Power for the Peaceful: A Course in Tao

Critical teaching here. Tao is already within, working, subtly and invisibly the air all around us, but which we forget we breathe and move in. Joe Bennett supplies energy and his voice to this episode's effort.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: As described at the top of this Bonus Episode, the podcast will slow down for the rest of this (2023) year, releasing every SECOND Thursday. In this Bonus Episode, I look at the poverty of thinking, and the enriching ways we can train the brain not to think, analyze, categorize, and take us places we don't need to go ... ever.

Simple, but profound verse. Don't let its simplicity lure you into a false sense of security. For it speaks about how to become wise. 1. Take on wisdom, and leave off ego-managed actions. 2. Understanding self as more important than understanding others (while both are good; one of these is better). 3. Being content with sufficiency - knowing when "enough" IS enough. 4. Regular meditation on death. I was alone today on the episode. Back next week with a guest! May your days begin in peace, to become laboratories of radical hope! mmullinax@mhu.edu

Today's verse 32 is great for review. It contains many through-lines of themes we have seen so far in our long march through these 81 verses in Tao Te Ching: -Inscrutability -Nothing is alien; all is one -Forgetfulness -Three practices of Silence, Darkness, and Emptiness -The Feminine, and -Water ... ... Several of which themes re-emerge today. So while there may not be that much "new," the way Lao Tzu frames and phrases this verse will provide necessary reminders about what Tao is, and what Tao is all about. Darian Smathers joins us today as our quote-reader and question discusser. May your days begin in peace, and become laboratories for the wisdom needed for these days. -mmullinax@mhu.edu

I am joined at the mic today by Dr. Charles Pannell, a professor in Chinese Medicine practice at the Daoist School of Chinese Medicine in Asheville, NC. (https://daoisttraditions.edu/). Dr. Pannell's bio is here: https://daoisttraditions.edu/our-college/our-faculty-2/. We talk about the shared worldview of Tao, Taoism, and Classical Chinese Medicine. My great thanks to him!!

Verse 31 is a strong declaration against a Taoist "making peace" with war or aggression. This is a tough verse, and is easily misunderstood, partly because we tend to normalize our violent ways both within ourselves and in our culture. To be a peace-wager in a society so normalized toward war may mean you are misunderstood, fired from a job, or denounced. Gabrielle Guiliano - a Taoist practitioner, is our guest voice today. And during the Question time, I ask HER the questions!

Verses 30 this week, and 31 next week, are of a unit, and make the central argument for Taoist anti-war, anti-violence positions. While I am no gatekeeper of Taoist orthodoxy, it is clear that Tao's worldview never promotes or abides by violence or war-like ways, whether these ways are by the state, or in one's own life. I'll continue this theme in next week's Verse 31 treatment. Kimberly Gilliam is our voice today. May you begin your days waging peace, days which become wombs for more peace-waging. Marc Mullinax, mmullinax@mhu.edu

With Tao, there is an underlying rhythm, described as right action at the right time and the right place. Get off this rhythm and one starts having strange ideas that one (one's ego) can actually change reality, or improve this rhythm. Nah. So this verse investigates spiritual rhythm and spiritual arrhythmia. WE touch on past themes like Yin-Yang and Wu-Wei, but in ways that expand our understanding of these teachings. Helping me out today is Dr. Serena McMillan, a Hebrew Bible scholar who offers us a relevant (and popular) Hebrew Bible verse, in her own translation! May your days begin in peace, and become laboratories for attainable, radical Balance. -Marc Mullinax -mmullinax@mhu.edu

Verse 28 does not mention Yin or Yang, but these two concepts have their fingerprints in every line. It's a verse that teaches to combine the unlikely pairs of seemingly opposites, not just in order to integrate one's psyche with Tao, but also to become a grounded, peaceful, and useful Tao practitioner. This week's quote reader and question-asker is Dr. Laurel Reinhardt, "a therapist in recovery", whose work can be found at these two sites: www.innerlandscaping.com; and www.etsy.com/shop/innerlandscaping. May your every day begin in peace, and become that womb or laboratory for the radical hope that those around us (may) need. -Marc mmullinax@mhu.edu

Verse 27 is full of Wu-Wei insights. Rather than thumb-nailing them here, let's let the Verse speak in its myriad ways. Audrey Davis, our artist, returns for another appearance with the quotes, and asks about how Taoism might enable us to face our own deaths (We recorded her words in Asheville's Riverside Cemetery). Mary your days begin in peace, and become wombs for the radical hope growing in you. Marc