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 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.
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.
“My Instagram warmup,” is what Buddha Zhen is still calling these episodes of the Daily Taoist. (He is unaware of his upcoming decision to read the entire book in this Instagram promotional offer for his book, TAO OF TAOISM — Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life.
Buddha Z explains his traditional Shaolin Chi Mantis curriculum he is recording in videos for his online school at www.ShaolinInteractive.com
Buddha Zhen reads the“COPYRIGHT PAGE” of Tao of Taoism. He explains how he was a concert photographer in the 1980s known as THE COYOTE. Richard Del Connor used the byLine “Rocktography by The Coyote” on his published photos in Los Angeles newspapers and music magazines.
“Buddhst Scientist” and “American Philosopher,” are the job titles of Buddha Zhen who tests the results of “…inserting Buddhism and Taoism into people’s lives.”
Buddha Z homeschooled his daughter several years and after his marriage failed became a Confucianist to learn the solutions to all his marital mistakes.
He also mentions his book based on the teachings of Sun Tzu, _ _ _ Strategy Notebook, for big businesses. He said he won’t sell a copy for less for than $50,000 so his consulting fees are included in the price to guarantee the successful use of the this notebook designed for the Chief Strategist of any organization or business, or government body.
The Daily Taoist series begins with this EPISODE #1. Buddha Zhen is also Richard Del Connor, a record producer and founder of Shaolin Records and Shaolin Pictures. Richard has spent the last six years of homeless life as a Shaolin monk teaching traditional Northern Shaolin Kung Fu from the original Buddhist temple on Mr. Songshan in China. From 2013 to 2019 Buddha Zhen taught Yang Tai Chi Chuan and his Shaolin Chi Mantis Traditional Buddhist Kung Fu, Taoist Tai Chi Chuan & Confucian Strategy at North hollywood Park. The public library there is where he published several books including the TAO OF TAOISM.
This EBOOK of Tai Chi Beginner may be removed from Amazon.com also. It does not appear to ranking well because it was created as a STUDENT MANUAL while learning Tai Chi Chuan. Perhaps I will sell the PAPERBACK when I complete the original edition with 444 photos.
This book, Tao of Taoism, was written while Richard Del Connor was at UCLA film school in 1985. Richard wrote this book for himself so he could utlize the wisdom of Lao Tzu’s book Tao Te Ching, or Book of Changes. That book is the foundation of the Taoist religion. It’s actually a philosophy book but the Chinese added some Ghosts and Gods to make it more exciting.
In 1993 Richard was teaching Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan classes in a prison, several rehabs, and a couple churches. He created two books for his students:
Tai Chi Beginner – The Yang Tai Chi Chuan of Shaolin Chi Mantis
Taoism – Coming to Terms (With added question and fill-in blanks for his students.)
This is episode one, before Buddha Z realized he was creating a series or show…
Tao of Taoism BOOK Blurb from Amazon
The Dao Te Ching (Tao Teh King, Dao De Qing…) by Lao Tzu, has inspired oriental readers for over 2,000 years to become better people, get along with other people, and coexist with Nature in harmony.
Since 1993, Buddha Zhen has seen his students improve their lives and ways of living through the questions he formulated based upon this ancient book by the sage, Lao Tzu (Lao Tzi…).
Now Buddha Zhen has reduced the size of the book, Tao of Daoism, (formerly titled: The Dao – Coming To Terms), so that students and a worldwide audience can access these teachings on smaller Ebook reading devices.
Learn to be in harmony with your past. Learn to be in harmony with your present. Learn to be in harmony with your future. Learn to be in harmony with other people. Learn to be in harmony with your self. Learn to be in harmony with your family. Learn to be in harmony with society. And of course, learn to be in harmony with Nature.
Tao of Taoism transforms the thoughts and wisdoms of Lao Tzu into questions of self-discovery that each reader can pursue and ponder for their own self-development, enlightenment, and lifestyle improvement. Write down the answers to these questions to further illuminate yourself and focus your personal thoughts and self-awareness.
