The Philosophy of Daoism

Daoism - Eastern Philosophy Series. Daoism is one of the great philosophical and religious traditions of China. Emphasizing balance, spontaneity, and action without intention, it is often contrasted with the rigid rituals and social order proposed by Confucianism. We'll explore the philosophical concept of the Dao and how it interacted with South Asian Buddhist ideas to give rise to a new and distinctive Buddhism in China.

[@pedroheberle6665]

I was thinking, one of these days, how much of what I've learned I owe to the Internet and the generosity of people, most of whose faces I'll never get the chance to see. It's unbelievable that most all of it is for free, and I am truly grateful. The last few days, Centre Place, spelled the Canadian way, and its outstanding lectures have been my master and my friend. I ask John and the team, and those who attend the lectures, on behalf of such a virtuous, global, and apparently effortless flow of wisdom and goodwill, that they accept my thanks.

[@gwav1a]

kou

[@1776_Reasons]

21:38 - She has an interesting characterization of "plan". I don't know that I'd call genetics a plan, for the purposes of her argument, unless she's prepared to show the genetic plan was created and adhered to intentionally and purposefully to match the intent of your analogy. Perhaps the pedantics would prefer the following: Does rain have a plan for how it falls or does it generally fall with the least amount of 'effort' possible?

[@tombouie]

Subjects index by time: 13:00 confusius laozi 18:00 philosophy, religion, art of the Dao concepts: dao(the-path), de(sincere karma), wuwei(least-action), yinyang(fuzzy logic), chiao(???) 43:00 philosophy, religion, art of Daoism 44:00 religion-of daoism (analogous to ancient western religions) 47:00 art-of daoism (analogous to ancient western sci/art) 54:00 taichi (moving meditation of daoism) 60:00 art of war 1:01:00 buddhism 1:04:00 confusius daoism buddhism interaction zen(buddhism/daoism), zen is beyond words (ex:koan paradoxes) 1:12:00 Daoism final thoughts no divine personifications, spontaneous, humble, practical, learn by doing, brevity/simplicity, etc least action health, nature, morality, etc reciprocity expressed thru-out chinese culture

[@呱呱哞儿]

Thanks for your channel and program, Chinese traditional culture is a great culture. But because of the Communist Party speech control and all kinds of control. These cultural heritages are in danger

[@Johnny_RB]

Thank you very much.

[@GreyAmbience]

Amazing lecture, but by God, the people commenting are obnoxious.. Sounds like everyone just wants to interrupt to show of some knowledge of theirs..

[@larrybarger1077]

He who tries to shine,dims his own light 🕯️.

[@MagneticMTB]

Yah. Haha. Feels like a typical trait of these things. Why the lady who asked about one hand clapping got slapped!! That was on SNL too.

[@Johnny_RB]

Yes, behaviour like that makes me wonder why they don't just create their own videos. Laziness is the only excuse of which I can think.

[@iAv0]

That's how they are over there unfortunately. Thankfully, later on John starts doing questions at the end, but until then it's pretty rough.

[@katarinahinsey3931]

He's always so gracious.

[@mking14808]

The girl that keeps asking questions is so annoying

[@richarddelanet]

'The freedom we must finally win is the freedom not to lie.’ (Camus 1946

[@davidkuder4356]

Excellent summary of Taoism core principles, cultural impact & effects in action. Really, a fine overview presentation. On of my favorite quotes fro Tao Te Cheng, in addition to "When the great leader finishes work, the People say, 'We did it *ourselves*...!" is almost a proto-koan: "Why is the Sea the Ruler of a thousand Streams? Because it lies *beneath* them..."

[@zhubajie6940]

1:15:26 Confucian temples did not go unscathed in the Cultural Revolution. The Cemetery of Confucius and the Confucian Temple in Qufu, Shandong were damaged by Red Guards. Nonetheless, it may have been attacked less than others because of Confucian belief in a rigid hierarchy females subservient to the men in the family, all subservient to the oldest male in the household, and replacing traditional mandarins and the Emperor, the Communist Cadres and Mao.

[@MaggieBernard3]

Excellent lecture, but it's too bad that lady kept interrupting it and talking about whatever crossed her mind. Very annoying :(

[@patrickkeyes5916]

This is a wonderful, thought provoking, well-informed presentation of Taoism. I’ve done my best to present Taoism in a Comparative Religions class, and I’m struck by how clear and substantial (and interesting!) this is. Thank you.

[@DanWhalen]

Just realized that Bruce Li's "be like water" speeches are not about karate, they're about wu wei

[@in-visioninternational4387]

I'm confused.. was it that woman's speech who wouldn't shut up, or the guy at the podium?? LOL

[@glenn-younger]

Listening to your talk, I realized how much of Daoism has filtered into the meditating community. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!

[@johnnielawson]

Thank you very much for recording and sharing this wonderful experience, added to my Daoism playlist, I hope it brings some new viewers your way. Take good care and stay safe. Johnnie Lawson

[@paulbernard2087]

Good lecture! I only wish someone would have shown that one lecture-interrupting lady the sound of one hand clapping. She added nothing of worth.

[@killacounty]

How... Freekin ... Odd... I was just listening to a random video that popped up on my feed which was "who wrote Genesis" it was interesting but I lestend 75 percent through and thought "this is fine but right now I wanna refresh myself on taoism.... I searched KZbin clicked an interesting lengthy one and ... It's the same guy... I never seen this guy before (host)

[@williampaul8556]

No matter what the religion or philosophy we see in part, we know in part. Religion and Philosophies are constructs out of this partial knowledge and beliefs. NO MATTER WHAT. Thought is just a path to the door.

[@TomDavidMcCauley]

@John Clemens P. Rubi no, that’s not what they meant

[@ThatBoomerDude56]

The parallel to Star Wars was deliberate. I'm sure that George Lucas had read Madame Blavatsky's *Voice of the Silence* which is an esoteric description of The Path in the mode of the Daoist / Buddhist in which the recipient of the teaching is encouraged to be a *Walker of the Sky.*

[@Max76Mar]

That woman making statements in the question phase is so annoying... Make your own presentation.

[@rabarberellum1017]

Somehow, and this is just a gut feeling, Sun Tsu’s the Art of War may use all the daoist ingredients still a true Daoist would reject it completely for it’s purpose which is to dominate and enforce, let alone wage war.

[@JasonCunliffe]

Maybe

[@名氏无-j5g]

Dao(道）is the truth of universe, for life body , Dao is incarnation(炁)of universe.

[@gangaji16]

The cover of the book mentions „translated by Stephen Mitchell”; how can one claim to be the translator when he himself says not to know Chinese and to rely solely on others’ translations? This alone suggests not being in line with Daoism.

[@tadpoleslamp]

Dude! U don't understand i ching!

[@partialintegral]

饺 stands for dumpling. What you actually mean is 较.

[@dustyr112]

Gurl, sit down and be quiet. Question time is not an invitation for intellectual flexing.

[@peterhook2258]

The iching was originally based on yarrow stalks and later by coins. Just doin my part. Awesome video. You guys sure are educating the public. Its what the modern world needs and when coupled with tolerance to both views..conservative and liberal, it just might work.

[@kieranjohnston7550]

Masterful lecture, perfectly organised, wonderfully delivered.

[@CapnSnackbeard]

Apparently the author of the translation predominantly featured in this video did not havr any background in the Chinese language, snd admitted quite frankly that he doctored, rearranged, cut and fabricated the the text as it suited him.

[@markcregova]

I have spent much of the past 25 years completely immersed in Daojia/philosophical Daoism. This presentation is extremely thorough, accurate, and insightful. Excellent work!

[@Amanda-yo2cd]

Fantastic lecture! Really enjoyed this. It’s concise and informative. Well worth watching.

[@tombouie]

Awesome, I loves the sound of 1hand clapping ;) I'll tell all my friends & espeically enemies to ask them the same exact question (just-joking).

[@呱呱哞儿]

Thanks for your channel and program, Chinese traditional culture is a great culture. But because of the Communist Party speech control and all kinds of control. These cultural heritages are in danger

[@ALIEN_857]

Shows your ignorance of things encompassing Chinese culture. Daoism is an inward looking philosophy and practice. The more you say, the more you know not the absolute truths about the world. To blame the government of China is already going against the substance of Daoism. Let things flow according to nature and circumstances. China is today because of the past; the rise of communism is due to the excesses of corrupt capitalism that put the masses into extreme poverty back in the 1920s/30s. The Communist party receives overwhelming support from peasants who felt that the rich in the Chinese society had left them no room for survival. Nothing is without a cause. The rise of communism is because of capitalism going to the extreme end of oppression. Similarly, the French Revolution was a rise against the bourgeoisie and aristocratic class. History will repeat itself in Europe when the lower classes of society feels oppressed by the rich elites.

[@fakefakeguru7040]

​@@ALIEN_857 Shows your ignorance of things encompassing Chinese government, The current Chinese government is a one-party dictatorship. All Chinese media can only praises to Chinese leader Xi Jing Ping. In China the will of the leaders represents the will of the people. Individual rights can be trampled on at will. This is completely contrary to Taoism”无为而治理“ , rather than saying that she is blaming the chinese government, it is better to say that she is just telling a fact.

[@呱呱哞儿]

显然你这段话是完完全全不了解中国道教和无为的本质以及中国政府

[@呱呱哞儿]

@@ALIEN_857 InChina, only ordinary people and the media are allowed to praise the Communist Party and its ideology. Religions such as Taoism were criticized as feudal superstitions. Xi Jinping uses his own thoughts to control the basic necessities of life of the entire Chinese people. The Communist Party is amoral, including the Cultural Revolution (1970-1980) The persecution of Chinese culture in the past ten years was enormous.

[@gammarayfighter]

Thank you! I hope you have Brian Carwana as a guest lecturer again.

[@AT-ol2yj]

I found it particularly interesting that the quantum world also has symmetries. To me it is proof of the wisdom.

[@zhubajie6940]

37:27 The symbol displayed is 饺(simplified)/餃(traditional) jiǎo (third tone) as in "steamed dumplings with meat filling" 饺子 jiǎo​zi​. I think what is meant here is 较/較 (bound form) jiào (fourth tone) as in 比较 bǐ​jiào​ meaning the verb "to compare" or "to contrast", the adverbs "comparatively", "relatively", "quite", and the noun "comparison".

[@zhubajie6940]

44:37 I have visited the original site Crane Cry Mountain 鹤鸣山/鶴鳴山 Hèmíng Shān where 张道陵/張道陵 Zhāng Dàolíng founded the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice 五斗米道 Wǔ Dǒu Mǐ Dào. A beautiful area but at the time I saw it, it was still being rebuilt after the destruction of the Cultural Revolution being neglected for many years.

[@scotthubbard3464]

One learns by unlearning

[@WadstAAr]

This is the best video ever 😁😁😁

[@HierophanticRose]

What about qigong and its roots in internal alchemy, which is pre-Buddhism no? Is it not also integral to Dao? Or is it moreso a link similar to Christianity with its hermetic societies?

[@ИмалоЕдноВреме-в2н]

I am very glad for that teaching, but I am not overreacting. Thank You !!!

[@raycosmic9019]

The Rhythm of Life is a movement and a rest. The optimum (Heaven), is always found somewhere between the extremes of too much and too little (hell). Pleasantness is the Rose found at the Heart of the Optimum. Just so. Narrow is the Way and straight the path, and few there are that find it. The abstract (Heaven) called Love can be expressed concretely (Earth) as a smile, hug, etc., thereby uniting Heaven and Earth. Life eternally actualizes infinite potential, because only Eternity can fully embrace Infinity. Empty of ego (separateness) = Full of Life. 'Now' is the presence of the eternal/infinite within the temporal/finite. Now is constant. Perception is variable. The time of day is always Now. Reality = That which is/That I am - simply being aware of being aware. Ejaculate and die or injaculate and live. Our choice. The Way of the Master Wayfarer is fluid adaptation to an ever changing environment. The sound of one hand clapping is the sound of silence.

[@redtap5426]

Dao House, Estes Park Colorado. Cool place to do Tai Chi , and meditation

[@joshuamartinpryce1237]

The greatest celestial master to me is Jesus Christ because He is a master of heaven and of angels and commands the Holy Spirit to work in peoples lives. What better way to demonstrate reality then to come to earth yourself and declare it. God cares and shows His care, not by staying in the background but by being assertively connected to people.

[@markmawson7865]

The dao spoken is not the constant dao; perfectly exemplified in this talk. This is a contemplative pondering of the dao; you get the feeling of the dao more by doing than by talking. A good talk though.

[@nataliamironova1507]

There are so many translations of Daode Jing. I am curious about the cited. Is it possible to get link on translator? Thank you in advance.

[@名氏无-j5g]

Where did he study Daodejing? 道可道非常，非常is not “ inconstant” should be un- normal

[@mikemooney9124]

Excellent and succinct...thank you very much

[@SteveJobs_]

Strange thumnail.. Yin yang + hakenhaitz japan ver

[@kerbykuek]

good piece of intro, well done!

[@franksu9735]

1:18:00 失道而後德，失德而後仁，失仁而後義，失義而後禮

[@Nodalthree]

DE - the foundation of DAO

[@jeremyt4292]

Wouldve been better if the audience kept their comments till the end

[@AaronJoost]

Awesome talk... the part where he said 餃 / 饺 (dumpling) means relativity was a little weird though. Maybe he means 較 / 较？

[@deeelle697]

This is why I would rather hear about Asian culture from Asian people...

[@MM-dv3en]

I believe he meant dumpling.

[@joannabebel9016]

THANK YOU. 🙏🪐💫... 🌍🌏🌎...💓💪🌱

[@GregoryJByrne]

What will be will be, but we as a higher consciousness being can plan and prepare for what will be, if only we were being told the truth. We are currently living in a global Fascism/Corporatism world. The galactic Milankovitch cycles cause our climate cycles of Ice ages at aphelion with the 240,000 year rotation of the galactic bulge with aphelion perihelion changing every 60,000 years Obliquity/magnetic north/Global warming/cooling every 60,000 years. Precession is our biggest concern right now and for the next millennia because we started crossing our galaxies electromagnetic/gravitational plane in 2012. Crossing the galactic plane at the vernal/Autumnal equinoxes (Alpha, Omega) causes EMP plasma bursts pillars of fire in the sky, Comets from our Oort cloud getting pushed into us and Global Cataclysmic east to west Tsunami's. The last time we crossed the galactic plane was Younger Dryas, Clovis people, Gobekli tepe, Washington scablands, Tassili N'ajjer scablands. The climate cycles of our water planet are continental glaciers with lower sea levels brought on by global east to west tsunami's every 13,000 years half the Great Year when we cross the galactic plane. Grade 5 earth sciences could debunk CO2 caused climate change. Closed Loop and Cause and Effect. Temperature is rising first and CO2 follows as the Artic thaws due to Obliquity and Precession. Earth is a closed loop that self regulates CO2 with life by combining CO2/carbon with H2O to capture the Electromagnetic energy of the galaxy/Sun to create life. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. ON THIS PLANET. All energy comes from or returns to the double toroid electromagnetic fields we call the Sun and or Galactic nucleus/bulge. Taxing CO2 is tantamount to taxing the EM energy of the Sun/Galaxy past present and future. Covid1984 like CO2 is a LIE built upon an inconvenient truth. The Baby boomers who were born en mass 75 years ago are starting to die en mass from the usual suspects of seasonal flu/Pneumonia and old age. The MASK of the Beast to BUY or SELL is just a pretext for the FINAL SOLUTION vaccine of the beast. It takes 10 years minimum to develop a vaccine if you can ISOLATE the virus. BLM/ALM is a divide and conquer by race/creed/religion to rule humanity tactic. HELTER SKELTER. Jesus loved all races because there is only one race/people/tribe HUMAN race with only one minority the INDIVIDUAL human. There is no Nazi Master race like there is no Jewish chosen people. Judaism like Islamism were born out of the oppression of their tribes hence are tribal in nature. Us & Them Infidels/Goylim/Gentiles. Forgive them they know not what they do. Nothing will change until their tribal books change. We all came from our mothers as equals. We are the sum of our life's experiences teachings and circumstances.

[@animefurry3508]

Can you do a lecture on Hegelianism? Please!

[@domenictersigni999]

thanks fellow being for sharing awareness and insight out loud

[@flovv4580]

"I keep on dancing and dancing - until there is only … the dance." - MJ

[@dr.gaosclassroom]

Zhuangzi talks about dance in the text named after him in chapter 3, the story of Butcher Ding.

[@thomblinn4731]

I'm grateful for the illuminating content! AHHH SSOOOO GRASSHOPPA!

[@giotor5603]

Many thanks for this fascinating and lucid exposition of Daoism on its own terms, as well as its relationship to Confucianism, Buddhism, and Maoism.

[@呱呱哞儿]

Chinese traditional culture is a great culture. But because of the Communist Party speech control and all kinds of control. These cultural heritages are in danger

[@giotor5603]

​@@呱呱哞儿 Sadly, I think these controlling trends are also in place across the globe. But hope lies yet in the flow that ultimately lies outside of human control.

[@ALIEN_857]

@@呱呱哞儿 You're absolutely wrong on this point. Traditional Chinese culture has nothing to do with free speech. In Daoism, we believe in no speech. Silence is the noblest thing. If you open your mouth, it means you know not the absolute truths. You're only saying things from your divisive mind; not one of absolute unity.

[@RhythmJunkie]

🙏🏼 ✨♾💖🕉

[@ahmedopone4080]

22:06 except maybe Islam? I am thinking of kun fa-yakun “be and it is” which is repeated in the Quran many times. Still, in Islam god is the “best of planners” so both concepts exist.

[@jakecarlo9950]

Great presentation, thank you!

[@jie7532]

how about " Daoism in life" or Practical Daoism" as the name for the third level of Dao? because it's used in many fields of work and life in China other than body and energy practices. you can use it to manage your psychology, your relationship with others and with nature.... etc.

[@Nooneself]

Excellent definition of Wu Wei by lecturer. I typically explain it as the butterfly effect in mathematics ( a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can change the weather in the US). It can also be thought as the mental state of flow (think Michael Jordan) Best WISHES

[@billong6312]

Wu Wei .... Wu means none. Wei can mean action OR another meaning is "for the sake of". So "Wu Wei" make more sense if interpreted as "not for the sake of". If something need to be done, just do it. Not do it for sake of for money or fame or for anyone's sake "Wei wu Wei" means "Do for nobody's sake" or "not for sake of money or fame".

[@luckycenizal468]

There somethings in life that cannot be put in words.... How can you explain that?

[@soulfreedom8447]

Thia was absolutely wonderful! I learnt so much 😃🙏

[@kongengorm3360]

Great talk.

[@MrEpz4321]

Very well understood.

[@GaryJust]

Thank you.

[@cassandralewis8137]

Does anyone knows Brian website or social media? If so links or suggestions

[@CFLSystema]

The lecture was fantastic. The questions were at best a distraction and added nothing to the clip.

[@yuey0602]

religious daoism is not A religion, its a kind of religion actually.

[@420JRMan]

Lol!

[@JonathanDavisKookaburra]

Yi Jing needs six coin tosses to get the 6 lines of the hexagram.

[@456quip]

Hi, I can't find any reference to "Chiao" as in relativity, the way you describe it. I have come across "xiao": the virtue of piety or of being good to one's parents. Are these related in your mind? Thanks!

[@zhubajie6940]

That confused me also. The symbol he displayed is 饺(simplified)/餃(traditional) jiǎo (third tone) as in steamed dumplings with meat filling 饺子 jiǎo​zi​. I think what he meant here is 较/较 (bound form) jiào (fourth tone) as in 比较 bǐ​jiào​ meaning the verb "to compare" or "to contrast", the adverbs "comparatively", "relatively", "quite", and the noun "comparison".

[@richarddelanet]

Good ideas are relative; not the truth.

[@redtap5426]

I’m blind is this woody allen talking

[@laal9563]

Tauist

[@rajnigupta3187]

Sorry.Should we go through later.

[@johnstewart7025]

Dao does need to try. There is no trying.

[@Kyleology]

11:20

[@mariaelisabettasesselego9607]

great teachings. Thanks a lot

[@maxsonthonax1020]

Doip.

[@名氏无-j5g]

Daoism is metaphysic

[@Nick-Odd]

When people talk about Indian philosophy they mean "Adwait Vedanta" but there are more than two dozen of these philosophies in India, and as much I have read those I find Tao/Dao is mostly derived from "Dwait Vedanta"...

[@steliosgourdoubas4189]

Thank you!

[@robinharwood5044]

Don't trust words, but have a 1500 volume canon.

[@gabrielofficial7859]

🔝👏

[@RonaldL.MAngela.vaught17HH]

Yin & Yang gender is a part of the make up of life its found in varying degrees in male & female as we call it but its the imbalances that caused some of the degrees. at present the only way to pass along life is between human male & female as we know it. But things are changing question is how will that effect the love between humans the love that binds us in compassion & joy in cooperation. There are quandarys blurring of the lines of gender one thing we ought not judge & harm a person self esteem as they fathom gender.

[@72mak51]

@Jason Ripley You have been ensnared by the superficial. We are not only our anatomy. "Gender" has come to mean so much more, currently. The Tao is always changing.

[@72mak51]

The first question from the audience, about plants having plans, was excellent. However, the difference between a man-made chair and a plant, is the plant's seemingly effortless adaptation to it's environment. There is much personal effort in the making of the chair. Humble perseverance through nature, vs man's pride of accomplishment.

[@72mak51]

@Jason Ripley 5,000 years? Mmmm, creationist? Importance ensnares. Let go of a fixed right and wrong; they always change anyway...if you have a long enough view.

[@72mak51]

@Jason Ripley Nope. Not confused for myself. But neither do I impose a fixed definition upon others. Their dao is best seen from their perspective...and allowed change. Fear pushes us to lock things down, and the Dao flows on, without regard for permanence.

[@bonerici]

I swatted some flies softly but still have no dao