Dao Te Ching

Alright. I’m starting it over again because we took five minutes to wipe my cat’s butt. Yeah. But it was in that last video. We had a poo-poo break. And I raised kids. I wiped their butts for years every day all day long I was the only one wiping their butt for years. So butt wiping is very normal to me. In fact it’s one of those things you take seriously. It’s your job so you’ve really got to make sure you do it good and diaper rash is a nightmare. And she — my daughter had diaper rash two or three times. I’m not sure. Only a couple times. But we dealt with it. It was a nuisance. You’ve got to really work to prevent it. Once you get it — it’s horrible. So I just always worked hard to make sure she never got diaper rash. It means cleaning the diapers real real frequently.

Here we go.

Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang, former Mr. Mom. Reading from the DAO TE CHING. My version of it called the TAO OF TAOISM. I converted it and then I made all these questions and answers so you take the Lao Tzu thing and then you kind of figure out how to implement it. Because what good is wisdom unless you implement it. It’s not even wisdom. It’s just knowledge, or information. So the only time it becomes wisdom is when you use it.

Here we go. #35. The last one we’re gonna do here.

A person who is aware of ultimate realities
attracts the confidence of others
through security, contentment, and self-satisfaction.

And that’s where I fall short. Remember? That ultimate reality that I was telling you Mitch McConnell’s hijacked our– Yeah. The ultimate reality. When I had the ultimate– I didn’t have– I never ever had the ultimate reality. Even when I was the Mr. Mom, the mother was still paying some of the bills. She worked for Xerox. So even though she wasn’t with us, or staying with us, she would still pay the bills. The rent and give us grocery money. So I was still not the ultimate reality. I did not control the money. Because she controlled the money she thought she got last say and had more power over me than I had over her. And because that was her life– If it was the other way around. I’m sure she wouldn’t believe that. If I had the money, she wouldn’t have acquiesced to me having the control. But anyway. That’s the way she saw it. So that’s the way we worked with it. So I never had ultimate reality. This is the first time I’ve had my ultimate reality since I met her in 1989.

So since 1989, and it’s 2020. YIKES! I gave up my ultimate reality for thirty years. So I could kind of control my ultimate reality being homeless but that was a heck of a way to start having an ultimate reality. “Okay. We’re going to start your life from here. You get a car. And a cat. And that’s it. [laughs] That’s a bad start for an ultimate reality.

An ultimate reality like Mitch McConnell controls the Senate. He’s a millionaire. Or billionaire. And he’s got all these billionaires connected that he tells everybody, “Okay. I want you meet with him.” “And you’re gonna do this deal.” But he sets all the other Senators up with deals. So that they’re all doing illegal things. Every single one of those Republican Senators has taken lobby money from people they should’ve never taken it from and Mitch McConnell makes sure that they’re all in that web drinking that poison money. So that’s all they do is suck off that poison money and then they all have to play the same game. You know, they’re all in the same game getting that poison money. And they love it because there’s lots of it.

So anyway. But that’s the problem I guess. That’s why I can’t answer this question the way I did because I’ve never been able to provide that ultimate reality. To provide the ultimate reality you have to have enough money that people want to hang around you. You know, like somebody like Elon Musk. So what if he’s really smart? But he’s got a lot of money. So that’s why people like him. If he was just smart–nobody’d give a damn. [laughs] But if you’re smart and you’ve got money a lot of people care. In fact people don’t even care that he’s smart. In fact, people make fun of that or something. People don’t even appreciate it and respect it because they don’t know what being smart is. So, so most people think that, “Oh. It’s like having a third leg. Oh, you’ve got a third leg. Okay. Great.” You know so, “Glad I don’t have a third leg.” They don’t even–so they see it as a disadvantage.

Okay. Anyway… So I’ve never had the ultimate reality. That’s, that’s why I couldn’t answer this question. I was having trouble with these answers. So anyway. Now I’ve got the ultimate reality. But my ultimate reality is that I’m totally broke so nobody’s gonna come running to me… Watch what happens when I get a bunch of money. This is gonna be interesting. See, if my ultimate reality finally changes after thirty years of poverty: only because i have a whole bunch of money. That’s gonna be an interesting thing to see.

So. What about me gives people confidence in me? I mean my Kung Fu and my ability–my being smart and nice, happy. Those things have given people confidence in me. You know, so… A lot of my good qualities, my virtues: give people confidence in me. But not my finances, or my material life doesn’t interest most people. People are into bling. I got no bling.

What about you lessens people’s confidence in you?

Well, being homeless. Or poverty. That seems to shake everybody’s confidence right off the bat. [laughs] But YOU. I’m answering these questions too quickly. What about you lessens people’s confidence in you?

How could you gain more confidence from other people?

Alright?

When– How could I gain it? Here’s the irony for me. It’s like we were saying earlier. Is that I’ll gain– When other people like me. Then other people will like me. It’s like that decoy duck thing. Right now nobody likes me. So nobody likes me. But the moment a whole bunch of people like me–then a whole bunch more…It’s gotta be that like snowball thing. Hopefully. And uh- but yeah. I don’t have that snowball thing going yet.

Can you help me? If you get the snowball thing going. on these videos, The Daily Taoist. I’ll continue doing this. This’ll be fun.

But… When someone threatens you–what is your confidence?

Oooh. You answer that first.

If someone threatens you, what is your confidence?

I have two things. Number one, I talk my way out of most things. Okay. The second thing is I know that if I’m threatened… or if threatened: I’m not going to react. But the moment I think I might get killed: then I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff I could do and I hope I don’t do it. I just know that there’s something in there. It’s like having a knife in your pocket but you don’t want to use it. Because you don’t know where you’re gonna stab the person, but if you had to, you’re gonna pull it out. So I don’t want to ever use my self-defense. I don’t really think that way. I’ve always got other things. Talking and stuff. It’s never my first priority.

Where are we? So anyway. It gives me a little confidence. Knowing that knife is in my pocket makes me negotiate more because i don’t want to have to use my knife. So that makes me work harder to NOT get to my self-defense. Which is the opposite of the Karate people. Karate people go to class every time to beat people up and get beat up. So their first line of defense is to threaten and intimidate. So they don’t have the buffer zones that I do. For mree the fighting is way, way, way back there. For them it’s the first line of defense. They threaten. And intimidation. So I don’t agree with that.

Describe your fears of being mugged, robbed or molested.

Hey. I was just homeless for seven years. I was around all the muggers and molesters and robbers. [laughs] I was living with them. Living with them literally. I mean, in my room i had a guy who was in prison for murder mansalughter. A junkie over here. This guy, he was a drunk. But well he was a thief. He was definitely a thief. Anyway. So was that guy. This guy was a tweaker. The junkie was also a tweeker. And he was a dealer. That’s how he finally got kicked out of the place. He got caught dealing.

Anyway, um, So describe my fears. Not much. So like, they were my neighbors. It was… [laughs] I should have more fear.

What is your self-defense?

What’s YOUR self-defense. Everybody should have something. And don’t say, “That shotgun back in my closet.” [LAUGHS] Like I told you, mine’s talking. My being able to talk. And then there’s a few little tricks and things I know before I’d ever have to get to fighting I could do. In fact, even if I did get in a fight, a couple times I’ve disguised it. It wasn’t even a fight. Just a move here and there. Well, I’m not gonna get into that.

Where were we? Because we’re not half way through.

What in your home gives you security?

What in YOUR home gives YOU security?

Answer that in your own way.

What in your home gives you contentment?

So something in your home. What about the home? Gives you contentment? Your garage. I don’t know.

What gives you contentment?

What at out your represents your self-satisfaction?

I can finally make an answer: ME. Everything that I am and have is in this home. So this home is me. So this home is a place I can be me with me. And do things that are important to me.

Do you keep weapons readily positioned at home, and why?

Oh that’s a good question. And I was just asking myself this yesterday. I saw this video of people lining up at the gun store. Buying ammo and everything. I thought, “Wow.” If this does turn into an end of the world situation–youknow, and people are breaking into each others’ houses…for food and supplies and money and stuff… how do I defend my home? What’s my line of defense here. And so I started thinking. Do I put weapons around the place? Or whatever. And I was thinking last night if I was right here and somebody blew a hole in the door and came in… What would I do? The first thing. So I started playing out a few scenarios in my mind of what I would just take off the walls… and in that particular case I was standing over there and I picked up my monk spade and I said I’m just throwing it right through that opening… [BZ gets emotional] Dont’ wanna get into it. Yeah. Don’t attack me. Okay? I don’t want to hurt anybody. I really don’t. [pufffffff] Okay.

Um. Where were we?

What gives you contentment?

What satisfies your conscious self away from home?

What do you like when you’re away from home?

What satisfies you?

And what satisfies your subconscious when you’re away from home?

So when you’re away from home. That child in you misses your home. And the adult in you misses the home in two different ways.

You have two different relationships. I’m just trying to get you to identify with your home in a different way. You probably have whole different answers than me. Like I said. This is my whole little library. I live in my — in my stuff. you have your own perspective.

Okay. What about your home… Let’s see. Where were we? Ah. I’m just gonna read it because it’s here.

What backup weapon do you keep in your car? And why?

And I don’t encourage this. I don’t encourage this.

In fact, I’ve always had weapons in my car for practicing. But I never practiced much. I had a couple swords. But they’re not for self defense even. That’s just because I have to have a place to put them. And whenever I do somebody with a baseball bat in their car, or something like that: I think that person might be evil. So it actually makes me distrust people when I see a weapon in their car. So you should not have a weapon in your car. [swords have been removed from car] You shouldn’t have to think that way. And if you did have to have something in your car that you could do–in the front seat. I’d, to be honest with you, I’ve got a couple drum sticks. And threatening someone with a drumstick might almost seem funny. But If I hit you hard with the stick on your hands or knuckles or your head–poke your eye out… Definitely think that guy’s formidable. So maybe that’s it. You should just carry a pair of drumsticks. That’s what I’ve got in my front seat.

Okay. But they’re not there for weapons. What I’ve beat on… You can see all the worn-out cracks and everything on my dashboard where I beat on it.

How else have you planned for disaster, danger or self-defense?

Hey. We’re in a lockdown. We’re in a disaster situation. Like a war scenario. We’re all locked in our houses with whatever we’ve got. So the fact that i was slightly prepared and had canned food and dozen rolls of toilet paper was fortuitous. And normally, in a normal lifestyle. I’d normally have all kinds of stuff, a can of gasoline and life supplies. And we got into that in Utah. The Mormons want to be like the cockroaches and outlive everybody else. So they’re actually looking forward to the end of the world so the can emerge from their foxholes and bombshelters and take over the Earth. That’s one of their prophesies. So when I was there in Utah I learned all about how to– I really did. They taught me really well about how to provide for yourself. I feel like I saw videos. Yeah I did. I probably saw it on some television shows. Proably saw some television shows that– I’m remembering videos of it. Yeah, I’m very well educatied on how to have supplies for the Armegeddon.

They say keep three to six months which I don’t. I could last a month maybe. Maybe. I’m low on water. Water supply is something I didn’t plan for.

What gives you contentment as well as those around you?

Describe your self-contentment.

Without any weapons, what would be your first weapon?

With or without weapons, how do you negotiate out of a violent confrontation?

What do you say to someone who is threatening you?

What are intimidation or negotiation powers?

What are your other stragegies of non-violence?

How do you protect others?

Who do you protect?

What are your limits in protecting others?

That’s important. Even as a Freemason we’d have to say you’d only risk your life for another mason to a certain point. We’d actually draw the line even there.

What are your limits in protecting others?

How readily would you jump into a fight to protect a friend?

I’m a little too readily on that. I’m definitely the warrior. Done it many times. I’ve actually saved a few kids.

Here we go: How much abuse will you withstand or ignore before retaliating?

In other words, how much does someone have to rile you up enough to get a punch? What do they have to say? Is there some limit? If there is– you need to know what it is.

How can you avoid being threatened?

And I’ve almost made it here. Last one.

Explain our Shaolin Chi Mantis slogan: This is my school slogan. Invented back in 1992.

THE ULTIMATE SELF-DEFENSE is SELF-AWARENESS.

And I’m gonna leave you with that. That’s the end of the book.

The Ultimate self-defense is self-awareness.

And that’s what I teach. I’m Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang.

Go to www.ShaolinInteractive.com

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Daily Taoist 1_60 – Buddha Zhen Reads TAO #34a All Perspectives Merge into Ultimate Reality

May 23, 2021 April 11, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 60 #34a

I’m really determined. I want to get these done tonight. I’ve got about five more or so. I don’t know that I should ask Bear’s permisssion. But he’s repositioning. I was on this page. I guess he knows I’m going to work over here so he’s kind of moving over here. [LAUGHS]

This is #34a I’m Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang. Zhen Shen-Lang by the way translates as Spirit Wolf of Truth. Truth being my last name. So yeah. I’m kind of obliged to give you the truth. It’s my name.

Okay. So this is #34a of the TAO OF TAOISM based on the BOOK OF CHANGES by Lao Tzu.

And so #34a says:

Ultimate reality–

(I’ve got hairs all of the place. In your own ears.)

Ultimate reality does not compete for recognition.
Though other realitites may shout their identities, eventually all perspectives
will merge into the ultimate reality.

Okay. I don’t think i want to get too carried away with the spiritual implications here. But let’s stick with the material world. The real world. Ultimate reality does not compete for recognition. Ultimate reality does not compete for recognition.

In other words… Okay. So let say– So let’s take the Congress [Senate] Okay. The Congress of the United States. What do we got? Like a hundred guys there? Well 105 or 110.Any way I’ve got a hundred. So those guys. Okay? So their ultimate reality is they’re not there to compete for recognition. That’s not the job that they’re in. Their ultimate reality is to work as a team to get something done. Now unfortunately, obviously when things go wrong, we’ll notice that people are competing for recognition, and doing things– So they’re jamming up the ultimate reality. They’re ruining, they are destroying The Tao. They’re going against Nature.

Though other realities may shout their identities–

You know, like Cruz, and some of these guys. Gosh, they’re amazing! Amazing!

Eventually, all perpectives will merge into the ultimate reality.

So a lot of these guys– Well actually, this… has several things to say. This is actually not all good. This is not all good. This is actually saying– Because the ultimate reality of The Senate is that Mitch McConnell is the ultimate reality. He has decided this is the ultimate reality: “We’re not gonna let the President appoint any Justices or Supreme Court things… We’re gonna jam up the government. So HE decided what the ultimate reality was going to be for The Senate. Not the Constitution. Not the people of this country. Not just the general whatever it is of our government that’s supposed to always just outlive us. No. He decided. He decided I don’t care what the people want. I don’t care what the President wants. I don’t care what the government wants. THIS is the ultimate reality of The Senate. And… Mitch McConnell has hijacked our country for thirty years or something. I’m not an expert. I haven’t been paying attention to politics. But now that I am I’m amazed at how much YOU GUYS– “You Guys.” Anybody. Any of you who’ve paid attention to politics– How much you’ve really screwed up this country. This country is like totally screwed up by you. You guys. I’d…well, I’ll take responsibility for being ignorant and not being a part of it and even voting for Reagan once. So, I mean… I’m an idiot. But I’m getting smarter. I’m actually much, much smarter now. I would not make so many mistakes. Now that I know what’s going on better. I could be a much better voter now.

So let’s read this again.

Ultimate reality does not compete for recognition.

See. And he’s not actually competing for recognition either. See, that actually supports this concept. He [Mitch McConnell] is the ultimate reality. But he’s not even competing. There’s no competition. He’s just there. That makes him the ultimate reality. Wow! I’ve just learned something. So the ultimate reality: you can find because they’re no longer competing. See? He’s not competing. He’s totally in control. So he’s the ultimate reality. Kind of like Trump. There’s nobody competing against Trump. He’s totally in control. He is the ultimate reality. Okay? And he’s trying to get recognition. So he’s totally like the opposite. Mitch McConnell is like the QUIET EVIL. And this guy’s the LOUD EVIL. These guys are the Yin and Yang of evil. The QUIET EVIL that’s been working behind the scenes and causing all these problems. But you don’t know it. Can’t see him. And then Trump who’s out here doing all this evil RIGHT IN YOUR FACE. But this guy down here’s supporting him. See? This guy can’t get away with it without this guy. If this guy [McConnell] was right here saying, “No you can’t do that.” You know. It wouldn’t work. But no this guy’s back here saying, “You can do it.” [McConnell] “Go ahead. Go ahead and do it. I’ve got all these guys lined up. We’re gonna profit from this stupid stuff you’re doing.”

Okay. Here we go. #34a

Are you shy or bold and why?

Shy or bold. Okay? One or the other. You’re either shy or bold. Do you go introduce yourself? Or do you wait for other people to introduce themselves? Those are the two people– You have to choose from one of those two.

Are you reserved or outspoken? And why?

The ‘WHY’s’ important. I don’t have time for it because I can’t hear it. Okay, but get this book and write your ‘WHY.’ That’s very important.

Are you reserved or outspoken?

In other words, “It’s none of my business.” You hold your thing.

Or are you outspoken: “I think people should know about that!” Are you the person who lets people know what your think they should know?

Or do you hold it back? “It’s none of my business.”

If you ever say, “It’s none of my business,” then you know which one you are.

Okay.

Is your appearance subtle or bold? And why?

See, mine’s changed. I told you: I used to be a hippie. And I was doing it to make a statement. I don’t belong to this… I belong to the counterculture. I’m not part of this culture and I’m against these values. And I’m making a statement. I’m not making that statement anymore.

Um… Do you ever argue? And why?

Arguing. Yeah–that’s a good question. We’ll get into that another time. But are you versus discussion, versus debating. But arguing is where you’re basically where you’re just–there’s never a solution. And arguing never wins. If you do win it’s because the other person gave up. Or you forced them to shut up. Or you said– anyway– Arguing always ends up in a false ending.

How do you know when to stop arguing?

There you go. See? It’s never gonna end. You can argue forever. And you can stop anytime. Same place.

But anyway. How do you know when to stop arguing?

Are you competitive or passive?

What about Bear? He’s not competitive. He’s actually passive. Now if I had another pet he’d have to be competitive. And that would throw out our harmony entirely. That’s why you should never have more than one pet. You should only have one pet. That way he’s part of the family. If he’s not–he’s just another rodent that you’re feeding. He’s a lower animal. And they’ll know that because they have to deal with each other. Dealing with your as totally separate reality. But if you take the other animals out of the picture and they only relate to you– You elevate their consciousness. So that’s why this guy’s consciousness is elevated. He knows he’s a cat. There’s no question about that. And he knows the other cats. But his relationship with me is something he can’t have with anybody else. He crawls and gets in my underarm. And talks to me and stuff. We have a special relationship, and it’s a– Anyway.

Seriously. I honestly believe — in fact I’ve heard that from people too, who get two cats. “The cats just play with each other. They won’t do this… and they won’t give me any attention.” Yes. Of course. They’re going to play with each other first. You know… So– Anyway. Learn from other people’s mistakes.

Here we go. Next one.

Are you competitive or passive?

Why is winning important to you?

Everybody should want to win. But why is it important TO YOU? What does winning mean? Define it. That’s very important.

Uh… Do you prefer to talk or listen? And why?

Talk, or listen, and why? You’ve got to do all three. You’ve got to prefer one or the other. You either talk more or listen more. Okay? Some people don’t do either. They don’t talk. They don’t listen. They’re really a mushroom.

Okay. Here we go.

Do you usually try to win or compromise?

Ah… Get your own answer.

But my answer is unfortunately compromising. Now I actually– Well, that’s not entirely true. You see I actually– Bear — I can actually, because I’m a strategist, I kind of like intermix them. I’ve learned how to compromise now to win later. You know… And I don’t know about win now to compromise later. That doesn’t seem likey a— a useful thing. [laughs] But it could be. I can actually see how that could possibly be. But no. I’ve mostly been compromising as part of my winning strategy. And that’s not good. I should’ve been– even as a — even in my failed marriage I should’ve pushed harder to be me instead of compromising as much as I did. But I did. I compromised. I went for the easy soft road. I could’ve divorced. Run off with the kid. So there’s lots of things I could’ve done. And maybe should’ve done. You know, to be more successful. Maybe, the kids would be more happy. And the exwife might be more happy. So i’m not even saying I made the right choice. But the choice I did make was to play the long game. Compromise. Be in there as long as I could. I never paid child support. And I was there with my son, helping him graduate high school when he turned eighteen. He would not have graduated high school without my help. So I was right there. Right to the very end. And then they’re gone.

I played the long game. My goal was to raise my kids. So even when it totally turned bad… I spent the last five years really being unappreciated and insulted. And cussed at by my own kids. But I hung in there just because that was the plan i made and I stuck it out. So arguably it wasn’t necessarily the right way to do it but it is the way I did do it. I’m here– So there we are. I made my choices and now I’m going to live by them.

So… And I’m happy. Like i said, I’m very, very happy. So everything’s gonna work out fine.

Where are we? And I’m hoping my kids will get whatever they want in life. Because it’s obviously not what I’m offereing. So whatever they need, they need to find somewhere else. Because they know what I’ve got and they don’t want to come back for any of what I’ve got. So appreciate that. Although it’s alway gonna hurt my feelings because I always wanted them to be with me.

Where are we?

Um….oh… Are you jealous?

That’s a very important question. Everybody could say we have felt jealousy. But are you a jealous person? And we can probably define that somehow. I didn’t think this through ahead of time. But I could think of ways in girls I used to find that–And I used to realize that any girl who’s jealous–you can’t trust. And I would… the more a girl is jealous–the more there’s something you can’t trust. That’s a real imbalance. But I shouldn’t have given you any clues.

Explain your possessiveness of loved ones.

Possessiveness of loved ones. You’ve gotta explain it. In other words, if you love someone… We all have certain possessions or restrictions. Or we think we are behooven to each other. So explain your concepts. Because if you’re gonna have a mate you might want to make sure she has the same concepts. Because you might find you have two different concepts of what marriage and the vows mean.

How much freedom to do you allow your mates? And why?

So are they allowed to have sex with other people? If they did, would you forgive them? Is it okay? Do you breakup? Or get back together? Tell me what’s in your wallet?

How quickly can you understand the perspectives of others?

You make think you do. But think about it. Ask other people if they think you “GET” what they’re saying?

How does this influence your motives or goals?

In other words, if you do understand their perspectives, does that change yours at all?

How much do you enjoy compromising?

Remember that? Once you know what they want– You can’t compromise until you know what somebody else wants. So, most people might think they compromise. But maybe you don’t. You’re just giving in to something to make it easier. You’re not really compromising. How do you know that? Answer the questions here.

How do you feel about accepting the blame for other people’s mistakes?

I have a certain pride in that actually. It’s kind of a shame. I don’t shame anybody. I don’t like to use that word, “shame.” But yeah, I… In my life I have a kind of honor code, street code. Or the police think certain things– Well, I wouldn’t turn people in. Or I took responsibility. Or if I had something, and it was somebody else’s… it doesn’t matter. I didn’t– I never ever turned anybody else in. So anyway, that means something to me. That’s my “street cred”– My “Street Cred” as I think they call it. My street credibility. I’ve never narced on anybody.They use to call people, “a narc” because of “Narcotics Officer.”

Okay. Are you a good negotiator in tough arguments?

Maybe. Maybe. I look for different answers. I get people to pursue different paths of inquiry. So maybe that helps come to a better answer or just an answer they would have never come to on their own… arguing. So I have some ability. As a mediator and a negotiator.

And are you capable of being unemotional? Ant any time? No matter what?

Yeah. But it does seem practical. You’ve got to learn how to shut it off. We all have emotions. So I get emotional. But I can shut them off. I’m real good at it now.

But some people can’t. People literally can’t. Some people say, “I’ve gotta take a break.” “I’ve gotta do something because I’m having an emotional…” “I can’t control my emotions!” It’s pretty pathetic but people believe that’s acceptible. And like I said, if you’re in that lower part of the herd you know… emotions become logic. Then people start saying they think with their gut. I mean they just start saying things that are totally illogical or stupid. And they’re using them as their reasoning.

So… when you start mixing down there at the bottom… it gets pretty muddy.

Okay. So, what upsets you most?

Think about that for a minute before i say what I say.

What upsets YOU most?

Okay. Hopefully you got your answer out there. Because what upsets you most is often what upsets you most that you do yourself. In other words something that would bother you the most if you did it. Like for me: lieing. It would bother me so much if I lied. I’ve told a couple lies and they haunt me forever. So when other people lie it really really bothers me. But I’m very gullible because I never lie. So I always want to think everybody’s telling the truth. But lies get in. But I don’t like them. So when they lie– “POOF” The person’s out. [laughs] I’m very very much into the truth. If you lie to me– If you don’t want to be my friend just tell me a– Don’t tell me lie. Just don’t talk to me. People don’t want to be my friend? But an’t be my friend if they lie.

Gotta get out of here before that fifteen minutes.

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Tao of Taoism — Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life by Buddha Zhen (Richard Del Connor)

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Daily Taoist 1_39 – Buddha Zhen Discusses TAO #19a about WHO You Decide to Be and Acting Naturally

December 27, 2020 April 7, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 39

Hello. Your Daily Taoist here. Buddha Zhen. Richard Del Connor.

And I’m reading to you from my book, TAO OF TAOISM – USING THE TAO TE CHING TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE. Written by Lao Tzu. Now this book is of course written by me. This is my version of it. I’m trying to read one whole paragraph, piece of wisdom by him per class or per session. I’m trying to keep them under six minutes. Now I’m trying to keep them under ten.

So real fast. This is #19a. Page 34.

And it says,

Be yourself naturally.
Decide to do what will not require uncomfortable self-discipline.

Now remember, what makes each person uncomfortable is kind of dependent upon your training, your training, who you are, what you are, what you want…

So this thing– you’ve gotta kind of take your time on it.

First one: Be yourself naturally.

Remember, I’ve got that book, ACT ZEN. Act Naturally. Acting Naturally.

Be yourself naturally.

Well the only way you can know you’re doing that is if you know who you are. And know what you’re acting. So there’s a certain amount of information and research that has to happen before you can understand that sentence.

Be yourself naturally. “Okay.” What is it?

So that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re trying to decide what your Natural is. Your Tao.

Okay, now the next one is a huge big thing. Let’s see if I can unpack it with these questions.

Decide to do what will not require uncomfortable self-discipline.

So in other words you want a job that’s not going to require a lot of extra effort… you know, to make yourself feel comfortable to do it. You want something you can do naturally that won’t require a lot of extra effort. Not necessarily less work, but less mental effort to do it. If you don’t want to do it it’s going to get harder and harder to do it over and over again.

Okay, so here we go.

How much extra effort does it require for you to be healthy and organized?

Those are two different questions: healthy and organized. But maybe they’re also kind of the same. And yeah. That’s an interesting concept to realize: the more organized you are–the healthier you could be. Because being healthy is a matter of organizing your intake of food supplies and keeping track of it and keeping it fresh. So if you cannot be organized with your food, you may not be able to be organized with your health.

Okay, so let’s see…

What are your weaknesses that require extra effort?

What are your weaknesses that require extra effort for you to overcome them or get something done. What slows you down?

What promises or responsibilities do you have that require extra effort?

Extra effort–not meaning more work, but motivation for you to do it. Maybe you just don’t want to do it.

Like, I know of this– I won’t say names– okay, so: there’s a man and his sister. And his sister’s kind of supporting her brother. Okay? She’s kind of helping him out. And in her Will, not in her Will, but in her–before she dies she tells both her sons, “Hey. I want you guys to keep helping my brother.” You know. Subsidize him a little bit. In fact she specified how much money to give each month. And then she passed away. The sons inherit all her money… And then there’s two sons. Now one son fulfills the promise. He gives him money. The other son doesn’t.

Okay. So they both have their reasonings and their logic on that.

So what promises or responsibilities do you have that require extra effort?

So for the one who did keep it–was it extra effort? Was he just willing to put in that extra effort because maybe he still didn’t want to really do it.

So anyway. These are things you want to bring up. What is the truth? What is YOUR truth? (Is all we’re really concerned with here.)

How do you waste time?

Okay? Don’t react to it. Just answer it.

When playing games, how do you know when to stop?

When playing games– (Well nowadays. I wrote this in the eighties. So this is before video games. And so, when you’re playing games…) –how do you know when to stop?

That’s a great question to ask the millennials. I’d love to hear their answers. I really would.

Well, no I wouldn’t. [laughs] No, I don’t want to hear those answers. In the office, you don’t work…

Here we go: How often do you think you’ve wasted time?

Now that’s the thing see? If you’ve a lifestyle of wasting time–you might not think you’re wasting time. You know, “Oh, I’m gonna be a professional video game tester… That’s why I keep playing games.”

Do you realize how many times I’ve heard that? And not one. Not one of t shose people who ever said that ever even came close to…

We can fool ourselves.

So hopefully, if you’re smart enough to be doing this course–listening to me. Hopefully you’re smart enough to stop fooling yourself if you are accidentally. Never do it on purpose. Fool yourself on purpose. You’re probably not gonna be here…

Here we go: How could you be more efficient?

Okay you: How could you be more efficient in general? How could you be more efficient?

How could you waste less time?

Okay. Everybody’s going to waste time somehow. A little bit. Somewhere. How could you waste less of it? Some other way? Whatever. Put these in your own words.

Sorry. Sometimes I feel like I might be preventing an answer of yours by getting into mine. So I apologize. There was another “sorry.”

How could you get more accomplished?

Get more things accomplished? Done. Achieved.

How could you get more accomplished?

Hey. There you are. At six minutes! This is what I was originally trying to think, what I was trying to go for the TAO OF TAOISM.

So anyway, I told you I was supposed to wrap it up. But we’ve got to go back to the beginning.

Be yourself naturally. Decide to do what will not require uncomfortable self-discipline.

I like that. In other words, choose a job you’re going to want to do.

Decide to do what will not require– So you want to make that decision.

It requires some exploration. You’ll make some mistakes. You might get in one of those jobs that caught you when– you don’t want to do. That’s an important lesson to learn. Because a lot of people spend a lot of years in the same mistake every day.

Alright. Buddha Zhen out here. Your Daily Taoist in seven minutes.

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Daily Taoist 1_28 – Buddha Zhen Explains TAO #17 with his new 5 Soul Theory to Help People’s Careers

October 11, 2020 April 7, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 28

Alright. Daily Taoist here. And I’m on NUMBER 17 and then I’m gonna cut it for today.

This is of my book, the TAO OF TAOISM – USING THE DAO TE CHING TO IMPROVE YOUR DAILY LIFE. In which Lao Tzu wrote a bunch of stuff in Chinese two thousand and some hundred years ago. And then a bunch of people translated it. And I thoug.ht some of the people didn’t really understand it As accurate as they may think they’re translating it, they may not– I don’t think they have quite the meaning. And then if you do have the meaning– How do you take that wonderful saying and implement it into your life? Like: “The most beautiful tree gets cut first.” Or “The strongest tree gets cut first.”

“Oh that makes sense.”

No. No. How do you get that into your daily life?

That’s why some people get fat and ugly. So they don’t get chopped down. They don’t want to be first chosen.

Or some people get extra dressed up and super fancy beca use they want to be first pick.

So you’ve gotta look at– There’s a Tao in everything.

So if you look at Taoism, then try to figure out how you’re– how that plays into your life, or your reality– Then it’s useful.

And that’s my goal: is to make it useful.

So we’re on NUMBER 17. On page 28 of my book, the Tao Of Taoism. T-A-O I’m spelling it, even though in Mandarin in China they say D-A-O. But to kind of compromise I’ve got, “Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your daily Life–to Improve Your Daily Life. I’ve got D-A-O in the subtitle. So it’s both. It’s actually D-A-O is more–the correct way now. T-A-O is the outdated way. But in America we don’t know better.

Here we go. NUMBER 17 page 28.

Tao #17
Employees / students must be as satisfied with their work
as employers / teachers are with the results.

That’s an interesting harmony.

So the employees must be as satisfied with their work as their employers are with the results?

And the students should be satisfied with their work as the teachers are. With the results.

See that balance there? There’s a balance going on. A harmony.

So remember Taoism is about harmony, or finding disharmony. So you can go back to harmony. Because harmony always works better. You can use disharmony for certain purposes– like friction. Or like pain. Something you don’t want to really have.

Here we go.

Do you enjoy being productive? And how?

Is your current job your career?

Explain how it is part of your path.

Remember, your path is your long-term–life plan. Or at least the next ten-year plan.

We should really plan our life in ten year chunks. By the time you get to the end of that ten years. What you wanted to do in 20 years, which is only ten years ahead–might be totally different. So ten years is a better way to plan. Think 20, 30, 40. Like me, fortunately I’ve done Kung Fu since 1980 and 2020. So forty years of Shaolin Kung Fu is kind of made me a healthier, happier guy than most people my age. So think ahead a little bit. Even then I wasn’t thinking ahead to that extent. I was really lucky. I was just thinking, “This is my path.” I put it in my path and it’s always felt right. So by being a Taoist. By being in harmony I knew I was making the right decisions and sure enough: I can say forty years later, “Yeah. I was making the right decison.” Made a lot of other right decisions too.

And I made wrong decisions. And I knew it. Not at the time. But I can tell you now I– anyway explain more later.

Here we go.

Do you enjoy satisfying your employers? And how?

When I say employers and going to mean teachers. Just interject teachers where I use employers. And if I say worker, it could be student.

Do you enjoy satisfying your employers? And how?

How are you maturing in your current job?

I don’t know how much i should be interjecting here. The “5 Souls Theory” has totally messed up my perspective of reality. Because I’ve come to realize that women– Remember my ‘5 Soul Concept?’ If you’ve been following along here. Hopefully you didn’t just jump in here at this point.

According to my ‘5 Soul Concept’ 80% of all people or more are just the WOMAN soul and the WORKER soul. You can kind of think of it as male, female. But they’re not distributed sexually. Where as a woman can be born with the WORKER soul in the first position and a WOMAN soul in the second. So in her case, she’s gonna be happier working than hanging out with the kids. Now another woman might be born with the WOMAN soul in the first position and WORKER soul here, and she’d be happy working in a day care center, working with kids. The other one wants a real job. Sorry. Not a real job but a normal job like you’d think of to make a lot of money. That doesn’t have anything to do with the family.

Now a man can be born with a WOMAN soul in the first position and a WORKER in the second. So the man who’s a WORKER soul– he’s never gonna be happy about his job. Always be complaining. So he should find the kind of job where nobody minds if he complains and he’s gonna happily complain for the rest of his life and get a paycheck. That’s fine. And he’s got a WORKER soul to keep him going. “Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah…”complaining, but goes to work. So that’s fine. Now what if it’s a WORKER soul, then a WOMAN soul. Well, in this case the WORKER’s not going to complain. He might have a little bit more ambition. Be able to go a little farther.

He cannot be a MANAGER though. This is what I didn’t know until just the last few years. I thought that a WORKER could just be educated and mental conditioned… trained into being a MANAGER. No. I’ve worked with all kinds of people in my nonprofit and come to realize that is not true. Some people, if they don’t have that– Even with the WORKER soul, they’re still a WORKER. And even if you give them a management position–they just want to be paid and go home. But not worry about the job. They don’t have the management attitude which is the owners–taking responsibility for like a child. Adopting the business. They still just want to work. Just a higher capacity. So that’s still a worker. Not a management pereson. They can be a foreman, but not a manager.

So when I look at these questions, I have a whole different perspective on them. So when you answer them, I have a different way of analyzing them. Let’s just go with this, because I wrote this–what, thirty years ago.

Here we go.

What jobs do you do that waste your time and talents?

So what jobs are you doing that–you’re just wasting your time? Or your talents?

Maybe there’s none.

What are your reasons for keeping the job that you do have?

So whatever job you have now–Why are you going to keep it? Why would you keep it rather than quit?

What are your reasons to quit the job you have?

So if you were to quit it– What would be your reasons?

Besides a job– How else could you earn a living?

Marry well. I’d recommend that. I came from a generation threw marriage out so that option wasn’t really conditioned into me. But when I was an artist, and even when I w weras a Freemason: a lot of the Freemasons said, “You just need to marry well.” They were trying to hook me up with some Freemason widows. [laughs] Freemasons all take care of their widows. If you’re a Freemason and you die: the Freemasons will always watch out for your ex-wife. Make sure she’s fed. They’ll check on her. They have weekly things. And they have annual things where they call in all the widows and give them a chance to socialize and maybe find a new husband or something. Things like that.

Anyway. That’s an old thing that goes back for thousands of years. And then the Freemasons kind of in 1717 kind of codified all this stuff. And made it a standardized process. All masons would be good to widows.

So just saying, marrying is a good–

Sorry. See. I said I’m said, “I’m sorry.” I’m gonna interrupt again.

Besides a job. How else could you earn a living?

If you could be paid to do anything that you want to do– What would you do?

I’ve got a bunch of answers for that. What’s your answer.

If you could be paid to do anything—

If I said, “I’ll pay you $200 a day. $300 as day.” That’s not a real lot of money. But maybe a lot more than you’re used to. More than I’m used to. If I could give you $300 a day to work for me for eight hours– What would you do? How would I get my money’s worth out of you?

Do you feel guilty when you don’t have a job?

So if you’re not working. Want to be working. But you can’t seem to be working. Do you feel guilty because you’re not working?

What talents do you possess or desire to develop which could possibly be profitable?

Remember I wrote this for my students. So in a way I’m trying to nurture and look for any artists out there.

I’ve since learned that I don’t want to push people into art. Not even my own kids. I pushed them to be artists but they weren’t artists.

It was good that they got that art training. I’m never going to regret giving it to them. But I didn’t realize that it wouldn’t stick. That was an interesting thing to learn.

But if some of your talents did stick– What are they?

What talents do you possess or desire to develop that could possibly be profitable?

And maybe you’re wrong. Go ahead and dream. Answer that question.

Hey. It’s been nine minutes. I’m going to get out of here before the ten minute mark.

See ya. Daily Taoist here. Buddha Zhen

Go to ShaolinInteractive.com and sign up for $998 I think. It’s actually cheaper than these guys sell computer courses for. $1,000 is their starting price.

So anyway, for a thousand bucks and you’re going to get one year of training. You send me videos and I– It’s going to be the next best thing to being with me. It might even be better than being with me. You get that video and you can do the class over and over… Rather than trying to remember what I taught you.

So, anyway: ShaolinInteractive.com Buddha Zhen: The Daily Taoist.

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Tao of Taoism — Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life by Buddha Zhen (Richard Del Connor)

BOOKS by Buddha Zhen

AUDIOBOOKS and PAPERBACKS and Kindle eBOOKS by Buddha Zhen from Amazon .com

Buddha Z Official Blog (Heavy Metal “Buddhist Rapper,” Buddhist Poet, Shaolin Flutist)

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Produced by Richard Del Connor for Shaolin Records

Music and excerpts used by permission of Shaolin Records, Shaolin Communications, and licensed by Shaolin Music. ASCAP

Daily Taoist 1_25 – Buddha Zhen Explains TAO #14 Tao of Taoism – Using the Dao Te Ching for Actors

September 20, 2020 April 7, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT Daily Taoist 25

Hey. Buddha Zhen back. I’m enjoying being THE DAILY TAOIST. This is totally cool. I’m pumping out a whole bunch of these– Here’s my author copy of this book, TAO OF TAOISM – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life. Written by Lao Tzu. I just took a bunch of translations of and said, “I don’t this guy’s got it… And I don’t think this guy’s got it…” Because I don’t translate Chinese. So I had to like take the translations, and what I knew of it, and from being part of the religion and the lifestyle for years and years. And try to see what makes sense. What was he really saying that I would say, “Harmonizes with the truth.” You know, the reality of using it in life.

I’ve been using Taoism since the eighties. Since… yeah… So if anybody could tell you what it is– [laughs] It should be somebody who’s been using it on a daily basis and teaching it to people. Inserting it in people and seeing how it affects them. Same with Buddhism. I called myself a “BUDDHIST SCIENTIST” for about twenty years. Because I considered myself, and all my students, and everything, were–I’m being facetious: I thought “lab rats” you know. But they’re– But they’re my test subjects in a way. They’re my children. And I’m constantly seeing the effects. I’m concerned. I don’t just throw stuff at them. “Hey, here’s some old wisdom.” SPLAT. “Here’s some more wisdom.” SPLAT. No, I like, look at it. Flavor it, and shape it. And say, “Okay. Can you understand that?” Then I come back, “How’s it working?” “How’d you like it?” “How’d it come out?” So anyway, I’ve kind of been able to see the effects of the Taoism and the Buddhism over the years. Confucianism too.

Actually no, the Confucianism– I wish. I didn’t start into that until about 2011. Sorry. Well I couldn’t tell you the affects of that. Because if I did I could’ve saved all kinds of marriages and businesses because that’s what that’s for. Marriages, businesses and politics. That’s what Confucius is for. Teaching. Oh that’s what I heard. I thought somebody was at my front door. Light’s falling down. And uh– I hope it’s going to stay there.

“Is that going to stay there Bear?” If that thing goes it’s gonna really pop. It’s a 150W bulb. Let me go and move it real quick.

Anyway, Daily Taoist here. No– I’m just– “Hang on…”

“Bear. Why did that move?” It wants to keep moving. Alright.

Okay. So I’m back. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll edit that out. As much as I’m an iPhoneographer. I’m getting all the software in my phone and everything–I don’t know how to use it. I don’t know what I’m doing yet. But I’m figuring it out. You can actually go to my other channel: Richard Del Connor at YouTube: You can see music videos and things that I’m making. So I’m learning how to use a gimbal. I’m learning how to use my iPhone. I’m learning how to use LumaFusion. I’m shooting in Filmic Pro. And then I’m learning how to actually then– well, just getting it off my phone and then getting it onto a hard drive. And then backing it up is a lot of work. I’m just figuring this out. So anyway.

Here we go. The Daily Taoist.

And we’re on NUMBER 14. What’d I do? I took two minutes and forty-two seconds of your time just getting started here? Sorry about that.

Oh! By the way. Never say you’re sorry unless you’re gonna do it again.

That’s one my slogans. And here I am–an anti-slogan person. But that’s actually something that I want everybody to realize. Look! It’s 100% true.

Everybody I tell people they always come back and go, “Yeah, you’re right about that.”

Never say you’re “sorry” unless you’re gonna do it again.

And if anybody ever says they’re “sorry” you can expect them to do it again.

So don’t say you’re “sorry.”

You can say you won’t do it again though. That’s different.

Here we go. NUMBER 14.

Watch it. Check– Watch yourself. When you say you’re sorry for something. It’ll be something you’ve done before. You’ll catch yourself. I said, “I’m sorry,” for that. And I did it to that guy. You know he’s stubbing his toe or–whatever it is. But yeah. Watch.

So don’t say you’re “sorry” and you’ll stop making mistakes.

The Daily Taoist here. Confusing you. [laughs] The truth is cool.

NUMBER 14. This is written by Lao Tzu supposed– well, originally. And then translated by other people and then me–synthesized into this book to make it more useful. But Lao Tzu’s book, Dao Te Ching is being presented to you in my Tao of Taoism by me, Buddha Zhen. I’m actually Richard Del Connor. If you want to look at my license.

Here we go, NUMBER 14:
Nature (and this is with a capital ‘N’ despite it being at the first–start of the paragraph).
Nature cannot be measured or controlled.
Yet, the operations of Nature (with a capital ‘N’) can be understood.

I’m using ‘Nature’ for ‘The Tao.’ Because there’s different versions. You could just call it, “The Tao.” I’m going to call “Nature” and “Tao” are the same thing. Okay?

Understanding the forces in motion creates an awareness of Nature. (The Tao).

This awareness comes from an inner harmony of each person that mirrors the outer workings of Nature.

Oops. Let’s read it. I’ve got to read it again.

So only by living naturally can one understand or be aware of Nature.

This is where people get all messed up. This is one of the ones that confuses people. They think they all the sudden have to become a plant to understand what a plant is. And you gotta act like a monkey to be a– to understand what a monkey is.

I’m not saying that but– He’s– Let’s just break it down real fast.

I really want to take the mumbo jumbo and the mystical godliness out of this. Cuz this is not a godly thing. Remember, this is science. This is science. It’s not God.

Here we go: Nature cannot be measured or controlled.

The Earth, its rotation, the seasons, the up and down things… The clouds. The moving. Whatever. Or gravity– Cannot be measure or controlled. That’s kind of what it’s saying. Everything. The reality– Okay? Nature… I’ve got that.

It’s beyond our control. We’re popped in here. Splat. We exist in it. I was comparing it to a big bowl of soup we’re in… we’re in the middle of you know. Moving around in this bowl of soup. We’re here for a little while and then we’re gone. The soup’s still here. Still going on. But we just come and go… within the soup. (Nature.)

Okay. So: Yet the = operations of Nature can be understood. So in other words they can’t really be measured or controlled because they change all the time. Even measuring what the temperature is on a certain day is going to be different that the next day. You can measure it, but you can’t really predict that it’s going to be the same. It’s always in flux, or– So anyway, that’s what we’re trying to say.

But you can understand it. You can understand it’s colder in the winter. You may not know exactly what temperature it is. You can’t measure it and predict in the next year in the same day it’s going to be the same temperature. And the same clouds… But you can understand in a broader sense. That’s what he’s trying to say.

Yet the operations of Nature– (The seasons and such. The day versus night.) –Can be understood.

Okay. So there’s our first two. The simple pragmatic science. Don’t get caught up in mystical mumbo jumbo again.

I don’t mind mystical mumbo jumbo. This isn’t the place for it. It’s not intended.

Ready?

Understanding the forces in motion creates an awareness of Nature.

Forces in motion: the seasons, the winds… The wind that comes before the storm. The kind of clouds that come to bring rain. The clouds that come that don’t bring rain. Understanding all these forces in motion. If you understand–you have an awareness of Nature. See? So you can start to understand–to recognize things. An awareness of Nature.

That’s good. So we’ve got the first three sentences. To be a scientist you’ve just gotta study things. Go take a meteorology class. One of my regrets: I never got one.

Here we go.

This awareness comes from an inner harmony of each person that mirrors the outer workings of Nature.

Aaaaaahhh. This is where it gets more complicated. And this is where people– If you’re really, like President Trump. He’s very out of harmony with Nature. I mean anybody I think–even his fans and supporters agree with that. This guy’s totally out of balance. [laughs] He’s miserable. He’s unhappy. He looks unhappy. He gives off negative energy. Hes an ugly creature. Anyway. Poor guy. You know, he’s just all messed up. His thinking’s wrong. He’s never gonna be happy because he’s working in a system that can never exist. His view of reality doesn’t exist. So he’s just all day long fighting to try to trick everybody to what reality is. And he’s not in any reality at all. He’s just living in this made up world in his brain that can never exist. Because even if it does it’s a crime and he’s gonna get in trouble. He’s gotta– Even if it exists he’s gotta get the money and run. [laughs] He never wants to be anywhere where he’s gonna be stuck. That’s his dilemma. He can never hold still. And if he does hold still he’s gonna get handcuffed. So he’s gotta keep moving. So that’s out of harmony with Nature.

Sorry to use him as a radical example. He just came to mind first. But he doesn’t understand the forces of Nature. He has no concern about Nature. He lives in his big city and…

Here we go.

Okay. So why’d I even point him out? Because his lack of awareness– he’s the opposite of what the next sentence is.

This awareness comes from an inner harmony.

Now, his inner harmony–

Of each person that mirrors the outer workings of Nature.

He does not mirror the outer workings of Nature. That’s why he makes people so unhappy. Nobody would want him for their babysitter. Nobody’d want him for their mother. He does not mirror Nature. If he does he mirrors the kind of Nature you shouldn’t be around like a crocodile. He’s just gonna eat you and drag you underwater. Doesn’t care. So anyway, maybe he does kind of mirror a part of Nature. Wow. Actually. Maybe Lao Tzu’s more right than I think. He’s saying even when you’r wrong–

This awareness–

Well he’s trying to talk in the positive. He’s saying that if you have an understanding that comes from your inner understanding which is in balance. Okay.

So what happens when you have an inner harmony that’s not in balance. That means you can never understand Nature. Or appreciate Nature. Never appreciate the other people in Nature. Keeps you completely separate from everyone. Because you have no balance that anyone should actually be attracted to. Which is the other problem. The people that are attracted to that imbalance are the people with the same imbalance. Kind of creates a– Yeah.

Okay. Now. So, last sentence: Only by living naturally. In other words, ‘naturally’ means in harmony with Nature. Not opposed to it. But comfortably living in harmony with it. Where there’s peace, accord and contentment… Can you understand or be aware of Nature.

See. That’s why he can’t be aware of it. He doesn’t have inner harmony. Doesn’t have that balance. He can’t sense it. He can’t feel it. It’s beyond him.

So I’m using him as an example. Hopefully he doesn’t represent you. Um, my family is…There’s all kinds of people like this. Let’s put it that way… that are not in balance with Nature.

And the ones that are in balance with Nature. That’s a step forward. But that doesn’t make you a complete person. That just means that you– at least physically can be a successful animal. So that’s all this is doing… is helping you to be a better animal…

Okay? That was NUMBER 14. What? I spent eleven minutes just explaining it? [laughs] I got carried away. That’s why I’m doing this. So I can get a lot of this out of my system. When I do the audiobook version of this I hope I won’t talk so much. The book’s gonna be too long for anyone to read or listen to.

Here we go.

But that’s why I like this as The Daily Taoist though. I was thinking of trying to keep this at five or six minutes. I’m already at eleven, thirty-three.

Let me just blast down. Let’s see how far we get. Maybe it’s gonna be a 20-minute thing today.

Ready? You on board? Because I’m gonna need a few minutes to unpack all this. There’s a bunch of questions here.

Explain your–

In fact, I’ll go fast. Because these are so vague and I’m not gonna elaborate on them. If I do it’ll take a long time. So let’s just see how fast I can go. It’s twelve minutes now. See how fast I can go.

Explain your understanding of Nature.

Right now. I’ve changed. I was a Native American for some years. Following those traditions. I was a pipe carrier. Doing smudge… Anyway.

How do the forces of Nature influence your life?

They used to influence mine alot.

And again. I’m in a different situation now.

You. How do the forces of Nature influence your life?

Okay? Explain your inner harmony?

Remember that inner harmony we were talking. Here it says, “The awareness comes from an inner harmony of each person that mirrors the outer workings of Nature.”

So let’s look at your inner harmony and see how thatnat’s somehow a mirror of Nature.

So in other words if you live in a very cold igloo then you’re gonna mirror– your harmony of Nature is gonna be a little different than some guy one who lives next to the beach. So you’ll have a different inner harmony maybe. I don’t know. That would be intersting to find out. I’d like to talk to both you guys: Igloo and the guy on the beach. Compare your perspectives of reality.

Here we go.

Oh. How does your inner harmony mirror the forces of Nature?

See? Once agin. The igloo versus the beach. How are you mirroring Nature?

Once again: How does your inner harmony mirror the forces of Nature?

Explain how your life is natural.

So somebody in Arizona might have a different natural life than somebody in Washington state.

Explain how your life is natural.

Explain why your life is natural.

You know obviously like some people we know in presidential positions you can be very unnatural. So explain why you decided to make your life natural. How it came to be natural. Maybe somebody just trained you that way.

Explain how your life is mechanical or unnatural.

Ooh. Mechanical and unnatural. So you’re a machine. You’re doing something that’s contrary to Nature. But it’s your job. Maybe youre chopping down trees. That would be kind of unnatural.

Okay… What do you do out of obligation or necessity rather than by desire.

That’s probably 50% of the people on the planet there.

They just have a job. There just happy to get the paycheck. They don’t have any interst in that business or product line.

So what do you do out of obligation or necessity rather than by desire.

Own up to it. If you can’t be honest with yourself–You’ll never be smart.

Here we go: What do you do to satisfy others that does not satisfy you?

Ooh. That’s a good question. I’m quite the giver. But– Anyway.

One more time: What do you do to satisfy others that does not satisfy you?

What expectations of others are you currently satisfying?

Hey. Each of us is going to have a very different answer to that one.

What expectations of others are you currently satisfying?

How much time do you spend each day doing nothing?

Once again: How much time do you spend each day doing nothing?

If you had all the money you could need or spend–what would you do with your time?

Why aren’t you doing these things now anyway?

When I was homeless that was a question I was asking all the time.

Sorry to interject. See! I said I’m sorry. I’m gonna do it again. [laughs]

Why arent you doing these things now anyway?

Do you believe that to not work or to not have a job is wrong?

Do you beleive that to not work or to not have a job is wrong?

Do you believe that you should have children and a family?

Do you believe that you should have a children– have a children–a bunch– anyway. Have children and a family?

How many kids do you intend to have? And why?

When you don’t have to go to work– there’s actually a typo here. Sheesh. Second one I’ve found. What time do you wake up and go to bed?

When you don’t have time to go to work–what time do you wake up and go to bed?

Interesting question.

How is this different than when you are working?

Okay. So when you don’t have a job. That’s why I didn’t– That’s why that was one of things I did.

So when you don’t have job–what time do you wake up and go to bed. Okay. So that changes your schedule. You don’t have to get up at any time.

How is this different than when you’re working?

So does it change? When you’re working in your normal occupation.

Okay. So there’s NUMBER 14.

And in 17-minutes.

Daily Taoist out of here.

Daily Taoist 1_21 – Buddha Zhen Discusses TAO #10 — the Tao of Leadership from the Tao of Taoism

August 23, 2020 April 7, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

YouTube VIDEO TRANSCRIPT for Daily Taoist 21:

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?

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?

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?

How do you influence other people to follow?

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?

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?

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?

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?

————————————————————————————–

BOOKS by Buddha Z:
http://actzen.com/BooksMusic-1.html

Buddha Kung Fu
www.BuddhaKungFu.com/books

INSTAGRAM Page
www.Instagram.com/BuddhaZhen

FACEBOOK Page
https://www.facebook.com/spiritwolfoftruth/Buddha Zhen

LINKED-IN Page
https://www.linkedin.com/company/shaolin-records

OFFICIAL Artist Website: Shaolin Records: Buddha Z
www.BuddhaZ.com

Buddha Z BOOKS Publisher: Shaolin Communications
http://www.ShaolinCommunications.com

Buddha Z RECORD Label: Shaolin Records
www.ShaolinRecords.com

Buddha Z KUNG FU School: Shaolin Chi Mantis
www.ShaolinChiMantis.com

Shaolin Chi Mantis ONLINE KWOON
www.ShaolinInteractive.com

Daily Taoist 1_16 – Buddha Zhen Reads TAO #6 PART 2 of Tao of Taoism self-help inspired by Lao Tzu

July 19, 2020 April 11, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

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.

——————————————————————————

YouTube Video TRANSCIPT: Daily Taoist 66: Zen Buddhist Podcast of Shaolin Zen (to be shot)

YouTube Video TRASCRIPT: Daily Taoist 65 “AD #2”

YouTube Video TRANSCIPT: Daily Taoist 63 Tao #35 Take 2

A person who is aware of ultimate realities attracts the confidence of others through security, contentment, and self-satisfaction.

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 60 #34a

Ultimate reality–

Ultimate reality does not compete for recognition. Though other realitites may shout their identities, eventually all perspectives will merge into the ultimate reality.

Though other realities may shout their identities–

Eventually, all perpectives will merge into the ultimate reality.

Ultimate reality does not compete for recognition.

Be yourself naturally. Decide to do what will not require uncomfortable self-discipline.

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 28

Tao #17Employees / students must be as satisfied with their work as employers / teachers are with the results.

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT Daily Taoist 25

Here we go, NUMBER 14: Nature (and this is with a capital ‘N’ despite it being at the first–start of the paragraph). Nature cannot be measured or controlled. Yet, the operations of Nature (with a capital ‘N’) can be understood.

YouTube VIDEO TRANSCRIPT for Daily Taoist 21:

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.

YouTube Transcript for video of the Daily Taoist 16.

BOOKS by Buddha Z:

Buddha Kung Fu

INSTAGRAM Page

FACEBOOK Page

LINKED-IN Page

OFFICIAL Artist Website: Shaolin Records: Buddha Z

Buddha Z BOOKS Publisher: Shaolin Communications

Buddha Z RECORD Label: Shaolin Records

Buddha Z KUNG FU School: Shaolin Chi Mantis

Shaolin Chi Mantis ONLINE KWOON

Buddha Z is

Born: Richard Del Connor, Pacific Beach, California 1954

Buddha Z was

Products of Buddha Z

A person who is aware of ultimate realities
attracts the confidence of others
through security, contentment, and self-satisfaction.

Ultimate reality does not compete for recognition.
Though other realitites may shout their identities, eventually all perspectives
will merge into the ultimate reality.

Be yourself naturally.
Decide to do what will not require uncomfortable self-discipline.

Tao #17
Employees / students must be as satisfied with their work
as employers / teachers are with the results.

Here we go, NUMBER 14:
Nature (and this is with a capital ‘N’ despite it being at the first–start of the paragraph).
Nature cannot be measured or controlled.
Yet, the operations of Nature (with a capital ‘N’) can be understood.

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.