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.
Alright. When I started that last one I said I’d do these two. Let’s finish this one. I don’t know if I’ll do any more today. If the background changes, that means it’s another day. Let’s see. Actually, this thing doesn’t move behind me.
NUMBER 11: The incorporation of opposites creates usable efforts. Walls have doors. Containers are hollow. And success requires expense.
This is cool. That yin and yang. Giving and taking. And things flowing and spinning.
Here we go.
Again. NUMBER 11: of the Tao Te Ching.
The incorporation of opposites.
Incorporating. That means utilizing them.
Creates usable efforts.
Magnetism. Chi.
Walls have doors. Containers are hollow.
Ying and yang again.
And success requires expense.
Always at least in time and effort. Which has a value in money.
Okay. So here we go. Ahhhhh. I’m probably not gonna talk much. There’s too much to talk about. And like I said, I’d have to hit this with different angles depending on which business of mine we’re talking about.
Here we go.
What opposites within you are utilized for your efficiency?
What opposites within you are utilized for your efficiency?
What opposites of others are utilized for your work?
What opposites of others are utilized for your work?
I don’t know if you got that. What opposites of others. Other people have opposites too, remember. They have a yin and a yang. Happy and a sad.
And so sometimes if you can play one, offer a carrot to make the other one–you can get them of course to move. With a carrot. Anyway.
What persons that are opposite of you do you harmonize with?
That are opposite of you. Like, way different, but you harmonize with them. And why? I’m not saying you’re going to get the right answer but give it a try.
How are opposites used in your career?
How are opposites used in your career?
I’m thinking of a bunch of answers. I don’t know if I want to misguide you. You might be inspired to come up with something interesting. So, I’ll try to say as little as possible.
How do you treat persons that you don’t like?
How do you treat persons that you don’t like?
How do you control those aspects of yourself that slow you down?
How do you control those aspects of yourself that slow you down?
How do you utilize the night as opposed to the daytime?
How do you use the night time as opposed to the daytime?
How do you utilize yin yang energies in your Tai Chi Chuan practice?
That’s kind of cool. That’s a lot of fun.
How do you utilize yin yang energies in your Tai Chi Chuan practice?
Well, you wouldn’t know that but a lot of it’s yin and yang. As I was explaining in yesterday’s class… it was today’s class. It was this morning. I was explaining how this is the only Kung Fu I know that you can use with breathing. We do the whole thing, “Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.” See. So they’re kind of yin and yang see. “Inhale–” That’s a yin and then yang. Boom. Exhale you know.
These are positive / negatives in the Tai Chi form.
Here we go.
How can opposites be more useful in your career?
How can opposites be more useful in your career?
How can opposites be more useful in your homelife?
These are cool questions.
How can opposites be more useful in your homelife?
They could also be turning light switches on and off couldn’t they?
How can opposites be more useful in your lovelife?
How can opposites be more useful in your lovelife?
How can your emotions be better controlled by reversing them?
That’s not a good one for me. [laughs] Well, actually it shouldn’t make that much difference. I try to keep my polarity at zero. So you reverse them it doesn’t make that big a difference. Sorry. I wasn’t supposed to talk was I?
Here we go. So… The question was, How can your emotions be better controlled by reversing them?
How easily can you change your emotions?
How easily can you change your emotions?
How quickly can you stop being mad?
How quickly can you stop being mad?
How quickly can you stop being sad?
I will say something there.
Back in the eighties, because I’ve been thinking about this the last few days because I lost my best friend on Friday. Really sad. I shed some tears. But I didn’t sob. Kind of realizing today, my mourning period’s still not really over…. Lost a good, good friend. But anyway, but there still is something. I’m sensitized. The um… When I was in the eighties I had a lot of emotional breakups. I remember, but anyway, I can’t tell a lot of the details. I had a lot of girlfriends. Lots of breakups. Lots of emotions. Lots of relationships. Lots of falling in love. Lots of falling out of love. And somewhere in that mix: And I can’t– I have no specific memories– I remember being sad a couple times. In my life. Actually maybe I went back even farther when I was a teenager, But anyway, I can remember at some point, a couple points–maybe two, three at the most: when I was sobbing so much that i could tell the crying was making the crying more powerful. The sadder I got… the sadder I got.
It was like wohhh… In fact I remember in the eighties. in the mid eighties I developed a hypothesis when i was in UCLA. It had something to do with ions in the universe. It’s like a ‘like’ attracts ‘like.’ In other words, if you get that negative energy going–they’re just there, and they cling to you. And make you feel like you’re weighted down. And they’re sticking to you. Other people might say they were ghosts and spirits or whatever. But the point is that it attracts more. It doesn’t make you feel better. In other words, you feel like you want to get that sadness out of you–but you start to realize, “Hey. It’s starting to generate itself and I can’t control it. What the heck’s going on here?” You don’t want to do it. It’s pointless to do something that’s self-destructive. And that’s what it is. It’s like a feedback loop.
Sorry. Told you I wasn’t gonna but I thought that was kind of interesting because I was noticing that: during all this sadness that I have felt, I didn’t get close to that desperate loss. I mean close. But I did get to that point where I could’ve gone further at least once. I got really sad. It hit me. I just let it hit me. I thought, “okay, I’m fortunately alone” [laughs] So I allowed myself to be sad for a minute, and let it go. That was it. The worst one. The worst one. I let it happen. But I didn’t just dwell on it go, “Nyeh, nyeh, nyeh.” I’d just kind of agree with it. Just let it happen. It was kind of like a burp. I didn’t want to keep like burping. I just let it out.
Here we go. I wasn’t gonna talk. Remember?
How easily can you change your emotions?
How quickly can you stop being sad?
That was the question: How quickly can you stop being sad?
How much time of each day are you having– and in capital letters: FUN? F-U-N. Fun.
How much time of each day are you having fun?
Look at the smile on my face. I’m having fun right now. Yep. This is fun to me.
Last question: What inhibits your having fun?
For me it’s been a house. Not having an iphone. Not having a computer. Not having a place for Bear.
That’s what’s been inhibiting me. I’m having fun now.
I always have fun, no matter what. If I could have more money I could even have more fun. Expand our fun-ness. Buy him some more food.
Alright. How far will I go? I don’t know. I’m still enjoying myself. I think that’s a good sign. So– Let’s do– Let’s do two more.
We’re on NUMBER 10 now. (of the Tao Teh Ching)
Natural leadership is by example and balanced patterns. Resisting natural progress creates conflicts which are revealed as internal or external disturbances. More is accomplished by directing natural patterns than by forcefully changing the course of a river.
Unpacking this is a lot of work. Hearing me and not reading it probably makes it a lot harder. Let me just read the whole thing again.
Natural leadership is by example and balanced patterns. Let’s read that one line again.
Natural leadership is by example and balanced patterns. Okay? That makes sense. A parent animal.
Resisting natural progress— What the heck’s this? Like learning to walk maybe?
Resisting natural progress creates conflicts which are revealed as internal or external disturbances.
Ugh. If you were trying not to walk then it would seem like you had mental problems on the inside or whether there was an external problem like your legs are broken. So that’s resisting natural progress. You’ve got to look for what’s wrong. Maybe there isn’t anything wrong. Interesting.
More is accomplished by directing natural patterns.
Directing. Not creating. Directing natural patterns–that you’re kind of urging somewhere.
Than by forcefully changing the course of a river.
Yeah, that’s not urging. Gotta build a dam.
So yes. Okay. So more is accomplished by just gentle, I guess. Gentle pushes than– Same with teaching people characters. And that’s so true of– I was trying to help somebody the other day who’s got a very bad mental problem. He– I teach the mind like in psychology– Let’s get away from the soul thing entirely
I see that in your mind we have a– This goes back to San Diego State University days. I believe that the mind has a– it’s kind of like the subconscious and the conscious. I think we can all agree on that. But I believe there are actually two characters or IDs or egos there. The subconscious is very childlike, and trusting, and non-judgmental. It just believes everything. And then the conscious mind is scrutinizing and can be everything from trusting to not trusting. But it still makes the decisions like a soldier or a policeman. So it’s protecting the subconscious too.
So when a person watches horror movies, the conscious mind has decided, “Oh okay. I’ll get out of the way and let you watch this because it makes you excited… or gives you some emotion. Just creates chemical hormones you know. Transmit when you have fear. So unfortunately that’s not a wise decision for this guy to let the kid watch the horror movies and get scared. Feel those emotions and get those adrenaline rushes.
So anyway, I believe the mind has two different points. That was one of my examples. But anyway.
This person has a real problem with that because the little guy runs the ship. And the conscious person has almost no say in anything. It’s very, it’s really amazing. It’s– That’s why some people think this person is maybe retarded because it’s the kid mind that talks. And the kid mind talks like a little kid and says really five-year old type of things. So some people think this guy must be retarded. But he’s not. The conscious mind is very smart. Very smart. He can do– But for some reason he shut down to let this little kid take over. And his… overall life– we see that from backing up and looking at it: and we see that he’s totally like– his parents just like gave up trying to teach him. And he became a total drug addict and has no… ability to control– control himself.
So the little issue in the brain became the bigger issue in life. And you’ve got somebody whose– Yeah. So, anyway, so you can see how some people are homeless. But he really doesn’t have mental problems. He just– Well he does have a very bad mental problem, but he actually could fix it if he’d just learn how to govern himself. If he could be more self-governing: he’d be a decent person. But he’s given up and let the little kid take over.
Wow. Did I get off course there.
So here we go. I’m gonna read this thing again and then I’m gonna blast down the page and I’m not going to answer any of these questions. Because these would actually– It would depend on what business I’m talking about. How I would answer these questions.
Okay. NUMBER 10: of my book. Which is called Tao of Taoism based on Lao Tzu, the original author, a couple hundred years before Christ, writing his book the Tao Te Ching or Book of Changes. Or Book of All Changes. Or the book of How Everything is Always Changing.
Here we go: NUMBER 10: Natural Leadership is by example and balanced patterns.
That’s the natural kind.
Resisting natural progress creates conflicts which are revealed as internal or external disturbances.
So that’s that guy.
More is accomplished by directing natural patterns than by forcefully changing the course of a river.
And unfortunately the little kid screaming seemed like the river. But it wasn’t.
Okay. Here we go.
Do you enjoy leadership responsibilities?
Do you enjoy leadership responsibilities?
Remember, these are your answers. Don’t answer what you think you’re supposed to answer. Forget that. Don’t forget: this is not about the right answer. Nobody else is even supposed to see this. Okay? Unless you want to share it–which is fine. But this is only for you. So you can look at you.
Here we go: Do you enjoy leadership responsibilities?
What are your basic rules when being a leader?
If you’re a bad leader, you may have really bad rules. Fact is, if you are, you’re going to make rules. The bad leaders make the most rules.
Here we go: What are your basic rules when being a leader?
How do you enforce your rules?
How do you enforce your rules?
What examples do you set for others to follow?
What example do you set for others to follow
When do people tend NOT to follow you or disagree with you?
When do people tend not to follow your or disagree with you?
What are your balanced patterns that aid leading others?
That’s a little more interesting.
What are your balanced patterns– (your balanced patterns) that aid in leading other?
What problems do you consistently find in others?
What problems do you consistently find in others?
How do you influence other people to follow?
How do you influence other people to follow?
How do you reward those who do follow you?
How do you reward those who do follow you?
When people or jobs create difficulty or tension for you– How do you handle stress?
When people or jobs create difficulties, or tension– How do you handle the stress?
How patient are you with those who take advantage of you? Or don’t appreciate you?
How patient are you with those who take advantage of you? Or don’t appreciate you?
Then you can talk about how impatient you are. You get the topic.
Do you enjoy caring for other persons?
I’m not saying ‘will you.’ Remember, think of the truth. Answer truthfully. That’s the most important thing. If you lie to yourself– Gosh. How can you ever get smart?
Do you enjoy caring for other persons?
Do you inquire as to other people’s problems and try to help on a daily basis?
Do you inquire as to other people’s problems and try to help them on a daily basis?
How do you help people?
How do you help people?
Do you mind your own business and stay out of other people’s affairs?
Do you mind your own business and stay out of other people’s affairs?
Do you prefer to stay out of your affairs and private matters?
People are like “AAAAHHHH.” I don’t like my private affairs. I read that wrong.
Do you prefer OTHER people stay out of your private affairs?
Do you have privacy issues? What are they?
Are you usually reluctant to discuss your personal problems? And why?
Are you usually reluctant to discuss your personal problems? And why?
That’s a big answer. You might not get it. You might be, “Oh. My dad was that way.” Maybe actually you can go farther back than that.
Do you believe your privacy is very important and why?
There you go. That’s the last question here, other than: My Shifu’s suggestions. Which I can’t give you.
So anyway, Do you believe your privacy is very important and why?
This is an interesting concept. I wonder if I could use this as a counseling book. I’ve never thought of making money off it that way.
I’d give it to my students and talk to them about it for free.
But what if I did use this on the internet. People somehow respond to these pages. Charge something. I can’t work for free forever.
I’ve been working for fee for thirty years.
Okay. Oh. I’ve got to stop. Alright, eleven minutes?
Buddha Zhen reads TAO #6 of the TAO OF TAOISM – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life.
This Tao is still dealing with opposites and good and bad and right and wrong and up and down and prejudice.
This Daily Taoist episode is interrupted by a mosquito hawk that enters with his cat, Bear. Buddha Z ends abruptly to deal with this pest.
The transcript of this short episode is included below.
YouTube TRANSCRIPT of the DAILY TAOIST 15 reading of TAO #6
Hello. I’m back, and… we’re on page 15 of 62 or something? Yeah, 62. Yeah. Let’s get another one of these out.
Just want to blaze ahead here for some reason. I guess I just wanna– I’m excited about getting some of this stuff out.
Here we go. NUMBER 6:
Oh, remember? We didn’t summarize on the end of that last one. Remember we were talking about, “Describe your overall balance of opposites and some things?” And so remember then, we go back to the original Lao Tzu and in particular, the first line,
“THE VALUE OF OPPOSITES AMOUNTS TO NOTHING.”
Okay, so I said, “Don’t take it so literally. Try to look for the meaning: something more substantial in there.” Find a pearl of wisdom. Maybe Lao Tzu didn’t think of that. If you can find something even bigger and better… Like I said, “Like a mathematical equation.”
Here we go. NUMBER 6:
Distinguishing between opposites creates the illusory value of each one.
That’s what we’re doing in America right now. As we separate– As soon as we say one side is great, we’ve separated them more. You can’t– Anyway.
Distinguishing between opposites creates the illusory value of each one.
Or lack of value. Value isn’t always a plus. It can be a minus. So by distinguishing sometimes — it’s prejudice. You’re picking them out. You’re lowering the value. Trump purposely tries to do that. He actually tries to demean and devalue people. See. So at one time he might be pumping somebody up. But he spends as much time– If he does that he spends a lot of time cutting people down and trying to devalue them. So you shouldn’t do that. That’s wrong to pick those people out and make them special because that means your picking other people out and making them un-special.
So distinguishing between opposites creates the illusory value of each one.
Here we go.
How do you value or rate the strengths of your positive character?
Everybody thinks they have a positive character. Well they do. [laughs] Some of these positive characters seem very negative to me. But their negative character to me is a monster. So I guess it’s just a– You take the extremes and you move them on the scale. Right across the middle here is a content happy cow in the field. And down here is the angry badger type of thing. And then up here is the happy crane type of thing you know.
Well, the higher you get up here means the farther you fall when you get upset.
And the more you’re down here, then when something happens you get really excited, you see.
But if you just kind of stay here in the middle, “Oh, that was nice.” “Oh, that was kinda bad.” “Oh that was nice.”
But anyway, like I said, don’t try to separate the opposites. The more you do–the more, the more it goes wrong.
How do you value or rate the strengths of your negative character?
So that goes for you. How far off that middle do you go? How far are you willing to stretch the truth? How far do you go to keep the truth?
“Hello Bear.” He was outside. “Hello adventurer.”
Actually I kicked him outside. He hadn’t been out today so I like pushed him out the front door. So he’d go out there and do some–
Ooops! Somebody came in with you. Hold on. We’ve got some creature came in. I’ve got to deal with.
Buddha Zhen reads TAO #5 of TAO OF TAOISM he wrote for his Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan students in 1993 in his Shaolin Chi Mantis Traditional Buddhist Kung Fu and Taoist Tai Chi Chuan schools. This self-help book is revealing now the ‘dark side’ of Buddha Zhen as he answers the questions from his Tao of Taoism book with candor and honesty. He reveals more about his 5 SOUL THEORY or Five Souls of God book he wants to release when he can find a large book publisher brave enough to publish this revolutionary concept that every person contains four souls of five possible souls to choose from.
One of his revelations includes the fact that comedians are all WOMAN souls in their first top position. Also boxers may be WOMAN souls in the first position. Buddha Z is perplexed himself by the riddle of this truth or wisdom from the BOOK OF CHANGES or Tao Te Ching written by Lao Tzu over 2,200 years ago.
Below in this web post is the transcript from the video “DAILY TAOIST 14” reading Tao #5 of the Tao of Taoism written by Buddha Zhen Shen-lang / Richard Del Connor.
YouTube Transcript of TAO #5 in the video “DAILY TAOIST 14” read and performed by the author, Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang.
Ah man. I couldn’t get up. I looked ahead at the next one. It’s really got me excited.
Buddha Zhen here.
This is the TAO OF TAOISM written by me. And I’m on #5. And this one’s got me all– Look at me. I’m all excited.
#5: The value of opposites amounts to nothing.
That’s so cute. We’ll come back on that.
To separate, glorify or deny something in protection of its opposite creates a weakness by the loss. All things are of value despite our preference.
How that describes America’s situation so dramatically and I don’t wanna get carried away talking about it– But I’ve just got to show you that’s why- that America is in conflict because we are totally out of the Tao.
Okay, first of all: The value of opposites amounts to nothing. Now that’s a misleading statement but it’s actually 100% accurate. ‘Amounts’ means adds up. So one PLUS and one MINUS. You add them together equals zero. So NEGATIVE plus POSITIVE equals ZERO. That’s a beautiful thing.
Lao Tzu was intending to mean something. And I think we’re missing the boat by not delving into that further and further. But let’s just leave it at that for now.
But he’s saying you take a negative and a positive and you end up with nothing.
Now let’s look at a wife and a husband. And you end up with a nothing. Is it really a nothing? Or is it really a new something? See. You’ve got them put together here. It’s not this. And it’s maybe not this. But it’s this. So it’s nothing that existing previously. See. Maybe we got something shaved off in the original translation. So maybe… Anyway, let’s open our minds. I’m always looking for some way to make these things real.
Okay, and the next part is all of the chaos in America right now.
To separate, glorify– Remember that’s bad. When you’re separating something out, you better have a GOOD reason. Or you’re just capturing something.
Glorifying something is another way of capturing something. And saying, “You’re not good. But this is.” See. So this is– Gotta remember when you create a positive you create a negative.
Or deny something. So now we’re gonna deny– I don’t know how to put this in perspective yet. Deny something in protection of its’ opposite creates a weakness by the loss.
So if we’re saying this guy we’re gonna glorify, and we’re gonna give you something special. But we’re gonna deny you– Creates a weakness, by the loss. By the denial: That’s a weakness. That’s not a strength. When you raise this guy up and glorify him and say to him, “You’re not worthy.” That is not a good balance. That’s not a good plus or minus.
This one’s way off of balance. It’s gonna fall down. And this guy’s down, so far down here… he’s going to get buried. They’re both gonna, ‘boom.’ Bad situation.
So, one more time. Let’s read what I wrote on this. It’s interesting. I’ve got all kinds of things going through my head. Your perspective may be different.
The Value of Opposites
One more time. Lao Tzu says– I love this first line. It’s just cute, and clever. But I think it means so much more than any of us are probably grasping right off-hand.
The value of opposites amounts to nothing. To glorify, separate or deny something in protection of its opposite creates a weakness by the loss. All things are of value despite our preference.
Gotta remember that too: We always think in terms of ourselves. Everybody. It’s just the first way we think. Just gotta accept that so you can deal with it. Okay so you have to realize that we all have our preferences. If you can become more Zen and–
I look bald with this light shining here. And look at that bump on my head. Cover it in– Sheesh. I bumped myself pretty bad last night. [laughing] Oh I should say something, “Oh I was in a fight and somebody hit me with a…” Boom.
Okay… here we go… Okay. Here we go.
What is the opposite of you?
Well… Me, that’s just about everybody. So, that’s not you. That’s me.
So, what’s the opposite of you?
So, in other words, if you’re a good worker–then maybe a bad worker. If you’re an honest person–then a dishonest person. If you’re a happy person–then a sad person. Or maybe the other way around. Who’s the opposite of you? Let’s work with that.
Your Relationship with your Dark Side
Explain your character polarities. Good side / dark side.
That’s tricky here. You’re gonna have to like open up to the fact that–
Explain your character polarities. Your good side and your dark side.
Now I remember Oscar. If I can talk about him. He’s kind of a good example of somebody to talk about. He, when I met him– He always wore military fatigues. And he wanted to be a soldier. But he was not a WARRIOR. But he wanted to be a soldier. And he actually had a dark side. And he enjoyed playing the video games and stuff. He loved shooting and killing. He said the reason he wanted to be a soldier was: he actually wanted to–you know–shoot something. [LAUGHING] So anyway. You’ve just got to own up to it. And accept it. Even if you don’t like the way it sounds to you. I can’t even say it for other people. But anyway. You’ve got to own up to your own dark side. Umm, umm… Anyway–
Next one. How do you control your dark side?
Well let’s say you have a dark side. You think, “Gosh. I’d like to beat that person up.” Let’s deal with that instead of murder. Okay. You’ve got this desire to beat other people up. And I’ve known one person. Actually… a couple. I have two… people whose fathers were boxers. I’m not really a boxer. I teach martial arts but I don’t box. Who were boxers. Their parents were boxers. As a result, they beat and hit their kids. See, a boxer hits people. That’s just the way they communicate. So both cases, these boxer fathers hit their kids. And they didn’t, they didn’t think they were evil. Probably didn’t. Because they were just communicating with their kids the same with all their professional allies, and competitors or whatever. And you know, that’s just the way they communicate. So in both cases these kids had gotten pummeled by their parents. Or their fathers excessively.
I also know cases where women have been very sadistic and whipped and beat– and done terrible things to their kids too. So anyway, I’m not saying it’s all men. Don’t get me wrong here.
In fact, my theory is actually that anytime you do see a man who is being sadistic and mean like that– Like those boxers. Those boxers must have been WOMEN in the first position. And then a WARRIOR in the second position. That’s what Joe Rogan is. He’s a WOMAN in the first position, and a WARRIOR in the second. That way he can be mean and hurt people and have a sense of humor about it. That’s how you can do it. A WORKER can’t do that. A WORKER can’t have satisfaction about doing something wrong or breaking something, or hurting someone. Because that doesn’t get along well in the work place. You’ve gotta be more compassionate. So compassion ironically comes from the WORKER. Not the WOMAN. A WOMAN soul is the one without the compassion. They’re the ones that make comedians. All comedians are WOMEN souls in the first position. Every one of them as far as I can tell. Shocked me because I’d been studying them for two years.
It’s really obvious in some like Russel Brand. But, Seth Myers, Stephen Colbert, Joe Rogan– I mean a lot of it is just so obvious. And you talk to them about their neuroses and their emotions and their– I mean, it’s the WOMAN spirit. Not the female. They’re not female. They’re WOMAN souls. Okay. So anyway.
I found that a negative. It did make sense when you know that. It just makes sense. So you know this person needs a little more ethics and tends to beat people up because they’re going to enjoy it.
Okay. So here we go. Um, where were we?
What do you dislike the most in others? Okay. Now that’s an interesting question. So think about that. You should have some things pop into your head.
One more time: What do you dislike the most in others?
Okay, next: How do you control these dislikes in yourself.
I just kind of like jump several steps. And these things you dislike in other people are almost always going to be something you dislike in yourself.
Like in my case I would say, “Dishonesty.” I’m way into the truth. So the one thing I dislike the most in myself is dishonesty. And any time I’ve been dishonest it still haunts me. It’s something I can’t do. It’s like so, that’s what I dislike the most. It prevents me from doing it.
See? So when you understand these things: it’s not a negative, it’s a positive. Like, “Alright. I’ve got– I’ve got this bumper that’s gonna keep me away from lying. I shouldn’t get in a job where I have to lie. I can’t be a salesman. I could only sell something to someone I thought could afford it and it was the right time and the place and the thing for them and– I just can’t be a salesman. I’m too considerate.
So that’s why a salesman is good. You’ve got a WOMAN in the first position every time. A man, with a WOMAN in the first postion has a good chance of being a salesman.
Now a WORKER, like my dad– Actually, is my dad a WOMAN or a WORKER in the first position. He may be a WOMAN in the first position… but anyway, let’s keep going.
What are you Fighting For?
Let’s see. Where were we?
What are you fighting to control for the sake of some rule that is difficult to follow?
Ahhhh. This is a good one. Everybody’s gonna have different answers for this one. But here we go.
What are fighting to control for the sake of some rule that is difficult to follow?
Like maybe eating. It’s difficult for you follow that rule. I shouldn’t have given you any clues. It comes from you first.
Nature is seasons of opposites. Summer and Winter. Spring and Fall.
Nature is seasons of opposites. Winter has its time as does Summer. How are your opposites regulated, controlled, or allowed their own release?
Or as I’m saying, Nature has opposites. So I’m allowing you to like give yourself some leeway. How you do this or that– Or you want this–
So what are your opposites? Find your polarity. How far are you going from one extreme to the other so we can find out maybe what your happy medium is– and make it easier for you. Cuz you may have one thing pulling this way, and one thing pulling this way. But if we can find some way to satisfy both of them–then that’s good without maybe going all the way that way, or all the way that way. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t if the middle is always the best way.
Here we go. Describe your overall balance of opposites.
If you’re driving in your car you’re going, “What the heck is he talking about?”
Like what would be my opposites? My opposites would be my ability to just watching YouTube. And then I say, “Man, I’ve been sitting here for a little while. I didn’t move.” You know, I should be doing some Kung Fu or cleaning the kitchen. [laugh]
Okay. So that’s one opposite is I feel guilty for not doing that and the other opposite is I work as hard as I can. I’m doing these Kung Fu classes. Teaching and building and writing things and work on the websites… So ONE: I go from the opposite of working REALLY HARD too long to maybe relaxing too long. That’s my answer.
Okay. Let’s see. Nature is a season– Okay.
Describe your overall balance of weaknesses.
Um. Like I said, I’ve got a good balance. I’m putting my life together. I’m working out. Studying myself like under a microscope so I better be good.
Anyway. I think 12 minutes here. Thanks for hangin’ around. Hopefully this is interesting to listen to.
Daily Taoist 13 – TAO #4 about LIFESTYLE habits and routines
Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang “Spirit Wolf of Truth” reads TAO #4 of his book, TAO OF TAOISM – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life. Based upon the BOOK OF CHANGES or TAO TE CHING by Lao Tzu, Buddha Zhen elaborates and adds his own answers to the questions of his book. The Tao of Taoism was written by Buddha Zhen (born Richard Del Connor) for his Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan students in 1989 as THE TAO – COMING TO TERMS, and then rewritten again for his Kung Fu students as Tao Of Taoism – Using the Dao Te Ching to Improve Your Life in 1992 and published in its current format in 2010.
The Tao of Taoism is a self-help book that breaks down each of the paragraphs of wisdom written by Lao Tzu over 2,200 years ago into questions with blank spaces for the students to fill-in with their own personal and unique answers. This enables students to reflect on the Taoist wisdom and integrate effectively into their personal existence. Buddha Zhen also says that it is beneficial to review the questions and update the answers every decade. Or take pride in how the previous answer is still benefiting their current life.
This TAO #4 and is an altered translation by Buddha Zhen according to his own views and perspectives of Lao Tzu’s original intentions or a completely modernized view that students can better relate to. Buddha Zhen has been teaching his Taoism since 1988 and “…viewing its affects on students.” He says he’s not interested in the spiritual foolishness that Americans keep adding to these philosophical phrases. BZ is only interested in how his students can integrate this knowledge into their modern materialistic lives.
In this episode of THE DAILY TAOIST 13, Buddha Zhen elaborates on his eating and sleeping habits. This video is the first video of which Buddha Zhen realizes he is not fooling around and rehearsing the reading of this book for an AUDIO-BOOK he has set up for in his bedroom-recording studio. The audiobook may not be recorded as soon as planned. In editing these 69 videos we’ve realized that we lack a computer capable of editing the professional recordings. This project will be delayed until Richard Del Connor and his SHAOLIN RECORDS production company can afford to purchase a new computer. Richard has been homeless for six years and dependent upon the computers of the public libraries in North Hollywood and Studio City since 2013. The borrowed 2013 PC computer used to create this blog cannot play the 1080p videos or ProTools recording software…
So for the next few months we will be releasing these DAILY TAOIST videos on YouTube and Patreon in hope of gaining sponsors or selling Kung Fu class videos we are editing on his newly acquired iPhone 11 Pro Max.
This is TAO #4 of the TAO OF TAOISM by Richard Del Connor / Buddha Zhen. This also the video: DAILY TAOIST 13. Their is a transcript of the video below. Incidently, view the CC Subtitles when viewing the videos. After completing all the video performances it became obvious that Buddha Zhen mumbles almost indistinctly while pondering these wisdoms.
TAO #4
Nature is a cosmic whirlpool of inexhaustible energy. Whether you splash, join or leave the whirlpool — the forces of Nature continue unchanged.
YouTube VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Alright. Let’s do one more. I’m not sure. I thought I was just gonna experiment. But now I’m kind of motivated to do the whole book. Kind of maybe the WARRIOR in me. But I feel like I’ve started something worthy of finishing. So anyway, let’s do one more.
This is NUMBER 4 on page 13. And Lao Tzu supposedly, according to me said:
Nature is a cosmic whirlpool of inexhaustible energy. Whether you splash, join or leave the whirlpool– the forces of Nature continue unchanged.
And when I use ‘Nature’ like that: in both cases I’m using a capital ‘N.’ I’m saying Nature is kind of like the Mother Nature, the spirit, the God, the identity. Which is just a romantic way of putting together the science, you know, the weather, the way of spinning of the thing, the rotating around of the earth. That’s not as pretty. Harder to put a word on that. All the physical, geophysical reality aspects of our existence. Mother Nature. Nature. Nature is an easy way to term it. And that’s all that “Tao” is. The ‘Tao’ is just a word. Remember, Tao is just a word that we decided could mean something which most people don’t understand still.
Okay. So, here we go. One minute: getting started. Here we go. I’m trying to figure out how to be more succinct. So I can be more professional on this. I’m going to in there and actually record it really nicely.
Okay. NUMBER 4. Let’s read that again. Nature is a cosmic whirlpool of inexhaustible energy. Yeah, that’s what Nature–just planets spinning around… That’s a lot of energy. Inexhaustible? Well I suppose they may stop and slow down–but that’s beyond our comprehension. Whether you splash, join or leave the whirlpool– So if you fly off the Earth– the forces of Nature continue unchanged.
Yeah. So if you leave the Earth, it won’t change.
Okay. So here we go. Let’s read the questions. I didn’t read ahead. I actually– I should’ve scanned ahead. See if there’s any I want to answer myself. I stumble along here. Then I want to take a break here. Yeah. Here we go.
How are you connected to the cosmic whirlpool?
Yeah, I’ve gotta talk. I’ve got some friends. And over the years I’ve been a Native American. Actually, like I said previously, I used to give back to– something to Grandfather. I probably shouldn’t talk in Lakota. I’ll mess up bad. You know when I was even having meals I would try to have a relationship. It’s like a karmic relationship. It’s almost like you want to think it’s a sentient being and that by scratching it, it’ll be nice to you and let you stay there. And so, I had that kind of relationship.
And then there’s another kind of relationship of that. Kind of creepy I think, that– Anyway– All the plants. All the plants have like a bioenergy. Put all the plants together and they kind of harmonize. They almost talk to each other. And in fact, I’m probably willing to say that they do talk to each other. But they have a certain energy feeling. Like radio waves. You just bear with my terminology. I’m just using words to convey a concept. So don’t hang me on any technicalities. Anyway, they’ve all got this magnetic energy frequencies, or whatever they communicate on. They’ve got that. Now the animals are different. And they don’t want to be in that frequency and listening to the plants. You know. So that’s a whole bunch of noise to them. So to them they’re in kind of a different frequency of awareness and involvement. So they sense each other and almost talk telepathically. And we’re part of that. We’re part of that animal frequency network that’s almost– you can almost tap into it. A lot of people like to think of it as a radio-wave consciousness. And I’ve got to tell you, if it does exist and you get tapped into it: it’s like “gahhhh.” Like a whole bunch of cows in a field. Who wants to tap into all that? All this, “Me,” “Me,” “My,” “My,” “Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi…” And all it is is animals, “I’m hungry,” “I want,” “I want,” “I want…”
So that’s why — getting connected into the cosmic whirlpool– Sorry. I had to throw that in. Four minutes! Sheesh.
Okay. Here we go.
How inexhaustible is your inner internal energy?
Well, I’ve definitely got a whole bunch more than anybody else.
What are your most energetic hours of the day?
Ah… See I’ve worked as a carpenter, graveyard shifts and everything. So I really do know what I prefer. And what I really prefer: my body’s natural rhythm with the Tao. Whatever it is as a creative person, energetic person, a working person… Whatever– Is I like I like to sleep from midnight to 8:00 A.M. You can kind of shift it an hour or two but that’s the basic layout of it. From midnight to 8 A.M I want to be asleep. Although now I have to get up at six in the morning… visit the latrine. Used to sleep through that, but that’s because I’m a senior. Anyway. Then I have to tell my cat, “Go back to bed.” Getting up too early.
Actually, I’m trying– I was trying to go to bed from 11:30 to 7:30. So my alarm’s going off at 7:30. Maybe I should move it 8:00. But 7:30 kind of worked for me because I had certain things I wanted to do by certain times of the day. Other obligations. And I was shooting classes with Oscar. And stuff like that. So 7:30– Actually, and then it was– My most energetic hours of the day are the reverse of that. So that’s everything that’s not that…
When would you like to have more energy?
Even late at night. Sometimes. I try not to drink coffee after 6:00 in the evening. Because that will get me through to midnight. And if I have much coffee at 8:00 or especially at 10:00 then it’ll be harder to get to sleep. And if I don’t get much sleep then I’m not as good the next day. So you don’t want to make mistakes. You know. You’ve gotta keep that rhythm. If you break the rhythm one day you can ruin several days.
Okay… When do you do your Tai Chi everyday?
Remember? I wrote this for my students.
Lately I’ve been doing it like super late. Because I work out in the day and stuff. It’s not really for me, or I do my classes and stuff. But then I didn’t do MY Tai Chi. So it usually ends being really late. When I’m really tired or something. It’s been kind of weird. Not weird. Yeah weird. Weird. When you’re really really tired and know…
Sometimes I come out there. Man, I can’t sleep. So I’ll do my Tai Chi. Then you realize how tired you are. “I’m really tired. I can go back to sleep.” But I don’t try to fool myself. So anyway, I’ll start doing my Tai Chi and go, “Oh Man I am really tired.” And then you’re doing it and just trying to make it to the end of the Form. And that’s a, a good experience. Because that’s what real battle is. Or anything in life is really. It never goes easy. It always gets harder as you go. So you have to build up that spirit of just accepting the fact it gets harder. And you do it.
Where are we?
How do you feel about practicing Kung Fu?
Oh God. Man. Talking about my classes. I’ve injuries. Two surgeries. I threw out my shoulder. I had back prob– And then I mean I had plantar fasciitis. I was going to a therapist. The last couple years have been horrible for a few years. Just horrible in terms of doing it. So for me this Kung Fu is like my comeback. I’m driven to rebuild myself. I mean to the Kung Fu I used to be. Because I’ve backed off and didn’t have much students the last couple years. And so I wasn’t doing as many classes… All at the same time. It just all snowballed into me doing the least amount of Kung Fu in my life.
At 66 years of age that wasn’t a good way to transition into seniorhood. It was like, “Let’s not do it…” I’d do 1/10th of as much exercise for a couple years. So now I’m 66 years old and I’m not at my spring chicken–you know, that I could be at right now. Where I was a few years ago would be great. More than that, five years ago and I’ve degraded much more than I should’ve. In fact I don’t think I should degrade at all. I want to go back to where I was five years ago.
So anyway, I’m doing my Kung Fu as a comeback. To me it’s that WARRIOR. It’s that drive to– And I really want to do it. Which is why it bugs me like I said when I get too busy and I’m trying to talk myself out of it. My little conflict.
Okay. Where are we?
Explain your eating schedule each day.
Ahh. I eat every few hours. You might learn a few things about this.
When I was homeless I was actually eating three eggs for breakfast every day. So, if you can get a dozen eggs that’d last me– because my ice would only last me two days usually so I’d get ice twice and then the next time I’d get ice I’d get some more eggs. But… I’d get up in the morning: I have breakfast. Okay? Feed my cat and have breakfast. So that was like 8:00. So I’d get up about 7:00, 7:30, so by 8:00 I’m having breakfast. Then 10:00 I usually have a snack. My cat’s been changing my schedule a little bit. It hasn’t been working for me. Because we just jumped into daily savings time and he doesn’t understand that. So, so even though it says 11:00; to him it’s 12:00. You know, I keep forgetting that. And I pissed him off. “11:00? No, no. Wait another hour.” He’ll come over and eat his dry food and go back and take a nap. And I’ll call him… And he won’t come out for lunch. “Rrrrr, Rrrrr, Rrrrr. You didn’t feed me when you should’ve then!” “It’s noon now.” But he doesn’t understand the jump ahead so I’ve been like changing my schedule just kinda for him. But reworking mine and skipping that morning break which I don’t really need. Now that I’m not working as a laborer anymore. So I’m like getting up at 8:00. Eating breakfast at 9:00. And then not eating anything until noon and I’ll feed him at like 11:00 and then I’ll have something at noon. And then I might have a snack at 3:00. I usually do but I get so busy working on the web I’ll sit down and it’s like four hours later, “Oh my goodness. I worked right through my 3:00 break.” That’s why I don’t like working on the computer. I just get too sucked into it. I’m not talking about Facebook. I’m talking about building these websites.
But anyway. So by lunch. Okay. So like breakfast I’ll usually have an egg or two. Maybe a meat. Apple or orange. And then a pancake or something, which I always put a lot of egg in. So… Or a cereal or something. But I always want a fruit, a meat, the eggs, and a starch. The dairy’s not as important to me. I don’t really focus on the dairy. But I’m trying to add a little bit. I like to have some cheese and stuff.
Okay. So anyway that’s my breakfast. Then at noon what I’m gonna have is basically the same kind of layout except I’ll usually add lettuce. Because I don’t like having lettuce for breakfast. So I’ll always try to have a salad for breakfast [lunch] and hopefully I’ll have a salad for dinner. So I’ll have two salads in that day. So then I’ll have a salad for my lunch. And lately what I’ve been doing is I get the bags of spinach lettuce. And then I wash it. And then I slice up an orange, or an apple, and then I throw that in there. Then I mix up some peanut butter with some water and salt and maybe some soy sauce. I make like a peanut butter sauce. Or I buy something from the store. And then I have a salad while I also have some sort of a meat. Could be a chicken or hamburger or fried egg or lately I got some baloney from the church. I’m so full of baloney. I’m serious. I’ve got like ten pounds of baloney. I’ve been eating a lot of baloney. Okay, so that’s my lunch.
Now I might have a snack in the afternoon because as a worker and as a person– you shouldn’t ever have… You can’t go six, or five hours is too long to go without eating. So all the way from noon until five and making my dinner at 6:00 is too much of a sugar lull. That 4:00 to 6:00 is not gonna be me at my best. I won’t be my smartest. I won’t be my most productive. So I try to have a 3:00 break. Which can be anything. Just a granola bar. Peanut butter sandwich. Maybe another salad. I like having just a salad and an apple, you know. Or an orange. I try to have a fruit or something. But make it something. A little snack. But not a meal. Not really a meal. And it doesn’t have to even have meat in it. But I’ve gotta have meat in the next one. I want protein three times a day.
So then I’ve got my supper about 5:00 to 6:00. And that’ll be anything. I look cooking chicken lately. And tacos and… I’ve been overcooking. I fried– I went through a container and a half of oil the first two months I moved here. Frying all kinds of stuff. Can’t do when you’re in your car. So I had a lot of fun cooking.
So I… kind of panicked. I got like a quart and a half of oil in less than two months. I said, “I’m backin’ off now.” I’ve used less than a half a thing in three months so now. So I’ve changed my cooking style. But I was really enjoying frying a lot of stuff for a while.
Okay. So you go through these things. That was my Tao. I had to work that out of my system. And get some stuff out. Frustration. Food frustration.
Where were we? Thirteen minutes and I’m not going to fast now. Okay. Where are we?
Explain your eating schedule. You got that? Oh! And you should have a snack after that. So at 6:00 and if I go to bed at midnight– then I can’t–I won’t at ten o’clock, at 12:00 I’m gonna finally break down and have something to eat and then I’m gonna go to bed with a full stomach and I’m gonna wake up in the morning with acid reflux. So you don’t want to eat within two hours of going to bed. So you should never eat after 10:00, basically if you’re going to bed at midnight. If you’re going to bed at 10:00 then you shouldn’t eat after 8:00. You’ve gotta have that two hour window for your food to get out of your stomach before you lay down. So if it sits in there all night IT ROTS. And that’s what acid reflux is. It’s as simple as that. The doctor’s not gonna tell you that. I don’t know why.
Doctors just give you pills. They could really help you a lot more than that if they really got smarter.
But like I said, they’re just WORKERS. They, they’re told what to say, and they say what they’re told to do. So that’s all what most doctors are. We expect– I expect too much out of a doctor.
Okay. Where were we? Oh yeah. So, acid reflux. I’m glad that I threw that in.
How do you wake up each morning and how quickly are you awake?
Ah, well gosh. I was in this parking lot sleeping for some months last year. And… I had to wake up and walk all the way across the parking lot to the latrine and get back. You know, you can’t be all, ‘ooooooohhh’, and walking out there. Just pointing out that sometimes you’ve just gotta wake up and be in action. Danger there.
I’ve never found– Actually, lately a couple times, in the house I have noticed I’m kinda draggin’ around. Not as perky as I would be if I was outside. So it’s a mental attitude. A decision. It’s a decision. And… you should just wake up. That’s it. Don’t convince yourself that you can’t do that. That’s it. You’ve just got to tell yourself that you can do it. It’s that easy. It’s a decision.
Your Daily Habits are your Daily Tao
Where are we?
Explain your morning habits before going to work or school.
Okay. So do you shower in the evening, or do you shower in the morning. Brush your teeth. What do you do? All that type of stuff. Floss.
Which direction, North, East, South, or West does your head point when you sleep each night?
Think of yourself as a compass needle with your head being the tip of the needle. Okay, so when you lay down at night if your head pointed directly North then you’re pointed to the North. Kay? When you’re pointed to the West, East, South. Okay? So that’s– Anyway. The point being is that’s the way you’re magnetically polarized when you sleep. And that’s real important. That’s how you sleep.
But anyway, Shifu sleeping suggestions. I don’t obviously get into that right now. That whole topic of Feng Shui. Read Feng Shui. Feng Shui will explain the whole thing. Everything that Feng Shui says is true. As far as I know. Put it this way: everything I’ve learned about Feng Shui made since. Proven itself in reality. But the trick is to really be able to see the truth of it. The Feng Shui. It’s not as easy as read it and see it. It’s an art in itself so it’s not that easy.
Okay. Where are we?
Explain your after-work or after-school habits.
What do you do in that window from 3:00 to 6:00? Like I said, you should probably have a break. Probably at 3:00 have a snack. So now you’re empowered for three hours of whatever you want to do.
So at 6:00, then you have your real dinner. Or 5:00 to 6:00. Start at 5:00 then it’s ready at 6:00. If you started at 5:00, served it at 5:30, you’ve still got to clean it up. So it’s still 6:00 no matter how you look at it.
Your Tao within the Cosmic Whirlpool
Okay, where were we?
How are you adding energy back into the cosmic whirlpool?
Aaaaahhh. That’s a little more spiritual. My Native American thing coming through.
How are you adding energy to the world?
In other words, what energy do you add?
What energy is Trump adding to the world? To the Tao of the universe? He’s gota megaphone see. Trump our President has this huge magaphone. It’s 2020 right now. So he has more of an effect than I do. If I yell and say anything more caustic than him: No effect. Nobody hears. He’s connected to the Tao in a different way than I am. He has an effect. And the energy he’s adding– Look what it is. It’s ugly. It’s ugly energy.
So make sure you choose your energy. Just all energy is not good. Qigong is ‘energy work.’ But it doesn’t mean good energy or bad energy work. We want to presume it’s good. But obviously its just working your energy. The trick is you’ve gotta have good energy to work.
In fact the Chinese have something that they used to refer to– I haven’t heard anybody refer to lately. I don’t hang out with that many Chinese people this century. But they call it ‘Qi Poisoning.’ And that’s where you’re basically circulating bad energy. And it just poisons you. You’re magnifying it. It’s like being Darth Vader and killing yourself with your negative energy. Okay?
How aware are you of all energy sources around you?
If you walked– If someone was to blindfold you and you walked under power lines–could you sense them? Don’t feel bad. You can go nuts. I got to a point where I could feel the wires in the walls. Sheesh. Gotta back off a little bit. Feeling it is not going to do you any good.
But… How much can you sense it? Can you sense different energies? Can you tell when you walk on different surfaces… You’re up in the air, not connected to the Earth?
Anyway, that’s it. That’s NUMBER 4. Let’s read NUMBER 4 [“Tao #4”] and see if I’ve led you to understand it better.
NUMBER 4 is: Nature is an inexhaustible whirlpool of cosmic energy. Whether you splash, join, or leave the whirlpool– the forces of Nature continue unchanged.
Now there are really two things. Let’s go back to that first one. I think that second one kind of covers it over.
Nature is a cosmic whirlpool of inexhaustible energy. Rember what I was saying, talking about getting up in the morning. That’s you and Naure. Does Nature have trouble getting up in the morning? No. Then you’re not in harmony with Nature. So the inexhaustible energy is Nature. You really want to tap into it. Really be in harmony with it. Get energized.
“You’ve got the WORKER soul. You’ve got the WOMAN soul. That’s most everybody.”
Buddha Zhen jokes about red ink spots on his hands from his red pen. “I love these pens–but they leak really easily…”[Precise V5 Rolling Ball]
Buddha Z wiggles his pinky finger, “WORKER [soul].”
He wiggles his ring finger, “WOMAN [soul].”
He wiggles his middle finger, “WARRIOR [soul].”
He concludes, “W – W – W: Those three go down here at the bottom . You’ve got the 3-W’s: WOMAN, WORKER, WARRIOR. [SOULS will be capitalized from now on.]
“You can put them in any order, BZ continues. “Those three are the reproductive layer. Those are the ones that reproduce.”
“Up on top we have the rulers… I’m still figuring this out. This is a new concept. I just invented this theory a couple years ago.” [Current month is March 2020.]
“It’s been evolving through my poetry. I’m really excited to see my poetry evolve this awareness as I’m complaining about these things, and learning more until I finally figure it out… “Seeing how I got to here.”
Buddha Z holds up two fingers and grabs one.to wiggle. “The two on top. I gave you the MUSICIAN [soul]. The MUSICIAN is all creative thinkers. All the creative thinkers. People used to say, “These are people born with a ‘MUSE’… This is a special soul. The creative soul. I’m one of these people. Look at all my books. 150 books or something, maybe more. A couple thousand songs–all the things I create and do. I’m a creative person. That’s my soul. I can’t turn it off. It’s just who I am.”
Buddha Z laments about the years he was a laborer, not producing or utilizing his creativity. “It’s just a shame to be working full-time when I could be using my creativity. If I’m working I have to stop being creative.” BZ acts and pretends to be hammering nails. “Do that for a whole bunch of hours–my mind can’t be creative. If I start being creative I’ll hurt myself. Chop my finger off or something.
So you’ve gotta be careful. [Focused when working.] That’s why it’s not a good idea to put creative persons in those types of positions. Theyre suppossed to be creative. They’re the dreamers.
My family despises dreamers. In my family there are no artists. I’m the only one. The only one. So they despise me. They actually cannot understand me. Even after sixty years. I’m 66 years old and my parents still don’t accept the fact I’m a musician. They think it’s wrong. They think its a choice.”
Buddha Z points at the camera imitating his scolding parents and brothers, “You decided to do that just to piss us off!”
Buddha Z shrugs. “It’s not true but–” He smiles slightly, “Sheesh. How can a parent be pissed off their child has artistic talent? That’s terrible.”
“They just can’t understand.”
MANAGER and MUSICIAN Souls Are on the Top Row of 5 Souls
“So what’s the fifth one [soul]? We’ve got the three on the bottom and both the two on the top are M’s. So I use MUSICIAN because that covers all the creative people. And MANAGER [soul].”
“Now the MANAGER doesn’t have to be the scientist, or the guy who’s a MUSICIAN… or who’s good at math. That would be the MUSICIAN… The MANAGER is the one that goes for power. They’re not the one whose gonna want to stand in line and want to be on the assembly line. They want to own the company. They’re just not gonna be happy on the assembly line. You cannot bribe them into boredom like that. They just cannot do it. That’s the MANAGER.”
“Those two M’s on top: That’s what we got here in Washington, D.C. But now, we have a whole bunch of WOMEN who have a MANAGER power thing going… They have this emotional desire to be greedy and get what they need for their family. Because that’s normal. That’s the WOMAN’s job to collect everything.”
“The man [WORKER] goes off to work. But the WOMAN’s home all day. Kind of keeping everything intact. She’s not gonna sit there and watch the neighbors walk away with everything.”
Buddha Z pretends to be a WOMAN incorrectly, “”Oh you want the lawn mower? Take it. Okay. Go ahead and take our car.” No! She KEEPS everything intact.”
“The greed factor–“
“Sorry I said that so negatively. (Personal lperspective). But it’s just inherent. It’s the way it is. The greed factor is the WOMAN factor.”
WORKER Souls are the Working Class
“If the WORKER is greedy, “I want a raise! I want…” He’s gotta settle for what he’s got. He cannot be so greedy. I don’t know if they were created. Spiritually shave this of… and shave this… I don’t know. I’m still figuring out the dynamics of each one [soul].”
“On top you have the MANAGER and the MUSICIAN. So that’s what makes me kind of frustrated. I’m an ARTIST first.”
“In the first place I’m a MUSICIAN. Always been a MUSICIAN. I can’t stop being a MUSICIAN. I love being a MUSICIAN. If I could only do one thing and be happy–I’d be a MUSICIAN. I’m a MUSICIAN.”
“Next thing I am is a WARRIOR. I’m brave, fearless. I’m a hero. I like to help people. That’s where my compassion comes from. Weird. I thought It was a WOMAN thing. But it’s not. It’s a WARRIOR. That intention. I couldn’t figure it out. That drive.” Buddha Z gets teary eyed.
“I’m a hunter. I’m out there hunting rabbits at night. I’m out in the canyons by myself. it’s that WARRIOR thing… I don’t hunt anymore… No apologies… There’ve only been a couple times in my life I’ve killed an animal needlessly. And I bear that burden the rest of my life,” he says getting teary-eyed again.
“See. That’s the WARRIOR. The WARRIOR knows right from wrong. Youcan train him. Train him to know right from wrong. I was raised Christian so…, that’s my sense of right and wrong. I was a Catholic. That’s how I know right from wrong. That includes not killing needlessly. The Christians who do aren’t Christians.”
“Can you say them? The Three W’s on the bottom. WORKER, WOMAN and WARIOR. And then the two on top, MUSICAN and MANAGER.”
Buddha Z reads “Explanation” page of his book. It starts with an explanation of, “This ebook version of Tao of Taoism uses both “Tao”, which is Cantonese, and also, “Dao,” which is the current Mandarin Chinese language of China. They are the same word with the same meaning,” (“Tao and Dao”).
“Self-discovery is the last frontier for the smartest of men and women.. This book is a journey down your own very unique “Last Frontier.””
“How much time do you spend exploring your inner you?”
“Why are you you?”
“What makes you you?”
“I wrote this book for her [his daughter]. It’s called Act Zen to Be Zen.“
“It’s about Zen Buddhism teaching you how to find yourself–And then you can reshape yourself into other people.”
“Zen Buddhism is about understanding other people from as many perspectives as possible. And view yourself from as many perspectives as possible.”
Buddha Z talks about his poetry class in San Diego State University.
Buddha Zhen talks about how Lao Tzu may not be translated accurately by anyone because they may not understand the colloquial meanings of his statements 2,200 years ago.
Buddha Zhen also explains how only the disciples of Bodhidharma can perform the One-handed Bow of the Shaolin Temple because it signifies the relationship between the FIRST disciple of Bodhidharma and of those who continue this lineage of disciples of Buddhism to the first disciple, Hui Ke. If you aren’t ready to teach Shaolin Kung Fu or you don’t belong to a Shaolin master… you should not deceive people with this spiritual gesture.
Who is a Real Zen Buddhist?
“So what happened was–his Disciple Hui Ke–he tricked him. He tricked Bodhidharma to become the first Shaolin Disciple… He cut his arm. He went to his [Bodhidharma’s] cave and outside the cave he cut his arm and it bled into the snow. And he said, “Look, it’s raining red–in the snow. So Bodhidharm said, “Alright–you win.””
Buddha Z gets a little teary eyed. “So that’s what we’re doing. We’re honoring his sacrifice.” Buddha Z pauses. “I got a little choked up there.”
He continues, “I originally wrote this book for myself, then realized it was useful for other people. Then I rewrote it again when I created my Shaolin Chi Mantis schools in 1993 into a student manual for psychoanalyzing yourself, to help students develop a dialogue with their own inner minds.”
5 Soul Theory of Richard Del Connor
“It’s interesting I put that in the plural. It’s only in the last two years I discovered that we actually are four… souls is what I’m calling theem. Four different identities that all stack and work together.”
Buddha Z elaborates on his 5 SOUL THEORY. “You can only have four of them. Most people only have two.”
Buddha Zhen holds the book up to camera to show his Chinese ‘chop’ which is the red ‘dragon blood’ stamp on the page with his Chinese name. He explains which characters represent:
Zhen: family name = “Truth”
Shen: means “Spirit” or “Spiritual” but not ‘ghost’
Lang: “Wolf” (Master Chen explained to Richard Del Connor, “We don’t have Coyotes in China–only wolves.”)
Spirit Wolf of Truth = Buddha Z’s Buddhist name: Shen-Lang Zhen.
Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang “Spirit Wolf of Truth” continues with episode #2 of THE DAILY TAOIST series he is recording for his BUDDHA Z Instagram/IGTV channel.
Although Buddha Z thinks he is just rehearsing this book reading for his upcoming professional audiobook recording of his book, TAO OF TAOISM, he will continue rehearsing for a total of 69 videos that include every page of the book over the next week.
These videos are all shot at 4K 24fps on his new iPhone 11 Pro Max with Filmic Pro as the camera app. The purple Chinese silk tapestry on his wall was a gift from his Shaolin Chi Mantis students in Salt Laket City, Utah when he taught there in the 1990s. It was used for graduation ceremonies.
BZ Reads Page 2 of Tao Of Taoism
This is the “Raves for Tao of Taoism” written by Buddha Zhen. Although this is a blank page, Richard mentions that Dr. Carl Totten gave Richard some raves and comments about this book inspiring him with ideas. Dr. Carl Totten is also a Taoism teacher in North Hollywood, California.
BZ Reads Page 3 of Tao of Taoism
The “ALSO BY BUDDHA ZHEN” page lists books he publishes under his “Buddha Zhen” author name. Many of his books are novels and poetry that he writes under his legal name of Richard Del Connor or other pseudonyms. The books listed here under “ALSO BY BUDDHA ZHEN” include the topics:
Confucianism
Freemasonry
Shaolin Kung Fu
Shaolin Weapons
Zen Buddhism
He breaks down the books individually with information of how and why they were written.
Free Kung Fu at ShaolinKungFuBeginner.com
Buddha Z announces his new website “launching this Wednesday” (March 2020) www.ShaolinKungFuBeginner.com This website was created to provide FREE KUNG FU for people who would never get a chance to participate in a traditional Shaolin Kung Fu class. Buddha Z explains how these five free Kung Fu classes will also interest people into joining “the real school” at www.ShaolinInteractive.com. Buddha Z explains his Shaolin Kung Fu school requires a Buddhist head-shaving-naming ceremony to continue in his Shaolin Chi Mantis INTERMEDIATE program.
Scaring People Away with Rules
Buddha Z laughs and says he wants to scare people away with the head shaving ceremony. He explains he has two other schools students can join without becoming Zen Buddhists.
Today I launched the FIRST Tai Chi Youth CROWDFUND in Web3 with payments in ETH.
If you don’t know what ETH or Web3 are you can still go to https://www.taichiyouth.org/donate/index.htmlwhere we’ve been receiving donations the old-fashioned website way since 1999 using PayPal, credit cards and debit cards.
https://www.taichiyouth.org/donate/index.html
Back to my momentous accomplishment: Our first CRYPTO CROWDFUND of Tai Chi Youth nonprofit founded 1996 for “troubled youth” in prisons, and rehabilitation centers. The program made me so famous I had dozens of job offers I had to refuse. I was a Mr. Mom in the 1990s and dragged me daughter around to my Shaolin Chi Mantis and Tai Chi Youth classes where she became an ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR at the age of 5 in 1996 when I launched the Tai Chi Youth programs in a YWCA, Continuing Education Program (Night school), Church of Religious Science, Unitarian Church, 3 elementary schools, a middle school, 2 high schools, 2 rehabs, and the Salt Lake City Parks & Recreation where I produced up to 3 Tai Chi tournaments each year.
Tai Chi Youth programs have been used for homeschooling children and is certified by the California Board of Education to qualify as a Physical Education program satisfying High School graduation requirements.
Hundreds of lives have been improved by Tai Chi Youth… but let’s get back to this historic CRYPTO CROWDFUND of Tai Chi Youth I launched today.
I’ve been studying the crypto world of tokens, coins, NFTs, Web3, DeFi, blockchain technology, network bridging, crypto centralization and decentralized purchasing and storage in hot wallets and cold wallets. I know a little about everything. Last year I created the Tai Chi Youth DAO as a new form of blockchain GOVERNANCE to augment our traditional Tai Chi Youth BOARD OF TRUSTEES of our nonprofit. Contact me if you want to get involved. Spoiler Alert: The Tai Chi Youth DAO will also be launching our first DAO DeFi fundraiser during September next month.
Here’s what I did:
1. I created an “EDITION” fundraiser at Mirror .XYZ first. Yes, the Web3 world has different web addresses. Tai Chi Youth has an NFT collection at https://OpenSea.io/taichiyouth
This “EDITION” I published today is an NFT I minted at Mirror.XYZ and they will collect “ETH” payments and deposit them into our Crypto wallet of Tai Chi Youth.
A CRYPTO WALLET is like a bank account that anyone can deposit crypto money into.
This “EDITION” gave me a glimpse into my new platform: Mirror.XYZ
SO: You can donate to Tai Chi Youth by purchasing ONE of these NFTs limited to 100 copies for 0.1 ETH
The price of “ETH” changes daily but today that was = $1,900 per ETH today so 0.1 ETH = $190—
Here’s the address to look at/purchase this NFT titled: “Ming Tai Chi Crane Wing”
2. So then I created the CROWDFUND at Mirror .XYZ.
This is really cool but a little complicated.
You go to this crowdfund and BUY an NFT. That money goes into the Tai Chi Youth NONPROFIT CRYPTO WALLET connected to the nonprofit bank account at Wells Fargo. I can explain this “transfer process” later or give me a call, I enjoy teaching people about blockchain technology. Maybe I’ll start a podcast…
You now OWN this NFT. Each of these 4 different NFTs correspond to a different donation size and each one has a different number of possible “mintings.” Just like “MINTING MONEY” you “MINT AN NFT” which can be resold for a loss or profit or kept as a collectible in your “NFT COLLECTION.”
3. Then I created my first “TEXT NFT” (but I put a picture in it anyway). I didn’t know these existed until today. I can write an essay/document and then create a “TEXT NFT” that people can purchase in limited minting supplies for collection, resale or in this case have a document commemorating a CROWDFUND LAUNCH. Some people collect these crowdfund announcements. So I created a CROWDFUND LAUNCH TEXT NFT that people can buy of a limited number. This is CROWDFUND #3 of the Mirror.XYZ Tai Chi Youth Online School Crowdfund.
4. Whew! I’ve been studying and talking to people who know more about this than I do for the past month and discovered CROWDFUND PART 4.
It’s called a “Patron Podium.” (I’d never heard of this before either).
This is where the top 3 highest donors fight to be first place like an auction—but it is for prestige.
So I had to create 3 NFTs for these guys to fight for and win with the largest donations to the Tai Chi Youth Online School Crowdfund.
So today I just launched 4 CROWDFUNDS at the mirror .xyz WEB3 site although 99% of YOU PEOPLE reading this probably have NO IDEA what I’m talking about.
Well, until I got cancer chemotherapy last year and laid on my back for four months listening to videos and audiobooks explaining this stuff, I didn’t know anything either.
Call me if you want to know more.
Check this out and be impressed by how cool and nerdy I am. “Tai Chi Youth Online School Crowdfund” at MIRROR .XYZ
Buy an NFT and join the future that our kids our going to learn about in kindergarten. In 1995 I didn’t know how to operate a computer on the internet until I became a “TEACHER’S AID” for my daughter’s kindergarten class. The teacher taught me how to use the internet and then I taught each of the kids how to use a computer and get onto the internet while she went back to keeping the rug rats occupied.
Call me for more info. Text me a compliment about how cool I am. Welcome to the future!
