…the seminar: Dawson with Alan Watts. The subject of this seminar is going to be Dawson, as contained in the teachings of Lao Tzu, who lived approximately 400 years or more before Christ, separated probably by 100 years from each other. And, as is often…

…who lived approximately 400 years or more before Christ, separated probably by 100 years from each other. And, as is often repeated, Lao Tzu started out by explaining that the tao which can be explained is not the eternal tao. And they went on to write…

…you? That's what's called tao in Chinese. That's where we begin. Tao means basically way, and so course, the course of nature, of which Lao Tzu says tao fat zui yang, which means the way of functioning of the tao zui yang is of itself so that is to…

…arriving, always. That's the meaning of the eternal tao. The eternal tao what then? To go with the watercourse is called by Lao Tzu Wu Wei. Wu means not Wei has a complex of meanings which can be action, striving, straining, doing or best, forcing. Not…

…Indian Buddhism. It is the fusion of Indian Buddhism with Chinese Culture with Chinese, what is called Taoism and the philosophy of Lao Tzu who is supposed to have lived, oh I suppose around 400 BC, Shortly after buddha, is the philosophy of the tao, t…

…discussion of righteousness and propriety and so on was doing nothing but getting mankind deeper and deeper and deeper into trouble. So Lao Tzu says when the great tao lost, that is to say when people no longer followed the natural way the course of…

…it still goes on. So the taoists were trying to say to governors: look, lay off, please leave things alone, their idea. You see Lao Tzu wrote the tao te Ching as a manual of advice to emperors, and he says in other words that the emperor, although he…

…in splendor with escorts of police on motorcycles and reporters and cameras all over the place. And so in the same way, Lao Tzu and zhuangzi are saying that anybody who governs should be very anonymous. There shouldn't be a fuss made over him he's just…

…into three. You know you always do everything in three: the beginning, the middle and the end. There are profound reasons for this. Lao Tzu said when a Superior man hears of the tao the way he practices it. When a middling man hears of it, seems that…

…have said: of course, we all are. And so likewise in china. The image there you see, the tao, is not a boss image. Lao Tzu says the great tao flows everywhere both to the right and to the left it loves and nourishes all things, but does not lord…

…will. Any more than you can decide not to think of a green elephant. There is a story about Confucius who one day met Lao Tzu, who was a Great Chinese philosopher. And Lao Tzu said sir what is your system? And Confucius said it is charity and love of…

…of a green elephant. There is a story about Confucius who one day met Lao Tzu, who was a Great Chinese philosopher. And Lao Tzu said sir what is your system? And Confucius said it is charity and love of one's neighbor and elimination of self interest.…

…sir what is your system? And Confucius said it is charity and love of one's neighbor and elimination of self interest. Lao Tzu said: stuff and nonsense. Your elimination of self is a positive manifestation of self. Look at the universe: the stars keep…

…the process of things. And that again, you see is really very different from the western idea of god. The ruler of the tao, Lao Tzu says the great tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right. It loves and nourishes all things but does not…

…universe, not in the sense of chaos, but equally not in the sense of what we mean by order. The tao does not rule. Lao Tzu says the great tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right. It loves and nourishes all things, but does not lord…

…for example in hinsdale, the name of your sanitation chief? I bet you don't, but he's a very, very important official and Lao Tzu would advise the president of the United States to behave like the chief of sanitation, to be unobtrusive and to generally…

…and tacking so as to go in an opposite direction to the wind is the art of Taoism. Anyone who really understands sailing understands Lao Tzu. So the next thing is that the tao has a kind of order, but it's not quite what we mean by order. When we…

…is a virtuoso, we have something of the meaning of de in it: marvelous accomplishment. And in opening the section on de, Lao Tzu says: Superior Virtue is not virtue and thus is virtue. Inferior virtue cannot let go of virtue and thus is not virtue.…

…of dusk. In all these things there is a deep meaning, but when we are about to Express it we suddenly forget the words. Lao Tzu also said: those who speak do not know, those who know do not speak. And another Chinese poet sort of satirized him by…

…poet sort of satirized him by saying: those who speak do not know those who know do not speak. Thus we have heard from Lao Tzu and yet how does it come that he himself wrote a book of 500 characters. The point then is that his whole book doesn't…

…the same way that it can't be defined, it can't be controlled, in other words you can't get outside yourself to define yourself. Lao Tzu would go on to say that since man is an integral part of the natural universe, he also can't get outside of nature…

…egoistic than the project of subduing your egoistic pride. We can read it straight out of zhuangzi in the dialogue between Lao Tzu and Confucius. You know it's a apocryphal dialogue. Zhuangzi was a great humorist and he used the most outrageous stories and…

…the mouth of Confucius all sorts of things that Confucius would never have dreamed of saying. But he also arranges a dialogue between Lao Tzu and Confucius in which Confucius gets the wrong end of the stick, where Lao Tzu talks to him and asks him: what…

…saying. But he also arranges a dialogue between Lao Tzu and Confucius in which Confucius gets the wrong end of the stick, where Lao Tzu talks to him and asks him: what is your teaching? And he says it is charity and duty to one's neighbor and absence…

…in biochemistry that he had somehow learned about or a dirty joke he'd heard somewhere. He'd weave it all together with Lao Tzu and the tao and with incisive political comment. He was tougher politically when he was younger and with that droll lord…

…What I think the daoists are against is that reality and appearance are two separate things. That is what the Lao Tzu and zhuangzi are against. You mean they're against separating separating yes, the appearance deviates from its reality, then that's…

…us to know the actual nature of the situation in which we find ourselves? The daoist perhaps this is the basic teaching of Lao Tzu and zhuangzi, that is, to transform yourself into non self. What does the non self mean? It means you do not have any…

…what they call the tao, the way, course or flow of nature, of nature seen as spontaneous and liquid movement. The philosopher Lao Tzu, writing some 2400 years ago, put it this way: the great tao flows everywhere, both to the right and to the left.…

…by its borders, beyond which there are things which it cannot take. Thus our very weaknesses are our strengths and as Lao Tzu said, suppleness and tenderness are the concomitants of life, rigidity and hardness are the concomitants of death. Now believe me…

…hand with an attitude to education that is too abstract, too scholastic, too much in the head and too little in the belly. Lao Tzu says in his book the energies of the emperor should be directed to keeping the minds of the people unpreoccupied and their…

…having to tell them what to do, and this is the secret of what we will call organic power, as distinct from political power. Lao Tzu puts it in this way: the great tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right. It loves and nourishes all…

…of water that is the life in us all. Energy is gravity and that is the real meaning of e equals mc squared. So Lao Tzu, writing a little before 400 BC, pointed out that the course of nature, the tao, is like water in that, although being extremely…

…You can't have something without nothing, just as you can't have a baby without a womb. So there is a hollow, and the hollow, as Lao Tzu points out, is the origin of the solid or in a way you might say they come from the ground they come into being…

…points out, is the origin of the solid or in a way you might say they come from the ground they come into being together. Lao Tzu says to be and not to be arise mutually, and that's the basis of the I Ching, the book of changes. The yang principle…

…have said: of course, we all are. And so likewise in china the image there you see, the tao, is not a boss image Lao Tzu says the great tao flows everywhere, both to the right and to the left. It loves and nourishes all things but does not lord…

…our very delicate eardrums, the soft tips of our fingers. The strength of man is to a large degree in his softness. As Lao Tzu said, man at his birth is supple and tender, but in death he is rigid and hard. Thus suppleness and tenderness are the…

…a secular way, as in this painting by sengai, another 17th century Japanese master of the three sages, buddha in the Center, Lao Tzu to the left and Confucius to the right. You see they're treated in this slightly humorous vein that doesn't take them…

…your finger into it but the moment you withdraw it the hole's gone and that is, in a way a feminine property. So Lao Tzu the Great Chinese philosopher said: while being a male, retain in yourself always a female element, and so you will become a…

…what we should do now. This brings in another very fundamental point about the Chinese Philosophy of nature. You will invariably find Lao Tzu saying to a ruler: Lao Tzu, who is the alleged founder of the Taoist Philosophy, probably lived about 400 BC. He…

…brings in another very fundamental point about the Chinese Philosophy of nature. You will invariably find Lao Tzu saying to a ruler: Lao Tzu, who is the alleged founder of the Taoist Philosophy, probably lived about 400 BC. He said in writing a book which…

…we can allow is people to combine in whatever combinations they wish. Oh I certainly would agree with that when people, just as Lao Tzu said when the great tao lost there came talk of duty to man and right conduct, and so when the essential idea of…

…how soft and weak it is though heavy, you can neither compress it nor cut it with a knife, as that old Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said: you can't cut it with a knife. It always seeks the lowest level which men this life, its energy is its following…

…in any sphere, whether it's religion or whether it's painting or whatever, do you as a student feel the need to justify yourself? Lao Tzu said in a marvellous line: those who justify themselves do not convince. Now there is as I said on the one hand,…

…earth depends not on conquering space with rockets and bombs, but on developing greater sensitivity in the place where we are. Lao Tzu said: without going out of my house I know the whole universe. So by clumsy beginnings of the sensitivity are seen…

…in the Mandarin Dialect, tao in the Shanghai Dialect, tō in the Cantonese Dialect, take your choice. Tao means the course of nature. And Lao Tzu, who was a philosopher who lived a little later than 400 b c wrote a book about the tao and he said: the…

…goes around you don't have a police escort and sirens blowing and flags waving. He simply does his job. And the feeling of Lao Tzu is that the president or the emperor should have the same kind of attitude, that he should simply help the people and…

…you the referee can judge. So Taoism is the force in Chinese Culture which represents disillusion with the social game. You see Lao Tzu himself by legend, who is supposed to have lived around 600 BC to be a contemporary of Confucius but probably lived…

…get into trouble could be called additive. The process by which we get out of trouble is subtractive. In the words of Lao Tzu: the scholar gains every day the man of tao loses every day. The scholar acquires ideas. In Zen the intellectual operation is…

…this nostalgia to leave the world and its competitions and one upmanship games and go into the mountains and leave no trace. So Lao Tzu, which means the old boy, literally the old boy, when he tired of the life of the court, is supposed to have been…

…you're very valuable to us so would you please write down your wisdom for ruling the state and then I'll let you go. So Lao Tzu said yes I will. And on strips of bamboo scratched out the text, which is the most paradoxical book ever written because it…

…is that in the art of ruling you do not use force, you never press the issue, and it is for this reason that the Lao Tzu book is the basis of judo. In judo you don't use force against your opponent, you use his force if he uses it against you.…

…to do it. It's the funniest experience it's just like everything suddenly became contrary to common sense. But that all goes back to Lao Tzu, to the imagery that is used of the pine and the willow. The willow tree is springing and relaxed and when the…

…and therefore has an arm like this, and as the snow falls it piles up and piles up until the branch cracks. So Lao Tzu says man at his birth is supple and tender. In death he is rigid and hard. So suppleness and tenderness are the characteristics…

…having done anything you know always escapes and is not around to receive any thanks or acknowledgement, because it loves obscurity. And Lao Tzu said: the tao is like water it always seeks the low level which human beings abhor. So it's a very mysterious…

…really that it's an organism. And as we shall see when we get on to zhuangzi, who is the sort of elaborator of Lao Tzu, he sees everything operating together, so that nowhere can you find the controlling center. There isn't any. The world is a system…

…literally self. So what is so of itself, what happens of itself, and thus spontaneity. And in the tao te Ching, Early on, Lao Tzu says the tao's method is to be so of itself. Now we might translate that automatic, were it not that the word automatic…

…get nama rupa as the full name for what we call physical reality. Nama means name, rupa form, so it is named form. And so Lao Tzu, writing the tao te Ching, says: the nameless or the no name is the basis of heaven and earth, but the named is the…

…yet harmoniously in terms of the pattern in a field. And so, speaking of the fundamental principle behind the world, old Lao Tzu you remember him I'll write his name down again just in case you forget this rather difficult Chinese Pronunciation: Lao Tzu,…

…old Lao Tzu you remember him I'll write his name down again just in case you forget this rather difficult Chinese Pronunciation: Lao Tzu, the founder of the Taoist Philosophy, Who's said to have lived about 600 BC but probably lived much later. He said…

…in human life, because one cannot be distinguished without the other. In the second chapter of his book, the old philosopher Lao Tzu, whom I've mentioned many times in these programmes, says: when all the world recognises beauty to be beautiful, there is…

…the way of nature, the way of things but that's only one of its many meanings. Indeed, the term is so difficult to define that Lao Tzu, you know this man the man who was the founder of Taoist Philosophy, l a o t z u. Lao Tzu started out his book…

…difficult to define that Lao Tzu, you know this man the man who was the founder of Taoist Philosophy, l a o t z u. Lao Tzu started out his book by saying and this is a phrase which already shows how many meanings the word has tao which can be tao.…

…be considered the destination of our journey. But we have to be receptive and open. We have, in other words to do what Lao Tzu advised when he said: while being a man yet one should also preserve a certain femininity, and thereby one will become a…

…the process of things. And that again, you see is really very different from the western idea of god. The ruler of the tao, Lao Tzu says the great tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right. It loves and nourishes all things but does not…

…the whole philosophy of china there lies this recognition of the polarity of the universe, that the opposites go together or as Lao Tzu puts it in the second chapter of his book the tao te Ching: when all the world understands beauty to be beautiful,…

…is a point of view that becomes explicit in Chinese History. Probably in the neighborhood of 400 BC, it used to be said that Lao Tzu, L a o t z u, was originally thought to have been a contemporary of Confucius who lived between 600 and 500 BC, but…

…have been a contemporary of Confucius who lived between 600 and 500 BC, but the general weight of scholarly opinion today is that the Lao Tzu book is about 400 and the book is called the tao te Ching. If there were an apostrophe after the t, you would…

…a plant, it has a magical connotation or a connotation of power and peculiar skill of tao and de and it is written by Lao Tzu which means the old boy. The legend, of course is that Lao Tzu was the librarian of the imperial Court who when he became…

…and peculiar skill of tao and de and it is written by Lao Tzu which means the old boy. The legend, of course is that Lao Tzu was the librarian of the imperial Court who when he became an old man and sick of the intrigue of court life, decided to…

…this year because then you've published to the devil your intention. Never let him know. See, the same way if you're, when uh Lao Tzu, Uh this is a story that zhuangzi invented and has a certain typical humor to it. Lao Tzu is supposed to have had…

…way if you're, when uh Lao Tzu, Uh this is a story that zhuangzi invented and has a certain typical humor to it. Lao Tzu is supposed to have had a discussion with Confucius on the nature of love and benevolence. And uh when Confucius has given forth…

…discussion with Confucius on the nature of love and benevolence. And uh when Confucius has given forth several pomposities about this, Lao Tzu is alleged to have said to him: what's stuff? Surely you're getting rid of self as a positive manifestation of…

…out this morning. To think that straining the muscles of the forehead has anything to do with clear thinking. That is against Lao Tzu, who is the greatest of all the Chinese Philosophers, the father of wisdom. And so MAO Zedong says you must have a…

…same sphere, and that means that they go together. In Chinese this is called arising mutually, as in the second chapter of Lao Tzu, where he says: when all the world knows beauty to be beautiful there is already ugliness. When all the world knows…

…she reproved him for being undignified because he didn't sit stiff and rigid. But what is the virtue in being stiff and rigid? As Lao Tzu said, man at his birth is supple and tender, but in death he is rigid and hard. Plants when young are juicy and…

…who is the human serpent, the wiggly one, the gentle one who has the power of water, and we should look to that. As Lao Tzu again said, the valley spirit does not die. The valley spirit, that is the spirit of the valley that is the feminine is…

…a dot of the opposite color. That is the seed the seed of being within non being and the seed of non being within being. Lao Tzu says to be and not to be arise mutually. It isn't that there is first nothing and then something, or it might come in…

…dragons or more frequently on tigers, and sometimes on water buffaloes. A water Buffalo, too can be a very obstreperous beast. Lao Tzu is frequently shown playing a flute and riding on a water Buffalo, because his intensely calm spirit didn't bother the…

…the way and its power, and you should all read it in lin yu tang's translation in the modern library it's called the wisdom of Lao Tzu. It is a book written as a manual of instruction for rulers, and it has a great deal in it to say about military…

…is one possible translation of the Taoist Term Wu Wei, Literally non doing or not acting out of accord with nature, of which Lao Tzu said that by non doing, nothing is left undone. The sense of it is to act without seeking a result, without pursuing a…

…words this is like trying to you know, sweep the darkness out of a room with a broom, or it's like it's worse than that Lao Tzu Zhuang Tzu rather had a nice figure for it beating a drum in search of a fugitive. That's to say you know when the…

…across the idea across, because to understand the principle of relativity is the absolute foundation of the philosophy of the tao. Lao Tzu takes it up in his second chapter when he says: when all the world understands beauty to be beautiful, there is…

…of the Taoist way of life and the behavior of natural forces, of water of wind of plants and rocks. In many, many passages Lao Tzu likens the tao to water in the fact that it doesn't resist and yet nothing is stronger, in the fact that it always…

…it indicates the past but in general, literally translated Chinese reads like a telegram. And so uh the opening of the chapter of the Lao Tzu book on de that is to say on uh power or virtue uh says in literal English: Superior De, not de, thus this…

…that this is the proper and appropriate way to feel in such circumstances and that it will go over, it will pass, for as Lao Tzu said, the fierce gale does not last the whole morning, nor does pelting rain go on all day. Maybe he hadn't lived in big…

…to succeed. You could say: nothing fails like success. So for this reason then the Taoist always had an attitude of caution, cautious Lao Tzu says as one who crosses a river in spring. That means either because of the spring floods or because the ice is…

…no information about that yet that it requires a watcher for something to be watched, it's somebody's idea. You don't know that. Lao Tzu says: the scholar learns something every day. The man of tao unlearns something every day until he gets back to non…

…you? That's what's called tao in Chinese. That's where we begin tao means basically way and so course the course of nature, of which Lao Tzu says tao fa Zi Yan, which means the way of functioning of the tao Zi Yan, is of itself so, that is to say…

…circle, the yang yin, like this see. So li means then the order of flow, the wonderful dancing pattern of liquid, because Lao Tzu likens tao to water. The great tao, he says, flows everywhere to the left and to the right, like water I'm interpolating…

…the lowest level, which men abhor, because we are always trying to play games of one upmanship and be on top of each other. Lao Tzu explains that the top position is the most insecure. Everybody wants to get to the top of the tree, but then if they…

…The answer is no one but a maniac would want to be president. Who wants to be put in charge of a runaway truck? So Lao Tzu says that the basic position is the most powerful and this we can see at once in judo or in aikido, which are wrestling arts…

…and is wandering about as if he had lost his way and doesn't know anything of course is based on the text in Lao Tzu where he says: the people of the world are merrymaking as if partaking of the sacrificial feasts, as if mounting the terrace in…

…The Japanese pronounce it toku, the Cantonese Dak and the northern mandarins approximately de. And in the section of the Lao Tzu where this is really introduced, the text says something like this: Superior Virtue, not virtue. Thus it has virtue. Inferior…

…playing to the gallery, without self consciousness it seems perfectly natural. So how does he get there? There was a daoist sage later than Lao Tzu. His name was lieh Tzu we romanize that as l I e h lieh and he had a reputation for being able to ride…

…done all that should be done? And then he started trembling. This was the fall of man of course this is what is meant. Lao Tzu says when the great tao lost, there came duty to man and right conduct. In other words, nobody talks about how you ought to…

…is confusion. There is a marvellous case of this in the zhuangzi book, where there is an alleged conversation between Confucius and Lao Tzu in which Lao Tzu asks Confucius to explain to him what is charity and duty to one's neighbour. And Confucius gives…

…a marvellous case of this in the zhuangzi book, where there is an alleged conversation between Confucius and Lao Tzu in which Lao Tzu asks Confucius to explain to him what is charity and duty to one's neighbour. And Confucius gives him a little sermon on…

…we don't know that. That's the whole trick that we've played on ourselves. We don't know that nothing is something and it's important. Lao Tzu put it this way: the usefulness of a vessel is not so much in the clay surround but in the empty space in…

…is the universe. The word atom you see in Greek is atomos, a non tomos cut, the uncut. It's the same idea as in Lao Tzu, the uncarved block as a great symbol of naturalness, what cannot be further divided. And so de Chardin says it is the universe…

…lost, is Universal and very ancient. In the Taoist Literature of china there are constant references to a sort of golden age, Lao Tzu says when the great tao lost, in other words when things did not always and automatically go in accordance with the…

…back at those people and see how evil that was, but we can't see it in ourselves. So therefore beware of virtue. Lao Tzu the Chinese philosopher said: the highest virtue is not virtue and therefore really is virtue. But inferior virtue cannot let go of…

…we don't know that. That's the whole trick that we've played on ourselves we don't know that nothing is something and it's important. Lao Tzu put it this way: the usefulness of a vessel is not so much in the clay surround but in the empty space in…

…succeed, you could say nothing fails like success. So for this reason then the Taoist always had an attitude of caution. Cautiously, Lao Tzu says as one who crosses a river in spring. That means either because of the spring floods or because the ice is…

…shaped thing outlined in black and filled in with flat green. No leaf looks like that. No leaves, leaves are not green. That's why Lao Tzu said: the five colors make a man blind, the five tones make a man deaf. Because if you can only see five colors,…

…Dr Suzuki talks about Zen, all the other people say: because they talk about it, they don't understand it. Those, in the words of Lao Tzu, who know do not say. Those who say do not know. And yet he said that he wrote a book of several eighty chapters…

…going or to pay off the mortgage. Yes these other religions are very good. God has no doubt revealed himself through buddha and Lao Tzu. But now, obviously, it is a matter of temperament. You can be loyal to jesus just as you are loyal to your own…

…your finger into it but the moment you withdraw it the hole's gone. And that is in a way a feminine property. So Lao Tzu the Great Chinese philosopher said: while being a male, retain in yourself always a female element, and so you will become a…

…will any more than you can decide not to think of a green elephant. There is a story about Confucius who one day met Lao Tzu, who was a Great Chinese philosopher, and Lao Tzu said: sir what is your system? And Confucius said: it is charity and love…

…of a green elephant. There is a story about Confucius who one day met Lao Tzu, who was a Great Chinese philosopher, and Lao Tzu said: sir what is your system? And Confucius said: it is charity and love of one's neighbor and elimination of self interest.…

…sir what is your system? And Confucius said: it is charity and love of one's neighbor and elimination of self interest. Lao Tzu said: stuff and nonsense. Your elimination of self is a positive manifestation of self. Look at the universe. The stars keep…

…in the Mandarin Dialect, tao in the Shanghai Dialect, to in the Cantonese Dialect. Take your choice. Tao means the course of nature. And Lao Tzu, who was a philosopher who lived a little later than 400 b c wrote a book about the tao and he said: the…

…goes around you don't have a police escort and sirens blowing and flags waving he simply does his job. And the feeling of Lao Tzu is that the president or the emperor should have the same kind of attitude, that he should simply help the people and…