Okay? [laughs] I mean, you should know that. But okay. Just in case you doubted that simple thing. There it is.
To display an outward lack of awareness. That’d be like pretending to be stupid or not paying attention. Or wearing ear buds.
Reflects a deeper inner unbalance.
Imbalance. So okay, so:
Know when to change direction? Know when to start a new goal. Know when a direction is completed.
Those last three were obviously kind of different. It might all tie together in some way but– Let’s just blast on here. Because my goal was to read the book more than totally explain it.
Extremes and Balances
Here we go.
What do you do to an extreme?
What do you do to an extreme?
What do you do in moderation?
What do you do in moderation?
What do you do too little of?
What do you do too little of?
How can you avoid being extreme?
How can you (you) avoid being extreme?
How can you maintain your moderation?
Gotta try to aim you there.
How can you maintain your moderation?
How can you do more of what you need to do?
Whatever that is. How can you do more of it? (What you need to do.)
Now explain an ideal balance of all three.
Your extreme. Your moderation. And your lacking.
Now what is the balance of that? Because you’re always gonna do more of something and find it easier to keep this one in the middle, and your– too little.
Look at the overall balance now. What are they? How are those things– Okay so: what’re they now? What should they be later? What are they going to be ten years from now. So just think of these balances because they always change, remember?
Book Of Changes
This is the BOOK OF CHANGES. This isn’t saying, “Stay exactly as you are. Keep it that way.” No. It’s saying, “Okay, right here is where you are and you’ve changed to this point.” But maybe you don’t want to still keep following this cycle. Maybe you want to kind of change direction a little bit. So this is where you can view what you’re doing and who you are so you can take control of your life.
Okay. Where were we?
How do you know when you are properly balanced?
So you’ve got to know. I mean, if you’re not balanced. How do you know that? Let’s start by knowing when you’re balanced. Can you determine that?
How do you know when to change directions?
How do you know when to change directions?
How do you know when to start a new goal?
Okay now most people aren’t goal oriented. So you’ve gotta look at this and go, “Oh man…” Some people are going to have trouble with that question. It’s like, “What’s a goal?” But anyway, maybe it’s just to get a pay raise. Maybe it’s to get a new boat. Take a vacation. Goals can be anything you’re aspiring to.
Okay. Here we go.
How do you end a relationship?
Hee-hee-hee. Is it the toothpaste?
How do you end a relationship?
Everybody ends them in different ways. How do you end them? What’s the– What do add into the mix that makes them ‘SNIP.’ Explode and terminite… abort.
When a relationship goes bad, do you prefer for the other person to end it? And why?
That why is important. But first of all, you’ve got to put everything in proper perspective.
Okay let’s say that again.
When a relationship goes bad, do you prefer for the other person to end the relationship? And why?
What do you do to make the other person want to end the relationship?
Come one. Whatever it is you’ve gotta know.
Okay and, How long will you maintain a bad relationship? And why?
There’s a lot of different answers. It’s only your answer that you’re looking for.
Your Inner Spirit
Does your car reflect your inner spirit?
Does your car reflect your inner spirit?
How does your home reflect your inner spirit?
How does your home reflect– (It’s a mirror image of you.) –your spirit?
How does your appearance reflect your inner spirit?
I’m looking at me.
How does your appearance represent your inner spirit?
Well, I’ve got this. And… to be honest with you I’d rather not have it. But I’m starting to get a little wrinkle here. And I soon as I grew it everybody said they liked it and I got this Sean Connery look. So I’m… marketing a little bit. I want to be appealing to some extent. So I’m willing to compromise certain things.
The hair thing. I’ve had long hair. I’ve had really, really long hair. And when I started the Kung Fu Cowboy thing I had hair down to here. And now I’m going shorter than I’ve ever gone before and for more own personal inner spirit– Things are changing for me. I’m in the beginning of a whole new cycle. So I’m looking at myself differently. I have different expecations.
I have to stop being twenty years old. [laughs] And thinking of myself on an album cover. Although, I still want to be on an album cover. But I’ve just got to realize I’m not a pop star anymore.
I don’t know. Even when I say that I don’t believe it. [laughs]
Hey. Where are we? Seven minutes, fifty-eight seconds.
Okay. That was it. Your inner spirit. My inner spirit: I am a pop star. (In my own lunchtime.)
NUMBER 7: of the Tao Te Ching. According to me, Buddha Zhen.
As one argument begins, another is ended. Eventually, all things started will end. It is the cycle of beginnings and conclusions that should be viewed from as far away as possible; rather than be caught in the middle, or on either side, where the viewpoint is limited.
Okay. There’s a lot to unpack in that one. Okay? So. Remember he was actually–Lao Tzu was a politician. He had something to do with the managerial parts of the government. I don’t actually know much about it. Like I said, I’m not a Lao Tzu expert. I just happened to get his book and go, “Ooooh.” [laughs]
I liked his stuff. Thank you, Lao Tzu. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Okay. So let’s see. Here we go NUMBER 7:
First sentence. As one argument begins, another is ended.
Okay. I’m thinking of several things, but you may think of something I don’t so I don’t want to hamper your thoughts.
So here: Next one. Eventually, all things started will end.
Okay. Now that sounds simplistic but put it in perspective. Because we just talked about something starting and ending. An argument… An argument. By saying eventually all things started will end: an argument will end. You might die, and that might be the end of the argument. [laughs] Anyway…
It is the cycle of beginnings and conclusions that should be viewed.
How long does that take? That’s got new thoughts coming into my mind.
So in other words, it is the cycle of beginnings and conclusions. The startings and endings of all these arguments — that should be viewed from as far away as possible– not in the middle or not on either side to be able to see them all. So it’s gotta be far away.
There’s that mosquito hawk.
“Bear. Snack.” He can hear it I think. Let’s see… This is a big one. I’m distracted. I’m gonna have to get that bug so I’m not distracted.
Okay. So here we go. So in other words, if you really want to see the big picture…
Here we go. Do you argue with your parents? Explain.
Do you argue with your loved ones? Explain.
It’s coming over here. [mosquito hawk] I’m gonna smack it with my book. Sorry. ‘SMACK.’
Buddha Zhen starts over on TAO #6 after killing a mosquito hawk with his Tao Te Ching notebook he reads from. In Daily Taoist 16 Buddha Z discusses the yin and yang of character: the positive and negative character. Can you face the truth and see how your negative and positive characters balance each other?
YouTube Transcript for video of the Daily Taoist 16.
Alright. I don’t know if I’ll post that last one if there was anything there.
Anyway, #6:
Distinguishing between opposites creates the illusory value of each one.
In other words, that’s creating prejudice.
Okay, so real quickly because we already covered this in case I post that last one.
How do you value or rate the strengths of your positive character?
Okay. The part of you that positive things presumably.
How do you value or rate the strengths of your negative character?
That part of you that is maybe self-destructive, angry, emotional, bitter… and something.
How does your positive character control your negative character?
Hopefully– I don’t know. Is the next question going to be the opposite? [laughs] Probably. So how does your positive character influence your negative character?
You know. If you’re emotional or anger. If you have anger issues. How do you– What is the positive– What is your way of dealing with it. Even if it’s not working well. What is it?
And how does your negative character control your positieve character? Maybe… that’s definitely the case with some people. I mean, somebody’s gonna be more one than the other. So is it gonna be negative or positive?
How can your positive character be better utilized?
Okay… not think about the negative. What about the positive? What can you do with that positive character? Just get more done. Or do something. What does it want to do? Okay.
How can your negative character be better utilized?
Now there you go. Now if you do have some sort of negative issues or qualities perhaps you can channel them into something. I don’t know. If you’re really angry you might get a job digging ditches and swinging a sledge hammer. [laughs] Might make you feel real good. I did that.
So anyway, how can your positive and negative characters be better balanced?
Okay. Now you can’t get anywhere until you admit the truth.
Mosquito hawk came in with Bear a minute ago. I got distracted. Pardon me. “Kill the spider.”
Okay so anyway that’s NUMBER 6. We made it. Two minutes! There’s a record.
Buddha Zhen reads TAO #6 of the TAO OF TAOISM – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life.
This Tao is still dealing with opposites and good and bad and right and wrong and up and down and prejudice.
This Daily Taoist episode is interrupted by a mosquito hawk that enters with his cat, Bear. Buddha Z ends abruptly to deal with this pest.
The transcript of this short episode is included below.
YouTube TRANSCRIPT of the DAILY TAOIST 15 reading of TAO #6
Hello. I’m back, and… we’re on page 15 of 62 or something? Yeah, 62. Yeah. Let’s get another one of these out.
Just want to blaze ahead here for some reason. I guess I just wanna– I’m excited about getting some of this stuff out.
Here we go. NUMBER 6:
Oh, remember? We didn’t summarize on the end of that last one. Remember we were talking about, “Describe your overall balance of opposites and some things?” And so remember then, we go back to the original Lao Tzu and in particular, the first line,
“THE VALUE OF OPPOSITES AMOUNTS TO NOTHING.”
Okay, so I said, “Don’t take it so literally. Try to look for the meaning: something more substantial in there.” Find a pearl of wisdom. Maybe Lao Tzu didn’t think of that. If you can find something even bigger and better… Like I said, “Like a mathematical equation.”
Here we go. NUMBER 6:
Distinguishing between opposites creates the illusory value of each one.
That’s what we’re doing in America right now. As we separate– As soon as we say one side is great, we’ve separated them more. You can’t– Anyway.
Distinguishing between opposites creates the illusory value of each one.
Or lack of value. Value isn’t always a plus. It can be a minus. So by distinguishing sometimes — it’s prejudice. You’re picking them out. You’re lowering the value. Trump purposely tries to do that. He actually tries to demean and devalue people. See. So at one time he might be pumping somebody up. But he spends as much time– If he does that he spends a lot of time cutting people down and trying to devalue them. So you shouldn’t do that. That’s wrong to pick those people out and make them special because that means your picking other people out and making them un-special.
So distinguishing between opposites creates the illusory value of each one.
Here we go.
How do you value or rate the strengths of your positive character?
Everybody thinks they have a positive character. Well they do. [laughs] Some of these positive characters seem very negative to me. But their negative character to me is a monster. So I guess it’s just a– You take the extremes and you move them on the scale. Right across the middle here is a content happy cow in the field. And down here is the angry badger type of thing. And then up here is the happy crane type of thing you know.
Well, the higher you get up here means the farther you fall when you get upset.
And the more you’re down here, then when something happens you get really excited, you see.
But if you just kind of stay here in the middle, “Oh, that was nice.” “Oh, that was kinda bad.” “Oh that was nice.”
But anyway, like I said, don’t try to separate the opposites. The more you do–the more, the more it goes wrong.
How do you value or rate the strengths of your negative character?
So that goes for you. How far off that middle do you go? How far are you willing to stretch the truth? How far do you go to keep the truth?
“Hello Bear.” He was outside. “Hello adventurer.”
Actually I kicked him outside. He hadn’t been out today so I like pushed him out the front door. So he’d go out there and do some–
Ooops! Somebody came in with you. Hold on. We’ve got some creature came in. I’ve got to deal with.
Buddha Zhen reads TAO #5 of TAO OF TAOISM he wrote for his Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan students in 1993 in his Shaolin Chi Mantis Traditional Buddhist Kung Fu and Taoist Tai Chi Chuan schools. This self-help book is revealing now the ‘dark side’ of Buddha Zhen as he answers the questions from his Tao of Taoism book with candor and honesty. He reveals more about his 5 SOUL THEORY or Five Souls of God book he wants to release when he can find a large book publisher brave enough to publish this revolutionary concept that every person contains four souls of five possible souls to choose from.
One of his revelations includes the fact that comedians are all WOMAN souls in their first top position. Also boxers may be WOMAN souls in the first position. Buddha Z is perplexed himself by the riddle of this truth or wisdom from the BOOK OF CHANGES or Tao Te Ching written by Lao Tzu over 2,200 years ago.
Below in this web post is the transcript from the video “DAILY TAOIST 14” reading Tao #5 of the Tao of Taoism written by Buddha Zhen Shen-lang / Richard Del Connor.
YouTube Transcript of TAO #5 in the video “DAILY TAOIST 14” read and performed by the author, Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang.
Ah man. I couldn’t get up. I looked ahead at the next one. It’s really got me excited.
Buddha Zhen here.
This is the TAO OF TAOISM written by me. And I’m on #5. And this one’s got me all– Look at me. I’m all excited.
#5: The value of opposites amounts to nothing.
That’s so cute. We’ll come back on that.
To separate, glorify or deny something in protection of its opposite creates a weakness by the loss. All things are of value despite our preference.
How that describes America’s situation so dramatically and I don’t wanna get carried away talking about it– But I’ve just got to show you that’s why- that America is in conflict because we are totally out of the Tao.
Okay, first of all: The value of opposites amounts to nothing. Now that’s a misleading statement but it’s actually 100% accurate. ‘Amounts’ means adds up. So one PLUS and one MINUS. You add them together equals zero. So NEGATIVE plus POSITIVE equals ZERO. That’s a beautiful thing.
Lao Tzu was intending to mean something. And I think we’re missing the boat by not delving into that further and further. But let’s just leave it at that for now.
But he’s saying you take a negative and a positive and you end up with nothing.
Now let’s look at a wife and a husband. And you end up with a nothing. Is it really a nothing? Or is it really a new something? See. You’ve got them put together here. It’s not this. And it’s maybe not this. But it’s this. So it’s nothing that existing previously. See. Maybe we got something shaved off in the original translation. So maybe… Anyway, let’s open our minds. I’m always looking for some way to make these things real.
Okay, and the next part is all of the chaos in America right now.
To separate, glorify– Remember that’s bad. When you’re separating something out, you better have a GOOD reason. Or you’re just capturing something.
Glorifying something is another way of capturing something. And saying, “You’re not good. But this is.” See. So this is– Gotta remember when you create a positive you create a negative.
Or deny something. So now we’re gonna deny– I don’t know how to put this in perspective yet. Deny something in protection of its’ opposite creates a weakness by the loss.
So if we’re saying this guy we’re gonna glorify, and we’re gonna give you something special. But we’re gonna deny you– Creates a weakness, by the loss. By the denial: That’s a weakness. That’s not a strength. When you raise this guy up and glorify him and say to him, “You’re not worthy.” That is not a good balance. That’s not a good plus or minus.
This one’s way off of balance. It’s gonna fall down. And this guy’s down, so far down here… he’s going to get buried. They’re both gonna, ‘boom.’ Bad situation.
So, one more time. Let’s read what I wrote on this. It’s interesting. I’ve got all kinds of things going through my head. Your perspective may be different.
The Value of Opposites
One more time. Lao Tzu says– I love this first line. It’s just cute, and clever. But I think it means so much more than any of us are probably grasping right off-hand.
The value of opposites amounts to nothing. To glorify, separate or deny something in protection of its opposite creates a weakness by the loss. All things are of value despite our preference.
Gotta remember that too: We always think in terms of ourselves. Everybody. It’s just the first way we think. Just gotta accept that so you can deal with it. Okay so you have to realize that we all have our preferences. If you can become more Zen and–
I look bald with this light shining here. And look at that bump on my head. Cover it in– Sheesh. I bumped myself pretty bad last night. [laughing] Oh I should say something, “Oh I was in a fight and somebody hit me with a…” Boom.
Okay… here we go… Okay. Here we go.
What is the opposite of you?
Well… Me, that’s just about everybody. So, that’s not you. That’s me.
So, what’s the opposite of you?
So, in other words, if you’re a good worker–then maybe a bad worker. If you’re an honest person–then a dishonest person. If you’re a happy person–then a sad person. Or maybe the other way around. Who’s the opposite of you? Let’s work with that.
Your Relationship with your Dark Side
Explain your character polarities. Good side / dark side.
That’s tricky here. You’re gonna have to like open up to the fact that–
Explain your character polarities. Your good side and your dark side.
Now I remember Oscar. If I can talk about him. He’s kind of a good example of somebody to talk about. He, when I met him– He always wore military fatigues. And he wanted to be a soldier. But he was not a WARRIOR. But he wanted to be a soldier. And he actually had a dark side. And he enjoyed playing the video games and stuff. He loved shooting and killing. He said the reason he wanted to be a soldier was: he actually wanted to–you know–shoot something. [LAUGHING] So anyway. You’ve just got to own up to it. And accept it. Even if you don’t like the way it sounds to you. I can’t even say it for other people. But anyway. You’ve got to own up to your own dark side. Umm, umm… Anyway–
Next one. How do you control your dark side?
Well let’s say you have a dark side. You think, “Gosh. I’d like to beat that person up.” Let’s deal with that instead of murder. Okay. You’ve got this desire to beat other people up. And I’ve known one person. Actually… a couple. I have two… people whose fathers were boxers. I’m not really a boxer. I teach martial arts but I don’t box. Who were boxers. Their parents were boxers. As a result, they beat and hit their kids. See, a boxer hits people. That’s just the way they communicate. So both cases, these boxer fathers hit their kids. And they didn’t, they didn’t think they were evil. Probably didn’t. Because they were just communicating with their kids the same with all their professional allies, and competitors or whatever. And you know, that’s just the way they communicate. So in both cases these kids had gotten pummeled by their parents. Or their fathers excessively.
I also know cases where women have been very sadistic and whipped and beat– and done terrible things to their kids too. So anyway, I’m not saying it’s all men. Don’t get me wrong here.
In fact, my theory is actually that anytime you do see a man who is being sadistic and mean like that– Like those boxers. Those boxers must have been WOMEN in the first position. And then a WARRIOR in the second position. That’s what Joe Rogan is. He’s a WOMAN in the first position, and a WARRIOR in the second. That way he can be mean and hurt people and have a sense of humor about it. That’s how you can do it. A WORKER can’t do that. A WORKER can’t have satisfaction about doing something wrong or breaking something, or hurting someone. Because that doesn’t get along well in the work place. You’ve gotta be more compassionate. So compassion ironically comes from the WORKER. Not the WOMAN. A WOMAN soul is the one without the compassion. They’re the ones that make comedians. All comedians are WOMEN souls in the first position. Every one of them as far as I can tell. Shocked me because I’d been studying them for two years.
It’s really obvious in some like Russel Brand. But, Seth Myers, Stephen Colbert, Joe Rogan– I mean a lot of it is just so obvious. And you talk to them about their neuroses and their emotions and their– I mean, it’s the WOMAN spirit. Not the female. They’re not female. They’re WOMAN souls. Okay. So anyway.
I found that a negative. It did make sense when you know that. It just makes sense. So you know this person needs a little more ethics and tends to beat people up because they’re going to enjoy it.
Okay. So here we go. Um, where were we?
What do you dislike the most in others? Okay. Now that’s an interesting question. So think about that. You should have some things pop into your head.
One more time: What do you dislike the most in others?
Okay, next: How do you control these dislikes in yourself.
I just kind of like jump several steps. And these things you dislike in other people are almost always going to be something you dislike in yourself.
Like in my case I would say, “Dishonesty.” I’m way into the truth. So the one thing I dislike the most in myself is dishonesty. And any time I’ve been dishonest it still haunts me. It’s something I can’t do. It’s like so, that’s what I dislike the most. It prevents me from doing it.
See? So when you understand these things: it’s not a negative, it’s a positive. Like, “Alright. I’ve got– I’ve got this bumper that’s gonna keep me away from lying. I shouldn’t get in a job where I have to lie. I can’t be a salesman. I could only sell something to someone I thought could afford it and it was the right time and the place and the thing for them and– I just can’t be a salesman. I’m too considerate.
So that’s why a salesman is good. You’ve got a WOMAN in the first position every time. A man, with a WOMAN in the first postion has a good chance of being a salesman.
Now a WORKER, like my dad– Actually, is my dad a WOMAN or a WORKER in the first position. He may be a WOMAN in the first position… but anyway, let’s keep going.
What are you Fighting For?
Let’s see. Where were we?
What are you fighting to control for the sake of some rule that is difficult to follow?
Ahhhh. This is a good one. Everybody’s gonna have different answers for this one. But here we go.
What are fighting to control for the sake of some rule that is difficult to follow?
Like maybe eating. It’s difficult for you follow that rule. I shouldn’t have given you any clues. It comes from you first.
Nature is seasons of opposites. Summer and Winter. Spring and Fall.
Nature is seasons of opposites. Winter has its time as does Summer. How are your opposites regulated, controlled, or allowed their own release?
Or as I’m saying, Nature has opposites. So I’m allowing you to like give yourself some leeway. How you do this or that– Or you want this–
So what are your opposites? Find your polarity. How far are you going from one extreme to the other so we can find out maybe what your happy medium is– and make it easier for you. Cuz you may have one thing pulling this way, and one thing pulling this way. But if we can find some way to satisfy both of them–then that’s good without maybe going all the way that way, or all the way that way. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t if the middle is always the best way.
Here we go. Describe your overall balance of opposites.
If you’re driving in your car you’re going, “What the heck is he talking about?”
Like what would be my opposites? My opposites would be my ability to just watching YouTube. And then I say, “Man, I’ve been sitting here for a little while. I didn’t move.” You know, I should be doing some Kung Fu or cleaning the kitchen. [laugh]
Okay. So that’s one opposite is I feel guilty for not doing that and the other opposite is I work as hard as I can. I’m doing these Kung Fu classes. Teaching and building and writing things and work on the websites… So ONE: I go from the opposite of working REALLY HARD too long to maybe relaxing too long. That’s my answer.
Okay. Let’s see. Nature is a season– Okay.
Describe your overall balance of weaknesses.
Um. Like I said, I’ve got a good balance. I’m putting my life together. I’m working out. Studying myself like under a microscope so I better be good.
Anyway. I think 12 minutes here. Thanks for hangin’ around. Hopefully this is interesting to listen to.
Daily Taoist 13 – TAO #4 about LIFESTYLE habits and routines
Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang “Spirit Wolf of Truth” reads TAO #4 of his book, TAO OF TAOISM – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life. Based upon the BOOK OF CHANGES or TAO TE CHING by Lao Tzu, Buddha Zhen elaborates and adds his own answers to the questions of his book. The Tao of Taoism was written by Buddha Zhen (born Richard Del Connor) for his Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan students in 1989 as THE TAO – COMING TO TERMS, and then rewritten again for his Kung Fu students as Tao Of Taoism – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life in 1992 and published in its current format in 2010.
The Tao of Taoism is a self-help book that breaks down each of the paragraphs of wisdom written by Lao Tzu over 2,200 years ago into questions with blank spaces for the students to fill-in with their own personal and unique answers. This enables students to reflect on the Taoist wisdom and integrate effectively into their personal existence. Buddha Zhen also says that it is beneficial to review the questions and update the answers every decade. Or take pride in how the previous answer is still benefiting their current life.
This TAO #4 and is an altered translation by Buddha Zhen according to his own views and perspectives of Lao Tzu’s original intentions or a completely modernized view that students can better relate to. Buddha Zhen has been teaching his Taoism since 1988 and “…viewing its affects on students.” He says he’s not interested in the spiritual foolishness that Americans keep adding to these philosophical phrases. BZ is only interested in how his students can integrate this knowledge into their modern materialistic lives.
In this episode of THE DAILY TAOIST 13, Buddha Zhen elaborates on his eating and sleeping habits. This video is the first video of which Buddha Zhen realizes he is not fooling around and rehearsing the reading of this book for an AUDIO-BOOK he has set up for in his bedroom-recording studio. The audiobook may not be recorded as soon as planned. In editing these 69 videos we’ve realized that we lack a computer capable of editing the professional recordings. This project will be delayed until Richard Del Connor and his SHAOLIN RECORDS production company can afford to purchase a new computer. Richard has been homeless for six years and dependent upon the computers of the public libraries in North Hollywood and Studio City since 2013. The borrowed 2013 PC computer used to create this blog cannot play the 1080p videos or ProTools recording software…
So for the next few months we will be releasing these DAILY TAOIST videos on YouTube and Patreon in hope of gaining sponsors or selling Kung Fu class videos we are editing on his newly acquired iPhone 11 Pro Max.
This is TAO #4 of the TAO OF TAOISM by Richard Del Connor / Buddha Zhen. This also the video: DAILY TAOIST 13. Their is a transcript of the video below. Incidently, view the CC Subtitles when viewing the videos. After completing all the video performances it became obvious that Buddha Zhen mumbles almost indistinctly while pondering these wisdoms.
TAO #4
Nature is a cosmic whirlpool of inexhaustible energy. Whether you splash, join or leave the whirlpool — the forces of Nature continue unchanged.
YouTube VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Alright. Let’s do one more. I’m not sure. I thought I was just gonna experiment. But now I’m kind of motivated to do the whole book. Kind of maybe the WARRIOR in me. But I feel like I’ve started something worthy of finishing. So anyway, let’s do one more.
This is NUMBER 4 on page 13. And Lao Tzu supposedly, according to me said:
Nature is a cosmic whirlpool of inexhaustible energy. Whether you splash, join or leave the whirlpool– the forces of Nature continue unchanged.
And when I use ‘Nature’ like that: in both cases I’m using a capital ‘N.’ I’m saying Nature is kind of like the Mother Nature, the spirit, the God, the identity. Which is just a romantic way of putting together the science, you know, the weather, the way of spinning of the thing, the rotating around of the earth. That’s not as pretty. Harder to put a word on that. All the physical, geophysical reality aspects of our existence. Mother Nature. Nature. Nature is an easy way to term it. And that’s all that “Tao” is. The ‘Tao’ is just a word. Remember, Tao is just a word that we decided could mean something which most people don’t understand still.
Okay. So, here we go. One minute: getting started. Here we go. I’m trying to figure out how to be more succinct. So I can be more professional on this. I’m going to in there and actually record it really nicely.
Okay. NUMBER 4. Let’s read that again. Nature is a cosmic whirlpool of inexhaustible energy. Yeah, that’s what Nature–just planets spinning around… That’s a lot of energy. Inexhaustible? Well I suppose they may stop and slow down–but that’s beyond our comprehension. Whether you splash, join or leave the whirlpool– So if you fly off the Earth– the forces of Nature continue unchanged.
Yeah. So if you leave the Earth, it won’t change.
Okay. So here we go. Let’s read the questions. I didn’t read ahead. I actually– I should’ve scanned ahead. See if there’s any I want to answer myself. I stumble along here. Then I want to take a break here. Yeah. Here we go.
How are you connected to the cosmic whirlpool?
Yeah, I’ve gotta talk. I’ve got some friends. And over the years I’ve been a Native American. Actually, like I said previously, I used to give back to– something to Grandfather. I probably shouldn’t talk in Lakota. I’ll mess up bad. You know when I was even having meals I would try to have a relationship. It’s like a karmic relationship. It’s almost like you want to think it’s a sentient being and that by scratching it, it’ll be nice to you and let you stay there. And so, I had that kind of relationship.
And then there’s another kind of relationship of that. Kind of creepy I think, that– Anyway– All the plants. All the plants have like a bioenergy. Put all the plants together and they kind of harmonize. They almost talk to each other. And in fact, I’m probably willing to say that they do talk to each other. But they have a certain energy feeling. Like radio waves. You just bear with my terminology. I’m just using words to convey a concept. So don’t hang me on any technicalities. Anyway, they’ve all got this magnetic energy frequencies, or whatever they communicate on. They’ve got that. Now the animals are different. And they don’t want to be in that frequency and listening to the plants. You know. So that’s a whole bunch of noise to them. So to them they’re in kind of a different frequency of awareness and involvement. So they sense each other and almost talk telepathically. And we’re part of that. We’re part of that animal frequency network that’s almost– you can almost tap into it. A lot of people like to think of it as a radio-wave consciousness. And I’ve got to tell you, if it does exist and you get tapped into it: it’s like “gahhhh.” Like a whole bunch of cows in a field. Who wants to tap into all that? All this, “Me,” “Me,” “My,” “My,” “Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi…” And all it is is animals, “I’m hungry,” “I want,” “I want,” “I want…”
So that’s why — getting connected into the cosmic whirlpool– Sorry. I had to throw that in. Four minutes! Sheesh.
Okay. Here we go.
How inexhaustible is your inner internal energy?
Well, I’ve definitely got a whole bunch more than anybody else.
What are your most energetic hours of the day?
Ah… See I’ve worked as a carpenter, graveyard shifts and everything. So I really do know what I prefer. And what I really prefer: my body’s natural rhythm with the Tao. Whatever it is as a creative person, energetic person, a working person… Whatever– Is I like I like to sleep from midnight to 8:00 A.M. You can kind of shift it an hour or two but that’s the basic layout of it. From midnight to 8 A.M I want to be asleep. Although now I have to get up at six in the morning… visit the latrine. Used to sleep through that, but that’s because I’m a senior. Anyway. Then I have to tell my cat, “Go back to bed.” Getting up too early.
Actually, I’m trying– I was trying to go to bed from 11:30 to 7:30. So my alarm’s going off at 7:30. Maybe I should move it 8:00. But 7:30 kind of worked for me because I had certain things I wanted to do by certain times of the day. Other obligations. And I was shooting classes with Oscar. And stuff like that. So 7:30– Actually, and then it was– My most energetic hours of the day are the reverse of that. So that’s everything that’s not that…
When would you like to have more energy?
Even late at night. Sometimes. I try not to drink coffee after 6:00 in the evening. Because that will get me through to midnight. And if I have much coffee at 8:00 or especially at 10:00 then it’ll be harder to get to sleep. And if I don’t get much sleep then I’m not as good the next day. So you don’t want to make mistakes. You know. You’ve gotta keep that rhythm. If you break the rhythm one day you can ruin several days.
Okay… When do you do your Tai Chi everyday?
Remember? I wrote this for my students.
Lately I’ve been doing it like super late. Because I work out in the day and stuff. It’s not really for me, or I do my classes and stuff. But then I didn’t do MY Tai Chi. So it usually ends being really late. When I’m really tired or something. It’s been kind of weird. Not weird. Yeah weird. Weird. When you’re really really tired and know…
Sometimes I come out there. Man, I can’t sleep. So I’ll do my Tai Chi. Then you realize how tired you are. “I’m really tired. I can go back to sleep.” But I don’t try to fool myself. So anyway, I’ll start doing my Tai Chi and go, “Oh Man I am really tired.” And then you’re doing it and just trying to make it to the end of the Form. And that’s a, a good experience. Because that’s what real battle is. Or anything in life is really. It never goes easy. It always gets harder as you go. So you have to build up that spirit of just accepting the fact it gets harder. And you do it.
Where are we?
How do you feel about practicing Kung Fu?
Oh God. Man. Talking about my classes. I’ve injuries. Two surgeries. I threw out my shoulder. I had back prob– And then I mean I had plantar fasciitis. I was going to a therapist. The last couple years have been horrible for a few years. Just horrible in terms of doing it. So for me this Kung Fu is like my comeback. I’m driven to rebuild myself. I mean to the Kung Fu I used to be. Because I’ve backed off and didn’t have much students the last couple years. And so I wasn’t doing as many classes… All at the same time. It just all snowballed into me doing the least amount of Kung Fu in my life.
At 66 years of age that wasn’t a good way to transition into seniorhood. It was like, “Let’s not do it…” I’d do 1/10th of as much exercise for a couple years. So now I’m 66 years old and I’m not at my spring chicken–you know, that I could be at right now. Where I was a few years ago would be great. More than that, five years ago and I’ve degraded much more than I should’ve. In fact I don’t think I should degrade at all. I want to go back to where I was five years ago.
So anyway, I’m doing my Kung Fu as a comeback. To me it’s that WARRIOR. It’s that drive to– And I really want to do it. Which is why it bugs me like I said when I get too busy and I’m trying to talk myself out of it. My little conflict.
Okay. Where are we?
Explain your eating schedule each day.
Ahh. I eat every few hours. You might learn a few things about this.
When I was homeless I was actually eating three eggs for breakfast every day. So, if you can get a dozen eggs that’d last me– because my ice would only last me two days usually so I’d get ice twice and then the next time I’d get ice I’d get some more eggs. But… I’d get up in the morning: I have breakfast. Okay? Feed my cat and have breakfast. So that was like 8:00. So I’d get up about 7:00, 7:30, so by 8:00 I’m having breakfast. Then 10:00 I usually have a snack. My cat’s been changing my schedule a little bit. It hasn’t been working for me. Because we just jumped into daily savings time and he doesn’t understand that. So, so even though it says 11:00; to him it’s 12:00. You know, I keep forgetting that. And I pissed him off. “11:00? No, no. Wait another hour.” He’ll come over and eat his dry food and go back and take a nap. And I’ll call him… And he won’t come out for lunch. “Rrrrr, Rrrrr, Rrrrr. You didn’t feed me when you should’ve then!” “It’s noon now.” But he doesn’t understand the jump ahead so I’ve been like changing my schedule just kinda for him. But reworking mine and skipping that morning break which I don’t really need. Now that I’m not working as a laborer anymore. So I’m like getting up at 8:00. Eating breakfast at 9:00. And then not eating anything until noon and I’ll feed him at like 11:00 and then I’ll have something at noon. And then I might have a snack at 3:00. I usually do but I get so busy working on the web I’ll sit down and it’s like four hours later, “Oh my goodness. I worked right through my 3:00 break.” That’s why I don’t like working on the computer. I just get too sucked into it. I’m not talking about Facebook. I’m talking about building these websites.
But anyway. So by lunch. Okay. So like breakfast I’ll usually have an egg or two. Maybe a meat. Apple or orange. And then a pancake or something, which I always put a lot of egg in. So… Or a cereal or something. But I always want a fruit, a meat, the eggs, and a starch. The dairy’s not as important to me. I don’t really focus on the dairy. But I’m trying to add a little bit. I like to have some cheese and stuff.
Okay. So anyway that’s my breakfast. Then at noon what I’m gonna have is basically the same kind of layout except I’ll usually add lettuce. Because I don’t like having lettuce for breakfast. So I’ll always try to have a salad for breakfast [lunch] and hopefully I’ll have a salad for dinner. So I’ll have two salads in that day. So then I’ll have a salad for my lunch. And lately what I’ve been doing is I get the bags of spinach lettuce. And then I wash it. And then I slice up an orange, or an apple, and then I throw that in there. Then I mix up some peanut butter with some water and salt and maybe some soy sauce. I make like a peanut butter sauce. Or I buy something from the store. And then I have a salad while I also have some sort of a meat. Could be a chicken or hamburger or fried egg or lately I got some baloney from the church. I’m so full of baloney. I’m serious. I’ve got like ten pounds of baloney. I’ve been eating a lot of baloney. Okay, so that’s my lunch.
Now I might have a snack in the afternoon because as a worker and as a person– you shouldn’t ever have… You can’t go six, or five hours is too long to go without eating. So all the way from noon until five and making my dinner at 6:00 is too much of a sugar lull. That 4:00 to 6:00 is not gonna be me at my best. I won’t be my smartest. I won’t be my most productive. So I try to have a 3:00 break. Which can be anything. Just a granola bar. Peanut butter sandwich. Maybe another salad. I like having just a salad and an apple, you know. Or an orange. I try to have a fruit or something. But make it something. A little snack. But not a meal. Not really a meal. And it doesn’t have to even have meat in it. But I’ve gotta have meat in the next one. I want protein three times a day.
So then I’ve got my supper about 5:00 to 6:00. And that’ll be anything. I look cooking chicken lately. And tacos and… I’ve been overcooking. I fried– I went through a container and a half of oil the first two months I moved here. Frying all kinds of stuff. Can’t do when you’re in your car. So I had a lot of fun cooking.
So I… kind of panicked. I got like a quart and a half of oil in less than two months. I said, “I’m backin’ off now.” I’ve used less than a half a thing in three months so now. So I’ve changed my cooking style. But I was really enjoying frying a lot of stuff for a while.
Okay. So you go through these things. That was my Tao. I had to work that out of my system. And get some stuff out. Frustration. Food frustration.
Where were we? Thirteen minutes and I’m not going to fast now. Okay. Where are we?
Explain your eating schedule. You got that? Oh! And you should have a snack after that. So at 6:00 and if I go to bed at midnight– then I can’t–I won’t at ten o’clock, at 12:00 I’m gonna finally break down and have something to eat and then I’m gonna go to bed with a full stomach and I’m gonna wake up in the morning with acid reflux. So you don’t want to eat within two hours of going to bed. So you should never eat after 10:00, basically if you’re going to bed at midnight. If you’re going to bed at 10:00 then you shouldn’t eat after 8:00. You’ve gotta have that two hour window for your food to get out of your stomach before you lay down. So if it sits in there all night IT ROTS. And that’s what acid reflux is. It’s as simple as that. The doctor’s not gonna tell you that. I don’t know why.
Doctors just give you pills. They could really help you a lot more than that if they really got smarter.
But like I said, they’re just WORKERS. They, they’re told what to say, and they say what they’re told to do. So that’s all what most doctors are. We expect– I expect too much out of a doctor.
Okay. Where were we? Oh yeah. So, acid reflux. I’m glad that I threw that in.
How do you wake up each morning and how quickly are you awake?
Ah, well gosh. I was in this parking lot sleeping for some months last year. And… I had to wake up and walk all the way across the parking lot to the latrine and get back. You know, you can’t be all, ‘ooooooohhh’, and walking out there. Just pointing out that sometimes you’ve just gotta wake up and be in action. Danger there.
I’ve never found– Actually, lately a couple times, in the house I have noticed I’m kinda draggin’ around. Not as perky as I would be if I was outside. So it’s a mental attitude. A decision. It’s a decision. And… you should just wake up. That’s it. Don’t convince yourself that you can’t do that. That’s it. You’ve just got to tell yourself that you can do it. It’s that easy. It’s a decision.
Your Daily Habits are your Daily Tao
Where are we?
Explain your morning habits before going to work or school.
Okay. So do you shower in the evening, or do you shower in the morning. Brush your teeth. What do you do? All that type of stuff. Floss.
Which direction, North, East, South, or West does your head point when you sleep each night?
Think of yourself as a compass needle with your head being the tip of the needle. Okay, so when you lay down at night if your head pointed directly North then you’re pointed to the North. Kay? When you’re pointed to the West, East, South. Okay? So that’s– Anyway. The point being is that’s the way you’re magnetically polarized when you sleep. And that’s real important. That’s how you sleep.
But anyway, Shifu sleeping suggestions. I don’t obviously get into that right now. That whole topic of Feng Shui. Read Feng Shui. Feng Shui will explain the whole thing. Everything that Feng Shui says is true. As far as I know. Put it this way: everything I’ve learned about Feng Shui made since. Proven itself in reality. But the trick is to really be able to see the truth of it. The Feng Shui. It’s not as easy as read it and see it. It’s an art in itself so it’s not that easy.
Okay. Where are we?
Explain your after-work or after-school habits.
What do you do in that window from 3:00 to 6:00? Like I said, you should probably have a break. Probably at 3:00 have a snack. So now you’re empowered for three hours of whatever you want to do.
So at 6:00, then you have your real dinner. Or 5:00 to 6:00. Start at 5:00 then it’s ready at 6:00. If you started at 5:00, served it at 5:30, you’ve still got to clean it up. So it’s still 6:00 no matter how you look at it.
Your Tao within the Cosmic Whirlpool
Okay, where were we?
How are you adding energy back into the cosmic whirlpool?
Aaaaahhh. That’s a little more spiritual. My Native American thing coming through.
How are you adding energy to the world?
In other words, what energy do you add?
What energy is Trump adding to the world? To the Tao of the universe? He’s gota megaphone see. Trump our President has this huge magaphone. It’s 2020 right now. So he has more of an effect than I do. If I yell and say anything more caustic than him: No effect. Nobody hears. He’s connected to the Tao in a different way than I am. He has an effect. And the energy he’s adding– Look what it is. It’s ugly. It’s ugly energy.
So make sure you choose your energy. Just all energy is not good. Qigong is ‘energy work.’ But it doesn’t mean good energy or bad energy work. We want to presume it’s good. But obviously its just working your energy. The trick is you’ve gotta have good energy to work.
In fact the Chinese have something that they used to refer to– I haven’t heard anybody refer to lately. I don’t hang out with that many Chinese people this century. But they call it ‘Qi Poisoning.’ And that’s where you’re basically circulating bad energy. And it just poisons you. You’re magnifying it. It’s like being Darth Vader and killing yourself with your negative energy. Okay?
How aware are you of all energy sources around you?
If you walked– If someone was to blindfold you and you walked under power lines–could you sense them? Don’t feel bad. You can go nuts. I got to a point where I could feel the wires in the walls. Sheesh. Gotta back off a little bit. Feeling it is not going to do you any good.
But… How much can you sense it? Can you sense different energies? Can you tell when you walk on different surfaces… You’re up in the air, not connected to the Earth?
Anyway, that’s it. That’s NUMBER 4. Let’s read NUMBER 4 [“Tao #4”] and see if I’ve led you to understand it better.
NUMBER 4 is: Nature is an inexhaustible whirlpool of cosmic energy. Whether you splash, join, or leave the whirlpool– the forces of Nature continue unchanged.
Now there are really two things. Let’s go back to that first one. I think that second one kind of covers it over.
Nature is a cosmic whirlpool of inexhaustible energy. Rember what I was saying, talking about getting up in the morning. That’s you and Naure. Does Nature have trouble getting up in the morning? No. Then you’re not in harmony with Nature. So the inexhaustible energy is Nature. You really want to tap into it. Really be in harmony with it. Get energized.
Daily Taoist 11 – Buddha Z reads from The Tao of Taoism book he wrote for his Shaolin Kung Fu students.
YouTube Transcript: Daily Taoist 11
Okay. Anyway, just took a break I found— Man, seems I’ve got a lot of stuff I’ve got to get out of the way. Before I record that audio book. So… you guys are getting a whole bunch of bonus material here. [LAUGHS] Hope you appreciate it… Let’s see… anyway… Let’s continue on. We’re on page eleven out of sixty-nine pages. Yeah, yeah. a couple left. A lot of pages of commercials in the back here. Sheesh. About six pages of ads about myself. But anyway, it looks like the content actually goes to page 62. Then there’s a bibliography… so 62 pages. We’re on page 11.
TAO #2 of Tao Of Taoism
The nature of each person is a collection of various characters and identities. Even the best or most pronounced abilities do not represent anyone as a description. And that’s so true of the “5 Soul Theory.” Somebody is a soldier that doesn’t mean they’re a WARRIOR. That means they’re a WORKER acting in a WARRIOR capacity. Now some of them are WARRIORS. You can pick those guys out. Those are the lifers and the people who seem to thrive. And you hear the stories about them. And and I’ve met some of them, you know. They’re— they find their place there. They accept their place, you know. In the battlefield… the danger… The fact that they noticed that other people can’t handle it, and they can… They start to realize, “Hey I’m different.” And so they just kind of accept it. But yes, there are WARRIORS. But they’re a small percentage. I’m not sure how they got in there or where they came from. Like I said, I don’t know the designs and origins of these “SOULS.” I’m calling them. But anyway… okay, so like I said, just because you’re a Marine doesn’t mean you’re a WARRIOR. It means you’re a soldier which is a WORKER acting as a WARRIOR. That’s not a WARRIOR.
What — Is YOUR Nature?
Describe your own nature as you know it. Oh man I’ve been talking about mine. How does your nature guide you? Well, real quickly… I was gonna try to finish this page real fast but that that’s been one of the things I’ve had to figure out. It’s been one of the conflicts. Cuz like I said, my family’s been always saying, “Go this way. Go this way.” I’ve always wanted to go: this way, this way… And so I’ve had this push-shove and I felt guilty. And then sometimes when there was nothing going on… And I wasn’t in a band… I didn’t have any money… And then they would say, “Go get a job!” And how can I defend my position you know? How can I convince them: that me staying home doing nothing or writing music and playing and recording and writing poetry… How can I convince them that that’s more important than going and getting a job? I can’t. I couldn’t. I still can’t. [LAUGHS] Now if I made a million bucks and I was Stephen King… They’d be going, “Do it. Do it Richard…” That’s a shame, if they actually would have supported me and helped me or promoted me… made my life better you know…
Given me more time to promote myself as a writer that they’d probably be proud of me as I make millions of dollars. But anyway… How do you know when you’re in conflict with your nature? Like I said, it’s when I’m just doing things that— and I can’t do music— I can’t write— and I’ve got these ideas and I can’t do it. And I can’t make a phone call like I’m a MANAGER. I can’t. They say, “On no. You can’t do it.” [USE PHONE] You have to wait ’til your lunch break. In fact, in those days we didn’t have cell phones. So that means you’d have to go to a payphone. Which means I couldn’t do that. Which means… So when I went to a union carpentry job I was gone all day. And I’d leave early in the morning. So maybe I could catch them at night. But they’re gone by the time I get home. And you know… so you can’t have two lives. You’re either a carpenter or a musician. I couldn’t be both. But I tried. So that was one…
How Did You BECOME You?
So how did your nature develop unconsciously? Well like I said, I’ve always been driven to be music. I’ve played music all my life. My whole life, I’ve just done it. And when I was 13 and I told my parents to trade in my— Actually might have been 12— but we’ll say 13. Yeah was 12. When I was 13 I told my parents to trade in my trombone and get me a guitar. They took my trombone and put in a music shop. Got some money… “Where’s my guitar?” “We’re not gonna buy you a guitar!” That was 1966. [LAUGHS] So anyway in 1967 I got a guitar. I went and got a paper route and I saved up enough money for a down payment. 50 bucks on a 150 dollar Fender Mustang, red Mustang. And then I made payments on it and paid it off. Ironically, I found out that by the time I was done giving my parents the money that I owed for that thing my dad kept paying it off for another five, six months. Because he was paying it off in smaller pieces than I was. So I paid it off faster than my dad could pay it off But anyway— I was just trying to show you how I was— I was so determined to get my guitar. And then when I was exiled to Newfoundland and I was up there—
Exiled in Newfoundland – Performing to Geese
Before they finally sent me my guitar— My uncle had a South American guitar. So I played that. And every day I played it for them. But I used tell that story. Maybe you haven’t heard this one. After I was done working— I had 600 wild fowl. I was on the Oxen Pond Game Reserve. If any of you are Newfies out there? You’re going to go, “Really you? You’re—“ and maybe they’ve even heard about me. Maybe I’m a legend. I doubt it. I lived there for a year. Less than a year. A half a year. Anyway before they destroyed it. They cut it and they killed all the animals. Terrible story. I was there and then I had to… Then I took up with a television producer. She adopted me. So I’ve got an interesting story there in Newfoundland But anyway… Wait. How did I get on to that? That subject? Oh, when I was playing for the geese. Anyway, so anyway, I’d do all my work Do the geese in them and I’d sit out on the balcony and I’d play that guitar. And all the geese would come. It was sixty acres you know. So, but the geese would come from all over the place… and come up there. Mostly because I was feeding them. I wasn’t gonna walk sixty acres. So I’d go down about that far… and that far… and put out the food and stuff like that. But I didn’t want to walk all the way up there… Anyway it was more hassle. I’d just keep them spread out… it was easier. So anyway I’d feed them out there twice a day. In the morning and then I’d feed them. In the evenings I’d feed them. And then I had Ospreys and snowy owls down below in the basement that I had to go feed every day and take care of. And so anyway in the evenings I’d play the guitar and all the birds would come down and collect. And they would just sit there and be totally quiet. And when I stopped— they’d all raise up their necks… [CACKLE, CACKLE, CACKLE]. I was like “WOW!” First time I was like, “They gonna attack me?” It sounds like this… sounds like they’re complaining… Maybe they don’t like my music. [LAUGHS] But no. As soon as I’d start playing they’d be quiet. I’d play, I’d sing and it was the coolest…. I’ll remember that the rest of my life. Anyway I did that for a few months. Yeah! Playing for the geese. My… one of my first audiences. As a soloist they were my first audience. [LAUGHS] That’s me. Playing for the birds. Okay I’m talking about Canadian Geese, ring-necks… all kinds of really you know, big stuff. 600. And wood ducks… oh I can’t remember all their names now. Wood ducks and all kinds of stuff. And it was my job to clip their wings so they couldn’t leave. So that’s why I knew I always had like 600 of them because every few months you have to cut off from their primaries underneath… so they kind of fly crooked. They can still get up. They could you know do something… but they can’t go airborne because they kind of go in circles. Anyway that’s how we kept them captive.
The Exploratory Tao of Buddha Zhen
Where we going? How many? Seven minutes. Let’s see if I can wrap this up real fast. I’m not sure I’m trying to make little teeny sections. I don’t— like I said, I don’t even know where I’m… Well I know where I’m going. But I’m kind of like finding the Tao you know. This is like an exploratory Tao. Usually when I talk about your Tao and your path, that’s a regular journey. You’re making that on a regular basis… it’s the same type of path. But right now I’m forging off into New Territories. If you want to remember that soup analogy: I’m not sure… but there’s a big hunk of beef coming… Here we go… Where are we? Who or what influenced your nature to be what it is? I found out— I’m born with some of it. I used to give certain credit to certain people and things that are influences. But what we do is— We can decide who we’re gonna be. So that’s why like I said, somebody who’s a WORKER can imagine themselves as a WARRIOR, and maybe go out and be a soldier and do a good job. That’s what it would be it would be. It would be a job. And they would do a good job. And that’s a soldier.
How can you— what can you do to improve or develop your nature? For me it’s not work. I shouldn’t have taken any jobs. [LAUGHS]
Number one: Don’t work for anybody else. I mean I’m really kind of struggling right here. I gotta hope that I make some money soon because I really don’t want— Well I can’t. I’m actually— I’m not hirable. I’m 66 years old. Who wants a philosopher-poet-musician-manager whose companies aren’t making more than a hundred, couple hundred a month? [LAUGHS]
What is Success of Tao Of Taoism?
So anyway, I just have about… I don’t have a fan club right yet. Here we go. What can you do to improve or develop your nature? I’m with you right now. This is part of it. I told you I was gonna— I decided the day that Oscar died— that day. And then he died in his sleep that night. That day… that’s when I put it on my calendar. I was gonna start doing this book on Tuesdays. I was gonna record a chapter like each week. I’d do a section. Edit it. Make it real professional. And upload to YouTube. And then edit the audiobook and build a really professional audio book.
And so that’s what I had decided the day that he passed away. And so I’m saying, I know… I’m kind of— I don’t know think I should talk about those things on the professional video or the audio book. So I’m getting it all out with you. Yeah, thank you for being here listening to my stuff. Ten minutes. I was hoping to get out of here quicker. I’m sorry. What can you do to improve or develop? Like I said, I’m doing it. I’m being me. I’m gonna develop my products and things that I’ve finished. I’m gonna take them to the next level instead of just letting them sit on my shelf where nobody’s gonna ever see them.
Like this book. Remember— I wrote this book back in the ‘80s. Redeveloped it in the early ‘90s. And then turned it into this version ten years ago. And still, nobody’s read it. So that’s taking it to the next level… Maybe now somebody’s gonna run into my book. And go, “Hey. Hey my friend should have this book too.” Alright, let me see… where are we?
Do You KNOW What a Friend is?
Oh by the way, that’s what a friend is. A friend is anyone that improves your life. You can know all kinds of people… call them friends. But if they’re not making your life better… supporting what you’re doing… You feel like they’re actually a support team or an improvement team… Or an investor team, whatever… That— that’s your friends. Your friends are the people who improve your life. Maybe I shouldn’t have said “investor” because maybe they don’t care about improving your life. They’re just trying to improve their bank account. They’ve got to want to improve your life. So it’s gotta be a part of their motive too- okay, that’s what it is: it can’t be accidental.
Which of your natures is most prominent or receives the highest priority? That changes. That changes. Sometimes the WARRIOR gets up there. And you know I’m the Kung Fu master. How do you think I learned all these weapons and taught all these classes for 40 years? But mostly I’m a MUSICIAN. That’s why I even as a Kung Fu guy— I always had fun with my students. Never beat anybody up… Hurt people… want anybody to get hurt… like a hippy…. hippy… hippie Kung Fu master. That’s what I am. A Hippie Buddha.
The Tao of Your Future
Okay. Let’s see— Which of your natures should be most prominent for the next five years? [LAUGHS] I’ve got a nice blend going on now. They’re all kind of in harmony. So for me, my Tao is very complex. That’s why I say, “Don’t use me as your example to be you. You probably just have WOMAN / WORKER / WOMAN / WORKER. That’s it… and that’s fine. And I’m gonna show you how to master that. And how to use it. Because it’s a support team. You’ve got four people working together. So if you can figure out how to get this person to support this one to support this one… and this one supports that one… and this one supports that one… You get that type of— that creates power. So that’s what you want you know. And everybody just doing their own thing… but in harmony together. So okay… Which of your nature’s should be most prominent? Well I guess the MUSICIAN’s up front. But I’m trying as hard I… sadly… I’m trying as hard as I can not to write any music or play anything.
I’ve got this one song that’s been haunting me for like a week. I went and just recorded some of it a few days ago thinking, “Oh hey, let’s get it out of my head…” But it didn’t because I really didn’t get it. Did I know… I’m not gonna say at all… “that’s good.” So this is a song that’s like bugging me… to get out… And I’m just trying not to. I’ve got all this— really— I mean I’m seriously not I’m in a terrible bind. I’m on death ground trying to make enough money because in the next three months I’m gonna have all kinds of domains coming up. My web hosting coming up. My… I’ve got my fees for my smog test and my car registration, and something else. I mean, all these bills are happening like within a two-month window… and I just don’t have that much money yet. I know how much I’ll get each month and I’m— [LAUGHS] How can I make some more money come in? So that’s why I’m actually kind of late trying to let you finish some of these projects. Because even this one— maybe I’m not gonna make any money right now.
Audiobooks by Buddha Zhen / Richard Del Connor
But if I can get that audiobook done… And it used to be I had to have five finished audiobooks done. I started this before I went homeless back in 2011. I was trying to get my audiobooks to be an audiobook producer for Audible. And so if I could get my audiobooks and get them out there… I think that they could sell. I think that people like my voice. And so I don’t know why it’s so kind of raspy today. Actually I’m not singing in like one or two weeks. My voice is actually. Gosh listen to this. This is what happens when I do not sing for over two weeks. I’m not driving around in my car or anything. I don’t have any gas money, and my car’s got an engine light on.
So I’m like anyway… well, I’ve gotta sing. And I’ve got it on my calendar. I’m supposed to be singing every day. I’ve got it every day— I got a little window I’ve gotta play flute… every day that I’m supposed to sing… I’m trying to regiment myself a little. Push myself into some good habits. Okay. So… but— Which of nature’s for the next five years? It’s gonna be a blend. My goal is to harmonize. And yours too now actually. So as far as prominent— if it’s will get on that another time. 14 minutes. Okay.
Lancaster, California. Shaolin Digital. Rich Connor is the “Singing Webmaster” of ShaolinDigital.com. Shaolin Digital is the web design and internet enterprise of Shaolin Communications. Rich Connor has been launching the first ten WordPress websites of Shaolin Communications since 2018 on the computers at Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital in Compton, California.
As several of these ten WordPress websites are being completed, it seemed odd to shift focus to another website. I searched through all my business plans and marketing plans I’ve designed since moving to Lancaster in October, 2019.
Why?
I’m finishing my “Vision Quest” which isn’t really an annual event, but I’m very acutely aware of it every year at this time. It was in 1994 that I had my first “Hanblechia” at the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.
This year it kind of happened. Living on the street the past six years made privacy extinct. Comfort, peace, quiet, and serenity, didn’t even exist in the confines of my car as it rocked side to side when cars would drive by…
This year I allowed myself to enjoy my privacy. Yeah, it’s been the Covid-19 lockdown, but I’ve got nowhere to go and no friends to visit. With the death of Oscar Barrera I don’t even have any friends to talk to.
So my Vision Quest just kind of happened. After a couple weeks, I realized I had several unresolved objectives… and then I realized I was searching for a MOTIVATION to accomplish my objectives.
I wasn’t planning to lay out my Vision Quest here, but I realized how my life has always been motivated by jobs, kids, wives, girlfriends, projects, assignments, classes… and that I was mostly a very obedient worker and excellent student. Okay. So what. Who am I?
It took a couple more weeks to discover the answer. I’m still wrestling with it.
One of the answers was, “LAUNCH ShaolinZen.TV.”
Huh?
“MAKE THAT your primary website.”
Huh?
I argued with God a little but he was not impressed with my ineptitude, laziness, or lack of resources to launch this website…
Finally. I acquiesced. (I’m not a pushover for any God…)
So I’ve been working on ShaolinZen.TV
Since Shaolin Zen Television is actually an offshoot of the Shaolin Zen CyberTemple at www.ShaolinZen.org — I decided to offer the Buddhism classes as podcasts and video series… And stuff I haven’t decided on yet… Because my Vision Quest said to…
In fact, I went another level and decided to use the same LifterLMS Learning Management Software of our Shaolin Chi Mantis school and use it on ShaolinZen.TV also to make a better student atmosphere with QUIZZES and PROGRAMS and MEMBERSHIPS… ALL FOR FREE.
Yeah. I hope I’ll sell some stuff. But the classes and all the programs are going to always be FREE. Seems more Buddhist that way!
“You’ve got the WORKER soul. You’ve got the WOMAN soul. That’s most everybody.”
Buddha Zhen jokes about red ink spots on his hands from his red pen. “I love these pens–but they leak really easily…”[Precise V5 Rolling Ball]
Buddha Z wiggles his pinky finger, “WORKER [soul].”
He wiggles his ring finger, “WOMAN [soul].”
He wiggles his middle finger, “WARRIOR [soul].”
He concludes, “W – W – W: Those three go down here at the bottom . You’ve got the 3-W’s: WOMAN, WORKER, WARRIOR. [SOULS will be capitalized from now on.]
“You can put them in any order, BZ continues. “Those three are the reproductive layer. Those are the ones that reproduce.”
“Up on top we have the rulers… I’m still figuring this out. This is a new concept. I just invented this theory a couple years ago.” [Current month is March 2020.]
“It’s been evolving through my poetry. I’m really excited to see my poetry evolve this awareness as I’m complaining about these things, and learning more until I finally figure it out… “Seeing how I got to here.”
Buddha Z holds up two fingers and grabs one.to wiggle. “The two on top. I gave you the MUSICIAN [soul]. The MUSICIAN is all creative thinkers. All the creative thinkers. People used to say, “These are people born with a ‘MUSE’… This is a special soul. The creative soul. I’m one of these people. Look at all my books. 150 books or something, maybe more. A couple thousand songs–all the things I create and do. I’m a creative person. That’s my soul. I can’t turn it off. It’s just who I am.”
Buddha Z laments about the years he was a laborer, not producing or utilizing his creativity. “It’s just a shame to be working full-time when I could be using my creativity. If I’m working I have to stop being creative.” BZ acts and pretends to be hammering nails. “Do that for a whole bunch of hours–my mind can’t be creative. If I start being creative I’ll hurt myself. Chop my finger off or something.
So you’ve gotta be careful. [Focused when working.] That’s why it’s not a good idea to put creative persons in those types of positions. Theyre suppossed to be creative. They’re the dreamers.
My family despises dreamers. In my family there are no artists. I’m the only one. The only one. So they despise me. They actually cannot understand me. Even after sixty years. I’m 66 years old and my parents still don’t accept the fact I’m a musician. They think it’s wrong. They think its a choice.”
Buddha Z points at the camera imitating his scolding parents and brothers, “You decided to do that just to piss us off!”
Buddha Z shrugs. “It’s not true but–” He smiles slightly, “Sheesh. How can a parent be pissed off their child has artistic talent? That’s terrible.”
“They just can’t understand.”
MANAGER and MUSICIAN Souls Are on the Top Row of 5 Souls
“So what’s the fifth one [soul]? We’ve got the three on the bottom and both the two on the top are M’s. So I use MUSICIAN because that covers all the creative people. And MANAGER [soul].”
“Now the MANAGER doesn’t have to be the scientist, or the guy who’s a MUSICIAN… or who’s good at math. That would be the MUSICIAN… The MANAGER is the one that goes for power. They’re not the one whose gonna want to stand in line and want to be on the assembly line. They want to own the company. They’re just not gonna be happy on the assembly line. You cannot bribe them into boredom like that. They just cannot do it. That’s the MANAGER.”
“Those two M’s on top: That’s what we got here in Washington, D.C. But now, we have a whole bunch of WOMEN who have a MANAGER power thing going… They have this emotional desire to be greedy and get what they need for their family. Because that’s normal. That’s the WOMAN’s job to collect everything.”
“The man [WORKER] goes off to work. But the WOMAN’s home all day. Kind of keeping everything intact. She’s not gonna sit there and watch the neighbors walk away with everything.”
Buddha Z pretends to be a WOMAN incorrectly, “”Oh you want the lawn mower? Take it. Okay. Go ahead and take our car.” No! She KEEPS everything intact.”
“The greed factor–“
“Sorry I said that so negatively. (Personal lperspective). But it’s just inherent. It’s the way it is. The greed factor is the WOMAN factor.”
WORKER Souls are the Working Class
“If the WORKER is greedy, “I want a raise! I want…” He’s gotta settle for what he’s got. He cannot be so greedy. I don’t know if they were created. Spiritually shave this of… and shave this… I don’t know. I’m still figuring out the dynamics of each one [soul].”
“On top you have the MANAGER and the MUSICIAN. So that’s what makes me kind of frustrated. I’m an ARTIST first.”
“In the first place I’m a MUSICIAN. Always been a MUSICIAN. I can’t stop being a MUSICIAN. I love being a MUSICIAN. If I could only do one thing and be happy–I’d be a MUSICIAN. I’m a MUSICIAN.”
“Next thing I am is a WARRIOR. I’m brave, fearless. I’m a hero. I like to help people. That’s where my compassion comes from. Weird. I thought It was a WOMAN thing. But it’s not. It’s a WARRIOR. That intention. I couldn’t figure it out. That drive.” Buddha Z gets teary eyed.
“I’m a hunter. I’m out there hunting rabbits at night. I’m out in the canyons by myself. it’s that WARRIOR thing… I don’t hunt anymore… No apologies… There’ve only been a couple times in my life I’ve killed an animal needlessly. And I bear that burden the rest of my life,” he says getting teary-eyed again.
“See. That’s the WARRIOR. The WARRIOR knows right from wrong. Youcan train him. Train him to know right from wrong. I was raised Christian so…, that’s my sense of right and wrong. I was a Catholic. That’s how I know right from wrong. That includes not killing needlessly. The Christians who do aren’t Christians.”
“Can you say them? The Three W’s on the bottom. WORKER, WOMAN and WARIOR. And then the two on top, MUSICAN and MANAGER.”
