The Tao Te Ching for Everyday Living

By Dan Casas-Murray

Email the podcast: [email protected] Welcome to the Tao Te Ching for Everyday Living. I’m your host, Dan Casas-Murray. This podcast is for the Tao Curious, those looking for a random bit of wi... more

4.7

103103 ratings

FAQs about The Tao Te Ching for Everyday Living:

How many episodes does The Tao Te Ching for Everyday Living have?

The podcast currently has 81 episodes available.

Best of The Tao Te Ching for Everyday Living

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

Number 1: Tao Te Ching Verse 81: Staying Connected with Truth
Send us Fan Mail Tao Te Ching Verse 81 translated by Isabella Mears Faithful words may not be beautiful, Beautiful words may not be faithful. Those who love do not quarrel, Those who quarrel do not love. Those who know are not learned, Those who are learned do not know. The riches of the self-controlled person are in the Inner Life. When one spends for others, one has more for oneself. When one gives to others, one has much more for oneself. Heavenly Tao blesses all and hurts no one. The way of the self-controlled person is to act and not to fight. Photo by Nastya Dulhiier on Unsplash Staying Connected In this final verse of the TTC, I feel like there are three things with which Lao Tzu leaves us: The first is that when we are connected with Tao (which is always, btw), we can See without looking Listen without hearing Feel without touching Internalize without smelling or tasting The second is the property of reflection - both internal and external to ourselves, which to me means that when I look inside, the Tao is reflected back. Ripples in a pond, while they emanate outward, always return to the source. And the third is that emulating the Tao is the way to align ourselves with it, just like a magnet points toward the closest pole. How do we practice all of this? That is our individual choice! Throughout the podcast, we have discussed different ways to put the principles into practice, and have acknowledged that those aren’t the only ways. In fact, I suspect that like the Tao, the number of ways I can use to practice those principles are infinite. In my short journey so far with the Tao, I have learned four centering mindsets that lead to different practices for different times, and I’ll leave them with you for your consideration: I must approach the Tao with as much sincerity as I can. It doesn’t matter how deeply sincere I am - just the best I can do in the moment is enough.I ask Tao for the willingness to see things a different way. I ask for awareness.I ask Tao to show me what I can do to practice.I ask Tao to help me be willing to practice once I know the way.This is pretty much the cycle for me. It is simple, AND easy to do, at least most of the time. This mindset has helped me to become open to new ways of seeing things, new meditations, new contemplations, and what I feel is the coolest thing yet: being able to work with Tao to transmute my hangups, fears, and the negativity that has been with me since childhood into a loving, very real connection with myself, others, and the environment around me. I am experiencing being human. It can be great. It can be horrifying. It can be incredibly beautiful. I can choose to do it alone. I can choose to do it with Tao. The choice is mine alone, and the action is mine to take. Tao is impartial to my choice - so even Tao doesn’t influence my choice or action. How profoundly poignant is that? This is my journey. It is your journey. It is our journey. We all share this human experience, and yet we experience it individually. I am grateful that I have been willing enough to experience Tao in all its myriad forms. I am grateful for this human experience. I am grateful I can know compassion, contentment, and humility. I am grateful I have had this experience because of and with...you.
April 09, 202130min
Number 2: Tao Te Ching Verse 40: Going with the Ebb and Flow
Send us Fan Mail Tao Te Ching Verse 40 translated by Tao Huang Tao moves by returning. Tao functions by weakness. All things under heaven are born of being. Being is born of nonbeing. Photo by Michael Glass on Unsplash Ebb The tide rolling out seems like kind of a letdown, doesn’t it? At least it does for me, at first glance. I mean the raw energy of the sea just isn’t there. In other aspects of my life, there are similar situations. I read a book, and after it’s done, I feel a little empty. Same with a good series that I’ve binge-watched. I feel these little letdowns at the end of every week - I know I need rest, but making the transition from working to restful seems to take effort. ‘Winding down’ is a term I’ve heard before to describe this. And with my wife - sometimes there are really happy moments and sometimes there are just calm moments. Times when we’re just coexisting and nothing too much is going on. And of course with friends, there’s a party or an event, and it’s great, and everyone has a great time. The following day, when things are getting cleaned up, we tell each other stories about what happened and who said what and how funny things got. And the excitement just doesn’t feel the same as it did in the moment. So yeah, we’re talking about the Ebb part of things. The Tao’s reversion. The weakness that overcomes strength. The non-being that births the being. Until recently, I have mentally and emotionally resisted the ebb, kind of with the attitude that it is something that is necessary but to be endured, not welcomed or even grown into. I mean, once I get into a relaxed state on the weekend, I do enjoy it, since there is not a lot going on and I am ok with sitting still - it feels good, even. It’s the same with a creative project that I’ve been working on. Many times, the vision in my head is screaming to get out, and every thing I write, every video I create, every book I read, or every little piece of progress I make on the model I’m building says, ‘yes, more, more, we’re not done yet, we must keep going. Taking a break now will only delay the gift that is waiting to reveal itself to us!’ When I’m in flow, I want to stay there, and I don’t want to make the transition to ebb. It feels like a loss of energy, of momentum, of excitement. Only i don’t think it’s really a loss. I think it’s more of a state-change that involves less energy. You know, like going from action to non-action. But I’d like to work on appreciating the ebb. Until now, I’d seen it as a nuisance. But - when I’ve been able to embrace it and take it as an equally beautiful part of the journey, my perspective changes a little. It turns out for me, that the more I practice appreciating being in the ebb of things, the more I realize that a lower state of energy doesn’t mean it’s a letdown. It’s actually an opportunity to notice even more things, subtle things, things that are always there but are covered up by a higher volume of energy when in the flow state. The ebb, it would seem, is an equally beautiful state of lower energy.
June 26, 202025min
Number 3: Tao Te Ching Verse 39: Making Peace with Ego
Send us Fan Mail Tao Te Ching Verse 39 translated by Cheng Lin Since antiquity the following may be said to have attained Truth: Heaven, which by Truth is clear. Earth, which by Truth is secure. The gods, which by Truth are divine. The valleys, which by Truth are full. All animate creation, which by Truth are alive. The rulers, which by Truth are capable of rectifying the Empire. Conversely, the following inferences may be stated: Without that which renders it clear, heaven stands the danger of disruption. Without that which renders it secure, earth stands the danger of depression. Without that which renders them divine, the gods stand the danger of impotence. Without that which renders them full, the valleys stand the danger of desiccation. Without that which renders them life, all animate creation stand the danger of annihilation.Without that which renders them capable of rectification, the rulers stand the danger of being overthrown. Humility forms the basis of honour, just as the low ground forms the foundation of a high elevation. Wherefore, the sovereigns are content to call themselves "The Virtueless" and "The Unworthy." Does not this show that they regard humility as a matter of utmost importance? Hence, the most praiseworthy are indifferent about praise. It matters not to them whether they are admired as are beautiful jades, or despised as are rugged stones. Photo by Alexander Aarao-Ward on Unsplash Looking at the Tao as a magnet I’d like us to imagine the Tao as a magnet. Despite the fact that there are two poles on the magnet, there is ever only one magnet. The north and south poles make up the same One magnet. And what happens where we cut the magnet in two pieces? Those two pieces become little complete magnets, each with its own north and south poles. Cut those in half and you have four little magnets. Cut them into however many pieces you like; all of those little pieces will have two poles on them no matter how small they are. And we can observe that norths attract souths, and they can all fit back together again to make a big magnet at any time. So seeming opposites attract, no matter the scale at which we find them. Every magnet always has two poles. One condition always depends on the other to be whole. Just like the Earth, Heaven, Spirituality, the Valley, and Life need the One in order to support humanity, so do the nobles - the sovereigns, to use Lao Tzu’s words - depend on others to ennoble them. Let’s consider our leaders. Don’t they need us to be the leaders? Don’t they depend on us for their purposes as leaders? I would argue in every case, yes. Let’s also roll teachers into that - don’t teachers need, like really need the students in order to teach? One step further, now: we established that we always find ourselves in the roles of leaders and teachers in our lives, at home, work, or with friends. We might say then that we depend on each other for our respective roles. We can see the north pole as the leader and the south pole as the follower. The north pole as the teacher and the south pole as the student. No matter how you look at it, we all need each other in our respective roles to be whole.
June 19, 202033min
Number 4: Tao Te Ching Verse 38: Just Being Ourselves
Send us Fan Mail Tao Te Ching Verse 38 translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao The superior virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue; Therefore it has virtue. The inferior virtue never lets off virtue; Therefore it has no virtue. The superior virtue seems inactive, and yet there is nothing that it does not do. The inferior virtue acts and yet in the end leaves things undone. The superior benevolence acts without a motive. The superior righteousness acts with a motive. The superior ritual acts, but at first no one responds to it; Gradually people raise their arms and follow it. Therefore when Tao is lost, virtue follows. When virtue is lost, benevolence follows. When benevolence is lost, righteousness follows. When righteousness is lost, ritual follows. Ritual, therefore, is the attenuation of loyalty and faith and the outset of confusion. Fore-knowledge is the flower of Tao and the beginning of folly. Therefore the truly great man keeps to the solid and not to the tenuous; Keeps to the fruit and not to the flower. Thus he rejects the latter and takes the former. Photo by Frans Hulet on Unsplash The Tao and Authenticity Do you remember being a teenager? I do. Like any other time in my life, I have fond memories and not so fond memories of that time. The fond memories were bonding with other people my age and discovering things about life together. Having some deeper understanding of how the world worked and still very innocent about a great deal. Those were tender moments. Then, there was all the angst that came along with being an adolescent. What would they think? How should I be? How should I dress? What music should I listen to? Who should I be? There were so many social questions, none of which I knew the answers to but desperately wanted to. I remember being so unsure of myself and my relationships, so when people told me to just ‘be myself’ in situations, I hated that. What did that even mean? Well, looking back, I think it meant, ‘don’t worry about how messed up you think you look. Accept what you are, which is something you don’t know, and own it. Be that. Don’t try to be another person that you’re creating. There’s no need to get ahead of your own, beautiful development. Great advice. I think that’s what I would tell me if I had the chance. I’m almost certain that the teenage me wouldn’t have even heard it. Ha. But what could it have looked like if I had owned all that turmoil? How much better off would I have been now had I started practicing ‘being myself’ years ago? Eh, who knows? I think the point with the first part of this verse is to realize that it’s not just ok but also productive to just...be yourself. And how? By being myself in the moment. I’d like to read from Brian Walker’s Hua Hu Ching, copyrighted in 1992 and published by Harper Collins. In the paperback edition on page 44, it says, “Why scurry about looking for the truth? It vibrates in every thing and every not-thing, right off the tip of your nose. Can you be still and see it in the mountain? The pine tree? Yourself?”
June 12, 202031min
Number 5: Tao Te Ching Verse 37: Doing Nothing
Send us Fan Mail Tao Te Ching Verse 37 Translated by Lin Yutang The Tao never does, Yet through it everything is done. If leaders could keep the Tao, the world would of its own accord be reformed. When reformed and rising to action, Let it be restrained by the Nameless pristine simplicity. The Nameless pristine simplicity Is stripped of desire (for contention). By stripping of desire quiescence is achieved, And the world arrives at peace of its own accord. Photo by Devin Kleu on Unsplash Practicing Doing Nothing How does one practice doing nothing? Well, by actually doing nothing. It’s that simple. In conversations with people along my journey, the subject of simplicity comes up from time to time. As I’ve walked my path, I have found that each time I do something I’m supposed to do or practice something I’m supposed to practice, it gets easier to walk on it. It’s the total opposite of what I would’ve thought starting out. I thought I’d have to achieve this state or that state by working hard. On the contrary, I have found that I have arrived at each ‘milestone’ of awakening by simply letting go of the way I see the world. Doing nothing. To lose weight, we abstain from eating as much. To stop smoking, we abstain from ingesting tobacco or other methods. To get up earlier each day, we abstain from sleeping so long. To accomplish things, we abstain from our internal resistance to not do them by letting go of that resistance. For me, doing nothing, even yes, practicing doing nothing has been what has gotten me comfortable with abstention. So I thought I’d list a couple ways you can practice doing nothing, things that I have found work for me:Mindful breathingObserving things other than my thoughts. For instance, observing the sounds around me, near and far.Observing my thoughts as if they were a bunch of monkeys swinging around in the forest of my mind. Then, allowing them to swing wildly.Something called Jappa meditation. It is the simple repetition of a mantra using beads, and you can get them anywhere - even the dollar store, as one of my friends pointed out. Mantras that I use are ‘Now, Aum, Still, Peace, Listen.’ One word kind of stuff.Sitting. Sometimes sitting on the couch for an hour with just yourself - no books, no phone, no nothing - brings clarity and peace of mind.Yogic meditations, such as Pranayama, Kriya, Kundalini, and Tantra.I have found that practicing one or more of these things - and here’s the key - on a regular, consistent basis - helps me to remember that I don’t always need to take action when I am interacting with the rest of the world. It can help me remain in a place where I see desires of mine popping up, and I can abstain from acting on those desires more often.
June 05, 202034min