so Taoisms teaching in a nutshell is "chill out, be yourself, take time to relax in silence and let things happen on their own time" i can get behind this
Try to empty your mind. Try to let things happen on their own. Try to stop obsessing with your thoughts. Try to realise that everything that happens in this world is neutral and only your thoughts make things positive or negative, so try to see things for what they are. You can do this by staying present in your everyday life and you will see how much of your life drama is created by you. Why suffer when you can have peace? Nevertheless, you will notice how hard this can be, it requires practice of many years to have a relatively still mind.
I am speechless. I can think of no way to describe such profound beauty. Thank you for sharing, I have been in need of this for a while. Please, don't stop making videos. People don't think very highly of philosophy, simply because they don't understand it, but your explanations of these concepts are beyond my knowledge of the English language's capability of explaining. With out your videos, I truly believe I would not have found my way out of depression. I sincerely thank you for your time.
¿”Capable of explaining?” One of my lessons of TAO is, “The TAO which can be TAOed is not the true TAO.” Here is an illustration for your consideration: The course of a ship across the ocean that can be plotted on a paper chart might be good enough to get the ship from its port of origin to its destination port, but this is not the true course of the ship across the Universe.
Yo I can dig Lao Tzu. One thing I've always said myself is that people need to make time to think, relax, reflect - let nature take its course. There's nothing wrong with that or lazy about it, yet modern society frowns upon such things because they think it's selfish and doesn't accomplish anything. Well what good are you if you're too busy to just live life? Why make yourself so overwhelmingly busy that you can't just experience things? It makes no sense to me.
+CrimsonOptics "Desiring nothing for himself, he knows how to channel desires. And is it not because he wants nothing that he is able to achieve everything?" It's hard to kill desire. Everyone desires something. With that thought, doesn't that mean we are desiring to desire nothing? It's a paradox. This is why I like meditation so much. It has a lot of mysticism attached to it but actually it helps your thoughts flow rather than linger. Eventually you get to a point where you can truly relax. It's like taking a nice long nap and waking up completely refreshed and free of overthinking and the stress it causes. I think this is what he was actually getting at. When you learn to just simply be, you'll learn how to let go of all of the nonsense. When you can do that, then you can truly be a happy compassionate person. There is a lot of nonsense in this world and it's all self-created.
Run13 Buddhabrot Exactly. I think meditation is a great way to reach that point where you truly just don't desire. It's a pretty interesting thing when you delve into it. The sense of letting go is simply just relaxing and comforting. You can tell I listen to a lot of Alan Watts haha.
+CrimsonOptics because modern society is like a train going faster and faster ... we all need to participate to fuel it yet we have no idea why or where it';s going... But it sure is going ! (and damn fast with that now !)
"There's nothing wrong with that or lazy about it, yet modern society frowns upon such things because they think it's selfish and doesn't accomplish anything. Well what good are you if you're too busy to just live life?" So true.. never thought of it that way before...
I love Taoism. It's just so simple yet complicated, but so easy and in harmony. When you compare Taoist philosophy to the ideology of Ibrahimic religions especially Islam, there's a huge difference. The latter is all about fighting, dominance, suppression and alienation. Taoism is so pure, truly peaceful and constructive.
Hi As a muslim i aggree that middle east people like u said. By the otherside The book all about indulgence and being a peaceful meaningfull good people. :)
Could you please elaborate on why you refer the religion Islam as "all about fighting, dominance, suppression, and alienation," ? I would like to know and understand how and why this came to your mind.
I'm not sure what people expect from a five and half minute video! At the very least, I'm sure the intention of The School of Life is to INTRODUCE (to those who might feel a little daunted by) some of the great thinkers and topics. How is that in any way failing? Major win, to be fair! Well done!
Claims rightly that most likely the text was written by several actors. Proceeds to attribute quotes to a single actor. 2 quotes are not even from the text. No, it's not even a good introduction.
to be honest i've just discovered your channel 30 minutes ago and I must confess that I'm already amazed by the quality of your videos. The way you guys introduce each thinker is so acessible and easy to understand to that I feel I'm craving for more information about them and their work. Please, keep your awesome work and thank you for creating something so good
Taoism teaches a person to flow with life. Over the years Taoism has become many things to many people. Hundreds of variations in Taoist practice exist. Some of these practices are philosophical in nature others are religious. Taoism makes no distinction in applying labels to it's own nature. This is important since as a person we are each a blend to many truths. The truth taught in Taoism is to embrace life in actions that support you as a person. Taoism is one of the few religion I definitely respect
We are somewhat in the same boat. I've often regard Lao Tzu as a greater philosopher than Confucian. The problem I have is the religion aspect of it. It was hijacked by people like DaoLing Zhang which transformed it into various worshipping rituals.
+MrJermson Chinese have a bad tendency towards unification of the world due to confuciansm and ancestral worship.They even tried to combine confuciansm ,taoism and Buddhism together.
It begins only as a phylosiphy, his followers makes it a religion out of their own interests, but it's not Laozi's own intention, he believes no god in human shape.
Keep in mind, rituals are a crutch, and for some the crutch long outlasts the debilitation. Taoism is just a word, a construct for teaching what cannot be completely learned outside of experience. As Foucault once asked, "What would you call 'Love' if you didn't have a word for it?" The Tao exists in anyone who can harmonize with the energy around them and resonate it back into the world like a sail on a sailboat pulling one forward.
Hmm eastern philosophy accentuates meditating, western philosophy says look for wisdom thru logic and science. Maybe I shall combine both and become enlighten.
+Marc Rogue Meditation has a lot of scientific and medical backup now. It actually stimulates parts of the brain differently and promotes growth of gray matter. These are all actual studies. I believe the two go hand in hand.
+Marc Rogue exactly what I thought! These philosophies always talk of harmony and staying in the middle. No extreme left, no extreme right (literally in this case).... So why not do the same with the philosophies themselves and find a path down the middle?
+Marc Rogue and maybe both of them talk about the same things in different words. because words may always be open to endless amount of interpetations. but by listening and observing one can just experince the objective turth. the one beyond words ans eplanations...
***** They aren't chinese. You can't expect them to know the 4 different pronunciations for the same word you know. Cao can either mean grass or village/settlement just by the way you stress on certain parts of the word! It's completely different from English. The Dao Ze Jing may not be the bible, yes, but it can be said as an equivalent, and really, the concepts are very foreign to most westerners who aren't that exposed to the ideas presented by Lao Zi and so had to simplify the concepts a little to make it more generally accessible. I feel that you're being unnecessarily harsh here.
Louis Bullock He might be the guy that is irked by the way they are supposed to be pronounced. Though, since it's "jing" you could add a zz sound to the "ching" make it sound even closer. And for the case of 老子 lao2 zi3, it's lao zz-uh, like making a buzzing sound with you teeth and the "uhhhh" like how you would for filler sounds. Do the 2 sounds quick enough and that should be very close.
Zhuangzi and his friend Hui Tzu were walking by a fish pond. Zhuangzi: Look at all the happy fish! Hui Tzu: How do you know they are happy? You are not a fish. Zhuangze: How do you know I don't know? You are not me. Hui Tzu: *o_O*
Who can I thank for this channel? I have learned and applied dozens of these lessons to my life and I am so much more fulfilled for it. Legitimately one of the best discoveries of 2015 for me.
Philosophy > Religion. I like to do good and respect others not for fear of a God's punishment but because that's how I want to live with others, in peace. Making the world a better, nicer place to live in is rewarding enough. Buddhism is quite amazing at teaching how to cope with pain and suffering without requiring the person to worship anyone.
You guys should really do one on either Nisargadatta Maharaj or Ramana Maharshi. Their teachings unify what Buddha, Lao Tzu and Rene Descartes taught all in one. I'd recommend checking out the book "I Am That".
you could say Alan Watts does the same. Its a true luxury to learn ancient philosophy without being confused by mysticism. gonna check out that book.. thanks
@@thatsamuellu Western philosophies are by the hundreds, and too complex for simple minded people. They are the origin of scientific mind which create the world we live on. Chinese philosophies , 3 , 4 simple thoughts which bring to ... people dreaming of an imaginary past of peace.
Ganikus also, the scientific mind didn’t ‘create the world we live on’. The world was always there. The scientific mind helps us understand this world but it is more concerned about the physical. Ideally, we need to balance both an understanding of the material world with an understanding of consciousness. The west excels at the first, the east the second.
Though the sound of rain needs no translation. One doesn't need to read any scriptures to be close to the Tao, and for step 4, thinking about the Tao may not imply stillness. One doesn't need to think about the Universe being in motion, one can simply feel it :)
Simple1DEA i agree with what both you guys are saying, in a sense the dao could be thought of the super ego. to achieve enlightenment is to release the ego, and to instead understand the superego and harmonise with nature and the way.
Has that actually worked for you? Or anyone? You shouldn't kid about something you don't understand. You may detract from your own education - which is probably why you can't spell Enlightenment.
Going back to the "taste of vinegar" analogy, there was a huge misinterpretation of the Buddhist definition of suffering. _Dukkha_ in western translation closest definition is "suffering", however the word according to its Pali's origins best translation is just "discontent with change". _Dukkha_ is just the reality that in life things change, people die, you grow old, a chid is born from sex, you move, ect. Siddhartha explained that people are discontent with this, and often make "mental formations" about these changes in life calling it "good" or "bad", holding onto "good" moments, burying "bad" ones, ignoring "boring" ones, instead of accepting it all as the riding wave of life, so to say. From this video, it would seem that Daoism is very close to Buddhism. Buddha additionally advocated slowing down, living in the present moment, not to be anxious or rush into things but to instead let life take it course, letting go of ego, meditating on details in life, ect. In fact this really does seem like Buddhism and now I'm more interested in learning more :O
No that's just the closest Pali to English translation.... But it has a different context and meaning. Its like saying that "sort of" means "yes" in English. Technically it does, but when speaking English, it usually is used in a context meaning "Yes, but not not completely so". I can't link my books to this thread, so here's a Zen Buddhist site best explaning it. Hope that helps. brightwayzen.org/not-misunderstanding-dukkha/
Kæla Brown I'm Indian and Dukkha means sadness or misery in my language maybe my ancestors had different ideas but that's what it means today. The English translation isn't close it is exact
just to comment on the last statement in the video: Lao Tzu didn't recommend that people shouldn't take action. he says that we should act like nature or the Tao. that our action should be natural, rather than forced
daoism also influences korea and japan deeply since taekwondo, aikido, bushido, judo, tea do, flower do, ect. that ends with a "do" is derived from daoism (their traditional cultures are mainly from china) dao= tao= do= to= dou= tou, same written word with different pronunciations in different languages
That’s deep,,,if he spoke in American English he would’ve said skedule and you would’ve never mad this comment, and myself and Dyer would’ve never taken the 5-20sec of our lives to reply...
Ahh, but the pronunciation of 'schedule' in Britain is changing to match the American one these days. I rarely hear people under 30 say it with a 'soft' post-alveolar fricative 'SH'. In keeping with this video, like all things, language can change in an almost effortless way.
Majority of world says like that. American don't. Probably because it mixed with Spanish speaking community and grew from there. S is ES sounding in those language.
When talking about philosophy, it's common to hear eastern and western philosophy, but what about the northern philosophy, or the southern. Werent there great philosophers in Russia, Australia, or Africa?
”上善若水“ In Chinese , ”上“ means up; supreme；above; on... . "善“ means good; good at ; kind; kindness ... ”若“means like； "水" means water Compare "The supreme good is like water” and “The best man is like water” . the first translation is better than second one.
Great video. Again. It would be neat to have a little introductory reading list in the description of some of these videos, especially the eastern tradition, if I want to learn more I often don't know where to start.
***** Yes, all you suggest is so worthwhile reading, becoming "familiar" with and consequently practicing, living it in daily life. Has helped me in many areas throughout my life and continues to do so, truly re-minding of essential values and ways to let go, grow, heal, transform, etc. Bless you all, Namaste Susan
Jack McGhee Read Tao Te Ching. Read it three times. First, just to read it. Second, to add notes and interpretations. Third, to read it along with what you have taken from it.
Jack McGhee Well Jack my good fellow, perhaps you could google Loa-tzu and Chuang--tzu. They're free! The Tao Te Ching is very brief and can be read in an hour or less but the benefit is, you'll pick it up again and read it again because it is short and terse. Why you could even read it ten times in a day and then ten thousand times and its never really the same each time you read it. The Chunag-tau is a beutifully written classic expounding on Lao's words. A literary classic with the use of wild metaphor and exaggeration..a work that runs as long as Lao's is short...
Yes, so true ! First thing I do when I wake up is, at random, open a page of the TTTChing & each text speaks volumes ! And as you say in your last sentence so true too, wonderful ! Salut, Namaste SusanTee Jay
Saulius Girdauskas yeah, he doesn't really say something that is new, but he really is a great teacher that helped bring Eastern philosophy into Western society.
This is true. I'm experiencing this for few months now focusing in the moment, in the present, allowing myself to watch, hear without judgement. It's very peaceful. The more I practice it the easier is to get in this mode.
The notion of wu wei brought a suggestion to mind. I don't think in your coverage of the roots of Western philosophy that you ever did a video on Heraclitus. I would love to see one on Wittgenstein as well. And in the area of psychology; William James, Carl Jung, and Victor Frankl. OK, that should keep you busy for a while. :) I admire and appreciate your work. Many thanks!
This reminds me of a teaching by Bruce Lee, "Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend".
Failing the way we resort to virtuousness Failing virtue we resort to moralizing Failing moralizing we resort to dogma and doctrine The most superficial form of faith and loyalty and the nourishment for confusion
A nice effort, but I feel this only scratches the surface of Taoism and the extraordinary truths found in the Tao Te Ching. I think that Taoism is the most misunderstood and under-appreciated philosophy because it's so subtle, poetic and understated, but for me it gets to the heart of things more elegantly and profoundly than any other school of thought. Still, a nice introduction for those unfamiliar with it. For anyone who is interested and would like to read another popular and accessible explanation of Taoism, Benjamin Hoff's endearing and insightful book "The Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet" is a surprisingly accurate mapping of the fundamental tenets of the philosophy onto the characters in Winnie the Pooh. Highly recommended.
Thank you for your comments and suggested reading. Do you have any other references that might help round out my limited understanding? Though I know very little about Tao Te Ching, I found the School of Life video repetitive and suspiciously "Western contemporary" in its explanation. I suspect the creators of the video projected their own beliefs (which I have found repeated in the other philosophy videos), making me suspect their own perspective is tinged with a bit a Satre's "absurdity." Is "taking long walks" really so fundamental to so many of these philosophical points of view ;)
Well as I say, the Pooh book is actually a very lovely explanation of the central ideas in Taoism, so it's a good place to start to see if you want to go further. After that, I'd recommend simply getting a hold of the Tao Te Ching itself and reading it. It's actually very short and comprises of mostly very concise chapters that are sometimes a single chapter or a few poetic verses, so it's actually very simple to read (unlike most philosophical and religious tracts). Due to the nature of translating from ancient Chinese ideograms to modern Western linear language is a fundamental aspect to understand, so an edition that has an extensive introduction or commentary is probably a good idea. Whenever I see a copy I always flip it open and read the first few lines as, due to the problem of translation, it is always very different every time. And yet, the core truth that lies behind the words somehow manages to shine through the historical distances, the cultural differences and the translational discrepancies and remain profound and as clear as a still pool of water. It really is an astonishing artefact of human spiritual and intellectual expression.
Thank you for your suggestion. I am eager to know more about Taoism. There is another book 'Absolute Tao' by Osho. Even this book can help any aspiring readers to know more about Tao.
It is nice to see a western educational organization introducing eastern philosophy to people on the Internet. However, There is a clarification that I want to make though. It is that "Taoist philosophy"（道家思想） is very different from "Taoist religion."（道教）The former is just a kind of philosophy that doesn't emphasize on any specific kind of concrete practices. However, the latter is a kind of religion that may involve some kind of concrete practices like going to the temple, meditate..., etc. So not every person who likes or follows Taoist philosophy goes to temple, meditate, ... or do specific kind of practices like that. There are people who just like to follow Taoist philosophy and try to "embody the way."（「體道」）Here's just one difference I want to highlight.
Lso Tzu was born as an old man after his mother saw a shooting star. And one time, during a debate, he supposedly made Confucius look like an idiot. Really interesting guy.
Lao Tzu was born as a old soul after his mother saw a shooting star BECAUSE he had already gone through so many mostly always up-grading human reincarnations because of his past lives ability to heighten his God Consciousness refinements and so can you .. *"A Complete Macrobiotic Yin Yang Philosophic Understanding Combined With Its Practical Dietary Discipline Is Timeless Universal Law. All Other Teachings Are Incomplete." ~ Michio Kushi & George Ohsawa*
+Sickunt As long as people still say Paris instead of /Paerhi:/ I'm fine with that pronunciation. Besides if accuracy was the goal I would ask to have the 4 tones in Chinese properly pronounced as well, which is virtually unachievable.
***** The name Lao Tzu is very likely romanized using the Wade-Giles system developed in the mid-19th century and largely abandonned and replaced for political reasons by PR China's Pinyin system (which is designed in 1958 to help Chinese learners -- for it works accordingly with ancient "Fanqie" system -- more than being a phonetic system to best represent the pronunciation). it is no surprise that the sound doesn't resonate with the pronunciation now as the transcribing method is only seen in history books, but still it is one of the most efficient system if not the most, comparing to other systems like Pinyin and Yale (not saying it's good enough, but the other ones are either terribly hard to read or hard to use or senseless). So yeah although I would like to unify the chinese and western pronunciation of those words to a level that people understands each other, but I guess even the scholars are not trying to work this out in the recent years, for which reason I say nobody is to blame before the scholars got questioned.
I think there was an important point here that was somewhat missed, (or perhaps I misunderstand it). The opening line of the Tao Te Ching states as follows in rough translation "The way that can be wayed, is not the Way." Or as I interpret it "There exists Tao's or ways or paths that can be followed, but they are non-universal". The important point here is that in the opening line the Tao Te Ching admits that the path/way/tao is everchanging and unique to every person, it explicitly acknowledges that following Lao Tzu's way may not be the way of another person or of another time. This differs from say, the bible, in that Lao Tzu believed that multiple interpretations ADDED meaning to conversation and to his works, as opposed to the bible in which alternative interpretations from the writers meaning were heresy. The Tao is unique to every person and it is not claimed to have a particular path for a particular person.
Where did you come up with this conjecture? Mine was supported by a direct and important quote from the Tao Te Ching, if you have counter evidence or some sort of alternate translation or interpretation please present it and I would be happy to consider it.
How does this imply a singular Tao or "way?" My point still stands. Taoists reveled in obscurity, the idea that an idea could be interpreted in a way that the speaker of the idea did not mean the idea originally, meant to the Taoists that greater meaning was created. The fact that every person receives a different interpretation, and has a different "way" is central to Taoism in that it means that each person must listen to their own individualized central Tao. Taoism is not like Christianity or other major western religions in that it does not claim if you pray a certain way, sing praise to a certain god, speak and act according to a set of rules, that you are following your "way" or Tao. Taoism instead claims that people must only listen to nature, and to their own inner nature in order to follow their own Tao (way), and thus each persons path is determined by their own selves and is unique. Ignorance from the view of the Taoist would be to assume that there is a prescribed path to follow that is universal and each person must walk.
It is to encourage you to experience and discover Tao for yourself, not to listen to others. Because the Tao that can be told is not the most precious Tao.
Very nice presentation. I particularly liked the inclusion of the vinegar story. Many westerners don't realise that even in the east, Buddhism is often perceived as a philosophy of 'bitterness'; Taoism, is, indeed, sweet by comparison, and perhaps not only by comparison. I do believe, however, that Lao Tzu's different names in English are not a matter of different translation, but of different *transliteration* only.
Very analogous to the musings of Henry David Thoreau. . . . "Rather than doing good, better to go about being good . . . and let the world be getting good about you. . . . What ever good I do must be a constant superfluity of which I am completely unaware . . . not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing."
. . . "Our whole life is startlingly moral. There is never an instan's truce between virtue and vice. Goodness is the only investment that never fails. In the music of the harp which trembles round the world it is the insisting on this which thrills us. The harp is the travelling patterer for the Universe's Insurance Company, recommending its laws, and our little goodness is all the assessment that we pay. The laws of the Universe are not indifferent, but are forever on the side of the most sensitive. . . . Listen to every zephyr for some reproof, for it is surely there. . . . --- Henry David Thoreau
. . . "Every path but your own is the path of fate. So keep on your own track then, . . . a path on which no one can resist you." --- Henry David Thoreau
Im a chinese. Among the 3, Confucius' ideas is too conservative, too controlling, too regimental and support close to authoritarian rule. Buddhism is like a big nice guy but view can be quite pessimistic since backed by bitterness. I support Lao Tzu ideas more as its more neutral and less stressful for the soul. He do not support on the rulers nor to the citizens point of view but focus on the well being of an individual.
Buddhism isn’t really pessimistic at all. The makers of the video and western Buddhists translate ‘dukha’ as suffering which doesn’t quite capture the meaning of dukha. Dukha also means change, impermanence.
In Confucius's defence most people adhere to the surface level stuff and not the authority should be wholly accountable to society. Still hella patriarchal though.
@@ANTSEMUT1 yr right but sadly most Asian politican do not see confucius style of rule like you. They only "selectively" like the control part. Same for buddhism, most Asian politican like it too. But of its non-violent teaching. But you dont see any politican will follow Taoism. Even a fraction of it, no one follows it. A sad reality.
As Im young i side more towards religon. As Im a working adult, i side more towards confucius for security. But as i aged, i side Taoism more and more. Now realised all the great taoist sage like Lao Zi, Zhang Sanfeng (inventor of Taichi) are all very old man. They reach a rich old age to see so many other man-made ideologies are rubbish and nonsence. Just flow with nature is the best.
@@vanwangye I recently came to know about Taoism and Lao zi through the book 'Absolute Tao', it's a compilation of talk by Osho. The ultimate principle which I understood is that just move along with the flow. There is a lot that the world has to take from Tao te ching. Hope, the future generations will realise it!
You miss the center of the phylosophy of Laozi. Laozi believes there is no good or evil in the universe and everything on this planet prospers in the absence of good and evil. Therefore kings or leaders should mimic the nature and literally *wuwei* to the wellbeings of their people and of course take no responsibility of wrongdoings. By the way, Tao is not exclusive to Laozi. Confucious and all other Chinese philosopers use it. Tao means philosophy in modern Chinese. Therefore a group of Confucious believers in Song dynasty are called 道学家.
I find it a tad ironic that one of the "morals of the story" is to slow down, but the video itself is delivered rather fast paced compared to others you guys make.
There's a park in town that encircles a large pond that I like to take walks at, and I always end up watching the birds. It attracts all kinds of ducks, geese, and great blue herons. The park even provides a food dispenser, so if I have any change on me I'll just spend a while feeding the ducks. Lately there's been a surge of people at the park, and they're always walking around staring at their phones. They're not taking pictures, or even texting, they're playing Pokemon Go. It's astonishing to me that people can be in the middle of a park, walking next to a pond and all sorts of wildlife, and they're fixated on catching fake animals. Maybe I'm becoming an old man, but I'd rather interact with actual birds than catch hundreds of Pidgeys.
One should note that the religious aspects of Daoism doesn't actually derive from the Tao Te Ching. For example there isn't any reference about any deities except once in the book and all that it says that the Dao is greater than the gods. This is very true in all religions as the Dao brings balance to everything good or evil. So in a way Satan falling from Heaven or Eve biting the apple can be the work of the Dao. If the Abrahamic God was mightier than the Dao then wouldn't we live in his ideal paradise?
That's a common misconception. There are at least three references to deities in the TTC, one of the most well known being the "Valley Spirit," which Laozi also calls the Mysterious Female, or Dark Mother, if you like. Laozi's "Dao of Heaven" isn't always neutral either. It is said to be on the side of the good person and can be counted on to always benefit and never harm living things.
Tyrhonius No you are twisting it to the way you think it ought to be and not the Way it is.. Heaven and earth treat all beings like "straw dogs", the old Confucian sacrificial statues made of straw that were left out in the rain or hot sun after the cermonies. Heaven was simply the canopy that spread over the earth..."heaven and earth" last forever and the reason they do is because they don't foster themselves.. The Valley Spirit not dying is the womb or plant bulb or seed, the fertility of life where "all things cannot help but grow" when the yin and yang are conducive to it... "to be on the side of the good person and can be counted on.". No, if fact, if you do good, avoid fame and if you do bad, avoid punishment, respect your family and live out your years.. There is no Christian evil or good, just benefit or harm.... There's no moralizing or righteousness in Tao...
I believe Lao Zi didn't really believe in heaven and hell. He was more of a naturalist who believed that what we have is all we've got, Tao is among us in our every day life.
Lao Tze name means "old master" ; an elderly man when he composed the Tao te Ching; further amplified and interpreted over the centuries. Other Chinese philosophers also bore the Appelation "Tze or Tsu" ( Kong fu Tzu; Sun Tse, Meng Tze and many others. ). The Tze in a name, signified a Mastery of the knowledge of China, physical and pholosophical. Like the Wisdoms of Ptah-hotep, visier and first secretary to Pharaoh Djed-ka-Re Isesi, 3rd dynasty, Old Kingdom ( c.2640 BC ), but of much earlier date than Lao Tze. Leaving aside " the gods" , a good guide to life for all humans.
it's too fast for the contexts. lao tzu's book needs to have time to digest every sentence. but the video narration is too fast and the images going too fast. no chance for tasting the meaning of Tao
Run13 Buddhabrot I am not speaking about myself. if this video is for making people to understand about Taoism, i think it's better slow down everything. I also think that purpose of making this video is not just simply explain about the theories. and I hope people to have more chance to understand this beautiful words and have time to taste each words.
There is a language barrier to understand Daoism. I am Vietnamese, a very close culture to Chinese, and I read multiple research about Lao Tzu, most of analysis misunderstood the Daoism, because thsoe "professors" started from the first place that they came from different belief and they can't keep their neutral and blank mind to judge Daoism. 95% of reasearcs, especially Communist government or other type of similar bad system also tended to "bend" the truth and try to convince people that "nothing other than Communism is good for residents." I was very very lucky to receive a gift from my literature teacher: "The core of Daoism by author: Nguyen Thu Can" and it is the best ever book explaining about Daoism and Lao Tzu. Maybe even the start that I was born as Vietnamese support that belief. Somehow, everything clicked in and I found myself enjoy Daoism so much that none other system like Confusion or Democratic seems reliable. (Although the book "Republic" is very classic, I don't remember the name quire well because I read in Vietnamese but that book is the only Western system book you ever need to read, it covers literally the core of western belief, even in term of justic."
I looked at all the main ones, this is the one that appeals the most to me. I liked Buddhism, but this idea that the ultimate aim is worldly abandonment didn't really fit for me. I look at life with a sense of gratitude, nature, relationships, friends, art, literature, film, music, memories, and I think how lucky I am to be able to partake in spite of tribulation. I think that this makes a lot of sense, its the rituals, the deities, the burning of money & requesting the intercession of ancestors that I find irreconcilable.
Not a joke this is my master of many lives. He is one person and they made him many because he was so amazing at being a human. He is honored with helping me to help save this nation. I am being the best multi dimensional possible.
Xuxhi I have finally deducted some ways of explaining Wu Wei, and here they are: Wu Wei is the art of doing without doing right? Well, think of it like this. What is it like to have something be "second nature? What is instinct? What is intuition? All of these concepts are related to Wu Wei. They are subconscious actions that don't take any thought to perform. Like riding a bike, or walking, you just have to focus all of your energy into taking as many things that you do in your daily life as you can, and find a way to do them without thinking about it. I have learned, through constant practice, to be able to look at something, and use my peripheral vision to look at everything in front of me at the same time. Most of the time I stare in one spot, and that tends to make others feel uneasy, but it allows me to walk, run, ride my bike, drive a car, and pretty much anything that I do, and never move my eyes once. Currently I am at a level where I can be mostly blindfolded, and ride my bike while holding the handle bars with one hand while standing up. All I can see is the floor, but that is all that is necessary for me to do it. Another thing I can do, is spar completely blindfolded. It all comes down to fully giving in to your instincts, and intuition. Like mind over matter, but far more advanced. I hope that helps! :)
Daoism is not religion. Daoism is life. The dao can not be explained. Lao tzu inherently is the founder because he is the first to describe it in that manner. Wjho is founder then if not lao tzu?
+Frost XUE Good point, but from a more philosophical point of view (one the school of life may have taken) is that honestly the labels do not matter. What does matter is that the teaching can be preserved one way or another, in a way so that it still carries its substance as intended by its creator. If that means that the boundaries between the religion and the philosophy are crossed, so be it - sometimes religions are defined by their underlying philosophies.
Hey Alain, all of your videos are great and I really enjoy them! Um... although Sun Tzu was primarily a military strategist and less of a philosopher (unlike Lao Tzu, who was mainly a philosopher), would it be possible for you to make a video about Sun Tzu sometime soon? Thanks man! :)
“The best leaders are those their people hardly know exist. The next best is a leader who is loved and praised. Next comes the one who is feared. The worst one is the leader that is despised …" - Lao Tzu
"One who conquers others is strong. One who conquers himself is all-powerful." -Lao Tzu
so Taoisms teaching in a nutshell is "chill out, be yourself, take time to relax in silence and let things happen on their own time"
i can get behind this
Not really. What's in your quote marks sound like a very western understanding. Only "let things happen on their own time" is accurate.
@@charleshuang5815 thumbs up!
Try to empty your mind. Try to let things happen on their own. Try to stop obsessing with your thoughts. Try to realise that everything that happens in this world is neutral and only your thoughts make things positive or negative, so try to see things for what they are. You can do this by staying present in your everyday life and you will see how much of your life drama is created by you. Why suffer when you can have peace? Nevertheless, you will notice how hard this can be, it requires practice of many years to have a relatively still mind.
He also said bitches be crazy .he was indeed very wise
"The Dude Abides" is another way to say it.
Can someone please explain Lao Tzu's philosophy it confucius me
Alan Wattsgoingon hahahahhaha nice one
Alan Wattsgoingon . Ha! I got it.
True a Body of Orderly Organized Knowledge. Some people just use the initials, B.O.O.K...
Things I see:
1) What you did there
Lmao your name. You must be the greatest troll on this planet.
I am speechless. I can think of no way to describe such profound beauty. Thank you for sharing, I have been in need of this for a while. Please, don't stop making videos. People don't think very highly of philosophy, simply because they don't understand it, but your explanations of these concepts are beyond my knowledge of the English language's capability of explaining. With out your videos, I truly believe I would not have found my way out of depression. I sincerely thank you for your time.
How has your journey been?
You have come a long way!
Look for assistance on your journey in the words, “No TWICE, no life!” They have lifted many people out of despair and depression.
¿”Capable of explaining?” One of my lessons of TAO is, “The TAO which can be TAOed is not the true TAO.” Here is an illustration for your consideration: The course of a ship across the ocean that can be plotted on a paper chart might be good enough to get the ship from its port of origin to its destination port, but this is not the true course of the ship across the Universe.
th-cam.com/video/O3y7aiwp4sY/w-d-xo.html
Shame it’s all bollox apparently
Tao Te Ching is soooo good, makes complete sense and confuses me all at the same time. thats how I know it's authentic. XD
yep
theadam22 no it won't, if you are good in Chinese and spend time a little to feel the meaning of the text
mellow magic if
Don't you mean it... *Confucius* you?
Meditation of Marcus Aurelius very similar to Lao Tzu teaching.
Yo I can dig Lao Tzu. One thing I've always said myself is that people need to make time to think, relax, reflect - let nature take its course. There's nothing wrong with that or lazy about it, yet modern society frowns upon such things because they think it's selfish and doesn't accomplish anything. Well what good are you if you're too busy to just live life? Why make yourself so overwhelmingly busy that you can't just experience things? It makes no sense to me.
+CrimsonOptics Didn't he say that we think too much? Then you claim to be all about that while thinking AND reflecting (lol)
+CrimsonOptics "Desiring nothing for himself, he knows how to channel desires. And is it not because he wants nothing that he is able to achieve everything?"
It's hard to kill desire. Everyone desires something. With that thought, doesn't that mean we are desiring to desire nothing? It's a paradox. This is why I like meditation so much. It has a lot of mysticism attached to it but actually it helps your thoughts flow rather than linger. Eventually you get to a point where you can truly relax. It's like taking a nice long nap and waking up completely refreshed and free of overthinking and the stress it causes. I think this is what he was actually getting at. When you learn to just simply be, you'll learn how to let go of all of the nonsense. When you can do that, then you can truly be a happy compassionate person. There is a lot of nonsense in this world and it's all self-created.
Run13 Buddhabrot
Exactly. I think meditation is a great way to reach that point where you truly just don't desire. It's a pretty interesting thing when you delve into it. The sense of letting go is simply just relaxing and comforting. You can tell I listen to a lot of Alan Watts haha.
+CrimsonOptics because modern society is like a train going faster and faster ... we all need to participate to fuel it yet we have no idea why or where it';s going...
But it sure is going ! (and damn fast with that now !)
"There's nothing wrong with that or lazy about it, yet modern society frowns upon such things because they think it's selfish and doesn't accomplish anything. Well what good are you if you're too busy to just live life?"
So true.. never thought of it that way before...
Nature doesn’t hurry yet everything is accomplished - The 🔑
Psych Slow - that’s “ fake news” 😉
I love Taoism. It's just so simple yet complicated, but so easy and in harmony. When you compare Taoist philosophy to the ideology of Ibrahimic religions especially Islam, there's a huge difference. The latter is all about fighting, dominance, suppression and alienation. Taoism is so pure, truly peaceful and constructive.
I would say simple yet deep. Not complicated.
Please study and read the Holy books each of them to a high level and in great detail before you make such bold statement.
as an exmuslim 100% agree.
Hi As a muslim i aggree that middle east people like u said. By the otherside The book all about indulgence and being a peaceful meaningfull good people. :)
Could you please elaborate on why you refer the religion Islam as "all about fighting, dominance, suppression, and alienation," ?
I would like to know and understand how and why this came to your mind.
The Great Dao brought me here.
Okay why the hell are you here
my whst teacher brought me here
Imagine not being Christian
No offence
My Phone bring me here.
I'm not sure what people expect from a five and half minute video! At the very least, I'm sure the intention of The School of Life is to INTRODUCE (to those who might feel a little daunted by) some of the great thinkers and topics. How is that in any way failing? Major win, to be fair! Well done!
I find these videos great for introductions into topics I might like to study, this is definitely one!
this
Then if you want the Tao explained to a western mind look to Alan Watts. Many of his lectures are on TH-cam.
Claims rightly that most likely the text was written by several actors. Proceeds to attribute quotes to a single actor. 2 quotes are not even from the text.
No, it's not even a good introduction.
to be honest i've just discovered your channel 30 minutes ago and I must confess that I'm already amazed by the quality of your videos. The way you guys introduce each thinker is so acessible and easy to understand to that I feel I'm craving for more information about them and their work. Please, keep your awesome work and thank you for creating something so good
Taoism teaches a person to flow with life. Over the years Taoism has become many things to many people. Hundreds of variations in Taoist practice exist. Some of these practices are philosophical in nature others are religious. Taoism makes no distinction in applying labels to it's own nature. This is important since as a person we are each a blend to many truths. The truth taught in Taoism is to embrace life in actions that support you as a person. Taoism is one of the few religion I definitely respect
We are somewhat in the same boat. I've often regard Lao Tzu as a greater philosopher than Confucian. The problem I have is the religion aspect of it. It was hijacked by people like DaoLing Zhang which transformed it into various worshipping rituals.
+MrJermson Chinese have a bad tendency towards unification of the world due to confuciansm and ancestral worship.They even tried to combine confuciansm ,taoism and Buddhism together.
+jat xe mo agreed. What we see in Chinese Taoism is Chinese folk religion with a little bit of Tao.
It begins only as a phylosiphy, his followers makes it a religion out of their own interests, but it's not Laozi's own intention, he believes no god in human shape.
Keep in mind, rituals are a crutch, and for some the crutch long outlasts the debilitation. Taoism is just a word, a construct for teaching what cannot be completely learned outside of experience. As Foucault once asked, "What would you call 'Love' if you didn't have a word for it?" The Tao exists in anyone who can harmonize with the energy around them and resonate it back into the world like a sail on a sailboat pulling one forward.
Hmm eastern philosophy accentuates meditating, western philosophy says look for wisdom thru logic and science. Maybe I shall combine both and become enlighten.
+Marc Rogue Meditation has a lot of scientific and medical backup now. It actually stimulates parts of the brain differently and promotes growth of gray matter. These are all actual studies. I believe the two go hand in hand.
+Marc Rogue exactly what I thought! These philosophies always talk of harmony and staying in the middle. No extreme left, no extreme right (literally in this case).... So why not do the same with the philosophies themselves and find a path down the middle?
Homie that's what I've been talking about too 😭🌊
+Marc Rogue and maybe both of them talk about the same things in different words.
because words may always be open to endless amount of interpetations. but by listening and observing one can just experince the objective turth. the one beyond words ans eplanations...
The idea of meditation is for logic. Logic untouched by any personal beliefs
this was beautiful...
***** Really like your videos :)
***** Isn't it pronounced like Dow De Ching? And either Lao Tssoo or Lao Soo?
***** They aren't chinese. You can't expect them to know the 4 different pronunciations for the same word you know. Cao can either mean grass or village/settlement just by the way you stress on certain parts of the word! It's completely different from English.
The Dao Ze Jing may not be the bible, yes, but it can be said as an equivalent, and really, the concepts are very foreign to most westerners who aren't that exposed to the ideas presented by Lao Zi and so had to simplify the concepts a little to make it more generally accessible. I feel that you're being unnecessarily harsh here.
likelihood96 Very true! I feel the Bible link was just that its a notable collection of ideas/writings that we can draw from if we'd like to.
Louis Bullock He might be the guy that is irked by the way they are supposed to be pronounced. Though, since it's "jing" you could add a zz sound to the "ching" make it sound even closer. And for the case of 老子 lao2 zi3, it's lao zz-uh, like making a buzzing sound with you teeth and the "uhhhh" like how you would for filler sounds. Do the 2 sounds quick enough and that should be very close.
Zhuangzi and his friend Hui Tzu were walking by a fish pond.
Zhuangzi: Look at all the happy fish!
Hui Tzu: How do you know they are happy? You are not a fish.
Zhuangze: How do you know I don't know? You are not me.
Hui Tzu: *o_O*
That which is presented without proof can be dismissed without proof.
@@DevoutSkeptic tao is beyond mind. thus if you are looking for proof(mind's tool) you won't be even finding it in your grave!
Nah this actually came from Zhuangzi
Here's the story as recorded on Wikipedia:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuang_Zhou#Influence
@@tomnook9270 Thanks man, I had mis-remembered the source. I'll edit my pose.
@@DevoutSkeptic absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Who can I thank for this channel? I have learned and applied dozens of these lessons to my life and I am so much more fulfilled for it. Legitimately one of the best discoveries of 2015 for me.
Philosophy > Religion.
I like to do good and respect others not for fear of a God's punishment but because that's how I want to live with others, in peace. Making the world a better, nicer place to live in is rewarding enough. Buddhism is quite amazing at teaching how to cope with pain and suffering without requiring the person to worship anyone.
Religion is based on philosophy
Just like pineapple pizza is based on pizza
@@abcde8293 no ! Religion grows on philosophy , there isn't a religion which does not have a philosophy .
Ja didn't say religion is without philosophy i said they took something great and put something bad in it
@@abcde8293 I don't think so , the overall effect of religion is good
You guys should really do one on either Nisargadatta Maharaj or Ramana Maharshi. Their teachings unify what Buddha, Lao Tzu and Rene Descartes taught all in one. I'd recommend checking out the book "I Am That".
***** awesome!
you could say Alan Watts does the same. Its a true luxury to learn ancient philosophy without being confused by mysticism. gonna check out that book.. thanks
+The School of Life what about doing some on indigenous world views? such as the concept that everything is cyclical, or all of our connections,
I was just thinking the same thing. Nisargadatta Maharaj would be a great video. This channel is great but so much more western theorist
I favor Taoism over western philosophy.
Since you compared, you began judge, either way will go wrong. Taoism teaches you have a open mind.
@@thatsamuellu Western philosophies are by the hundreds, and too complex for simple minded people. They are the origin of scientific mind which create the world we live on.
Chinese philosophies , 3 , 4 simple thoughts which bring to ... people dreaming of an imaginary past of peace.
Ganikus well, the West has always valued progress as opposed to harmony. I think this distinguishes the two world views the most.
this is kinds of discussion i love to put my self in :)
Ganikus also, the scientific mind didn’t ‘create the world we live on’. The world was always there. The scientific mind helps us understand this world but it is more concerned about the physical. Ideally, we need to balance both an understanding of the material world with an understanding of consciousness. The west excels at the first, the east the second.
This channel is opening my mind so much. Great job lads
Getting into the Dao:
1. Find a translation you like.
2. Pick a passage
3. Read it
4. Think about it.
5. Enlightmentment
Though the sound of rain needs no translation. One doesn't need to read any scriptures to be close to the Tao, and for step 4, thinking about the Tao may not imply stillness. One doesn't need to think about the Universe being in motion, one can simply feel it :)
Whatever works :)
Simple1DEA
i agree with what both you guys are saying, in a sense the dao could be thought of the super ego. to achieve enlightenment is to release the ego, and to instead understand the superego and harmonise with nature and the way.
Dao that can be interpreted isn't dao and dao that can be described isn't it either. That is this thread exactly.
Has that actually worked for you? Or anyone? You shouldn't kid about something you don't understand. You may detract from your own education - which is probably why you can't spell Enlightenment.
Going back to the "taste of vinegar" analogy, there was a huge misinterpretation of the Buddhist definition of suffering. _Dukkha_ in western translation closest definition is "suffering", however the word according to its Pali's origins best translation is just "discontent with change". _Dukkha_ is just the reality that in life things change, people die, you grow old, a chid is born from sex, you move, ect. Siddhartha explained that people are discontent with this, and often make "mental formations" about these changes in life calling it "good" or "bad", holding onto "good" moments, burying "bad" ones, ignoring "boring" ones, instead of accepting it all as the riding wave of life, so to say.
From this video, it would seem that Daoism is very close to Buddhism. Buddha additionally advocated slowing down, living in the present moment, not to be anxious or rush into things but to instead let life take it course, letting go of ego, meditating on details in life, ect. In fact this really does seem like Buddhism and now I'm more interested in learning more :O
Dukkha in Indian languages means "sadness, misery or suffering" not change.
No that's just the closest Pali to English translation.... But it has a different context and meaning. Its like saying that "sort of" means "yes" in English. Technically it does, but when speaking English, it usually is used in a context meaning "Yes, but not not completely so". I can't link my books to this thread, so here's a Zen Buddhist site best explaning it. Hope that helps. brightwayzen.org/not-misunderstanding-dukkha/
Kæla Brown I'm Indian and Dukkha means sadness or misery in my language maybe my ancestors had different ideas but that's what it means today. The English translation isn't close it is exact
Permafrost - I'm Indian too, and my definition is coming from Buddhist Indian monks. So....
Kæla Brown So.... Maybe the word Dukkha as used in spoken languages has a slightly different meaning when used in a philosophical sense.
just to comment on the last statement in the video: Lao Tzu didn't recommend that people shouldn't take action. he says that we should act like nature or the Tao. that our action should be natural, rather than forced
daoism also influences korea and japan deeply since taekwondo, aikido, bushido, judo, tea do, flower do, ect. that ends with a "do" is derived from daoism (their traditional cultures are mainly from china) dao= tao= do= to= dou= tou, same written word with different pronunciations in different languages
Its fascinating how a person died thousands years and yet his teaching still gets me today. Thank you internet and some ancient dude💪
Wow - I knew nothing about Daoism and now I do. Amazing how much knowledge has been distilled into and communicated via this video - thank you.
the way he pronounced "schedule" made me write this comment
british way of saying it :)
That’s deep,,,if he spoke in American English he would’ve said skedule and you would’ve never mad this comment, and myself and Dyer would’ve never taken the 5-20sec of our lives to reply...
Ahh, but the pronunciation of 'schedule' in Britain is changing to match the American one these days. I rarely hear people under 30 say it with a 'soft' post-alveolar fricative 'SH'. In keeping with this video, like all things, language can change in an almost effortless way.
Majority of world says like that. American don't. Probably because it mixed with Spanish speaking community and grew from there. S is ES sounding in those language.
The way he pronounced tao te ching made me reply to your comment.
When talking about philosophy, it's common to hear eastern and western philosophy, but what about the northern philosophy, or the southern. Werent there great philosophers in Russia, Australia, or Africa?
Yes.... Apart from Australia 😂
north and south are too harsh to live in the past no much room for thE groth of philosophy...n
In ancient times Australia's philosphers painted their myths and passed on stories; but not record keepers like ancient Mesopotamia and Greece.
Some country is not yet founded(exist) around that time.
When we go into space, how come we never go down?
Never felt so peaceful. This is just so beautiful ❤
'When I let go of who I am, I become who I might be' 🙏
Love this Channel!
”上善若水“
In Chinese , ”上“ means up; supreme；above; on... . "善“ means good; good at ; kind; kindness ... ”若“means like； "水" means water
Compare "The supreme good is like water” and “The best man is like water” . the first translation is better than second one.
光复华夏 the first translation is without ego, unlike this comment
this second comment is weird...unlike the translation
The world will be left to weak vs the world will be left to those who can keep their sword sheathed.
Different translation of Bible verse
Chinese writing is way too complicated
Said to be the most complex language, isn't it?
beautiful video..
Great video. Again.
It would be neat to have a little introductory reading list in the description of some of these videos, especially the eastern tradition, if I want to learn more I often don't know where to start.
Underated comment.
***** Yes, all you suggest is so worthwhile reading, becoming "familiar" with and consequently practicing, living it in daily life. Has helped me in many areas throughout my life and continues to do so, truly re-minding of essential values and ways to let go, grow, heal, transform, etc. Bless you all, Namaste Susan
Jack McGhee Read Tao Te Ching. Read it three times. First, just to read it. Second, to add notes and interpretations. Third, to read it along with what you have taken from it.
Jack McGhee
Well Jack my good fellow, perhaps you could google Loa-tzu and Chuang--tzu. They're free! The Tao Te Ching is very brief and can be read in an hour or less but the benefit is, you'll pick it up again and read it again because it is short and terse. Why you could even read it ten times in a day and then ten thousand times and its never really the same each time you read it.
The Chunag-tau is a beutifully written classic expounding on Lao's words.
A literary classic with the use of wild metaphor and exaggeration..a work that runs as long as Lao's is short...
Yes, so true ! First thing I do when I wake up is, at random, open a page of the TTTChing & each text speaks volumes ! And as you say in your last sentence so true too, wonderful ! Salut, Namaste SusanTee Jay
A video on Alan Watts should be nice.
Saulius Girdauskas yeah, he doesn't really say something that is new, but he really is a great teacher that helped bring Eastern philosophy into Western society.
Well, you should thank the CCP for that.
Central Deity ur dum
This is true. I'm experiencing this for few months now focusing in the moment, in the present, allowing myself to watch, hear without judgement. It's very peaceful. The more I practice it the easier is to get in this mode.
Don't push the river, it flows by itself.
i love the illustrative style but the changing brightness is like flickering and it's straining on my eyes.
The notion of wu wei brought a suggestion to mind. I don't think in your coverage of the roots of Western philosophy that you ever did a video on Heraclitus. I would love to see one on Wittgenstein as well. And in the area of psychology; William James, Carl Jung, and Victor Frankl. OK, that should keep you busy for a while. :)
I admire and appreciate your work. Many thanks!
This reminds me of a teaching by Bruce Lee, "Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend".
thank you very much, the eastern philosophy series is indeed... fulfilling and calming.
who says wisdom can't be taught
You should do Sun Tzu as well. Perhaps in the political theory playlist.
One of the most important videos for anyone seeking a light to the path of truth.
Failing the way we resort to virtuousness
Failing virtue we resort to moralizing
Failing moralizing we resort to dogma and doctrine
The most superficial form of faith and loyalty
and the nourishment for confusion
i like this , im doing this for my summer assignment and im glad i watched this video, gives me a different perspective of life
A nice effort, but I feel this only scratches the surface of Taoism and the extraordinary truths found in the Tao Te Ching. I think that Taoism is the most misunderstood and under-appreciated philosophy because it's so subtle, poetic and understated, but for me it gets to the heart of things more elegantly and profoundly than any other school of thought.
Still, a nice introduction for those unfamiliar with it. For anyone who is interested and would like to read another popular and accessible explanation of Taoism, Benjamin Hoff's endearing and insightful book "The Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet" is a surprisingly accurate mapping of the fundamental tenets of the philosophy onto the characters in Winnie the Pooh. Highly recommended.
Thank you for your comments and suggested reading. Do you have any other references that might help round out my limited understanding? Though I know very little about Tao Te Ching, I found the School of Life video repetitive and suspiciously "Western contemporary" in its explanation. I suspect the creators of the video projected their own beliefs (which I have found repeated in the other philosophy videos), making me suspect their own perspective is tinged with a bit a Satre's "absurdity." Is "taking long walks" really so fundamental to so many of these philosophical points of view ;)
Well as I say, the Pooh book is actually a very lovely explanation of the central ideas in Taoism, so it's a good place to start to see if you want to go further. After that, I'd recommend simply getting a hold of the Tao Te Ching itself and reading it.
It's actually very short and comprises of mostly very concise chapters that are sometimes a single chapter or a few poetic verses, so it's actually very simple to read (unlike most philosophical and religious tracts). Due to the nature of translating from ancient Chinese ideograms to modern Western linear language is a fundamental aspect to understand, so an edition that has an extensive introduction or commentary is probably a good idea.
Whenever I see a copy I always flip it open and read the first few lines as, due to the problem of translation, it is always very different every time. And yet, the core truth that lies behind the words somehow manages to shine through the historical distances, the cultural differences and the translational discrepancies and remain profound and as clear as a still pool of water.
It really is an astonishing artefact of human spiritual and intellectual expression.
Thank you for your suggestion. I am eager to know more about Taoism. There is another book 'Absolute Tao' by Osho. Even this book can help any aspiring readers to know more about Tao.
@@Kitsua I'm Chinese, you are right, Tao Te Ching is tell us the truth and rules of the universe, and give you heart motivation continual.
It is nice to see a western educational organization introducing eastern philosophy to people on the Internet. However, There is a clarification that I want to make though. It is that "Taoist philosophy"（道家思想） is very different from "Taoist religion."（道教）The former is just a kind of philosophy that doesn't emphasize on any specific kind of concrete practices. However, the latter is a kind of religion that may involve some kind of concrete practices like going to the temple, meditate..., etc. So not every person who likes or follows Taoist philosophy goes to temple, meditate, ... or do specific kind of practices like that. There are people who just like to follow Taoist philosophy and try to "embody the way."（「體道」）Here's just one difference I want to highlight.
Lso Tzu was born as an old man after his mother saw a shooting star. And one time, during a debate, he supposedly made Confucius look like an idiot. Really interesting guy.
Lao Tzu was born as a old soul after his mother saw a shooting star BECAUSE he had already gone through so many mostly always up-grading human reincarnations because of his past lives ability to heighten his God Consciousness refinements and so can you ..
*"A Complete Macrobiotic Yin Yang Philosophic Understanding Combined With Its Practical Dietary Discipline Is Timeless Universal Law. All Other Teachings Are Incomplete." ~ Michio Kushi & George Ohsawa*
Imagine giving birth to an old man lmao
are u quoting The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?
Mozart /Salieri
Lao Tzu sounds so cute.... hahaha
+Sickunt As long as people still say Paris instead of /Paerhi:/ I'm fine with that pronunciation. Besides if accuracy was the goal I would ask to have the 4 tones in Chinese properly pronounced as well, which is virtually unachievable.
***** The name Lao Tzu is very likely romanized using the Wade-Giles system developed in the mid-19th century and largely abandonned and replaced for political reasons by PR China's Pinyin system (which is designed in 1958 to help Chinese learners -- for it works accordingly with ancient "Fanqie" system -- more than being a phonetic system to best represent the pronunciation). it is no surprise that the sound doesn't resonate with the pronunciation now as the transcribing method is only seen in history books, but still it is one of the most efficient system if not the most, comparing to other systems like Pinyin and Yale (not saying it's good enough, but the other ones are either terribly hard to read or hard to use or senseless).
So yeah although I would like to unify the chinese and western pronunciation of those words to a level that people understands each other, but I guess even the scholars are not trying to work this out in the recent years, for which reason I say nobody is to blame before the scholars got questioned.
+Kris Low *blush*
I think there was an important point here that was somewhat missed, (or perhaps I misunderstand it). The opening line of the Tao Te Ching states as follows in rough translation "The way that can be wayed, is not the Way." Or as I interpret it "There exists Tao's or ways or paths that can be followed, but they are non-universal". The important point here is that in the opening line the Tao Te Ching admits that the path/way/tao is everchanging and unique to every person, it explicitly acknowledges that following Lao Tzu's way may not be the way of another person or of another time.
This differs from say, the bible, in that Lao Tzu believed that multiple interpretations ADDED meaning to conversation and to his works, as opposed to the bible in which alternative interpretations from the writers meaning were heresy. The Tao is unique to every person and it is not claimed to have a particular path for a particular person.
Where did you come up with this conjecture? Mine was supported by a direct and important quote from the Tao Te Ching, if you have counter evidence or some sort of alternate translation or interpretation please present it and I would be happy to consider it.
How does this imply a singular Tao or "way?"
My point still stands. Taoists reveled in obscurity, the idea that an idea could be interpreted in a way that the speaker of the idea did not mean the idea originally, meant to the Taoists that greater meaning was created. The fact that every person receives a different interpretation, and has a different "way" is central to Taoism in that it means that each person must listen to their own individualized central Tao.
Taoism is not like Christianity or other major western religions in that it does not claim if you pray a certain way, sing praise to a certain god, speak and act according to a set of rules, that you are following your "way" or Tao. Taoism instead claims that people must only listen to nature, and to their own inner nature in order to follow their own Tao (way), and thus each persons path is determined by their own selves and is unique. Ignorance from the view of the Taoist would be to assume that there is a prescribed path to follow that is universal and each person must walk.
It is to encourage you to experience and discover Tao for yourself, not to listen to others.
Because the Tao that can be told is not the most precious Tao.
Very nice presentation. I particularly liked the inclusion of the vinegar story. Many westerners don't realise that even in the east, Buddhism is often perceived as a philosophy of 'bitterness'; Taoism, is, indeed, sweet by comparison, and perhaps not only by comparison. I do believe, however, that Lao Tzu's different names in English are not a matter of different translation, but of different *transliteration* only.
I'm on the Dao, dude.
Peace
Me,too
Very analogous to the musings of Henry David Thoreau.
. . . "Rather than doing good, better to go about being good . . . and let the world be
getting good about you. . . . What ever good I do must be a constant superfluity of
which I am completely unaware . . . not letting the left hand know what the right
hand is doing."
. . . "Our whole life is startlingly moral. There is never an instan's truce between virtue and vice. Goodness is the only investment that never fails. In the music of the harp which trembles round the world it is the insisting on this which thrills us. The harp is the travelling patterer for the Universe's Insurance Company, recommending its laws, and our little goodness is all the assessment that we pay. The laws of the Universe are not indifferent, but are forever on the side of the most sensitive. . . . Listen to every zephyr for some reproof, for it is surely there. . . .
--- Henry David Thoreau
"There is no companion more companionabe than solitude." --- Henry David Thoreau
. . . "A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener. So our prospects
brighten on the influx of better thoughts." --- Henry David Thoreau
. . . "Explore thyself. Herein are demanded the eye and the nerve." --- Henry David Thoreau
. . . "Every path but your own is the path of fate. So keep on your own track then, . . .
a path on which no one can resist you." --- Henry David Thoreau
Lao Tzu is a genius, I am a fan of his work.
Dao is the way. It is the path you choose. The path and the choices you make defines who you are.. And hence you are the dao.
Im a chinese. Among the 3, Confucius' ideas is too conservative, too controlling, too regimental and support close to authoritarian rule. Buddhism is like a big nice guy but view can be quite pessimistic since backed by bitterness.
I support Lao Tzu ideas more as its more neutral and less stressful for the soul.
He do not support on the rulers nor to the citizens point of view but focus on the well being of an individual.
Buddhism isn’t really pessimistic at all. The makers of the video and western Buddhists translate ‘dukha’ as suffering which doesn’t quite capture the meaning of dukha. Dukha also means change, impermanence.
In Confucius's defence most people adhere to the surface level stuff and not the authority should be wholly accountable to society. Still hella patriarchal though.
@@ANTSEMUT1 yr right but sadly most Asian politican do not see confucius style of rule like you. They only "selectively" like the control part. Same for buddhism, most Asian politican like it too. But of its non-violent teaching.
But you dont see any politican will follow Taoism. Even a fraction of it, no one follows it. A sad reality.
As Im young i side more towards religon.
As Im a working adult, i side more towards confucius for security.
But as i aged, i side Taoism more and more.
Now realised all the great taoist sage like Lao Zi, Zhang Sanfeng (inventor of Taichi) are all very old man. They reach a rich old age to see so many other man-made ideologies are rubbish and nonsence. Just flow with nature is the best.
@@vanwangye I recently came to know about Taoism and Lao zi through the book 'Absolute Tao', it's a compilation of talk by Osho. The ultimate principle which I understood is that just move along with the flow. There is a lot that the world has to take from Tao te ching. Hope, the future generations will realise it!
Your presentation skill is good.
awesome! Its so interesting how so many different religions, philosophies and ideologies point to the same universal truths.
You miss the center of the phylosophy of Laozi. Laozi believes there is no good or evil in the universe and everything on this planet prospers in the absence of good and evil. Therefore kings or leaders should mimic the nature and literally *wuwei* to the wellbeings of their people and of course take no responsibility of wrongdoings.
By the way, Tao is not exclusive to Laozi. Confucious and all other Chinese philosopers use it. Tao means philosophy in modern Chinese. Therefore a group of Confucious believers in Song dynasty are called 道学家.
Lao Tzu the OG Hippie
thank you for this channel, these videos are helping me allot, in everything i'm passing through!
"Were are people like this today when the world needs them so badly?"...
I find it a tad ironic that one of the "morals of the story" is to slow down, but the video itself is delivered rather fast paced compared to others you guys make.
There's a park in town that encircles a large pond that I like to take walks at, and I always end up watching the birds. It attracts all kinds of ducks, geese, and great blue herons. The park even provides a food dispenser, so if I have any change on me I'll just spend a while feeding the ducks. Lately there's been a surge of people at the park, and they're always walking around staring at their phones. They're not taking pictures, or even texting, they're playing Pokemon Go.
It's astonishing to me that people can be in the middle of a park, walking next to a pond and all sorts of wildlife, and they're fixated on catching fake animals. Maybe I'm becoming an old man, but I'd rather interact with actual birds than catch hundreds of Pidgeys.
One should note that the religious aspects of Daoism doesn't actually derive from the Tao Te Ching. For example there isn't any reference about any deities except once in the book and all that it says that the Dao is greater than the gods. This is very true in all religions as the Dao brings balance to everything good or evil. So in a way Satan falling from Heaven or Eve biting the apple can be the work of the Dao. If the Abrahamic God was mightier than the Dao then wouldn't we live in his ideal paradise?
That's a common misconception. There are at least three references to deities in the TTC, one of the most well known being the "Valley Spirit," which Laozi also calls the Mysterious Female, or Dark Mother, if you like. Laozi's "Dao of Heaven" isn't always neutral either. It is said to be on the side of the good person and can be counted on to always benefit and never harm living things.
Tyrhonius
No you are twisting it to the way you think it ought to be and not the Way it is..
Heaven and earth treat all beings like "straw dogs", the old Confucian sacrificial statues made of straw that were left out in the rain or hot sun after the cermonies. Heaven was simply the canopy that spread over the earth..."heaven and earth" last forever and the reason they do is because they don't foster themselves..
The Valley Spirit not dying is the womb or plant bulb or seed, the fertility of life where "all things cannot help but grow" when the yin and yang are conducive to it...
"to be on the side of the good person and can be counted on.".
No, if fact, if you do good, avoid fame and if you do bad, avoid punishment, respect your family and live out your years..
There is no Christian evil or good, just benefit or harm....
There's no moralizing or righteousness in Tao...
I believe Lao Zi didn't really believe in heaven and hell. He was more of a naturalist who believed that what we have is all we've got, Tao is among us in our every day life.
Thank you for this beautiful meditation garden.
Fascinating! Thank you for these Alain :)
Really appreciate your videos
Lao Tze name means "old master" ; an elderly man when he composed the Tao te Ching; further amplified and interpreted over the centuries.
Other Chinese philosophers also bore the Appelation "Tze or Tsu"
( Kong fu Tzu; Sun Tse, Meng Tze and many others. ). The Tze in a name, signified a Mastery of the knowledge of China, physical and pholosophical.
Like the Wisdoms of Ptah-hotep, visier and first secretary to Pharaoh Djed-ka-Re Isesi, 3rd dynasty, Old Kingdom ( c.2640 BC ), but of much earlier date than Lao Tze.
Leaving aside " the gods" , a good guide to life for all humans.
This is a blessing. Thank you so much for starting this channel
Since you have done laozi, i think that you might want to talk about zhuang zi as well
LIBTARD SLAYER Agreed
this is easily my new favourite channel
so glad i came across this channel :)
FIEND same
ikr
wow, as a Chinese, I have to say, this is fxxkin amazing..even helped me gain a bit more insight about Daoism. Such a good translation!!
it's too fast for the contexts. lao tzu's book needs to have time to digest every sentence. but the video narration is too fast and the images going too fast. no chance for tasting the meaning of Tao
Run13 Buddhabrot I am not speaking about myself. if this video is for making people to understand about Taoism, i think it's better slow down everything. I also think that purpose of making this video is not just simply explain about the theories. and I hope people to have more chance to understand this beautiful words and have time to taste each words.
+박민정 Yes, the narrators voice sounds anxiety ridden, like he's rushing through it. Relax. Breathe.
I personally treat these as brief overviews so I can look into something deeply myself.
The bowl analogy is a good metaphor for releasing emotional distress
Wu wei: "A set of purposeful acceptance of the way of the Dao (path/fate)"
Amor fati: "an enthusiastic acceptance of what has happened in one's life"
There is a language barrier to understand Daoism. I am Vietnamese, a very close culture to Chinese, and I read multiple research about Lao Tzu, most of analysis misunderstood the Daoism, because thsoe "professors" started from the first place that they came from different belief and they can't keep their neutral and blank mind to judge Daoism. 95% of reasearcs, especially Communist government or other type of similar bad system also tended to "bend" the truth and try to convince people that "nothing other than Communism is good for residents." I was very very lucky to receive a gift from my literature teacher: "The core of Daoism by author: Nguyen Thu Can" and it is the best ever book explaining about Daoism and Lao Tzu. Maybe even the start that I was born as Vietnamese support that belief. Somehow, everything clicked in and I found myself enjoy Daoism so much that none other system like Confusion or Democratic seems reliable. (Although the book "Republic" is very classic, I don't remember the name quire well because I read in Vietnamese but that book is the only Western system book you ever need to read, it covers literally the core of western belief, even in term of justic."
A video on Zhuangzi / Chuang-tzu would be nice
Peter Stevens
I'll seconf that emotion!...haha...it would have to be movie length though with CG effects to show Cook Ting do his thang..
beautiful art, one of my fav videos of yours all these years later 🖤
I looked at all the main ones, this is the one that appeals the most to me. I liked Buddhism, but this idea that the ultimate aim is worldly abandonment didn't really fit for me. I look at life with a sense of gratitude, nature, relationships, friends, art, literature, film, music, memories, and I think how lucky I am to be able to partake in spite of tribulation. I think that this makes a lot of sense, its the rituals, the deities, the burning of money & requesting the intercession of ancestors that I find irreconcilable.
Very profound, his teaching make life so effortless.
It seem a very beautiful philosophy!!
Not a joke this is my master of many lives. He is one person and they made him many because he was so amazing at being a human.
He is honored with helping me to help save this nation. I am being the best multi dimensional possible.
Only here because I got the fortune "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step."
Great video !
i discovered and mastered wu wei before i even learned its name, and i just now learned its name
its the best way to fight PTSD
anthony vadala how
***** Thanks for your support bro, every bit helps! You stay strong now.
KorNfu To try to teach someone the art of wu wei, is virtually impossible.
Xuxhi I have finally deducted some ways of explaining Wu Wei, and here they are:
Wu Wei is the art of doing without doing right? Well, think of it like this. What is it like to have something be "second nature? What is instinct? What is intuition? All of these concepts are related to Wu Wei.
They are subconscious actions that don't take any thought to perform. Like riding a bike, or walking, you just have to focus all of your energy into taking as many things that you do in your daily life as you can, and find a way to do them without thinking about it.
I have learned, through constant practice, to be able to look at something, and use my peripheral vision to look at everything in front of me at the same time. Most of the time I stare in one spot, and that tends to make others feel uneasy, but it allows me to walk, run, ride my bike, drive a car, and pretty much anything that I do, and never move my eyes once. Currently I am at a level where I can be mostly blindfolded, and ride my bike while holding the handle bars with one hand while standing up. All I can see is the floor, but that is all that is necessary for me to do it. Another thing I can do, is spar completely blindfolded.
It all comes down to fully giving in to your instincts, and intuition. Like mind over matter, but far more advanced.
I hope that helps! :)
***** I will do whatever the hell I want to. Fuck off bro, your not the boss of me.
Beautiful and Useful.
No one can explain the first paragraph satisfactorily yet ：
道可道，非常道；名可名，非常名。
無名天地之始；有名萬物之母。
故常無欲以觀其妙；常有欲以觀其徼。
此兩者同出而異名，同謂之玄。
玄之又玄，衆妙之門。
The things expressed here are the same on other sites. Overly simplied, but what would one expect in a couple minutes 😅 good place to start ☯️
you should do one about Zoroaster
Thank You for proper subtitles. This increases comprehension.
eastern philosophy seems to be rooted in going with the flow while western seems like the opposite
Not true. You're ignoring the Western philosophies that are similar to the Eastern philosophies you limit yourself to, and vice versa.
Not all eastern philosophy is daoism lol
wow "nature does not hurry, yet everything in nature is accomplished"
wow
Lao Tzu is not founder of Taoism. PLS PLS correct that. Taoism is religion Lao tzu is Philosopher. PLS PLS correct that
Daoism is not religion. Daoism is life. The dao can not be explained. Lao tzu inherently is the founder because he is the first to describe it in that manner. Wjho is founder then if not lao tzu?
+Josh Grey founder of daoism is Daoling Zhang. There are two daoism one is philosophy by lao tzu onr is religion.
Frost XUE not true. Daoling Zhang read Tao Te Jing when he was young. So how can he pre-date Lao Tzu?
+Kevin Cobb thx
+Frost XUE Good point, but from a more philosophical point of view (one the school of life may have taken) is that honestly the labels do not matter. What does matter is that the teaching can be preserved one way or another, in a way so that it still carries its substance as intended by its creator. If that means that the boundaries between the religion and the philosophy are crossed, so be it - sometimes religions are defined by their underlying philosophies.
This is brilliant, how come were not taught this in school.
Thankfully, we can learn about these teachings now with the internet. It would've been nice to learn of Taoism earlier, but this is fine.
Hey Alain, all of your videos are great and I really enjoy them! Um... although Sun Tzu was primarily a military strategist and less of a philosopher (unlike Lao Tzu, who was mainly a philosopher), would it be possible for you to make a video about Sun Tzu sometime soon? Thanks man! :)
From what I often read is that Lao Tzu inspired Sun Tzu, certain chapters written in the Art of War is Taoism made for military minds.
"There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so": so letting go of thinking is sometimes a good idea to reconnect to ourselves and nature.
Taoism is also be looked as the law of scientific matters.
“The best leaders are those their people hardly know exist.
The next best is a leader who is loved and praised.
Next comes the one who is feared.
The worst one is the leader that is despised …" - Lao Tzu
Are these quotes accurate? I wonder...