The Sayings of Laozi

The Sayings of Laozi episodes:

• 01.04.2022

  EP81 The end of the road

  Mankind strives, explores and conflicts. These all bring destruction, according to Laozi. Follow the ways of Dao, and all shall be well, he has consistently implored us.

  
• 01.02.2022

  EP80 Welcome to paradise

  In Laozi's dream life, we would all have a nice modest house, enough food, be peaceful, delight in simple pleasures, keep to ourselves, keep our minds free from unnecessary thoughts and concerns. Everyone is living in harmony and contentment.

  
• 12.31.2021

  EP79 Game theory

  True resolution of conflict allows both sides to win. There's no reason for there to be a winner and a loser, as this could create further conflict down the line.

  
• 12.29.2021

  EP78 Water power

  We know that Laozi has a love affair with water. In its manner it comes close to Dao in his thinking. The secret of water's strength is its very softness and malleability. It achieves great things through yielding, persistence and...

  
• 12.27.2021

  EP77 Take from the rich and give to the poor

  Laozi believes that it's important – it's the way of Dao – to adjust the inequalities in society. The rich should use some of their wealth to help the poor. In so doing they enrich the world.

  
• 12.25.2021

  EP76 Bend in the wind

  For hard and stiff, read impervious and intransigent. For soft and weak, read yielding and vulnerable. Life is full of movement and freshness. Trees can survive the gales if they sway in the wind.

  
• 12.23.2021

  EP75 Watch your back

  Laozi's message – If you are a king, watch your back. If you are a subject, hold the king to account.

  
• 12.21.2021

  EP74 Here comes the chopper to chop off your head

  Here, Laozi is saying, if you push people to the limits of their tolerance, then they no longer fear death. Your so called weapon of last resort, death, no longer works. Result: chaos.

  
• 12.19.2021

  EP73 The net of heaven spreads far and wide

  The net of Heaven spreads far and wide. In English we sometimes say ‘the long arm of the law,’ meaning punishment is inescapable.

  
• 12.17.2021

  EP72 Beware the lord of misrule

  Laozi implores rulers to follow the ways of the Dao. Don't get too comfortable in the hot seat, he chides ... nothing is forever. You ignore the lives and livelihoods of the people at your peril.

  
• 12.15.2021

  EP71 Into the unknown

  True wisdom is knowing that there is so much that you do not know, so much more to learn. Anyone who claims otherwise is self-defeating or misguided, or in Laozi's words, sick.

  
• 12.13.2021

  EP70 The sage in coarse linen

  Whilst he is revered now as a great sage, there may have been few people in his day and age who actually understood enough about him to carry on the message. Like Dao however, Laozi gave his message simply and...

  
• 12.11.2021

  EP69 There are no winners in war

  For Laozi, war and conflict is failure. To get to that point shows that both sides have moved very far away from the principal of Dao, and so there will likely be no winners.

  
• 12.09.2021

  EP68 Fight the good fight

  On the surface it may seem as though Laozi is giving advice to warriors, but his words are just as applicable to rulers, leaders, and those in charge generally. More importantly for a good leader, Laozi suggests, is knowing how...

  
• 12.07.2021

  EP67 Examine your motives

  The key part of this verse is Laozi's focus on Compassion, Frugality and lack of Ambition – what he describes as his three treasures.

  
• 12.05.2021

  EP66 Lead from behind

  Laozi wants to make the analogy with a sage wishing to show leadership. Not from above or in front, but below and behind… like water weaving its way through difficult terrain, through a valley.

  
• 12.03.2021

  EP65 The perils of knowledge

  Laozi mentioned that if you overregulated the people then they would use their ingenuity to find ways to subvert your rule. So - in the spirit of Non-doing, wouldn't it be better to govern with openness, simplicity and honesty?

  
• 12.01.2021

  EP64 A journey of a thousand miles…

  This verse contains one of the best known sayings, if not THE best known saying of Laozi, which most people in the West know as ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’

  
• 11.29.2021

  EP63 Fools rush in

  In this verse, Laozi is warning against complacency. He would have made a pretty good project manager or life coach in the 21st century.

  
• 11.27.2021

  EP62 Dao – the sanctuary for all things

  Let's remind ourselves that Dao is the ultimate. It is all forgiving and values everything equally – the good and the not so good. It is a sanctuary for all.

  
• 11.25.2021

  EP61 Win-win scenarios

  In this verse, Laozi is dipping into foreign affairs. He is playing with the concept of No-Win, Zero Sum and Win-Win scenarios. This is Game Theory – millenia before it was invented.

  
• 11.23.2021

  EP60 Cook your fish carefully

  Just as you can't be heavy handed in cooking a small fish, so too a light touch is the best way to govern a large state. Laozi invokes Dao to make the point that its natural state is non-doing, non-action.

  
• 11.21.2021

  EP59 Everything in moderation

  This verse is about knowing how to act and when to act, also how much to act. Lead in this way, and the people will follow.

  
• 11.19.2021

  EP58 You can lead a horse to water, but cannot make him drink

  Our philosopher has advice for anyone who would become a sage. Be sharp, but don't cut. Be pointed but don't pierce. Be outspoken, but don't offend. Lead by example, but then let your audience decide for themselves.

  
• 11.17.2021

  EP57 The curse of desire

  In this verse our philosopher has what seems to be advice to rulers. Keep things nicely down the middle – ‘the proper norm.’

  
• 11.15.2021

  EP56 Nothing to shout about

  Here Laozi is saying, live a simple life, and turn your back on personal gain, personal relations and social status. Be content with your progress on the journey. No need to shout about it. Nothing to see here.

  
• 11.13.2021

  EP55 Guard your precious Qi

  Laozi warns against squandering Qi. It's almost as though he is saying that there is a limited amount in our bodies. Use it up, and you will grow old too soon and die young.

  
• 11.11.2021

  EP54 Search for the answer within

  Laozi is saying that you don't need to look far to understand the actions of others, family, villages, states and even the way of the universe. Start by understanding yourself. Understanding starts by observing yourself.

  
• 11.09.2021

  EP53 Ditch the bling

  Who needs all these fancy things, when you have the most wonderous thing of all – Dao.

  
• 11.07.2021

  EP52 There is nothing new under the Sun

  There is nothing to be gained from the outside world. Do the opposite and you will be troubled by strife for all your days. Back to the essential message. Find the answer in the small… the fragile … the near...

  
• 11.05.2021

  EP51 The tree of life

  For Laozi, everything is simply in some form of process, still part of the lifecycle. See it as a vast family tree that leads all the way back from the Ten Thousand things, right back to the One.

  
• 11.03.2021

  EP50 Don't worry, be happy

  Laozi's advice is not dissimilar to contemporary views that sometimes you make you yourself so busy that you don’t have time to enjoy yourself, to truly enjoy existence.

  
• 11.01.2021

  EP49 Teach by example

  It's the exact same process of setting aside your own needs and desires in favour of others. And if they do wrong then you forgive them. You turn the other cheek. You are teaching by example.

  
• 10.30.2021

  EP48 Close the book, open the mind

  For Laozi there is danger in too much knowledge. It can fill up the mind, and trap you into certain beliefs and actions.

  
• 10.28.2021

  EP47 Travel narrows the mind

  Don't confuse your mind with things that don't matter. Seek the tranquility of inner peace and knowledge. Hence – the farther you travel, the less you know.

  
• 10.26.2021

  EP46 Enough is enough

  Laozi is returning to the concept of the triumph of need over want. It's vitally important to know when enough is enough.

  
• 10.24.2021

  EP45 Appearances aren't everything

  Laozi says that we often have a flawed view of what we see, maybe because we choose to see things that way.

  
• 10.22.2021

  EP44 More is less

  If you have more than you truly need, then you have more to lose. Humility and restraint are the key.

  
• 10.20.2021

  EP43 Teaching without words

  Here Laozi is suggesting that sometimes the best course of action is to do nothing.

  
• 10.18.2021

  EP42 One for all, and all for one

  All things stem from Dao. And everything created is connected and interdependent.

  
• 10.16.2021

  EP41 Pulling the rug from under our feet

  Don't try to put your finger on Dao – it's not possible. Just remember that it is bountiful and leads us to everything.

  
• 10.14.2021

  EP40 Something from nothing

  Here Laozi comes back to the concept of Non-being. Everything we see around us has a pedigree. But there was a time when something came from nothing. The cycle had to begin.

  
• 10.12.2021

  EP39 No man is an island

  No man is an Island, entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent… send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.

  
• 10.10.2021

  EP38 The future is now

  Laozi is offering us a warning about the future. Or rather, he is saying – live in the now. Dao isn't about the future – it's about the here and now.

  
• 10.08.2021

  EP37 Curb your desires

  Greed, hunger for power, for fame and fortune are all desires, but not needs. For Laozi, nothing is to be gained by giving in to your desires.

  
• 10.06.2021

  EP36 Weakness is strength

  Here Laozi is trying to get across the truism that when something reaches an extreme, it is self-defeating. He sees it as an inevitable law of opposites.

  
• 10.04.2021

  EP35 Believe what you can't see

  In this verse Laozi is asking us to trust him, as a sage, who is showing us the way, even though we may not sense it in any way. Stop trying to ascribe attributes to Dao. That’s very human. Just...

  
• 10.02.2021

  EP34 Be like Dao – seek the answers within

  The answers Laozi so often suggests are to be found within, through the cultivation of our thoughts rather than practical deeds.

  
• 09.30.2021

  EP33 Handy guide to a happy life

  In this verse, we have a very handy little guide to living a fulfilled life. But it's important to tread carefully to understand the nuances of his message.

  
• 09.28.2021

  EP32 The cycle of life

  It is about the nature of Dao. A little like the endless circularity of the water cycle – the sea creates clouds which drift over mountains, which cause the water within to be released, which becomes streams and rivers that...