Confucius watches a man enter the violent waters beneath a towering waterfall and assumes he is trying to die. Instead, the swimmer emerges downstream with his hair loose, singing and completely at ease.

In this trailer for Living the Tao, Episode 1-189, Daoist Master Michael Steenrod introduces the classical story of Confucius and the swimmer at Lüliang. The swimmer survives not by overpowering the water or surrendering helplessly to it, but by understanding its movement. He enters with the descending whirl, rises with the current, and refuses to impose himself where cooperation will carry him farther.

The full episode examines Daoist learning through familiarity, immersion, and repetition, while challenging modern interpretations that reduce “being like water” to passive surrender.

Listen to Episode 1-189, Lessons from the Swimmer and Water.  

Available now for subscribers on Supercast.

Subscribe now at  https://living-the-tao.supercast.com

Can you have plenty of energy and still be powerless?

In this Living the Tao Short, Master Mikel Steenrod and Morgan explore the difference between Qi and karma. Qi is life energy — the force connected to health, vitality, and the feeling of being alive. Karma, in this teaching, is something different. Karma is the energy of choice.

This episode looks at why some choices fail even when they seem possible, why a person can burn through their available karma trying to force a result, and why big goals are often better approached through smaller successful steps.

The discussion also explores why successful choices release karma, why distant or overly complex goals may fail to produce a yield, and why nature often works through repeated small actions rather than giant abstract plans.

A clear and practical short on Qi, karma, choice, power, and the hidden cost of trying to make something happen before the power is there.

Video version here: https://youtu.be/ggUou5KaMmQ

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Intro music: “Finding Movement” by Kevin MacLeod — licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Source: incompetech.com

What if the habits that shaped you were never taught with words?

You watched them. You copied them. Over time, they became part of the mind you call your own.

In this trailer for Living the Tao, Episode 1-188, Taoist Master Mikel Steenrod introduces emulation—the natural process behind “monkey see, monkey do.”

The episode explores how the Social Mind is imprinted, whether better models can replace destructive ones, why nature can serve as a teacher, and how gratitude helps build karma.

If emulation helped create the problem, can it also help undo it?

Monkey See, Monkey Do is available now for subscribers.

Available now for subscribers on Supercast.

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What would a Daoist utopia actually look like?

A perfect society? A better political system? A sacred rulebook everyone finally agrees to follow?

Not exactly.

In this free episode of Living the Tao (1-187), Master Mikel Steenrod and Morgan explore the Daoist view of utopia, and why Taoism begins with personal liberation rather than social control. The conversation moves through the Tao Te Ching, Confucianism, Laozi as the fed-up scholar leaving society behind, and the uncomfortable truth that humans may be building machines faster than they are developing wisdom.

Along the way, the episode asks a sharper question:

What if the reason humanity cannot build a perfect world is that humans have not yet developed enough to imagine one?

This is a talk about Taoism, technology, failed ideologies, personal freedom, and the double donkey salute of Laozi riding out of a broken system.

In this episode:

Watch the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/6H5JFASQ10Q

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Intro music: “Finding Movement” by Kevin MacLeod — licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Source: incompetech.com

In this Living the Tao short (2-25), Master Mikel Steenrod and Morgan explore the role of animals in Taoism.

Cranes, deer, cats, turtles, tortoises, three-legged crows, and many-tailed foxes all appear as symbols, teachers, guides, or mythic beings. But the strongest lesson comes from the turtle.

When the storm comes, the turtle does not fight it. It sinks below the turbulence, spends the least energy possible, and rises again when the storm has passed.

This short looks at animals as part of nature, what they can teach us about adversity, and why Taoism asks us to consider whether our actions fit our nature, preserve our energy, and serve a real purpose.

Sometimes wisdom is not resistance.

Sometimes wisdom is knowing when to sink beneath the storm.

Video version here: https://youtu.be/0hOPHx9tYRY

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Intro music: “Finding Movement” by Kevin MacLeod — licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Source: incompetech.com

In this trailer for the subscriber-only episode (1-186) of Living the Tao, Master Steenrod introduces the Tao Sphere, the highest sphere in the Four Ascendant Sphere system.

The Tao Sphere is not an escape from ordinary life. It contains the Social Sphere, the Martial Body Sphere, and the Qi Sphere. To approach it, a practitioner must bring the whole self into relationship with the Tao.

This episode explores balance, avoidance, self-love, the limits of the social mind, and the difference between prayer and invocation.

Available now for subscribers on Supercast.

Subscribe now at  https://living-the-tao.supercast.com

In this subscriber-only episode of Living the Tao (1-185), Taoist Master Mikel Steenrod continues his study of the I Ching with Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward, and Hexagram 42, Increase.

Both hexagrams point toward action, but they do not describe the same kind of movement. Pushing Upward is steady ascent: small efforts, proper support, and the presence of the “great person.” Increase is sudden opportunity: thunder, wind, favorable change, and the need to act before the moment passes.

Master Steenrod examines the classic pronouncements, images, and line meanings of both hexagrams, while also challenging the modern idea that success is usually achieved alone. In the I Ching, ascent requires timing, support, preparation, and responsibility toward others.

This episode is available for subscribers.

Unlock the full episode now on Supercast.  Subscribe now at  https://living-the-tao.supercast.com

What was the world like before social mind became the dominant force shaping human experience?

In this Living the Tao Short (2-24), Taoist Master Mikel Steenrod explores a question that sits at the intersection of Taoist doctrine, history, and esoteric practice. According to the tradition, there was a time when the influence of social mind was far weaker, allowing human beings to access levels of capability, awareness, and spiritual development that seem nearly impossible today.

Along the way, Master Steenrod discusses the relationship between social mind and the disappearance of magic, the loss of what he calls "cheap pathways" to higher development, and why extraordinary accomplishments may require vastly greater amounts of energy in the modern era. He also challenges a common assumption about enlightenment, explaining why early Daoist practice may have begun where most modern seekers hope to arrive.

A thought-provoking exploration of human potential, reality, and the forces that shape both.

Video version here: https://youtu.be/6wlEvTgGcUU

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Intro music: “Finding Movement” by Kevin MacLeod — licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Source: incompetech.com

In this trailer for the subscriber episode “What Is Death?”, Taoist Master Mikel Steenrod introduces a deeper Taoist examination of life, death, fear, and return.

Rather than offering a simple comfort story, this episode asks what death actually is. Master Steenrod explores life as ordered differentiation, death as movement back through chaos, and the Taoist idea of return through Pu, Hundun, Hexagram 24, and the caterpillar’s transformation.

The full subscriber episode also enters more advanced territory, including meditation as the loosening of fixation, the story of the self, and what happens when deep practice approaches the edge of undifferentiation.

Listen to the full episode through the Living the Tao subscriber feed on Supercast.

Unlock the full episode now on Supercast.  Subscribe now at  https://living-the-tao.supercast.com

What is meditation, really?

In this episode (1-183) of Living the Tao, Taoist Master Mikel Steenrod explores meditation from a classical Taoist perspective. Rather than focusing on posture, breathing, or techniques, he examines the deeper principle behind all meditative practice: the mind acting upon the mind.

Along the way, Mikel discusses the influence of the Social Mind, why most people live according to maps they did not create, and how meditation can help a person gain greater ownership of their own experience. He also explains why meditation is not always comfortable, how it can uncover parts of ourselves we have hidden away, and why Taoist meditation is not about escaping life—but engaging more fully with it.

The conversation explores the natural roots of meditation, the importance of stillness in nature, and the role meditation plays in self-knowledge, personal freedom, and human development.

If you've ever wondered what meditation is actually for—or whether you're following someone else's map through life—this episode offers a practical and thought-provoking place to begin.

Watch the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/LDe6zoBaMd8

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Intro music: “Finding Movement” by Kevin MacLeod — licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Source: incompetech.com