Buddha Zhen offers an informal overview with his speculations about: “Who was Lao Tzu,” the author of Dao Te Ching or Tao Teh King.
Buddha Zhen seeks to make Taoism understandable for Americans. So he calls Lao Tzu’s only written work, the Book of Changes. Buddha Zhen also uses the American word, “Nature,” with a capital “N” to represent “Mother Nature.” This Mother Nature concept we westerners share is close to the meaning of “The Tao” or “Natural Order.”
“As the accidental founder of Taoism, he has been heralded and Sainted…”
Tao of Social Order is Lao Tzu + Confucius
“I read that he was a contemporary and possibly a friend of Confucius. (If they were people ‘say’ they didn’t get along.) What a great combination they make! Confucius explains the“Tao of Family…” and Lao Tzu teaches the“Tao of Nature,” which is the bigger picture… By combining these two philosophers we created the “Tao of Social Order.”
“This book, Tao of Taoism, is a study of the words of Lao Tzu. My interpretations of several translations of the Tao Te Ching… Incorporating these wisdoms into my Shaolin Chi Mantis Kung Fu schools provided a unique opportunity to improve the lives of my students by helping them put there interpretations into practice and viewing their validity. Watching my students improve their way of thinking also inspired me to make this book public, to benefit as many people I possibly can.
Buddha Zhen still claims to be rehearsing for his ‘real’ audiobook production.
Buddha Zhen reads his 5-line poem:
The Dao
The Dao is Nature The Dao is our Path in life. The DAO is our Way of travelling our path. The Dao is our Natural way that reality unfold or reacts. The Dao is different for each of us because each of us have a different AWARENESS of it.
Buddha Z explains the Tao of Naure as, “Like being in a bowl of soup. Nature. Whatever’s happening in that bowl of soup is Nature. That’s the Nature. The Tao is Nature. So whatever is happening around you: That’s Nature.
“Your Tao. Not my Tao. Your Tao becomes that path through that soup. That’s your Tao. So you’ve got whatever’s around you…”
Interesting perspective: “Life is a bowl of soup.”
“When we get smarter people who are not as violent and ‘idiotic’–I’m not sure what the word is: We will hot have any more wars and a lot less suffering.
Buddha Z reads “Explanation” page of his book. It starts with an explanation of, “This ebook version of Tao of Taoism uses both “Tao”, which is Cantonese, and also, “Dao,” which is the current Mandarin Chinese language of China. They are the same word with the same meaning,” (“Tao and Dao”).
“Self-discovery is the last frontier for the smartest of men and women.. This book is a journey down your own very unique “Last Frontier.””
“How much time do you spend exploring your inner you?”
“Why are you you?”
“What makes you you?”
“I wrote this book for her [his daughter]. It’s called Act Zen to Be Zen.“
“It’s about Zen Buddhism teaching you how to find yourself–And then you can reshape yourself into other people.”
“Zen Buddhism is about understanding other people from as many perspectives as possible. And view yourself from as many perspectives as possible.”
Buddha Z talks about his poetry class in San Diego State University.
Buddha Zhen talks about how Lao Tzu may not be translated accurately by anyone because they may not understand the colloquial meanings of his statements 2,200 years ago.
Buddha Zhen also explains how only the disciples of Bodhidharma can perform the One-handed Bow of the Shaolin Temple because it signifies the relationship between the FIRST disciple of Bodhidharma and of those who continue this lineage of disciples of Buddhism to the first disciple, Hui Ke. If you aren’t ready to teach Shaolin Kung Fu or you don’t belong to a Shaolin master… you should not deceive people with this spiritual gesture.
Who is a Real Zen Buddhist?
“So what happened was–his Disciple Hui Ke–he tricked him. He tricked Bodhidharma to become the first Shaolin Disciple… He cut his arm. He went to his [Bodhidharma’s] cave and outside the cave he cut his arm and it bled into the snow. And he said, “Look, it’s raining red–in the snow. So Bodhidharm said, “Alright–you win.””
Buddha Z gets a little teary eyed. “So that’s what we’re doing. We’re honoring his sacrifice.” Buddha Z pauses. “I got a little choked up there.”
He continues, “I originally wrote this book for myself, then realized it was useful for other people. Then I rewrote it again when I created my Shaolin Chi Mantis schools in 1993 into a student manual for psychoanalyzing yourself, to help students develop a dialogue with their own inner minds.”
5 Soul Theory of Richard Del Connor
“It’s interesting I put that in the plural. It’s only in the last two years I discovered that we actually are four… souls is what I’m calling theem. Four different identities that all stack and work together.”
Buddha Z elaborates on his 5 SOUL THEORY. “You can only have four of them. Most people only have two.”
Buddha Zhen holds the book up to camera to show his Chinese ‘chop’ which is the red ‘dragon blood’ stamp on the page with his Chinese name. He explains which characters represent:
Zhen: family name = “Truth”
Shen: means “Spirit” or “Spiritual” but not ‘ghost’
Lang: “Wolf” (Master Chen explained to Richard Del Connor, “We don’t have Coyotes in China–only wolves.”)
Spirit Wolf of Truth = Buddha Z’s Buddhist name: Shen-Lang Zhen.
Intro Song: “In the Pool of Enlightenment” by Buddha Zhen, on TAI CHI MAGIC 1 album, on Shaolin Records
Buddha Z explains how his bedroom recording studio is set up for a professional audiobook recording of TAO OF TAOISM. Buddha Z is Buddha Zhen is Zhen Shen-Lang is Richard Del Connor.
Buddha Z specifies what “Original Buddhism” is — and how other types of Buddhism developed in other countries like Tibet and Japan.
“Bigger Wheel Buddhism…” “The book has the information… but if you keep trying to hammer people into the shape of that book–then you’re using religion to conain people instead of free them.”
“Everybody is a buddha who gets it.”
“What is the formula to create a Buddha? That’s all if is. The secret to bea Buddha is to know what the 4 Noble Truths are, and then live a life accordingly, and you’re a Buddha. That’s it,” he shrugs.
“Bodhidharma seems like me… I don’t know if he was musician… he created Zen Buddhism. Zen Buddhism came from the Shalin Temple… He was also a martial artist so he created Shaolin Kung Fu… Fom 600 AD to 1600 AD everyone who did Shaolin Kung Fu was a Shaolin Buddhist. That’s it. They were Zen Zen Buddhists. They were all these Zen Buddhist doing Shaolin Kung Fu for a thousand years.”
Kung Fu without Zen Buddhism is Bodies without Minds
“Then the public said, “We like those dances but we don’t want the Buddhism. So they stripped off the Buddhism…”
“They stripped off the Qigong. They stripped off the advanced spiritual training. And they said, “Just show me how to hurt someone.” Buddha Z sad sighs and concludes, “That’s what Shaolin Kung Fu became.”
“So that’s why I’m glad to revive it,” Buddha Zhen bounces back with a smile. “It’s a way of life. Not a way to hurt people.”
“That’s not what people want to hear,” laments BZ. He goes on to compare modern civilization to the bloodthirsty Roman age of Nero.
Buddha Zhen says he wants to, “get all of this out of this out of my system so when I record the audiobook–I won’t jabber so much.”
INTRO SONG: “In the Pool of Enlightenment” by Buddha Zhen from Tai Chi Magic 1 album.
OUTRO SONG: “Inner Will” by Buddha Zhen from Tai Chi Magic 1 album.
Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang “Spirit Wolf of Truth” continues with episode #2 of THE DAILY TAOIST series he is recording for his BUDDHA Z Instagram/IGTV channel.
Although Buddha Z thinks he is just rehearsing this book reading for his upcoming professional audiobook recording of his book, TAO OF TAOISM, he will continue rehearsing for a total of 69 videos that include every page of the book over the next week.
These videos are all shot at 4K 24fps on his new iPhone 11 Pro Max with Filmic Pro as the camera app. The purple Chinese silk tapestry on his wall was a gift from his Shaolin Chi Mantis students in Salt Laket City, Utah when he taught there in the 1990s. It was used for graduation ceremonies.
BZ Reads Page 2 of Tao Of Taoism
This is the “Raves for Tao of Taoism” written by Buddha Zhen. Although this is a blank page, Richard mentions that Dr. Carl Totten gave Richard some raves and comments about this book inspiring him with ideas. Dr. Carl Totten is also a Taoism teacher in North Hollywood, California.
BZ Reads Page 3 of Tao of Taoism
The “ALSO BY BUDDHA ZHEN” page lists books he publishes under his “Buddha Zhen” author name. Many of his books are novels and poetry that he writes under his legal name of Richard Del Connor or other pseudonyms. The books listed here under “ALSO BY BUDDHA ZHEN” include the topics:
Confucianism
Freemasonry
Shaolin Kung Fu
Shaolin Weapons
Zen Buddhism
He breaks down the books individually with information of how and why they were written.
Free Kung Fu at ShaolinKungFuBeginner.com
Buddha Z announces his new website “launching this Wednesday” (March 2020) www.ShaolinKungFuBeginner.com This website was created to provide FREE KUNG FU for people who would never get a chance to participate in a traditional Shaolin Kung Fu class. Buddha Z explains how these five free Kung Fu classes will also interest people into joining “the real school” at www.ShaolinInteractive.com. Buddha Z explains his Shaolin Kung Fu school requires a Buddhist head-shaving-naming ceremony to continue in his Shaolin Chi Mantis INTERMEDIATE program.
Scaring People Away with Rules
Buddha Z laughs and says he wants to scare people away with the head shaving ceremony. He explains he has two other schools students can join without becoming Zen Buddhists.
Today I launched the FIRST Tai Chi Youth CROWDFUND in Web3 with payments in ETH.
If you don’t know what ETH or Web3 are you can still go to https://www.taichiyouth.org/donate/index.htmlwhere we’ve been receiving donations the old-fashioned website way since 1999 using PayPal, credit cards and debit cards.
https://www.taichiyouth.org/donate/index.html
Back to my momentous accomplishment: Our first CRYPTO CROWDFUND of Tai Chi Youth nonprofit founded 1996 for “troubled youth” in prisons, and rehabilitation centers. The program made me so famous I had dozens of job offers I had to refuse. I was a Mr. Mom in the 1990s and dragged me daughter around to my Shaolin Chi Mantis and Tai Chi Youth classes where she became an ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR at the age of 5 in 1996 when I launched the Tai Chi Youth programs in a YWCA, Continuing Education Program (Night school), Church of Religious Science, Unitarian Church, 3 elementary schools, a middle school, 2 high schools, 2 rehabs, and the Salt Lake City Parks & Recreation where I produced up to 3 Tai Chi tournaments each year.
Tai Chi Youth programs have been used for homeschooling children and is certified by the California Board of Education to qualify as a Physical Education program satisfying High School graduation requirements.
Hundreds of lives have been improved by Tai Chi Youth… but let’s get back to this historic CRYPTO CROWDFUND of Tai Chi Youth I launched today.
I’ve been studying the crypto world of tokens, coins, NFTs, Web3, DeFi, blockchain technology, network bridging, crypto centralization and decentralized purchasing and storage in hot wallets and cold wallets. I know a little about everything. Last year I created the Tai Chi Youth DAO as a new form of blockchain GOVERNANCE to augment our traditional Tai Chi Youth BOARD OF TRUSTEES of our nonprofit. Contact me if you want to get involved. Spoiler Alert: The Tai Chi Youth DAO will also be launching our first DAO DeFi fundraiser during September next month.
Here’s what I did:
1. I created an “EDITION” fundraiser at Mirror .XYZ first. Yes, the Web3 world has different web addresses. Tai Chi Youth has an NFT collection at https://OpenSea.io/taichiyouth
This “EDITION” I published today is an NFT I minted at Mirror.XYZ and they will collect “ETH” payments and deposit them into our Crypto wallet of Tai Chi Youth.
A CRYPTO WALLET is like a bank account that anyone can deposit crypto money into.
This “EDITION” gave me a glimpse into my new platform: Mirror.XYZ
SO: You can donate to Tai Chi Youth by purchasing ONE of these NFTs limited to 100 copies for 0.1 ETH
The price of “ETH” changes daily but today that was = $1,900 per ETH today so 0.1 ETH = $190—
Here’s the address to look at/purchase this NFT titled: “Ming Tai Chi Crane Wing”
2. So then I created the CROWDFUND at Mirror .XYZ.
This is really cool but a little complicated.
You go to this crowdfund and BUY an NFT. That money goes into the Tai Chi Youth NONPROFIT CRYPTO WALLET connected to the nonprofit bank account at Wells Fargo. I can explain this “transfer process” later or give me a call, I enjoy teaching people about blockchain technology. Maybe I’ll start a podcast…
You now OWN this NFT. Each of these 4 different NFTs correspond to a different donation size and each one has a different number of possible “mintings.” Just like “MINTING MONEY” you “MINT AN NFT” which can be resold for a loss or profit or kept as a collectible in your “NFT COLLECTION.”
3. Then I created my first “TEXT NFT” (but I put a picture in it anyway). I didn’t know these existed until today. I can write an essay/document and then create a “TEXT NFT” that people can purchase in limited minting supplies for collection, resale or in this case have a document commemorating a CROWDFUND LAUNCH. Some people collect these crowdfund announcements. So I created a CROWDFUND LAUNCH TEXT NFT that people can buy of a limited number. This is CROWDFUND #3 of the Mirror.XYZ Tai Chi Youth Online School Crowdfund.
4. Whew! I’ve been studying and talking to people who know more about this than I do for the past month and discovered CROWDFUND PART 4.
It’s called a “Patron Podium.” (I’d never heard of this before either).
This is where the top 3 highest donors fight to be first place like an auction—but it is for prestige.
So I had to create 3 NFTs for these guys to fight for and win with the largest donations to the Tai Chi Youth Online School Crowdfund.
So today I just launched 4 CROWDFUNDS at the mirror .xyz WEB3 site although 99% of YOU PEOPLE reading this probably have NO IDEA what I’m talking about.
Well, until I got cancer chemotherapy last year and laid on my back for four months listening to videos and audiobooks explaining this stuff, I didn’t know anything either.
Call me if you want to know more.
Check this out and be impressed by how cool and nerdy I am. “Tai Chi Youth Online School Crowdfund” at MIRROR .XYZ
Buy an NFT and join the future that our kids our going to learn about in kindergarten. In 1995 I didn’t know how to operate a computer on the internet until I became a “TEACHER’S AID” for my daughter’s kindergarten class. The teacher taught me how to use the internet and then I taught each of the kids how to use a computer and get onto the internet while she went back to keeping the rug rats occupied.
Call me for more info. Text me a compliment about how cool I am. Welcome to the future!
Are you capable of being as physically fit as a 67-year old senior?
Can you do Shaolin Kung Fu and swing a staff as good as an old silver-haired musician with a cat?
Let’s see if you can!
How fit are you?
Incidentally, I’ve trained professional boxers and they were always surprised how much they could learn and how these Kung Fu exercises helped them in the boxing ring. I’ve rehabilitated chemo-therapy people who were shriveled to their bones… And these classes were the reason several people said they did not commit suicide during my years in Utah rehabilitation centers.
Now I need this Shaolin Kung Fu to revitalize my life!
This program is my salvation. I am going to complete this SCM Beginner Program and then MAINTAIN this super-natural health level with my NEW Shaolin Kung Fu LIFESTYLE I am doing for me. Yes, we have to do it for ourselves.
I believe I will be more flexible if I graduate SCM Beginner Program.
I believe I will have more stamina and vitality if I graduate the SCM Beginner Program.
I believe I will LIVE LONGER if I maintain my Shaolin Lifestyle.
I believe I will be LESS LIKELY to die of Covid-19 or any disease if I maintain my Shaolin Lifestyle.
I believe I will ENJOY LIFE MORE if I maintain my Shaolin Lifestyle.
I believe Shaolin Kung Fu is beneficial because I have data to show the results and effects of a Shaolin Lifestyle on hundreds of students.
Because we don’t have sparring, I do not have the pains and joint pains and back pains and broken bone pains of my Karate colleagues who have retired in great suffering. Unfortunately, their martial art made their senior lives painful and miserable.
I wrote a book when I was in UCLA Film School in 1986 called THE DAO – COMING TO TERMS. It was my personal guide in life as a Taoist. (I will use Dao and Tao, Daoist and Taoist interchangeably… They are the same.) Taoism is the old Cantonese dialect not used in China anymore. I studied Chinese for several years and learned only the Mandarin Chinese new and current language of China which uses:
Daoism
Gongfu
Taijiquan…
So if I mix them up… it’s to be more commercial. During the 1990s I switched everything to Mandarin… but now I’m switching much of my writings back to Cantonese for better understanding by the American reader.
The DAILY TAOIST show was an accident a week ago. I spent a couple days setting up my recording studio for recording my first audiobook in my new home in Lancaster, California. I decided to create a couple INSTAGRAM shows to warm up and create some promotion for the audiobook of TAO OF TAOISM – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life.
I sat down in my Shaolin Kung Fu school, put on a Taoist robe and started talking. I was looking for a rhythm or way to share this book, Tao of Taoism, as an audiobook, knowing it had a huge impediment: it’s a question-and-answer type book. There are more blank spaces for writing the answers to the questions –than sentences.
Next, I realized that this is a book that cannot really be just an audiobook. The audiobook is a great kickstart, and perhaps more enlightening than most books of Taoism–but the book was written for the READER’s ANSWERS, more than just spraying people with Taoist enlightenment.
So I decided to add my own answers to the questions as I elaborated on the questions. This was cool. I got carried away–as expected, and I shared all kinds of personal and perhaps embarrassing stories about my life and ways of thinking. I think my personal stories added to the enlightenment, but the true purpose of this book is to extract the answers from the reader.
69 Free Videos for an Audiobook?
So Buddha Z tried several techniques and reading methods throughout the DAILY TAOIST series of 69 videos. I was quite surprised at the number 69 magically popping up. As a Zen Buddhist I do not believe in magic or superstition. But as a Taoist, numerology and superstitions have always found a home for romantics and beginning thinkers. #69 is aYin-Yang number (or #96… but #69 looks more like a Yin-Yang symbol.) Anyway, I’d finished reading the entire Tao of Taoism book, and recorded a couple commercials totalling 69 videos–I felt completed… a sense of completion… and perhaps a magical package that was destined to improve the world. (Are Taoists allowed to consider “destiny?”) Those various reading techniques appear to best served by reading a passage or question once; then reading it again slightly differently; then discussing it.
But then I realized that by asking people to meditate and consider their answers to some of the questions–if they were driving in a car: I may be distracting their attention too much. This concern was expressed in the DAILY TAOIST series several times by Buddha Z.
So it is imperative that the reader purchase the book and fill-in the blanks. Buddha Z emphasized that this is important for mental and spiritual growth because these answers will change over decades and illuminate to the reader their progress intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically as these questions address lifestyle issues. When you reread this book in a few years, it will inspire you differently and provide an awareness of your intellectual growth since then.
Notebook or Audiobook or Paperback?
The TAO OF TAOISM is available at Amazon.com? Well, for a while. The book was written in 1985 as a personal life-guide of Richard Del Connor while attending UCLA. In 1992 when Sifu Richard O’Connor (that was my name then) founded Shaolin Chi Mantis Traditional Buddhist Gongfu & Taoist Taijiquan: he rewrote the book for his newly founded Shaolin Kung Fu school. Then, in 2011 it was rewritten to be more commercially viable and useful to people outside of the Shaolin Chi Mantis schools. Many of the martial arts questions were removed.
Since 2005 when our TAI CHI BEGINNER book, TAI CHI INTERMEDIATE book, BUDDHA KUNG FU STUDENT MANUAL and SHAOLIN KUNG FU BEGINNER books were sold as ebooks: it proved very complicated for people to print the books themselves or muster the money and effort to have a photocopy store do it for them. Some students made some money printing them out and selling them to fellow students. I encouraged that. I’ve always encouraged my students to be entrepreneurs and let them buy supplies for the school to sell at a profit.
However, since this book cannot be accomplished by the reader in its ebook format–all distributors: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks are going to have their ebooks deleted soon. (Probably gone by the time you read this?) I was considering an 8.5″ x 11″ paperback, but filling in the blanks is more difficult and the binding may break… So I will probably find a printer to create these notebook versions and mail them myself. Actually, I’d gladly pay one of my students a profitable amount for them to do this for me.
10 Notebooks of Tao Of Taoism Found
Wow, I found ten notebook versions of TAO OF TAOISM of the 18 copies I printed for a book event in 2014. All 18 of these notebooks were signed and dated by me at the time. I personally printed them, punched holes in the paper and inserted them in notebooks with covers, back covers, and THE SPINES which are difficult to insert into the notebook exteriors. Since these are ‘collector items’ I’m wondering what to do with them. I’m considering saving them for a few years more and then auctioning them when the TAO OF TAOISM is a book in demand. I’m hoping that I will not be the one personally printing and building these in the future.
Weird. I’ve got a great book, and I don’t know how to sell it.
Daily Taoist Show is Reading Tao of Taoism Book
Back to the DAILY TAOIST who is READING the TAO OF TAOISM book. I shot all 69 videos in the Instagram VERTICAL FORMAT. I’ve seen countless warnings, “Don’t ever shoot in the vertical format!!!” But I thought I was only going to shoot a few as samples to gather interest in the audiobook. I realize now that the audiobook of TAO OF TAOISM will also be inspiring and useful but it is the NOTEBOOK version I want to sell mostly. It works the best for the reader. I’m curious to see the future of this book’s distribution now… What will it be?
At any rate, the entire book is in these Instagram videos. Sheesh. Another product I’m giving away for free. No regrets about improving the minds of this planet… but I’d like to rise from my poverty.
The DAILY TAOIST show was an accident a week ago. I spent a couple days setting up my recording studio for recording my first audiobook in my new home in Lancaster, California. I decided to create a couple INSTAGRAM shows to warm up and create some promotion for the audiobook of TAO OF TAOISM – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life.