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Can you celebrate life and not cling to it? Can you give up control and still get things done? Can you achieve your goals without forcing?
These are all themes we find in the ancient Taoist key work called the Tao Te Ching, which was written by a mysterious sage named Lao Tzu. There isn’t much known about this character of Chinese antiquity, and some historians even doubt that he truly existed. But whoever wrote the Tao Te Ching has inspired millions of people to see the world in a different light.
Taoism deeply respects the passive, receptive part of existence, which is generally undervalued. By becoming aware of the strength of, what the Taoists call, the ‘feminine’ or the ‘yin’-aspects of life, we’ll see that effort and force aren’t always the best tools in the toolbox for getting things done.
In a previous video, The Philosophy of Flow, I expand upon the so-called ‘flow state’, known as the soft power of ‘wu wei’ or ‘effortless-action’, also described as being ‘in the zone’ when participating in certain activities like sports and painting.
This video, however, explores how the wisdom of Lao Tzu can help us go with the flow in a more general sense. How can we let go, and let ourselves be carried along with the river of life? How can we live more effortlessly, with less stress and anxiety? How can we live a rich life and enjoy it to the fullest, with minimal interference of the natural course?
The following five lessons based on the writings of Lao Tzu might inspire you to live life in an entirely different way. Here are 5 life lessons from Lao Tzu.
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🎵 Music used:
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Creative Commons (attributions):
Tai Chi footage (1): https://archive.org/details/bcmmev-Tai_Chi_Blizzard
Tai Chi footage (2): https://archive.org/details/linktv_explore_china1173734946
Tai Chi footage (3): https://archive.org/details/TheBronxCelebratesWorldTaiChi_201605
Lao Tzu netsuke: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Netsuke,_elderly_man_(AM_2016.55.3-1).jpg
Skull painting: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_skull._Oil_painting._Wellcome_V0042218.jpg
Skull painting (2): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mus%C3%A9e_des_arts_d%C3%A9coratifs_-_Vanit%C3%A9_au_cr%C3%A2ne_-_Jan_van_Kessel_-_Collection_de_la_Baronne_Henri_de_Rothschild_Inv.25794.jpg
Lao Tzu mountains: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lao_Tze_statue,_Louguantai_Temple.jpg
Tao Te Ching: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Changchun-Temple-TaiQingDian-DaoDeJing-0315.jpg
Marathon Paris: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:David_Bizet_-_Marathon_de_Paris_2014.jpg
Pinus edulis tree: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinus_edulis_oldtree.jpg
Food: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Egyptian_food_Koshary.jpg
Water: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fasting_4-Fasting-a-glass-of-water-on-an-empty-plate.jpg
Fear: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Bell,_Essays_on_the_anatomy_of_Wellcome_L0031951.jpg
Young woman: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Group men: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Constantin_Hansen,_Et_selskab_af_danske_kunstnere_i_Rom,_1837,_KMS3236,_SMK.jpg
00:00 0) Intro
01:48 1) Don’t force anything
03:50 2) Don’t overburden yourself
06:39 3) Stop controlling the world
08:26 4) Enough is enough
10:29 5) Don’t cling to life
#TAOISM #TAO #LAOTZU
How to be a Taoist
Simply observe your cat.
Always so gratefull of having found Einzelgänger and his videos. Now they really are part of my everyday life.
Will you please stop calling yin the feminine? Yin and Yang aren't about female and male, it's just about opposites. Please stop thinking binary.
Does anyone have a link to the I Ching translation he uses in the video? These seemed simple and straight forward for Westerners where some translations seem very esoteric and the meanings can be lost
All I know is sometimes people's have a path that causes different effects from people you come across you to treat you in a way they never treat people because the path you have can change people to break free from the programming. And no matter how good you are to other or how positive you are won't matter. I spent my life pleasing and helping other and today not one person today has helped me. Not even letting me shower or inviting me over for a hit meal. I live in my car and those two things would mean the world to me. No one checks on me or anything. But I will never become negative or treat others badly. I will stay positive and keep my head up because my environment and the people in it aren't who I am and don't control me. It's been rough but I know that the end result is what I focus on nor money or success in this world but ending the cycling back is what is important to me.
"If you look for the light, you can often find it. But if you look for the dark that is all you will ever see.” – Uncle Iroh
I bet Iroh would have been great friends with Lao Tzu
Such great videos!!!!❤❤❤
This is true profound wisdom let us sing let it go let it go
Really appreciate your videos. The topics you cover and thought you put into them are amazing, very grateful to have found your channel🙏
I start my day with one of these videos it helps get through the day with a clear mind
A compelling presentation of Lao Tzu's main ideas on how to live a wise life.
Nice video. The gendering was a bit annoying tho. And quite frankly it goes against the message of the video. Its impossible to change language that has grown over centuries so quickly just because it fits the current ideology. That is really trying to force things…
@Einzelgänger: Hoogstaande kwaliteit en wijze lessen. Mooi hoe je anoniem blijft, het ego niet streelt. Besef dat je veel invloed hebt, elke video, elke dag. Een ware schat aan informatie, de Stoïcijnen waardig.
🧚🏻♂️❣️☯️🌌
I often think. Is deciding to stay childless, going against the nature's flow?
1+1=11+11=1111+1111=1
😘💚
The fact that Taoism drives me nucking futs is proof enough that the path offered by this perspective is painfully truthful. The constant contradicting ironies expressed by Taoism frustrate me so much because I know they mirror the universe our spirits currently occupy. My dear Uncle Dave used to loosely paraphrase Lao Tzu often to help me out with my biggest problem… myself. He would say things like, "Those who say don't know. Those who know don't say." Or "Untangle the knot and soften your glare, darkly visible, it's as if it were there." Talk about being intrigued and frustrated at the same time! Taoism requires the ability to surrender without compromise and so much more. I'm just an old ding dong but I want to thank you and the people who wrote marvelous comments below. I didn't see arrogance or cleverness but rather understanding and empathy. That's the way. All the best.
This channel is one of my favorite channels on YouTube!
When did your sex bias change? A god is only rarely a she yet yours are now all 'she'it.
"Be like water"
Short but it helps me ease my anxiety and stress.
Feminine = Yin 🥵
I wish more people understood this. It doesn’t matter how hard you work towards certain things if it just isn’t meant for you. It’s like swimming against the current.
THis is what i was needed.
Imagine listening to this while you’re still in high school lmao… just let go, go with the flow, don’t force and exert effort lmao… hahahahaahhaa. Fking wack really
"Mo money mo problems" – Lao Tzu
"I'm not afraid of death. I just don't want to be there when it happens"
Woody Allen
“I am the Chinese book writer”
-Sun Tzu