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.
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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
Oh, by the way, on that marriage thing. I wish I’d known a lot of this. I come from what SHOULD HAVE been a traditional family. They’re just Republicans. And there’s no tradition in Republicans at all. Greed. Power. Republicans: that’s why they have to cling to religion. Otherwise they’d have no structure and no spiritual basis whatsoever. They just use religion as a stick. They’re not really into it. They just use it as a stick, so it looks like they’re good people. It’s a ruse. R-U-S-E… I think. I’ve never written that word.
Alright. # 21.
The unseen forces of Nature are known to all who feel them within their own self.
Okay. That’s just kind of a nice little thing about being natural and feeling Nature.
The unseen forces of Nature– (with a capital ‘N’) –are known to all– (Remember he says, “The Tao.” And sometimes I use “Nature” instead of “The Tao.”) –The unseen forces of The Tao are known to all who feel them within their own self.
I feel The Tao. I feel Nature. I’m a little more comfortable saying, “Nature,” than thinking of “The Tao” running around.
Here we go. Okay. #21.
Describe these unseen forces as you know them.
What lurks inside your wallet– I mean, your body. [laughs]
Describe these unseen forces as you know them.
What is your soul?
Ah. You know me. If you would’ve asked me five years ago, I would have said we have two souls. We have our soul and we have the Supersoul. The soul of God. So when we die they split. One goes back to God and one has maybe some identity to it. So that was my concept up to a few years ago. In the last few years I’ve come to realize that, Ahh, maybe there still is this Supersoul, but this one over here is actually four souls stuck together. See? Oh that’s interesting. Because that still makes up five doesn’t it? Remember, I told you there’s five souls.
But I still think this one. I don’t know how this– I haven’t actually questioned this, so I don’t know how to fit in this fifth soul. But there are five souls and we have four. Maybe that is why we only have four. Because the fifth one is this one taking that place.
I only figured that out while I was talking to you.
Okay. Here we go.
Describe these unseen forces as you know them?
What is your soul– What is your life force?
Well I describe that as Chi. And I use the Tai Chi and the Qigong and everything to find it and move it around. I CAN FEEL IT. It’s kind of like buzzing. It’s kind of like a balloon. A soft balloon, and I can push it on myself. Or think of it as a big foam ball. A big foam ball. I can take that big foam ball and I can push it. And I can feel the foam as I push closer I can feel it more.
So that’s how I feel and see it.
What happens to your body when you die?
Wow. Well your body–I guess you just rot. So… there’s not big deal there. Although, a lot of people cremate. BUt the difference between cremation and burying–I’m not sure. Because I’m still, even as a physicist, I’m not totally under this “Matter is never destroyed.” You know, when you’re cremated. What’s the difference between cremating and going into the earth? I still haven’t resolved some of those issues. So I’m not the person to give you answers. I’ve got questions on that. [laughs]
What happens to your soul when you die?
This is interesting. Remember I told you that story. I think it was in August. Two Augusts ago when one of my best friends and mentor. That was my Taoist mentor, Ru Zhing Shi died and passed away in Vegas. But I didn’t know it until like a week later. Somebody called me up and said, “Ru Zhing Shi is dead.” “Wow. When’d he die?” And they said it was like that Sunday. And I thought, that Sunday I had a conversation with him in my brain. Well I thought it was me. I go through conversations and things. Scenarios in books and stuff… So I tend to– If God’s talking to me, I probably thought it was me inventing a screenplay. [laughs] So anyway. I had this conversation with Steve. And he asked me a couple questions about this and that, and I said. I actually said some harsh words to him. I’m not gonna tell you what I said. I wouldn’t take them back. I meant every word, every syllable of it. I told him some things that were true. And I actually told him what his Buddhis master told me.
So anyway. It was kinda weird. It was weird. But the point is I had this little conversation in my head. I didn’t think anything of it. And then a week later I find out, “Oh he died right then.” “What!?” So I don’t know. Did I have a conversation with my Taoist master. He really believed in the afterlife and was kind of into ghosts so I wouldn’t put it past him.
So… the other experience I had was just recently when my best friend died. And I searched around for him to see, “Okay Oscar? You got a message for me?” He died at like five in the morning and I didn’t find out until about eleven. So I was fishing around trying to find out if there was any message or anything he’d left for me. So I meditated for a while and I got one image. I did get something. If it was Oscar its gonna haunt me the rest of my life. I can see it right now. Darn tootin’ clear. But I got this image. And it was all black and there were four squares and they were fading back… and they were like little white rectangles. This is weird. Because you remember that see the light thing…When I had a reincarnation experience, several years ago, the light was the key. Like one of those rectangles… You could see the light and you’d pass through the rectangle. That would put you back into reality. And so anyway, that was the only thing I knew about the rectangles. But I didn’t see it as an outline this time as much as a window and I could see through it. But in this case, maybe because they were farther away– I saw it as the white windows and then one of them–Oscar was stuck in it. But the weird thing was–three of them were horizontal but the one he was stuck in was kind of vertical. Like our vertical format. Anyway, I’ll leave it at that for now.
So I don’t know about this thing. These are the images I’ve got. I work with them. I think about them… And they inspire me to live my life and be a better person. I’m here trying to help you be smarter. [laughs]
Here we go.
What happens to your soul when you die?
I do not know. But I will tell you this: When I was on the–When I did my Hanblechia, my Vision Quest on the Pineridge Reservation with the Lakota Sioux, back in the nineties: I had some experiences on the mountain, my Vision Quest and in the sweat lodge with the Chief, Richard Sparrow Eagle. A whole bunch of visions. A whole bunch of visions. And during that time Richard approached me, “I’ve been told you’re trying to go somewhere you’re not supposed to go.” [laughs] I was banging around in the spirit world. “I’ve been told you need to stay put.” That was like a weird thing you know that… I, I couldn’t take his advice. And so… I think he knew it. Yeah. He was told to tell me this or something. Anyway, uh… I had some amazing experiences… and stories about them– I wrote them down.The point being is– when I did that– I took off. And I almost died I think. I might have gotten stuck. I actually… I found this vortex of souls. I found all these souls that were all kind of merging from all over. I don’t know if there’s other planets or what the deal is… But anyway, all these souls were merging and I was getting kind of like a tractor-beam and getting sucked into this thing. And so he had to pull me back. And it was a very interesting story. I got pulled back by a bug. A bug had to attack me to bring me back from there. Yeah, that was a very interesting experience.
Let’s get back to this thing. Eight minutes.
NUMBER 21. The unseen forces of Nature are known to all who feel them within their own self.
Well I gotta tell you… The unseen forces of Nature.
Explain your concepts of reincarnation.
Mine change every few years. So, WHAT’S YOURS?
What lives have you already lived? Pretend if you don’t believe.
In other words, do you think you’ve had other lives?
I do. In fact it turns out I’ve had several that I can remember quite clearly now. Because I went back there a couple times.
And let’s see: What will your next life be? Pretend if you don’t believe.
So let’s say you don’t. Maybe you’re going to Heaven. Or you’re going to Hell. Maybe you’re going to Limbo. I don’t know. Whatever your concept is. Just, you put it down. We’re probably ALL wrong. So there’s not a right answer. [laughs] But what’s your answer. That’s all.
Should you be buried or cremated? Explain.
Remember? I can’t–I don’t have an answer for this one, een myself. Well I’ve decided for myslelf. I take that back. For me I’ve got a whole different thing. I’m hoping that people are going to actually see me as some kind of guru. Some sort of a person who’s got wisdom that other gnerations go, “Oh, that guy was so smart… or So cool… or something. Or creative. I’ll inspire artists or musicians or poets. And they’ll want to somehow feel like, “Oh well, this is all I’ve got…” If I could have a kind of monument to myself. A monument? Have a burial ground. The way I picture it is: I would have like a little area about half the size of my living room here. I’m here, and I want hedges all the way around, so people could sit here in privacy. People are going around the cemetary… You’d still have some privacy. You’ve gota private little bak yard that people could sit on some stone things. ANd I could be there. And maybe they could read or talk aabout my books or something right there. Over my dead body. [laughs] Never thought I’d be happy to say that.
Okay. Where were we?
What will you leave behind to show you were here for the benefit of mankind?
For most people that’s just reproducing and having children– so do a good job youknow. With those children. I took great pride in my children for a long time and felt like they represented me. Which was — wrong. [laughs] Because I thought they represent me as an artist. Then I found out, “Hey. My kids arent’ artists. Uh-oh.
So anyway.
What is the relationship between your God and Nature?
Well that was an intersting question. I’d love to hear some of thos answers. Differrent religions have different relationships with Nature. Anyway. Just put it on paper and look at it. I don’t know what the answer is there.
How do you utilize the forces of Nature within you?
How aware are you? If you’re an athlete or something like that then obviously you definitelyknow your inner Nature and forces.
How do you use the forces of nature around you?
Okay, and that’s important. And I’m creating my own little Nature. My own little world. My little studio environmentof studios and backdrops and lights. So I’m crating my own little world.My own little Heaven here. My own little Nature. But I’m having to use electricity and all these things that are acutually part of the real Nature.
How do you relate to the forces of Nature in other persons?
I used to a lot. Back when I was into the Native American thing–people would bring me tobacco and I would heal them and do all kinds of things. But this century, now that I’ve gotten away from my kids–I’m trying to separate more from Nature. I’m going back to being more mentally oriented. Spiritually oriented, as opposed to physically grounded, Earth oriented like an animal. I’m kinda like raising up from the Earth and trying to be– trying to be less grounded? I do my Kung Fu. I’ve got a Yin Yang. I guess the Yin and the yang is I do my Kung Fu and everything so I’m very grounded with the Earth and my body and physics and everything. And then I’m spending the other half of my life Trying to be spiritual, intellectual andcreative, and musical?
Okay. So in terms of relating to the forces in other persons–what I was getting at is I used to be a healer. It was very distracting because I could feel other people’s forces. It was kinda like being able to tune into their television station brain–I’d get images and stuff. Random. Not necessarily what they were thinking. Something that was maybe stuck in their thoughts. Something that imposed itself, like a stress. Something theyd do really bad to their shoulder. “AHHH–I got hit with a baseball.” “AHHH– I got hit with a baseball. “AHHH–I got hit with a baseball.” And then when I’d kind of see the person, I kind of see this person and some sort of baseball thing. Like a white ball and a flash.. I’d see these kind of like… [huff] So that’s why I don’t like being in touch with people. It’s just too confusing. I
I could tell you that one story. I did– There’s a few I’m real proud of. I did really heal some people really well. In ways that without me maybe wouldn’t have happened. But one of the ladies, but maybe would’ve happened without me. She was my therapist. I had a foot injury. The broken foot. No, it was something else. But anyway I was in for therapy, physical therapy and she said she had these problems. At the time I was still doing a lot of the healing. So I said, “Well, if you want I could give you a n energy reading. See if I notice anything.” She went, “Sure.” We were close enough. Because i don’t like doing it–especially to girls you know. But i don’t touch them. I just have my hand near. But I’d go down her back and I found a– I told her, “I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t know what I’m telling you but i’ll tell you what I saw.” I said, “I was coming down and I found this one spot that seemed cold and black to me. And that’s all I can tell you. And it seems to me it was right there.” I could just, I could feel this one black spot. In other words I could feel her Tao, her energy, but I could also feel this one spot that was not right. But later in the therapy, I of course went for more sessions and she said: She said, “I went in for an MRI and they found a tumor or cyst on my ovary or something, exactly where you pointed.” I don’t know if I helped lead her to that or not but I was glad she told me. But she was really appreciative. She was like, “Oh that was so helpful! I’m so thankful to you!” I might have led her–like I said, I don’t know how much credit to take– but we HAVE THAT ABILITY is what I’m saying. To read energy. This is not a special ability of mine. It’s just an ability you can have too when you get really good at feeling energy. You can feel good, or different, or bad… You can just feel the difference.
I’m a musician so of course I see this one very clearly. But this goes back to something in the translations. I’m not sure what to call them in this current world. In this century. But some people when they translate Lao Tzu: he refers to the “Goody Goodies” or the “Goody Two Shoes.” These are the people who feel good when they can take a rule and then hit somebody with it like a baseball bat and make them bleed. “Well it’s legal. This is the law. You broke the law and now I’m gonna use the law to hurt you.” [evil snicker] And they feel good about it. ua
Those are– They’re actually evil people. But they think they’re good people. That’s the irony. They think they’re the best people in the world but they’re actually very evil.
So we have to go to Buddha for understanding here. And this is one thing– I only rediscovered this a few years ago actually. That guy’s so enlightening!
Buddha said there’s only two things to create an evil person: ignorance and desire.
What? Just two things? Two things and that person is an evil person. Yes. That’s it. All you need is desire and ignorance.
Okay. All you can say is, “I’ll give you a hundred bucks.”
“Oh, I want that hundred bucks.”
“But you have to go over there and kick that dog.”
“Oh. Alright then. I guess it’ll be okay.” He’s ignorant. He goes, “Well I guess you’re not a bad man.” So he kicks the dog. Get’s a hundred bucks. He’s done something evil. It’s that easy. [laughs]
So that’s all evil is. If ignorance: somebody doing something they shouldn’t do if they were smarter–and not kick the dog. Which is dumb. You just don’t do it for a thousand dollars. Don’t do it for a million dollars. Don’t kick the dog. But unfortunately, evil is, “Well, I’m not evil for a hundred. But for a thousand dollars I’ll be evil.”
Evil is evil. All it takes is ignorance and desire. [laughs] It’s terrible. It’s terrible. Ever since I’ve known that I’ve realized, Man! How much evil is in the world. Most people are committing all kinds of little evil acts. So then at some point you create a big evil act and somebody catches you, “You’re evil!” “No I’m not. I’ve never done big evil. Just little evil…” And they don’t think they’re evil. They can’t see it.
So unfortunately the whole world has become blind to the fact we might be doing little evil things. Poisoning a little river. “Oh, It’s just a little bit of poison in the river. It’s not gonna hurt anybody.” That’s ignorance. And the desire was to get rid of it. So out of our ignorance and desires we are evil.
So watch yourself. We’re evil all the time. We justify it.
So back that. So those are the “Goody 2-Shoes.” There’s a lot of those in government. They love to get into government where they can use the government to hurt people. And say, “It’s legal. It’s legal you know. He stepped on that line. And the law says, you step on that line and I can… hit you with a baseball bat. Okay? So he stepped on that line. It’s legal. It’s the law. So.” WHAM. They go and they love to hit people. Anyway these sadistic people are running our government. There’s a lot of evil, evil, evil people who enjoy being evil–running our government. Like Mitch McConnell. He LOVES to jam up the government. For forty years he takes the greatest pride in hurting our country. But he’s getting paid for it. He’s ignorant. He thinks he’s doing something good because somebody’s paying him big money and other people are agreeing with him. So he thinks it’s okay. He’s ignorant. Ignorant–he really is. He’s got that desire for the money and the power. So you put those two together and you have one of the most evil persons in the entire planet running our country.
So anyway, let’s get back to this real quick. And see, I’ll come back to that.
Those are the “goody-goodies.” The people who think they’re the best people in the world and they’re actually doing the most evil in the world. Starting wars and– “We did this war for your own good.”
Okay. #19b.
Tao #19b Avoid adherence or blind observance of the “letter of the laws.”
The “letter of the laws” was in quotation marks. That’s an important thing. Like I was saying, “He stepped on the line.”
Well maybe he tripped. Extenuating circumstances. But this person doesn’t care. They’re only interested in the “letter of the law.” Not the ‘reality of the law.’ You know, maybe he wasn’t going to step on that line. Maybe like I said, he tripped. Or maybe he would’ve stepped on somebody’s foot, so he stepped over their foot so he wouldn’t hurt them, and he did that. And now he’s gonna get punished.
See… if you… “So you still stepped on the line! I’m gonna hit you with this bat.” WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. That’s adhering to the letter of the law. And that’s where our whole world has gone screwy. Because of people trying to hurt people. You know, because they can legally do it.
So I call “The nature of the rule…” The “Nature of the Rule” is if you step on that line–I’m gonna have to make it again. It’s made out of chalk. We’re playing a sport and I’m just getting ready to play so “Don’t step on that line” because then I’m gonna have to back and the chalk roller and make it all nice… We’re playing baseball here.” Or something like that.
You see, so the “letter of the law” is “DON’T STEP ON THAT LINE” before the game because then it’s gonna look ugly and people are gonna show up and somebody’s gonna have to come out and fix it. Okay? So that’s the letter of the law: “Don’t step on the lines before the game.” The chalk lines on the baseball field. But the NATURE of it is because it’ll look good and if somebody trips or falls that doesn’t mean they have to go to jail. You know, you’ve got to fix it. And hopefully that person won’t do it again. Maybe they knew they weren’t supposed to do it. They don’t need to be punished, you know, for stepping on it. And… You get the point–you get the concept. And if you’re smart enough to be listening to me–hopefully you understand what I’m saying. If you’re not smart enough to understand what I’m saying then I lost you a long time ago. I’m not that far here…
Here we go.
Like a musician, do you think about the notes, or do not think about the notes, play the song.
You see, that was a tricky thing last night. I didn’t know what key I was in when I was writing that song. I could hear it in my head. And then I was… I was playing my bass. Doing it like a guitar… And I come back to this thing… “What was that rhythm?” You know, I had to find it. And it wasn’t a matter of seeing it or reading it… it was like, “What was the way I played it?” And then BOOM I’d feel it. “Ah. There it is.” And that was the riff. I was playing THE SONG. Not the notes. I could know what was right. And then when I was playing the chords it was, “No… It’s supposed to go down there. That wasn’t quite right.” And I’m screwing around, “What was it?” And then I’d have to find it. Look for that thing that felt right.
Sometimes I have to explore. Literally have to explore and try, “No let’s go to this…” “THERE we go.” [bass impersonation] And then it felt like it with the progression. Worked for what I was trying to accomplish.
Okay. Here we go. So let’s read the whole thing again.
Lao Tzu says,
Avoid adherence or blind observance to the “letter of the laws.” And be always aware of the Nature of the rule. Like a musician do not think about the notes. Play the song.
Alright. So let’s see what I have to inspire you on that. That message that to me means a heck of a lot. [LAUGHS] That’s like one of my– Just like a Motto of my life.
Are you a stickler for details and fine print?
Are you one of those baseball hitters?
What laws do you obey so efficiently that you don’t evaluate all information before deciding what’s right or wrong?
And we do that with our kids, as parents you know. They do something. They break the rules–maybe for a good reason. They break the rules and our first reaction is [growl growl]. [LAUGHS] Maybe there’s a good explanation. Anyway, as a parent listen… and look for the real truth. Don’t just always make–
It simplifies our lives to have rules, and say, “You stay here in this area. You stay here in this area.” It just simplifies it. As a parent I know what it’s like to make rules. But at the same time don’t make so many that– anyway. That’s probably coming up in another one.
Like a soldier or a policeman are you bound to serve laws whether you agree with them or not?
Which laws do your enforce?
Like… now. Our politics… we have terrible laws. Make illegal things we…
Which laws do you enforce you don’t obey.
In other words what laws do you make other people do that you don’t obey?
Especially when you have kids. You make them obey laws that you don’t obey.
So–but you should be able to answer that.
Do you get mad when someone lies to you? Why?
There’s a lot to unpack buried in that which we can’t unpack right now. But that’s very important.
Can you trust someone who has cheated? Why?
I’ll read each question twice.
Do you trust someone who has cheated you? Why?
Do you feel guilt, shame, or frustration when you break a self-imposed rule?
Oooh. That you made yourself.
Do you feel guilt, shame, or frustration when you break a self-imposed rule?
Next, last one: Do you rely on rules to keep you in line?
Like Alcoholics Anonymous? Or religion? Family? Employers? The military? The police? Explain.
One more time: Do you rely on rules to keep you inline?
Alcoholics Anonymous, religion, family, emploers , the military, or police? Explain.
Now yeah. Remember I told you. Yes. I rely on lot you ts of– I don’t know if I’d even call them rules. Like I told you yesterday. I’m making these structures and when I go to a website. What are the rules? What am I going to do when I get there? Okay? Which websites am I going to get and ignore all the rest? Prioritizing. Trying to find a list so I can go down the list and– “Ah. Done.”
That’s it. Because I’ve got so many thousands of things to do. I can never define that. So I’m trying to make things so I can tell when I’ve actually gotten something done. Or at least the most important things. a least
That was #19b of the TAO OF TAOISM – USING THE DAO TE CHING TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE. That’s what we’re using. We’er going to improve our life with all of this.
So anyway, Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang here. Glad to have you along. And yeah, keep thinking. And if you’re thinking then you’re learning. And even if you’re disagreeing with me–at least I got you thinking. It’s okay. You can disagree.
Okay. I’m blasting along. I’ve got two more to do. ‘d’ and ‘e.’ #18d and #18e. I’m on page 32. And then 33.
Okay, the TAO OF TAOISM – USING THE DAO TE CHING TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE. Lao Tzu wrote the original. Buddha Zhen here. I wrote the — this weird variation of it, in which I use his quote and then we answer all these questions that integrate that wisdom into our life.
Here we go. #18d.
TAO #18d When oaths and promises are required of workers, government officials, and members: deceit and corruption are already out of control.
Oh my goodness! The first thing Trump did was a landmark. He was asking for people to kiss his ring and swear loyalty and things to him. And you see: deceipt and corruption were already out of control the moment he entered there. When he was trying to do that–it was already out of control. It’s not that we had to see it. That, that… WOW!
When oaths and promises are required of workers, government officials– (Remember, that’s what Trump did. He wanted oaths from government officials.) –and members: then deceit and corruption are are already out of control.
Wow. That’s beautiful Lao Tzu. 2,200 years ago, and he predicted what we are so stupid–we put in power. We put in power exactly what he said to never do.
Okay. Here we go.
What oaths and promises have you made or required of others?
One more time: What oaths and promises have you made or required of others?
Well I can tell you one oath. I have taken that many oaths, but I swore an oath. And I remember all my oaths. And I remember all my Freemason oaths. Any oath I’ve made is an important oath. Those are like, in threat of life and death. An oath is.
So anyway, one of the oaths I made was that I would never ever support the Communist Party. And I had to swear that oath in order to become a Union Carpenter back in 1972 I think. So back in 1972 when I was sworn into the Carpenter’s Brotherhood. It’s the Union. It’s called actually, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Joiners are the people who work in wood shops. So, when I joined them I had to swear not only an oath of allegiance–some sort of whatever it was… But the only thing that stood out to me was: I had to swear that I would never support or be a Communist.
Now I don’t like to make promises that I’m not gonna guarantee, but I just kind of went along with it. Because I’d been conditioned through the Cold War and everything to not be a Communist. But I still had to think twice. But what if I decide it’s a good idea or something. I swore an oath that I would never do that.
So that’s why it really kind of irritates me to see that we’ve elected a Communist into–as our President. Our President is doing everything that I was told that a Communist would do if they took power… or could influence our government. We never actually thought of a Communist actually running our country. We always thought that a Communist would just merely kind of influence our government. Influence it to be corrupt. Influence it to be just evil, deceitful, or do something bad.
So that’s what I was raised to think Communism was. It was somethiyng that was trying to influence our government to not work properly. Wow! And then we elect somebody in there whose–he’s the most incredible Communist we’ve ever had in our government. He has disrupted our government and caused it to not function and fired more people and created more vacancies in our government than Communists have ever ever been able to do since I was born. As far as I know. I’ve never seen anything close to this. He has caused more damage that the CoImmunists would have applauded than any other human that I know of.
Anyway, that’s kind of interesting.
So, where was I? I got distracted because that was so poignant.
When do you make agreements you do not intend to keep?
When do you make agreements you do not intend to keep?
When do you require agreements from others you don’t expect them to keep?
When do you reequire agreements from others that you don’t expect them to keep?
Now Bear, you’re making it hard to read here. You’re gonna get your butt in the picture. [laughs] Okay.
How do you know you can trust someone?
How do you know that you can trust someone?
Well somebody wanted my attention. Hello Bear. Hello my little buddy. If I raise you up, can I get your head in the camera a little? Okay. Hello my buddhy. Purring away here.
He needed my attention. I guess he thought I was giving you too much attention. Hello my little friend. Okay. I’ve gotta kind of scoot him aside so I can read the next one.
When you say, “I promise,” is that different from when you say, “I will.”
Or, “I will do that.” “I promise I will do that.” So, how are those different to you?
When is it okay to break a promise?
When is it okay to break a promise?
Remember, marriage is supposed to be a promise. People break marriages.
When is it okay to break a marriage promise?
Hairs all over the place. [blowing noises]
Do you obey your father?
Do you obey your father?
Bear, do you obey me?
I have to create– Remember I was talking about rules? And ways to influence him, so that he’ll… avoid danger or… I have to sometimes NOT let him do what he wants to do or he’ll get run over. So I have to stop him from doing things. Was that a cat fart?
Okay. Here we go.
Do you obey your mother?
Okay. There’s two questions there. Do you obey your father? Do you obey your mother?
Okay. So answer both those and compare those answers. Now there’s another question to ask: Why is there a difference if there is one?
Do you obey your big brother?
Now we’re getting into Confucius. Now according to Confucius you should obey you should obey your mother as you’d obey your father. And you’d obey your big brother as you’d obey your mother. See. It’s a kind of chain of command.
But your brother, your older brother actually represents your father.
And your mother’s job is to put your older brother in his position. So she wants to train him to be the father that you’ll always have. So if ‘gone, there’s still a father in the family and the kids will still look at him–up to him as the father. When there’s no longer a father, the older brother takes over.
Okay? That’s the Confucian system.
Do you obey your employer or your boss? (That’s a good question.)
Do you obey your employere or your boss?
If your boss says, “Go do that.” Do you obey him? If he says, Idon’t know, “Go get me a cup of coffee.” Whatever’s within your job description. But if he says something, do you obey him? If he tells you what to do– Do you obey him?
Do you obey your spouse?
So if you’re a husband or a wife– Do you obey your parnter?
Do you obey ourself?
When you make rules for yourself, or tell yourself you’re going to do something– Do you obey yourself?
Hello there Bear. My little love bug. Just down here in my lap. [whispers to cat] Kind of putting his head up where you can see it. Ears at least. Yeah. Hello my little buddy. Yeah, he really just wants my attention right now. I think everyday we spend some time and I cuddle with him and hug him and play with him a little bit. I think maybe we didn’t do as much today as we usually do.
So he just came in and demanded his love. I’ve gotta appreciate that.
So he’s right here in the middle of my notebook. He’s got those binder rings here. He sleeps in uncomfortable positions. Bear. Let me see if I can get you more comfortable.
See you guys. Daily Taoist out of here. This was, oh, this was the one that is very poignant. This represents thte failing in our government and our America. America. America needs to learn #18d by Lao Tzu.
Lao Tzu said, When oaths and promises are required of workers, government officials, and members: deceit and corruption are already out of control.
Hey! Buddha Zhen, the Daily Taoist popping in here real quick and then I’m gonna run away.
This is #17 on page 28 of the TAO OF TAOISM written by me, based upon the Dao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. This is #18a. This one had so much to unpack in it–it’s #18. That I broke it down all the way to #18e. I had to break it into five sections to make sense of this thing.
So here’s what I say. This is #18 of– There’s 80 of them actually, and this book has forty of them. Then I was going to break it into two books, because this is a huge book.
Okay. #18a by Lao Tzu; paraphrased by THE Daily Taoist, Buddha Zhen here.
Tao #18a To deviate from Nature– (Anytime I say, “Nature,” I mean “The Tao.”) —To deviate from Nature is to create new rules that are unbalanced with Nature. Any rules or activities not in balance with Nature are evil and destructive.
Well, like dumping your chemicals into a river. We don’t want those chemicals over here so we’re saying dump them over there. Okay?
So that rule was not balanced with Nature. That unbalanced rule or activity that’s not in balance with Nature is like I said, evil and destructive.
There’s a real simple example.
Let me read it one more time and then I’ve only got two things to read here. This’ll be kind of a quick one.
What are your rules, ethics, morals, codes of conduct, or religious principles?
And then look. I gave you like five lines to answer that question. So that’s why this is important. That’s why I–Just unpacking that.
What are your rules? List them out. Seriously. Who are you? And what are your rules or ethics. Yeah, your morals. Your codes of conduct. Think about those.
Codes of Conduct of YOU
Codes of conduct. You’re probably not aware of it. But if you had to train someone to be you– Say, “Hey. Listen. I’m going to disappear for a month. I’m going to be gone for a month and I want you to take my place.”
And the guy goes, “Okay. What do I do?”
Well, you’ve gotta tell him. How hes’ gonna eat. When he’s gonna go places. And how he’s gonna talk to people. Who he likes. Who he doesn’t like.
Okay? So somebody’s gotta impersonate you. If you had to train someone to impersonate you– What would you tell him are you tell him are your rules, your ethics, your morals because maybe this person’s a liar, and doesn’t care, or he cusses… And you go, “No. No. No. I have a rule. I don’t cuss. Oh no. I don’t do that. I don’t touch people like that–” Or… I don’t… You’ve got rules and ethics. So anyway: what are your rules and ethics? You are obviously different from somebody else. And this how you define your separation from them. Okay?
So. You’ve got to think– If you’re driving forget it. Well, maybe think of it a little bit. I’ve got a big space here, so I’m gonna make this a short podcast. So you can just kind of concentrate on ur that. Think of all your rules and ethics, morals…
I have another book that I wrote for my daughter fifteen years ago when she thought she was gonna be an actress. It’s called, ACT ZEN. And it’s basically– Actually it’s based on my movie career. My training at UCLA being a director and how to create a character. And so what I did was I took that — and then I took everything I learned about Zen Buddhism and thought, “How do you take a person and shape their character with Zen Buddhism… And then as an actor make them fluid in that so they can create other people but then they can go back to being the person they wanted to be originally–that they’d already pre-designed. So that’s what ACT ZEN is.
I designed this so first of all you decide WHO your are. And then you can be somebody else. And then you can go back to being who your. I call that ACT ZEN, or ACTING ZEN, or Act Zen to Act Naturally. All these little slogans I made for it.
But it really works. Well, it’s just good for everybody. Because we’re always acting. When you go into a business and you’re going to be a salesman you have certain roles– An acting role that you have to do. And so you should know what that is. And then when you go home, you’re not gonna try to sell your kids and everybody like you do every day. You have a whole different attitude than how you play with your kids and how you treat somebody out on the parking lot trying to sell them a acar.
So you can Act Zen: is to be able to define who you are in your different roles.
So how are any of these rules that you are making are out of balance with Nature?
Some of these rules you’re living by, and codes of conduct might out of Nature… Out of contact… Maybe getting up in the morning. [laughs] That’s– Your nature says, “No. I’ve gotta sleep in until 10:00 every day. I just can’t go to sleep before two in the morning…” So maybe that’s your Nature.
I hope I’m not getting you in trouble. I don’t want to give you any bad ideas.
Anyway.
What is your Nature?
Whatever it is. Just say what it is. If that’s what it is– I accept it.
So then I have “My Suggestions.” and that’s it.
So let me read what Lao Tzu said. I should always try to remember to go back and wrap up at the end.
#18a in my book, the TAO OF TAOISM:
To deviate from Nature, or The Tao, is to create new rules that are unbalanced with the Tao. Or Mother Nature. Any rules or activities not in balance with The Tao, (Nature), are evil and destructive.
Tell me if I’m wrong. To be honest with you I’m looking at them from different perspectives. [laughs]
Alright. The Daily Taoist here, Buddha Zhen here. I’m thinking about this too. So let me think about it. You think about it…
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?
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?
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.
Hey by the way, I’m doing everything here for free. You should go to my ShaolinInteractive.com website. And sign up for my Kung Fu classes. Yeah. That’s my advertisement.
Okay. This is– I’m reading from the Dao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Written 2,000 or some years ago. 2,500 years ago. 2,200. And I made my own version of it called– you can see back here over my shoulder: The Tao of Taoism – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Daily Life.
Here we go. I’m on page 26 and this is NUMBER 15. Now in this case. What we’re talking about, he’s got — I’m looking at it. It says, FOUR LEVELS OF INFLUENCE. And there’s four numbers here and four things.
Number 1: These are “Four Levels of Influence.” Condemnation of Conduct.
In other words, “condemn.” We’re telling someone they’re doing something bad. That’s how you can influence somebody. That’s one. You condemn their conduct.
Number 2: Fear of punishment or denied rewards.
Now he’s saying, “If this is bad–This is gonna happen.”
Number 3: Motivate by loyalty, honor, self-interest, money, rewards and flattery.
That’s a positive, but you’re bribing.
First one is you condemn them. You make them feel bad.
The second one is you actually make them fear something that makes you disliked.
Third one is to be bribed.
And the fourth one is to influence without those being influenced being aware of it.
So, can you just communicate with people and get them to kind of go along with you without effort. So in that way, you’re influencing them without them realizing you are influencing them. So through slogans, and emotions, or– There’s lots of ways you can do that.
I’m watching our President do this– It’s amazing watching politics 2020. I never realized how corrupt and evil and whatever it is–and can so easily be. It’s going to be interesting to see how in the future people can use politics to create good things for the purpose of good. Because we’re really seeing it used for the powers of corruption. Those wheels in power could be changed to where corruption isn’t making all the final decisions. I’m in an interesting world. So the future has some interesting possibilities. See what happens.
So anyway, FOUR LEVELS OF INFLUENCE.
So regarding those now under your influence or that you influence: students, children, your employees: How do you use condemnation of conduct to influence and control them?
So how do you condemn. Like, make a rule: “No spitting on the sidewalk.” You’ve condemned it. How do you condemn their conduct?
Number 2 or next: How do you use fear of punishment or denied reward: “Spit on the sidewalk is a $50 fine.” Okay answer that. Take it up a notch.
How do you use fear of punishment or denied reward?
How do motivate by loyalty, honor, money, rewards and flattery?
Hey! Those who don’t spit on the sidewalk can join my special club and have free pizza. [laughs]
How do use motivate by loyalty, honor, money, rewards or flattery to get people to do what you want?
And fourth: How do you influence without those being influenced being aware of it? So how do you influence people without them being aware of it?
That’s more subtle. Like by good example. Nicest one is set a good example and that influences people’s behavior.
I’ve caused a lot of trouble over the years by picking up trash. When I’d walk my kids to school, I just couldn’t ignore it. So me and my kids started picking up the trash. When we moved to Tujunga there was a lot of trash. So little by little cars started honking at me. As they went by. They’d see what we were doing. And then next thing I know the neighbors of course are talking about it. The whole street all the way up to the school was not one single piece of trash. [laughs] And so we kind of got a reputation. I started to see other people do it.
Similar thing happened at an apartment complex where I was living. Most of the people there– The landlord was getting subsidized by the government for bringing people from South America and Central America. That type for some reason. That’s what he told me. In fact he said he’d previously been getting subsidies for another race, but I won’t get into that. He was just picking any way he could make a profit. So anyway, he had all these immigrants in this part of the building I moved into and, boy: I learned a lot about knife fighting and women fighting I saw. I saw more violent face shredding than I’d ever seen in my life during that time I lived there at the apartments.
Anyway, it turns out that in Central America one of the ways you lower a woman in marriage and families. Really the only business for a woman down there. If you can scar a woman and scratch her face, then not only do you win that fight– but now within the local pool of marriageable women–you’ve now become the better choice than the woman who’s got a scarred face. So I saw that. That was weird. I could have gone my whole life without imagining that kind of thing.
But anyway.
Which of these four techniques do you use most?
So of those four things, which do you use the most? Everybody has a tendency to use one more than the other. So which one of those?
Which of the four techniques are you best at?
Which obviously means you’ve used it the most too. So of all those four techniques–which are you best at? Bribing. Giving honor. Humiliating. Or punishing? Which are you best at?
And punishing can just be denying something too. Just not giving that something. Or not giving them your love. That’s punishment.
How can you improve your–
Oh, Which of these four techniques SHOULD you use more?
Which of these four techniques should you use more?
Maybe your life has changed. So reconsider. You’re dealing with a different type of people. Maybe they’re not kids–they’re adults. So you have to change you have to change your mode of operation here.
How can you improve your ability to motivate others?
Yeah, reconsider. Reconsider which modes to use. And use the right one. I’m not saying what’s right or wrong. I’m just saying, know what you’re doing and make sure you’re using the right one.
— Which of these techniques work best on YOU? And why?
Now there’s a very good question. Are you better if someone threatens you? If they flatter you? Or whether they punish you. Or you’re bribed. Which do you work best under.
What is the basis of your self-discipline and motivation?
So everyone has some amount of self-discipline and motivation. Some people have very little. Bu push youut still, what is the basis of it. How come you have whatever you have? What is it? What are you self-motivated to do? What can you push yourself to do. And if you can push yourself to do something, beyond just wanting to eat or take a shower when you start to smell– How do you do it on a regular basis.
How do you do something that’s disciplined, regulated?
And what is the basis of that training?
How can you be motivated without any external rewards?
So, in other words: what does it take for YOU to be motivated to do something?
If I want you to do something for me–wash my car. [laughs] How could I get you to do it? Without bribing you? How could I get you to do it without bribing you? Might be pretty hard but-
How willingly do you sacrifice your spare time for money? Spare time for money.
So that’s time you don’t have to work. So you’re working and maybe you’ve got extra time. You’re not married and you don’t have kids. You could watch football. Or maybe you could actually take on a part-time job.
So, how willingly do your sacrifice your spare time for money? That’s specific.
Next. Last one: What is the least amount per hour you’ll work for and why? That’s an interesting question of course.
What’s the least amount you’ll work for, per hour, and why that particular amount.
Okay. Daily Daoist here. And that was NUMBER 15: “4 Levels of Influence“
How are you influenced?
So this is yuour relationship with your Tao. The Tao. Remember the Tao includes people with jobs and stuff too. It’s part of the Nature you live in. If it’s a little unnatural it’s still part of your Tao. Your Nature you live in. So all those things affect you .
So your relationship with your job, your money, your work…
Anyway, if you’re HERE, you must be interested in understanding yourself.
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.
“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.
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?
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?
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.
