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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)

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_Reads TAO #33D – Creating Path in Life DESIGNED by Self, Not Others.

May 16, 2021 April 11, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 59 #33d

Alright. Back again. Daily Taoist here, Buddha Zhen. Reading from the TAO OF TAOISM written by me. Based on the DAO of Dao Te Ching or BOOK OF CHANGES by Lao Tzu, 2,200 years ago. I’m on page–well, not page but #33— actually “d” wasn’t it? This #33 has four parts to it. I broke it into four parts because it just had so much…

#33. We went from #33a and answered these questions. We went to #33b and asked these. “c” we just finished. [No. skipped accidentally] Now we’re on #33d. Let’s see what happens over here.

To create one’s own path in life
is an external achievement
beyond walking a path designed by other persons.

Period.

Read it again. And then you can say, “Hey! You’re the poster child for that one.”

To create one’s own path in life
is an external achievement beyond walking a path designed by other persons.

As I’ve said in all these many stories: is that my parents have been trying to get me to walk their path. Walk that path. You know… They’ve just been– In fact I got disinherited because I wouldn’t walk their path. They said, “If you’re not going to walk this path then we’re gonna kick you out of the tribe and the herd and everything. You can’t come back.”

When you hear people say things like that, they’re just down there in the low I.Q. range.

Okay. Here we go. Explain how parents, teachers, friends, religion.. influenced your path as a child. Yeah. We all got that. You’ve– We’ve all been influenced in different ways. So you’ve got to get it out. Get it all out there so you can see what you kept and what you didn’t keep. There may be things thatthey said you should go back to. I’m not saying– Put it all out. I gave you two lines. I think you need like ten.

Explain your teenage path influences.

Who influenced you as a teenager?

As a teenager it definitely wasn’t my parents. Not at all. Uh… So… who influenced? Remember, I grew up in the sixties. So when I think of who influenced me, they’d be people like John Lennon, and… Jimi Hendrix, and for writers…interesting, Abbie Hoffman, STEAL THIS BOOK. Ginsberg was the popular poet, but I didn’t really relate to him. So, not everything that was going on at that time harmonized my Tao. There was a lot of creative stuff. That’s the beautiful thing. It was such a huge Renaissance. There were people being creative in ways that I didn’t even appreciate. But they were being creative. They were being artistic. They were being– I don’t want to say abnormal– but “not normal.”

Okay. #33d: Walking your own path. Deciding this unique way you’re going to live your life. Which caused me to get kicked out of my own family. Just because I tried to be an individual.

Explain your teenage path influences.

Well now explain your young adult path influences. So once you turn 20–

See, once I hit 20 I was a recording engineer working in a studio. And so there were certain people who influenced my life. Like that famous drummer, uh Cappice, uh What’s wrong with me? I want to say, Armen Cappice [Carmine Appice] but that’s not it. The drummer from Vanilla Fudge. He started this institute and I enrolled in it. I met him. And then later, one of his prize students [drum student] Richard Augustine, who actually used to go visit and live with him and trained with him. One of his disciples was my drummer on the Temptation record. He does the song, “Carol.” He does “Billy Boy” also on another song on a different album. But anyway, he was an influence. I give him credit for that. Uh…let’s see and I would have to see the… producer of The Beatles. He gets a lot of credit. Because I was trying understand what he did. He inspired me. I mean back: engineering. “What might he do?” I would listen with headphones. “What did he do?”

Okay… Which of these influences are still incorporated in your path? And how?

Well obviously, Martin. He’s still influencing me. And… I’d like to think I made him proud. But he had a lot more resources than I do. But I’ve made good– In fact, people have been impressed with what I’ve done with my resources. So yes.

Which influences should be incorporated more and how?

Well that’s it. I’ve been– I’ve gone through Plato. I spent like four or five years going back to Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. Read Marcus Aurelius maybe twice more. THE MEDITATIONS. Epictitus, I read him a couple of times. I’ve been going through all the philosophers in the last ten years trying to rebuild my life. It’s like gosh, after marriage, “What the heck am I going to do with myself?” This whole thing about being a steer in the herd is absurd for me. I had to reput… like: “BkBkBkBkBkBk” cram a bunch of information into me and see what I ended up.

So now I’m…trying to create the new me and go forward so: You’ll have to see what it is. I’m creating a brand new creature. I am a brand new creature. And I’m synthesizing myself very, very, um… I don’t know about systematically, but effectively and consistently so I’m kind of like cooking myself in my own shell. And I’m emerging right now.

So here we go.

Creating Your Path Requires Excluding People from your Life

Which influences should be excluded now from your path and why?

Like I said, that’s romance and love. Well I’ve got love. I’ve got my kitty. Chewing away. Oh.. but sex. Pursuit of sex and relationships like that. That’s definitely a waste of time for me now.

I’ve got lots of love songs. I’ve got hundreds of love songs so people might never know I don’t have a love life. I could just release one my songs and people’d go, “Man. This guy’s horny!” [LAUGHS] I wrote it 30 years ago.

How and why has your path become radically different from your influences?

Radically different? Well, who are my influences? Well, I look at my musical influences: Hendrix, um… Mick Abrahms, Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winter. Those were some of my strongest influences as a guitar player.

[to cat] “Oh. Hi there buddy. Come on… Hello you.” He gave me that look.

What was the question. It had something to do with how have I become different from them? Well I decided that I exceeded them. I went, “WOW!” You know, Johnny Winter will always be the master just like my Kung Fu master Kam Yuen or Grandmaster Wong Jack Man. It doesn’t matter whether I ever was to try to think that I could beat them up. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter if they’re frail or had broken legs they’re my master and you can’t think things like that. But you can think of you’ve done something– you’ve improved on what they’ve done. And I know that I teach a lot better than any of my masters. Okay? So I’ve improved on them that way.

Now, as far as a guitar player, I found that it interesting. Because Rory Gallagher; I held him in high esteem as a singer-songwriter and a guitar player. And I love him. He was very instrumental– He was a strong influence on me in the beginning. I saw him like 7 times in concerts. I was just like inches away from him. Inches. And I was very inspired by him. And… but to realize that, “Wow,” you know my songwriting just went [truck noise] right past him. His songwriting became very shallow and narrow. And my guitar playing expanded in so many different directions. He is an AMAZING guitar player. He can do like a dozen things amazingly well. And of those I do maybe 8 of them [laughs] really well. But I’ve got another 8 that I do well. So I’ve done– So anyway I’m just impressed that I was able to do what he does. And then do other stuff… And like I said, my songwriting definitely went far beyond him. In fact I felt so bad for him. Because I think he’s so talented. And I look up to him. And I was thinking, “I wish he had my music.” If he would’ve recorded my songs he could’ve maybe been much more successful and had a much bigger audience. So I sometimes regret that I’m not famous because there’s a lot of people who are not taking advantage of what I have that would benefit their life. And make them better. My music… I’ve got great songs no one has ever heard. So people could make a lot of money off them if they had a way to put them in front of people. If they could make a recording of my song in a good way and then release it… People are gonna– I guarantee people are gonna like some of this music. Not because– They don’t even have to know it’s even me. Doesn’t matter who wrote it. There just good songs. But okay.

Uh… So let’s see. Which influences should be taken from my path? Did we get to that one? Um… “You really distracted me.” [to cat] You’re– Okay.

How and why has your path become radically different from your influences?

Well it became radically different because I had more information. People like Rory Gallagher: he got stuck into that routine of just touring every single year for years. And so– And that’s a job. You don’t have a life. You perform and you’re travelling and you don’t have that time to be alone and be in your… thinking zone. He’s travelling a lot. That’s very, very upsetting. People who tour will never talk very highly about touring. You’ll hear people say, “I don’t want to ever tour again.” It’s not the best way to live. A musician’s happier not touring. I have not toured to the point I don’t like touring. That’s because i’ve hardly toured at all.

So it’s kind of a good thing. I’ve never been burned out as an artist which is why I love playing. I’ve never played to the point where I– I’ve never played a song so much that I felt, “I DON’T WANNA PLAY THAT SONG AGAIN.” Except you’ll see one of the songs: It was just so emotional, it was so emotionally involving that I only played it a few times. The “Use Me” song. I actually start crying. If you see that video you might not be able to tell. Look really carefully when I go [cringes face] this is something… that… like… I’m really breaking down. Because this was the first day I was really being homeless and saying goodbye to my kids forever. [somehow I knew] Gone forever. That was the last day I ever– I visited them a few times after that. But that was the end. That was– That song “USE ME” [live video] was recorded on the last day I saw my kids. Anyway.

Sad song. I was like so sad when I wrote that. When I wrote it, but when I was siging it– I was sadder…

Okay. Here we go.

Where were we? Did I make it? Ten minutes.

Most People Should Follow the Path of their Parents/Friends

How and why has your path become similar to your influences?

Well it hasn’t become similar because I added so much spirituality and healthy living. See? All those people drink and they travel. They were doing drugs or drinking. So when they were spinning around in the hamster wheel. I was living my life and growing and explorying and going to UCLA. Being a photographer. Having kids. Developing Kung Fu schools. Going off and having a Hanblecia my Vision Quest on The Rosebud. Becoming a Pipe Carrier. Healing people for a few years. While they were just circling around doing tours and playing the same songs that they’d been playing for ten, twelve years.

Like this group Garbage. Which I really like on the first album. And I saw an interview again. And I was trying to figure them out. Put them in perspective. And their first album, “2.0” I think it was. It’s a great album. It’s a very, very good album. I’ve got it. I’ve got the CD. And it’s a good album but they haven’t been able to duplicate it. And I was trying to figure out why. And even she was saying that, “We’re happy what that album did for us.” And there’s a lot of clues if you can read between the lines and understand what people are saying. But yes, in other words, these are not real MUSICIANS. They were people who were playing music. And they may have been driven and they may have had some artist potential in them, in the lower qualities. Not in the first position though. I don’t know about any of them. Maybe the drummer. The drummer might have the MUSICIAN in the first position. But the other ones, you know I’m not so sure. Because they didn’t grow and expand. And so as a result they couldn’t grow as a group. But they were at that time able to take all their best qualities and everything that they had: mush it together and take all that stuff. That’s why most groups’ first record is the best. Because it’s got so much stuff crammed into it. Even if they’re not really MUSICIANS. It’s all that stuff that they did generate. You know, accidentally. As kind of pretending to be MUSICIANS they still created the stuff. And then when they jammed it together it was awesome. Now that album’s really good.

But where we? So, anyway I felt bad. And then she was talking about not having an ego and stuff like this, and being Scottish, and it’s like– “Awww” You’ve gotta have an ego to be an artist. That’s what an artist is. An artist lives for their ego. But then again you have to remember what the ego is. The ego is the expression of what’s inside of you. What most people think of the ego is a false pride. False pride is false pride. An ego is something different. But we’ll get to that later. But ego is a very good thing. Now what if you have somebody like Trump. He has false pride. He bolsters. He has this big huge ego based on lies, deception, bankruptcy, fraud… So yes, all that pride that he generates–that’s the evil. That ego that he has is evil. So that’s not real ego and its not real pride. It’s all just a bunch of fake news.

Alright. Buddha Zhen here with the real thing. The real news from 2,500 years ago. Bringing to you the freshest old news. Got, 2,500 years old. Gottem, the bones would even be be rotten by now. So anyway, bringing you Lao Tzu’s bones. [laughs]

Alright. So anyway that was kind of wrapping up the 33rd… I’m kind of a little distracted by my little buddy here. [Bear the cat] He’s taking a little bit of my energy and my love away. Sorry. You’re not getting me 100%. “Yes. I love you Bear.” But like I said, I relish my distractions. [talks to cat and laughs]

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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_55 – Buddha Zhen Reads TAO #32a – Nature is Omnipotent and Humans are Stupid

April 18, 2021 April 8, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 55

I just sat down and Bear [the cat] is trying to settle in here. “Hello Bear.”

I don’t know. Should I lower the camera so he’s more in view? “Hi Bear.” [Instagram video includes Bear in vertical format]

He’s trying to figure a way to get more comfortable. He sits on the binder rings. I’m trying to position him around them. He just wants to be where he knows he’s in my way. I’m just glad to get his attention. And I’ve come to realize that anything that could be called a distraction or annoyance is actually probably him expressing his love.

I need to take advantage of his being annoying and distracting. And appreciate those moments. So when he’s actually got the gumption to bother me–it may not be convenient. But, it’s one of those times when he’s really, willing to express some love or whatever. Whatever he needs.

You have to kind of remember, The Tao does not conform to your wallet–I mean–“to your wallet?” Well not that either. –your watch. The Tao has a balance and it’s always fluctuating. Right now it’s “Bear Time.” [laughs]

Anyway. But it’s also “You Time.” I’m trying to do these things.

Boy, this book is so enlightening. I… I’m so impressed with it. It doesn’t matter whether I wrote it or not. I think it’s just really– It gives me pause for a thing– There’s so many things that I’m thinking… I want to tell ya. And… anyway. So much I could say… to add to all this.

Anyway. We’re on #32a. “Right Bear? Is that right Bear? I’m gonna scratch that spot… I know your spots. Yeah I do…”

Actually, I’ve come to find that I thought he liked everything scratched but I’ve actually come to realize he likes being rubbed. He wants something gentler. He doesn’t always want my fingernails. [talking to cat]

So little things. Trying to figure out what he likes. [laughs] As to what I think he likes. They can be very different.

Okay. #32a

We’re reading the TAO OF TAOISM by me, Buddha Zhen. Zhen Shen-Lang. Richard Del Connor. And it’s based upon the BOOK OF CHANGES by Lao Tzu and the DAO TE CHING. And I use the word “Nature” for “Tao.” It just makes more sense and expresses the exact same thing. And the whole idea is to put it in words that YOU can understand. If you can’t make sense of this then it doesn’t matter what I call it. I could call it “The Gooba-Gooba.” You know, it doesn’t matter. If you don’t relate to that word–then we can’t communicate effectively.

But “Nature.” Everybody in America relates to “Mother Nature.” So that’s “The Tao.” [The Dao]

I’m supplanting or utilizing that term to basically represent The Nature. So everything that Lao Tzu says about The Tao being infinite means Nature is infinite. Okay.

So here we go.

And what does he say in #32a? He says,

“The simple powers of Nature are invisible,
yet omnipotent.
Nature will always have the last word–eventually.”

[LAUGHS]

Well, unfortunately, when Lao Tzu wrote that he wasn’t aware of radiation. I mean actually, Nature will have the last word. It will just be millions of years from now and the radioactivity will be gone. So Nature will actually still have the last word in that sense. But, he wasn’t really thinking humans could do as much damage as they can now.

Still. Even if we do. Even if we do make this place radioactive… Eventually, millions of years from now… you know… it won’t be radioactive. Who knows what will happen? [LAUGHS] “Gyahh.” Millions of years. Anyway…

How do you interpret the “simple powers of Nature?”

That’s the phrase: “Simple Powers of Nature.”

How do you interpret that? What does that mean to you?

And, are Nature’s powers really invisible?

Are Nature’s powers really invisible?

Invisible. What powers do we got here. What are Nature’s powers?

…And then, How can these invisible powers be utilized?

Okay. So what’s one of these invisible powers?

Well, Nature has the power of making things colder. At night when it gets darker it gets colder. And when the sun comes out it gets warmer. So these are invisible powers. We don’t see the oven. We don’t see the hair dryer pointed at the Earth. So these are invisible powers we could say.

So how could we–what’d I say? How could we utilize?

Well, utilize or adapted to at night we know that when we go to bed and you might feel great. But by morning you’re gonna need a couple blankets on you. Or you’re gonna wake up in the middle of night: cold. Boy, I’ve done that a bunch of times. Very alarming you know. Wake up fearing hypothermia. Trying to–and you’re shaking…trying to put on more things and pile on more things on top of you. Only happened a few–well…maybe it happened a lot of times. I actually don’t want to remember. Yeah. I know what it’s like to be real cold. Real–I mean–real cold and nothing you can do about it except pile stuff on you because you’re in a car and outside it’s colder. [LAUGHS] You’ve got some heat on the inside but it’s still too cold. Anyway.

How can these invisible powers be avoided?

Hey-hey. From what I was talking about: a house.

Okay, but I shouldn’t be leading you because you might have really interesting answers. And I may be leading you to much into reality. You may have some other really cool things to say.

Get this book! Do it on your own. [www.BuddhaKungFu.com/books] And you can have more time and do it.

Let’s see. What do you think will happen to Nature by mankind’s mistakes?

[LAUGHS] I already mentioned something. But seriously. You know, you should mention something. You’ve gotta show that you’re not totally ignorant here. If the whole world’s ignorant… That means… Yes, well actually, half the world’s ignorant.

Remember, the COMMON MAN is 60 to 80% of all people. You know, it’s just a breeder and a worker. That’s it. And that’s what we are. We’re a bunch of breeders and workers. This whole planet’s 80% breeders and workers. And then the other 20% are something else. A whole different thing. My spirit– My spiritual theory illuminates this quite extensively.

But… in terms of the common man– We’re just doing a thing– What is this? March 23 or something– We’re in this Corona Virus lockdown and they just did a study and they found out that 40% of all Republicans still think the Corona Virus is not a big issue. And it’s just going to go away in the Spring… in the heat. Like Trump told them. 76% of all Democrats think it’s a pandemic. So you see that 40% of all the Republicans, which is half of all the Republicans– So that’s about 25% of all people. 25% of all these people are actually so dumb that they will be misled by a liar and a cheater. And even though he is a liar and cheater they will still be misled by him. That’s how– I’m sorry I used the word, “dumb,” well…

If you’re smart you know– Well, a few people have called me, “smart,” and used it as an insult. “Ah–you’re so smart… you’re such a genius…” [LAUGHS] I’m serious. People have said that. Oscar even hurt my feelings a couple times because he was having so much trouble understanding my stuff he goes, “Well, you’ve gotta understand: you’re a genius! And you can understand that!” It took me back a few times. He was like–

Because I really think people can understand what I understand. I know that sometimes I go a little far, but I really think that most of what I say is understandable. And when people can’t keep up with me or understand it: I’m kind of like, a little surprised. You know, it’s like, well, don’t you wanna understand? Or can’t–

It’s hard for me to believe that people CANNOT understand. But I think that’s an understanding I need to develop. Because as I said, 25% of the people on this planet, half the Trump supporters are actually so dumb that they believe him when he’s lying. And they believe dumb things that he says, as a dumb liar. So they’re all dumb. And… we just need to recognize that. You know, if you’re a certain intellectual level, you know, you need to know that you’re at that level so you won’t be so fooled. These people that are dumb need to know that, “Hey, I know I’m not very smart so let me evaluate–let me talk to my friend. I’ve got a smart friend.”

Every dumb person needs a smart friend. I hope it’s gonna cure that. “THAT’S A GREAT IDEA” [BZ gets teary eyed] Every single dumb person out there needs to find a smart friend. [BZ is all choked up] It’s the only way out. So– [sniff] Wow! [BZ crying on camera and during typing now] I’ve always had a sympathy when I was kid. I read the book, CHARLIE — FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON, the book. [sniffle] Great book! Tore me apart. Still does. LOOK! [crying] Find a smart friend.

… let’s just finish this. Real quickly. [emotional]

What do think will happen to Nature by mankind’s mistakes?

I told you. The way it’s going. Or we’re going to obliterate this planet. It’s ridiculous but it’s so easy. We can do it with just a couple of buttons. We go boom-boom-boom-boom-boom… World’s gone. For 25 million years… gone. One boom. Pop… gone. Radiation. It doesn’t even matter where they hit the planet. They’ll pollute the atmosphere and pollute the whole world. [sniffle]

Describe the Earth in 100 years. 500 years. 1,000 years. 10,000 years.

I’m out of here. Bye. I’ve gotta go. [BZ still choked up]

But seriously. You dumb people: “I love you. I still want to help you. It doesn’t matter if you’re my kids or whatever. You’re humans. I like animals.”

This guy’s an idiot. [talking to Bear the cat] This– “Bear, you are so dumb. You are so dumb. You really are. But I love you. I love you to death. I really do. So, being dumb doesn’t mean that you can’t be loved… in my heart you’re a person.”

=====================================================

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

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

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

Buddha Zhen (Shifu Zhen Shen-Lang: Zen Kung Fu Master and Chinese Music Composer)

Shaolin Chi Mantis traditional Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan classes

YouTube Channel of Shaolin Chi Mantis Traditional Buddhist Kung Fu (“Daily Taoist” EPISODES)

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_53 – Buddha Zhen Reads TAO #31b – Our Left Side is Yang, Friendship Balanced by Trust

April 4, 2021 April 8, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

youTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 53 #31b

Hey. Hello there. The Daily Taoist here. Here to bring you some more things to hopefully help. Well they’re definitely gonna help you. Even if you don’t think they are. Once you’ve kind of got a good idea. Sometimes you’ve just got to find the time to understand it. And then you’ve got to find another time to implement it. And then you’ve got to find another time to say, “Yeah. That was a good idea because it’s gonna work.” If it doesn’t work you then you’ll be saying, “Ah… That good idea was a bad idea.” [LAUGHS]

Alright. #31b

Daily Taoist Buddha Zhen here. Richard Del Connor. And we’re reading from my book, the TAO OF TAOISM based on Lao Tzu’s book, THE BOOK OF CHANGES. Or Dao Te Ching.

Here we go. #31b

The left side of our body is a Yin female polarity.

This is China. We’re in China 2,000 years ago in China. So these are all things that made a lot of sense to them. And still do. But anyway, that’s 2,000 years ago.

He says,

The left side of our body
is a Yin female polarity
that will only extend itself in friendship
when we trust one another.

So it’s saying this arm over here is — doesn’t always trust you. So the right one…

By offering our left Yin side in friendship we stand alongside the right Yang side of our friend.

So in other words–

Friendship is balanced by trust.

Okay? So in other words really what it’s saying is you’re side by side. As long as you’re facing someone and you’re shaking right hands: Now you’re kind of opposing. You’re both kind of equal. Now, the moment you offer your left hand. See that shifts you over. They put out their right hand and I put out my left, I put over here and I’m facing. So that puts you now side by side.

So the right and so in other words the positive negative Yin Yang…

It’s a very clever little way of kind of– kind of shows something and expounds some other deeper things which I don’t think I really want to get into. Because we’re– But anyway.

The Yin-Yang concepts and female and the– and the hesitation, the trust and the everything–

This is an interesting point: There’s a whole bunch going on. All this is 31b, 31c. I broke it down because there’s so much information in this #31. And I broke it down into these three things.

But this whole thing about the Yin side. The trust. The positive-negative. And being side by side. That means you’re friends. As long as you’re facing each other, you’re not friends. You can be total enemies. When you’re side by side, you’re friends. You have to trust that person. If this person wants to kill you, that’s not the best place to put them. [LAUGHS] You want to have them in front of you where you can see what they’re doing. Wouldn’t want to put them right behind you either.

Okay? See? So anyway, you get the concept.

Here we go. #31b

Describe how you trust people.

Describe HOW you trust people.

How did you develop this trust system?

How did you develop YOUR trust stystem?

How DON’T you trust people?

How don’t you trust people?

There’s certain things you just don’t trust. Everybody draws lines.

Okay. Here we go.

How did this DISTRUST develop?

How did you decide where to draw that line?

HOW did this distrust develop?

Describe your female nature.

Whether a man or woman. Everybody.

Some men are much more feminine than women.

The 5 SOUL THEORY kind of all the sudden illuminates them.

But okay, here we go:

To who is your trust extended unconditionally now?

To WHO is your trust extended UNCONDITIONALLY now?

And I don’t know if I should say anything about this now, but I was actually raised on the wrong interpretation I was raised, “Men had CONDITIONAL love,” and “Women had UNCONDITIONAL love.” And it’s COMPLETELY THE OPPOSITE. 100% of the time. Completely the opposite. A woman will only love you when she’s got what she wants and everything’s alright otherwise NO. Totally conditional.

A man, he’s gonna keep loving you no matter what. He’s gonna go to his job and he’s gonna be consistent. He’s the one who’s patterned. The same with his job. He’s content, conditioned. He’s got a mind that has the ability to go to the same place for thirty years and work. Which means he can be with the same woman and go to the same home and work for thirty years too.

So a man has the unconditional ability built into him much more than a woman does. And I was raised, like I said, to believe just the opposite of that. Totally screwed me up. It messed me up. Because I honestly believed that women had unconditional love. So I expected that. I never found it. So I could’ve saved myself a lot of trouble if I wasn’t pursuing a lie.

Where are we? Five minutes. Okay.

To who is your trust extended UNCONDITIONALLY now?

To who are you uncondiditional?

To whom is your trust extended with reservations now?

Certain things you trust entirely but other things…

WHAT do those you trust unconditionally OFFER YOU?

I’ll read it again. What do those you trust UNCONDITIONALLY offer you?

So by trusting them, what does that give you access to?

What do those you SLIGHTLY DISTRUST offer you?

So those you have reservations about–you trust them a little bit–maybe not much but–

But actually, if you only slightly distrust them — that means you mostly trust them. So you mostly trust them, but you slightly distrust them. So, what are you getting from them?

Okay, then I’ve got my suggestions here. Hey only six minutes! That was a good one.

So yes, this goes to the Yin Yang concepts which I’m totally like rethinking and throwing out. And the– and the Chinese they have this belief that this is the Yin side and Yang side. Which is true if you’re right handed. It’s stronger than this side. It does create a Yin and a Yang.

I just realized in Kung Fu training if I make people think that way they’re gonna think this is stronger than this and they become kind of like wieghted over here.

I kind of wiped out that in all my Kung Fu training. We don’t use the Yin Yang. I say, “Move the energy both ways.” It can come in the Yin and go out the Yin. I do everything both ways. We do our exercises, we do our punching–try to do everything even. Most all the Kung Fu is right-handed. It’s like 70-80% right-handed. You know it’s not a complete exact balance of left and right kicks.

So I’ve created extra drills to bring up the left side of the body. So.. anyway, like I’m saying, I have agreements and disputes with the Yin Yang concept. And that’s the Tao. We can find out realistically how to put it. Now don’t impose certain concepts unnaturally onto Nature. [LAUGHS] You know, sometimes– Okay.

But there you go. That was #31b. of the TAO OF TAOISM. Read to you–in fact I’ve got time to read it one more time. Let’s read it one more time.

The left side of our body is a Yin female polarity
that will only extend itself in friendship
when we trust another.

So it’s saying, unless she trusts you–you’re not going to get anything.

By offering our left Yin side in friendship
we stand alongside
the right Yang side of our friend.
Friendship is balanced by trust.

So remember, friendship is a side by side relationship.

==============================================

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

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

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

Buddha Zhen (Shifu Zhen Shen-Lang: Zen Kung Fu Master and Chinese Music Composer)

Shaolin Chi Mantis traditional Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan classes

YouTube Channel of Shaolin Chi Mantis Traditional Buddhist Kung Fu (“Daily Taoist” EPISODES)

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_51 – Buddha Zhen Reads TAO #30 Cruelty, Destruction, Arrogance are Evil Persons

March 21, 2021 April 8, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 51

My Tao was saying, “Let’s go take a break.”

Then my other Tao was saying, “Hey! Let’s keep going!”

So it’s like, alright… Let’s compromise. We’ll do one more and then we’ll take a break. [LAUGHS]

You’ve gotta work with yourself. You know you can’t just push yourself all the time. You’ve gotta–You’ve gotta find your own Yin and Yang. So here it is: I’m going to do this #30 and take a break.

#30 of the TAO OF TAOISM. Written by me, Buddha Zhen, Richard Del Connor, Zhen Shen-Lang. Based on the book by Lao Tzu which I call THE BOOK OF CHANGES. Okay? Dao Te Ching. The Book of Changes.

It’s about basically the book of all the– everything changes. The book–Or you could even call THE TAO nothing but “Changes.” Because THE TAO doesn’t exist. It’s just your way of trying to understand: what was–what is now–what it’s becoming… It’s just a constant flow of change. All reality is a constant flow of change.

Okay. Here we go. #30.

Cruelty, destruction, and arrogance
are unnatural evil forces.

Man! Should mail a copy of this to– Well, Trump’s not gonna– He doesn’t read. You see? That’s the problem. Trump could never do this book. Trump is never going to be a better person. He’s always going to be a terrible, terrible person. Because he’s not capable of reading this book. That’s a shame. Because I would like to at least improve him. It’s not like I want to– hurt him. He deserves to be hurt. He’s hurt lots of people. Even killed–anyway, inadvertently perhaps killed people. Yeah, what to do with that guy? Put him in prison. Make him read my book the rest of his life. Heck–

Okay, #30.

Cruelty, destruction, and arrogance are unnatural evil forces.

Remember, I define evil as anything that works against the good of the person. In other words, anything I don’t want you to do to me is evil. I don’t want you to take my car. That’s evil. I don’t want you to take my house. That’s evil. I don’t want you to shoot me. That’s evil. I don’t want to go without food. I don’t want you to take my food and make me hungry. That’d be evil. Anything that hurts me is evil. Anything that helps me is good. Hey, you’re gonna give me some more food. That’s nice. That’s a good thing to do. You’re gonna give me some more money. Hey, that’s a good thing. Gonna give me a better car. That’s a good thing to do. Thank you, I could use it. See? All these things are good.

See? You can see the difference between good and evil. One helps the person. And one hurts the person. So–

Do you enforce laws, rules, and punishments for disobeying those laws and rules you dislike?

Alright. Let’s read that again. I’ll read it maybe twice. Make sure we get it right.

Do you enforce laws– (Okay, so do you like a parent) –enforce laws rules and punishments for disobeying rules and laws you dislike?

Like what about smoking pot? Now what if a policeman smokes pot. They probably test him so much he couldn’t. Anyway, if he could, but he wanted to smoke pot, but he’s gotta arrest other people and put them in handcuffs for doing it. Even though it’s something he wants to do. See thats… So he’s enforcing a law that he dislikes.

Do you believe that when a person breaks a law they should “pay the consequences?”

Ah. Should people suffer? Should you make them atone for it. Okay? There’s a whole bunch of answers to that but I’m just looking for yours right now. I’m not sure if this is the place to go into all the psychology and everything of what’s going on here.

So let’s just go through this and I’ll try to influence you as little as possible. [LAUGHS] Because if you’re seductive [sadistic] evil qualities–You need to see them. You need to let them out. So I don’t mean to– I’ll probably. You’ll probably be hiding them, “Oh, I’m not gonna say that. He’s not gonna like–” So don’t write it for me. Write it for you. Write the truth in this book and then look at it, and then that’s the only way you can get better. You can’t hide from yourself. Well YOU CAN. In fact, that’s probably what you’ve been doing your whole life. Everybody who’s looking at this has probably hid from themselves to some extent.

Me? I mean, I wasn’t trying to. I was trying to be something I wasn’t. So I was trying to hide my artistic Nature. I was trying to be a Carpenter when I wanted to be a Musician. So I was kind of hiding a little bit.

So, yeah. We all do it in our own way. How do you– Okay.

Do you believe that a person who breaks a law should “pay the consequences?”

Do you believe the rule, “Spare the rod–and you’ll spoil the child?”

Do you believe in that rule? That it’s correct? Spare the rod and you’ll spoil the child?”

Do you believe that too much patience or affection will “spoil the child?”

So in other words, if you don’t punish them enough they’re not going to be good. And if you’re too good to them, they’re not gonna turn out good.

“Spoil the child.” Do you ever say, “spoil the child?” “You’re spoiling him.” Do you ever say that? Have you ever used the word, “spoil?” (In regards to other people.) Have you ever said it?

Can you kick or hurt a dog, cat or other small animal when they misbehave?

In other words, when they’ve done something bad. They’ve pee-ed on the floor. Or something that really just makes you mad. They’ve done it before. Do you kick them? Punish them?

Do you enjoy hunting animals?

I guess, “enjoy.” Now I used to– I’m a hunter. Was a hunter? I’ll always be a hunter. If I had to I’d be a hunter now. But if I don’t have to I don’t really want to. I’ve got other things more important. [LAUGHS]

But anyway, as a hunter do you ENJOY hunting animals?

Let me tell you, because you probably aren’t a hunter. There aren’t many hunters around. Last twenty years they’ve kind of disappeared. Everybody’s afraid of guns.

The point being: as a hunter I don’t enjoy killing animals. But I do enjoy hunting. So I don’t care if I ever even catch–if I’m successful. I always enjoyed every hunting expedition I’ve been on whether or not I bagged anything. Seriously. I’ve always enjoyed them equally. The one’s where we did actually kill something were actually more problematic and had more stuff. And you gotta gut ’em, and hang ’em, and bleed ’em and drag ’em back in the snow. It’s a lot of work actually killing an animal and bringing it back. So I wouldn’t call that more fun. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed that part. So I enjoy hunting, and maybe I enjoy hunting less [more] when I’m unsuccessful.

Do you enjoy killing people?

And then in parentheses I put, “in games.” [LAUGHS]

I remember this one little kid I was talking to and he was all proud of himself because he’d had 29,000 kills in one year. So in one year he was proud he had killed 29,000 individuals. Of course they were supposed to all be bad, but you know they were still ranging from probably elves, fairies and dwarves and demons and humans and soldiers and whatever. 29,000 people killed. Because you were aiming at them and trying to kill them. So that’s 29,000 to actually go, “I want you to die. Die. I want you to die. Die. Die.”

Even when I was hunting, I wasn’t really saying, “I want you to die.” It was more like a contest of trying to–of anyway… You’re just–

Okay. Where are we?

So, do you enjoy killing people? (In games.)

Low battery. Sheesh. I told you I’d have to take a break right after this.

Here we go.

Explain your viewpoint on guns.

I keep mentioning this. So lay out yours. Say it to yourself. What’s your viewpoint on guns. “They’re all evil…” Say whatever you believe. Okay?

Which sports do you enjoy? And why?

Everybody’s got certain sports. But why not the other ones? Why this one over that…? Think about it. Maybe you don’t even know. But think about it. Why didn’t you choose football instead of soccer? Why didn’t you choose badminton instead of tennis? Probably can’t find badminton on TV. [LAUGHS]

Alright. Here we go.

What should be done with homeless persons?

Oooh. Remember. I wrote this book back in the eighties. Rewrote it in the nineties. Last rewrite was ten years ago before I ever knew I was going to be a homeless person. Although I had lived out of my van a couple times in the eighties. I started my record company that way. I was a union carpenter working at the airport at LAX for a year and a half or something. And I lived out of my car. I got the job and realized it was one of those like long haul jobs and I was the Steward and so I was going to be one of the last people fired on the job. Which is kind of cool. Sometimes you’re just hired and you go for a couple of weeks. And then you’re gone. But in this case I was the Union Steward so that was a long term job. So I would just work. Go to my Kung Fu school. And then I’d go park at the beach. And do my Kung Fu and play music in my car or go to band rehearsal. That was in the mid-eightes. Mid-eighties.

Where were we? Yeah. Maybe 1982, ’84. It was before the ’84 Olympics. So it would have ben ’83 before the Olympics. Maybe I was working when it started. I’m not sure.

Explain your viewpoint on– Okay– Oh– Explain your viewpoint on guns.

Explain your viewpoint on gun laws.

Okay. So you said guns. Tell what you think on gun laws. I never thought this was going to be an issue. But it was a long long time ago I wrote this. Before this became this hotbed thing.

Explain your viewpoint on other weapons.

So me, I’d bring up nunchuks. You don’t even know what they are probably. They had a big heyday because of Bruce Lee. He made nunchuks famous. For like ten years every criminal and every person in the world carried nunchuks. And that’s why they had to make all these laws against nunchuks. It’s because of Bruce Lee. If he would’ve never made nunchuks famous they would have never had to make laws that they were illegal. So that’s the one thing he did. He made nunchuks famous. And now nunchuks are dead. Kung Fu is dead. Bruce Lee is dead.

What are your favorite wars and why?

Remember. A lot of people just love World War II things. I’ve actually got a World War 2 book. And as soon as I wrote it I get all this advice: “You’ve gotta put World War II on here. There’s all kinds of people–that’s all that they look for is World War II stories and World War this… So, yes…A lot of people have favorite wars. They just love to keep them alive in their minds and their worlds and their books and their videos. They… anyway–

So WHY do you like those wars?

Put the whole answer there. You might be surprised, or hopefully you might learn something about yourself.

What are your favorite violent movies? And why?

Violent movies… and why.

Me personlly, I have BOOM Desperado. Desperado One, the scene in the bar. Where his gun case opens real slowly and they can see– “I’m just looking for the man named, Bucho.” Anyway, that scene. That movie, Desperado., I love it. Very, very violent. Ugly sometimes. I’m not trying to be the total– Goody 2-Shoes. I’m just– Let’s all be honest. But I love that battle scene. That’s one of my favorites. I just watched it. I found it on YouTube. I saw it just recently. [LAUGHS] A month ago or something. I was like, “Yeah!” I had to play that scene. I just enjoyed it.

And okay. And that’s killing, horrible sadistic things.

Okay. Where were we? Where are we? Oh we’re over here on this page.

What are your favorite horror movies? Books? Or Stories?

So Horror movies, books and stories. What are your favorites? ‘kay?

I don’t even know if the “WHY” even matters because you wouldn’t want to say, “Well I like this movie where they cut up…” You don’t want to try to come up with a reason. So don’t try.

But maybe–I don’t know. Maybe if you could look at the influence why–or who got you to start looking at them or liking them. Look at maybe a few things like that. Okay?

If you were given a Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde potion– (Remember? You drink it and then you turn into your alter character? They used to call it the evil or whatever it is–that other ego–the animal ego or whatever. ) –What monster would you become?

So if you were this other monster–as opposed to the civilized animal: you know: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde- Dr. Jekyll I guess was the nice guy. And then Mr. Hyde was the really evil… Anyway, what monster would you– Describe the evil you. What would be the evil you?

And describe your car, clothes, status and social image.

I was thinking of the evil one of you. But do both of them. Do your Dr. Jekyll images of you: how you’d dress. Your car clothes and status. How they’d be different. Dr. Jekyll would maybe drive a Ferrari. Maybe, or– You figure it out. Anyway. This is for you to look at yourself. That’s what this is for.

Alright. Buddh Zhen here in thirteen minutes and this is your Daily Tao #30 and we were talking:
Lao Tzu says,

Cruelty, destruction, and arrogance
are unnatural evil forces.

And that’s what I say to you.

=============================================

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Daily Taoist 1_50 – Buddha Zhen Reads TAO #29 Nature Balances by Responding to Opposition Forces

March 14, 2021 April 8, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 50

Hey. We’re trying to get to Part 2 here. We’re back on #29.

I went and deleted some stuff. And it looks like I didn’t set up very well, my phone. Anyway, let’s see if I can finish it.

Here we go. And it’s called “DO NOT DISTURB.” That’s the setting I need to work on in my phone. It’s the “DO NOT DISTURB” setting. So I just clicked it on and I’m hoping we’re not gonna see any “NOTICES” popping up.

Alright. Here we go. Finishing #29. It asked what setbacks or losses you’d had.

Now. Do you have Nature’s support in your current efforts?

So, do you think what you’re doing is Natural? Well, like maybe your effort is to have a baby. So you’d definitely want to be in harmony with Nature. You don’t want to be going against Nature. You want to feed her. And take care of her. And do all the things that Nature would want you to do.

Does it ever feel like the world is against you?

Does it ever FEEL like the world is against you?

[LAUGHS] As I’ve said, looking at my life you’d say, “It looks like the world has held you down.”

No, the world didn’t hold me down. This is just not a world that could offer me opportunities that I needed. You know, it’s just not the right world for me. It’s not that the world was bad–It’s just meant for somebody else. Not me. Okay… we’ll get it.

Umm, How does Nature depend upon you or appreciate you?

Yeah. I’ve saved lots of lives. Brought families together. Marriages together. I’ve got people to say that they couldn’t hold a job and now they can because they’re now more responsible. A couple people have said they would’ve committed suicide if it wasn’t for me. So I know I’ve helped lots and lots of people. And if Nature was really a Mother and watching this–and she saw how I was interacting and helping and improving the health of a lot of her kids…Nature would–Heck. Nature would pay me a whole bunch of money. [LAUGHS]

“What’s in your wallet?” “Nature.”

Okay. Here we go.

Do you have backup plans and other goals to turn to when opportunities disappear?

I just recently did some podcasts about ‘Plan A’s’ and ‘Plan B’s.’ And… backup plans and other goals to turn to.

I’m a person who just has multiple goals. So when one is problematic or shut down, then I just change lanes and keep going. So I’m always moving forward.

For the Common Man, I’d say you should always have a couple other things, like painting the house, or some other projects… as secondary. If you can’t do this, or maybe you’re stuck at home. You’re isolated with the Corona Virus: Go paint your house. That can’t be illegal. Actually, I’m surprised that isn’t… If you’re stuck at home with the Corona Virus: start remodeling. [LAUGHS] Work at home. I think that’d be awesome. Me as a carpenter, man, if I was forced to be at home and had all my tools… You’d say, “Hey. What happened to your house? How’d you get this mansion here?” [LAUGHS]

“The Building Department was closed so I couldn’t ask them about a second story addition. So I just had to do it.” [LAUGHS] I’m being–I’m being comical. I actually believe in obeying all building regulations. So if you are going to make home improvements do them legally. Even in a situation like this Corona Virus Shutdown. I’m actually in isolation. Forced– What do they call it? Forced home containment? What is the name for it? [Shelter in Place] Social Distancing is a nice word. Okay.

Describe your ability to be stubborn and– Well actually, I’ve got something in front of that.

Are you single-minded in your goals without stopping or being stopped by anyone?

I’m almost. My life is a lot of things of course, been deterred by other people or myself. But yes. I’d like to think I am.

How about you? Are you single-minded? Do you get where you’re going? Or do you stop half-way? Do you start things and not finish–not finish them? In fact, look how many projects you’ve started in the last five years and how many you’ve finished–and you can better idea of who you are.

Describe your ability to be stubborn and persistent.

And remember, this is PART 2 of 29. [note: PART 1 = missing. To be rerecorded as Daily Taoist___]

Describe your ability to be stubborn and persistent.

Those look to me different. Stubborn means you stop. Persistent means you keep going. But–I don’t know. What’s your difference on those? Come up with your answer.

How do you know when to change your mind or give up?

We’ve got some real yin and yangs here.

How do you know when to change your mind or give up?

What cuss words do you use?

That’s weird. I was just thinking about this a minute ago.

What cuss words do you use?

There’s a relative, who’s always cussed a lot. And when he’s around me he cusses even more because he knows I don’t like it. You know, it’s just kind of weird and I was thinking, “What–I kind of–thought to myself of using a comeback or using one of his cuss words… But then, I do something ugly… If somebody farts, and you go, “Well I’m gonna fart–and how do you like it?” That’s, that’s not good. But I don’t want to cuss at somebody to show how ugly it is. Because obviously, they can’t see that. So anyway.

What cuss words do you use?

[LAUGHS] But it did make me realize that I’m always going to talk to this person as little as possible. But that was the end result as I thought to myself. You know I just really don’t want to have this person in my environment because they’re going to make noises with their mouth that are gonna make me feel uncomfortable. Or unhappy like a fart. Who wants farting in your presence? When you can just say, “Later. Go fart somewhere else!”

Hey. Is that it? What cuss words do you use?

Yeah, remember: cussing is farting. Your basically trying to sound really ugly. You’re keeping people at a distance. BUT, some people like farting, other people will cuss and you can fart together.

Okay. That was SECTION 29. Oh yeah, let’s go back. Do we have time for it? Oh yeah, we have plenty of time. This was PART 2. So we didn’t read it maybe on the beginning of this lesson.

Those who interfere with natural principles
create the destruction of their efforts.

So if you build something unnatural, Nature’s gonna tear it down.

Nature is balanced by opposing forces.

So it doesn’t matter if there are opposing forces. You can find balance.

I just though a couple things there.

Opposing Nature creates a natural opposition.

Once again, those things are going to just happen. Everything always kind of settles back.

You can push up here temporarily but you’re not gonna stay there. You’re coming down.

Okay. So there’s #29 of the TAO OF TAOISM.

Buddha Zhen here. See your soon.

=================================================

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

BOOKS by Buddha Zhen

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Daily Taoist 1_47 – Buddha Zhen Explains TAO #27 Friends, Love, Family and Path of Success with Tao

February 21, 2021 April 8, 2021 / Daily Taoist, Tao of Taoism, Taoism / By Richard

YouTube Video TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 47

Alright. I’m gonna do one for of these before I take a break and have lunch… Get these done.

I need to get all these done right now and then I’ll be able to release them on a regular basis. But I’ve gotta. Unfortunately, I got messed up and backed up and coverered up one of my classes. I lost a class. I can fix my mistakes. But I made a mistake. i can fix it and know what to do. And I’m gonna fix it by finishing this project: I’m gonna go all the way to the end of the book.

So if you’re here. Feel good that I’m going to go all the way to the end. [laughs] Here we go.

#27

Proper performance of any task
is obvious by the lack of need to repeat the task.

See? And that’s why me as a musician I always try to record it–I mean I could sloppily record and then say, “I’ll fix it up some day.” But that’ll never happen. Especially for me. So I’ve got to make everything good the first time. Leave it and then know it’s good. Same with my books. And there might be a typo or something in it. But I get them as good as I can. Feel good about it, and then I’ve gotta move on. I’ve actually found I think three typos in this book already. “AHHHH.” [LAUGHS]

Okay. Here we go #27: Yeah, this is a good one. Proper performance– (They’re all good. Learn every one of these here because they’re worthy of consideration.) [sigh]

Daily Taoist here. Let’s blast!

Proper performance of any task
is obvious by the lack of need to repeat the task.
Each person’s methods are recognized by the balanced observer to be correct and efficient
in terms of the path or way of the individual.

Ooh. There’s a few cool words in there. Alright. So… You ready? Last sentence.

An unbalanced person can learn
from the successes of balanced persons.
And a balanced person can learn
from the mistakes of an unbalanced person.

Yeah. That’s kind of my friend Oscar. He tried so hard to help me. But he was out of balance–and it was just nice to have a friend. A friend is someone– My definition of a friend is: someone who is trying to improve your life.

My definition of love: is somehe sone who is working to improve your life. Love and friendship. Almost the same. Love just seems a little more committed. Friend’s just one step away. But that’s it. If they’re not trying to improve your life they’re not your friend. You’ve got lots of acquaintances. You can know a thousand people who think you’re wonderful. Say nice things. they’ll take you out to dinner. Send you Christmas presents. They’re not your friend and they’re not your lovers. Or someone that loves you. If they loved you they’d make sure that something improves in your life. They could not leave you just like that. Like a field. Like a plantation. If you love those plants, you’re not gonna just say, “Oh they look nice.” And then come back a year later. You have to water them and take care of them. Love requires effort. That used to be one of my slogans. It’s in a couple of poems I’ve written. I’m trying to teach people that LOVE is not a word. In fact that’s tht name of the poem I think, “Love Is Not A Word.” Love is effort. If somebody’s not putting effort into making your life better–then they’re not giving you any love. And they do not love you.

Alright. Here we go.

Are you generally satisfied with the work you do?

Yeah. Oh, I’m sorry. I’m not supposed to answer for you. [laughs]

Are you generally satisfied with your work that you do?

Explain your work standards of excellence.

Ah. You see now, that’s what defines sometimes– That’s why it’s so important to differentiate between the WOMAN soul and the WORKER soul. The WORKER soul is willing to accept whatever you say are the terms of excellence. But a WOMAN’s only going to agree to what she’s gonna agree to and that’s it. You can’t force her to agree to something she doesn’t want to agree to. A WORKER will agree to whatever you say. Whatever your terms are. Okay? Your standards of excellence.

You want that shiny? He’ll make it shiny. A WOMAN soul’s gonna say, “Ah that’s shiny enough.” Okay.

How do your standards relate to your goals?

So, your standards of excellence and your goals.

If people judge you by your work–what is their judgement of you?

So when people see you. Let’s say you’re a cashier, in the store. And they see you. What’s their judgement of you as a worker? And, as a person? I

If people judge you by your work–what is their judgement of you?

What do they think of you based on the way you handle the cash register?

There’s a wide variety of people there, in terms of… Check that out. Rate people. Judge them. Then try to figure what the quality of their life is. And what they’re like when they’re not working. Based on what they’re like when they’re working.

What are you artistic standards of excellence?

Artistic standards of excellence???

I think I’m trying too hard for you guys. Well, remember I wrote this for my Kung Fu students. So yes, they’re supposed to have artistic standards of excellence. They’re doing Kung Fu. I forgot. [LAUGHS] This was actually written remember for my Kung Fu students. So when i wrote this I was writing for a certain type of audience. Not everybody. This probably doesn’t interest most people. Most people don’t care about their standards of excellence. I thisepnk right there I just [SNIP SNIP] I just separated off about 50% of the planet. 50% of the planet does not operate on standards of excellence. It’s just meeting your standards enough to get paid and that’s it.

They don’t operate under any particular standards other than whatever it takes to get paid. Okay? So that’s half the population. So that’s why this book probably only has a limited audience. Okay.

How do your work standards–

WELL ACTUALLY I WANT EVERYBODY TO READ IT THOUGH. Remember, if I’m gonna stop wars–I’ll make some other books that are easier. I have hope for them. You tell me hard this book is.

How do your work stands relate to your goals?

So in other words, you’ve got these standards of excellence and how does that relate to any of your other goals?

Obviously, they should all tie together. That’s what we’re working to: is to tie all this together. But sometimes we’re fractionalized. Sometimes you just know how to be a good student and you don’t know how to be a good worker–that doesn’t make sense. They’re both the same. So we’ve got to make everything fit together–and then you’re in harmony and then you can be as successful as you can be.

How do you determine the quality of your work? In other words, usually your parents–or your father determines your standards of quality. In the Confucian family the Father tells the Mother that these are his rules. And then the Mother exacts those rules and plays the rule. So the Mother is the enforcer and the Dad is the legislator. He’s like the Senator: he makes the rules. And then Mom, she is the school teacher who teaches the kids and like I said… it’s that triumvirate, that pyramid.

Let’s see. How reluctant are you to repeat a job if it’s okay–not great.

Boy, that’s one I bump into every day. So many times. So many times I hit that… and sometimes I just have to say: And there’s a slogan I use. And I still use it. Still echoes in my head. Maybe it will help you. “A JOB WORTH DOING ONCE IS WORTH DOING TWICE.” That echoes in my head… so many times. I’ll look at it and go, “Oh…. If it’s worth doing once–I’ll do it twice.” In fact that happened with my bed. When I got it out and I was trying to find a leak. My airbed. And I couldn’t. And I put it in there and it still leaked… And it’s like, “AHHHHHH.” I wanted to pretend it’s okay, but it wasn’t. There was still a leak. So I thought, “It’s worth doing twice.”

So I took all the covers off, took out here in the living room. Soaked it down where I had more room to work around it. Found two more holes. [LAUGHS] But there’s still another hole. I’ve gotta do it again.

Alright. Here we go.

Does it seem that life repeats its hardships?

Is that a perspective? I’ll have to evaluate the question more.

Does life seem to repeat its hardships

Does it seem impossible to get ahead?

Whew! Living on the street for six years… it almost seemed impossible… but look. I’m here. But I had to develop an alternate strategy. Couldn’t figure out how to make money. Couldn’t do it through fundraisers. And I couldn’t do it through family. I couldn’t do it through friends. I couldn’t do it through selling books. I couldn’t do it through selling Kung Fu classes. I couldn’t do it through selling music. I couldn’t do it through performing. I couldn’t–I mean I tried everything I could to make some money but I couldn’t do it.

And so finally I had to play the system. I had to play the long game and I had to get Section 8. And I was hospitalized. And I did that. I was in Martin Luther King for six months. And then I was in a homeless shelter for a year. Man, I had to play a long game to end up in this situation where I’m settled. This is not the way I wanted to do it though. I tried to just make money. My thing. But I had to form an alternate strategy and play the system.

Where were we?

What slows down the progress of your dreams?

Not having family support. No money. If I had money I might–I’d-I’d… SHEESH! [LAUGHS] I’m like thirty years behind in all my projects. Because I don’t have enough money to finish them and do everything I want with the projects I started thirty years ago. I’d just reach a dead-end because I couldn’t put any money into them.

But yeah. So money is my big impediment. I don’t have family. Family won’t give me money. No friends. No sales. No fans. No customers. [SIGH] That’s why I say. I don’t know if I want to come back to this world for another life. This is just too frustrating. It’s just not really– I could’ve accomplished so much more.

I’m actually– Should I tell you? Ah, Ill tell you. What the heck. I’ve actually–the Vedic Scriptures— I kind of got goose bumps the other day when I realized I’d already figured out the answer to my problems. In the Vedic Scriptures they talk about different Heavens. Different afterlifes. Different worlds your soul can live on. And I think that’s what it is–I just got on the wrong planet. I’m on the cow planet. And I’ve really got to find an art planet. Find a place where there’s creative thinkers, and artistic thinkers, and scientists. And that’s the planet I need to be on.. This is a terrible planet to be on if you’re an artist. Absolutely the worst planet to be on. Your own family! I’m disowned and disinherited by my own mother because I’m an artist. So you don’t want to be on this planet. Earth is a horrible planet to be on.

So if I am gonna have another life–and I don’t want to just give up–Maybe I should just be a ghost forever. Maybe that’d be more fun. If I am gonna be alive again it’s gonna have to be on another planet. Because this planet sucks! It really sucks.

Okay. Where are we? And that’s fine. You know. All the cows are as happy as they can be. [LAUGHS] And I’m not trying to say, “Ah you cows! It’s your fault!” No. It’s my fault. I came here and decided to live with a bunch of cows. That was MY mistake.

Okay. But I’m learning. I’m getting smarter. I’m getting smarter see? I’m getting my new strategy. My next strategy is: get a better planet to live on.

Do you really seek advice, or prefer to do it yourself?

I’M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR ADVICE! Like Oscar. He couldn’t even give me good advice. But I was still asking questions. We would argue. But even when he was giving me bad advice– I could at least–like–argue with him. It was good–that way I was kinda still figure out what the advice was. Poor Oscar. He tried so hard to help me. But he couldn’t. He was–just not equipped. [LAUGHS] He didn’t have what he needed to help me. And I think that broke his heart when he realized that.

He was always my friend to the end though. Yeah, I’ve gotta give him that. He was my friend.

How do you enjoy helping other people do better?

Hey, my picture froze [camera image freezes].

Alright. It looks like we’re jammed up. Ooop my picture froze. I’m gonna have to quit. Maybe I ran out of memory.

Do you enjoy reading autobiographies of successful persons and do you enjoy reading ‘how-to’ books?

The counter’s rolling. I’m gonna quit here. And this was #27 of the TAO OF TAOISM, which says,

The proper performance of any task
is obvious by the lack of need to repeat the task.

=========================================

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

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

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

Buddha Zhen (Shifu Zhen Shen-Lang: Zen Kung Fu Master and Chinese Music Composer)