Podcasts about daoism

“Who are you?” What if the real question is: What are you? Paul M Vincent—human performance expert, psychedelic researcher, and co-host of the Demystifying Psychedelics series—sits on the other side of the mic to explore the layered evolution of identity. From training elite performers to studying with indigenous shamans, Paul opens up about mental health battles, inexplicable mystical experiences, and the profound impact of ceremony, flow, and community on human healing. This is a masterclass in surrender, wisdom, and the art of being.   **** ✨ Personal Socrates is on SALE! >>> Use UPGRADE20 at baronfig.com for 20% off through May and June.    Release details for the NEW BOOK.   Connect with Marc >>>  Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Drop a review and let me know what resonates with you about the show! Thanks as always for listening and have the best day yet! * A special thanks to MONOS, our official travel partner for Behind the Human! Use MONOSBTH10 at check-out for savings on your next purchase. ✈️ * Special props

In this episode of the Third Eye Awakening podcast, I'm so happy to have my friend Aaron French on the show!Aaron French is a Medium, Akashic Reader, and Spiritual Guide. He has been a student of Nonduality, Classical Tantra and Daoism for over 25 years, and finds deep comfort in guiding others into the Now.
Aaron first realized he was communicating with Spirits in the late 1990's, and has been expanding & grounding into the path of Mediumship since then. He now has a flourishing relationship with beings across the Astral realms and beyond, as well as powerful access to the Akashic Records. Aaron's purpose is to support each one of us as we journey towards our Highest Truth and finding the greatest Joy in being Human on this Earth.In this episode, Aaron and I dive into:-Aaron's ski accident and using spiritual practices in recovery-pain, healing, & the masculine-feminine dynamic-financial pressure & personal growth-mythic themes, unpredictability of current events, & energetic shifts with the lunar eclipse-the role of human design in personal & collective awakening-the impact of personal experiences & traumas on personal growth…and so much more!CONNECT WITH AARON@naturalheartalchemywww.naturalheartalchemy.comLINKS MENTIONEDAkashic Holographic Masteryamybelair.com - check out my brand new website + get 70% off ALL COURSES & PROGRAMS until Monday, May 19, 2025!

Are you stuck in your comfort zone? Are you limiting yourself? In this episode, Danny and Randy discuss why your comfort zone is killing you. Subscribe to ESP's YouTube Channel! Thanks for listening!  Do you have a question you want answered in a future episode? If so, send your question to: existentialstoic@protonmail.com Danny, Randy, and their good friend, Russell, created a new podcast, CodeNoobs, for anyone interested in tech and learning how to code. Listen to CodeNoobs now online, CodeNoobs-podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Elijah Nisenboim is founder of Effiji Breathwork. He has been helping people with suffering and trauma for 33 years. He is the author of three books including 2024's The Trauma Code: Unlocking the Hidden Map to Your Life's True Purpose. To accompany his breathwork, he has composed and recorded 25 volumes of music. On his many journeys to China, Elijah has learned Sacred Taoist energy practice and Internal Martial Arts which he incorporates in his healing methods for Trauma Release. Not only does he help people release trauma, but he helps them understand and use trauma as a valuable tool for fulfilling one's life purpose.Effiji Breath – Healing Breathwork

In this enlightening conversation, I was joined by Dan Chapelle, a clinical psychologist and bonafide philosopher with a deep interest in religion and meditation. Our discussion ranged widely, from the nuances of Eastern and Western philosophies to practical approaches for a more contented life. Dan shared insights from both his personal journey and his books, providing a rich tapestry of ideas centred around the necessity of unhappiness and the power of meditative self-care. What You'll Learn: The Intersection of Philosophy and Psychology: Discover how psychology and philosophy intertwine through the works of Freud, Jung, Nietzsche, and Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism and Daoism. Learn how these disciplines explore the complexities of the human mind and our quest for understanding and contentment. Importance of Unhappiness: Uncover why Dan views unhappiness as a crucial aspect of life rather than a condition to be overly medicated or avoided. Engage with the ideas from figures like Buddha and Job, emphasising the necessity of accepting life's inherent challenges. Meditative Self-Care: Learn about the practice of meditation as a tool for attention training, self-awareness, and the acceptance of reality. Discover practical insights into how meditation can help balance emotions and redirect attention from negative thought patterns. Attention and Intention in Everyday Life: Explore the concept that attention is the most critical tool we possess, shaping our experiences and responses. Understand how directing our attention and refining our intentions can alter our perception and experience of the world. Key Takeaways: Life's Challenges: Embrace the understanding that life is inherently difficult, and by accepting this, we can find deeper contentment. Meditation: Use meditation as a practical method for managing your attention and fostering acceptance. Philosophical Insights: Philosophical and psychological teachings from the East and West offer valuable perspectives on human experience and the nature of reality. Unhappiness as a Teacher: Viewing unhappiness as a part of life encourages personal growth and fosters a more profound fulfillment. Attention Control: Directing attention wisely influences emotional health and can lead to a more balanced life. Resources: Books by Dan Chappelle: "A Minimalist Ethic for Everyday Life" "Meditative Self-Care" Explore Dan's insights further and access more resources on MeditativeSelfCare.com. By embracing these philosophies and practices, you can cultivate a more profound sense of contentment and understanding in everyday life. Each step you take towards accepting life's difficulties can open the door to new perspectives and inner peace. If you're interested in diving deeper into these themes, I highly recommend checking out Dan Chapelle's works—let them guide you towards a more mindful and fulfilled existence. Support and Share: If you found this episode enlightening, please consider subscribing, rating, and leaving a review on your favourite podcast platform. Your support helps us continue to bring expert insights to a wider audience. Share this episode with someone who might benefit from the discussion around hormesis and its life-enhancing potential. 00:27 Journey into Psychology and Philosophy 01:28 Exploring Phenomenological Psychology 02:21 Connections Between Eastern and Western Philosophies 05:37 Minimalist Ethic and Everyday Life 06:41 Ian McGilchrist and the Left Brain-Right Brain Debate 20:33 The Necessity of Unhappiness 23:30 Job's Story and Contentment 28:44 Catcher in the Rye and Adolescent Struggles 31:41 Radical Acceptance and Amor Fati 33:35 The Role of Meditation in Accepting Reality 34:18 Understanding Buddhist Meditation 35:27 Nietzsche's Philosophy and Amor Fati 39:04 Practical Approaches to Meditation 42:06 The Importance of Attention in Mental Health 49:36 Karma and Intention 01:02:30 Reflections on Life and Contentment See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, I'm welcoming back Ollie Walsh, formerly the co-founder and CEO of Pipit Global, and now, the President of Qenta, following Qenta's recent acquisition of Pipit.  This is Ollie's fourth appearance on MoneyNeverSleeps, making him the all-time guest record holder on the show.This conversation is a special one. Not only has Ollie been building something purpose-driven and globally relevant for over a decade, but I've also had the privilege of sitting on Pipit's board since 2019 and seeing the full journey from the inside.In this episode, we dive into the first public conversation about Pipit's acquisition by Qenta. US-based Qenta is rethinking how money moves around the world, blending fintech, blockchain, and impact into one powerful payments platform.In this episode, Ollie and I get into the weeds on what it really takes to build a startup with social impact at its core, what it feels like to finally get a deal across the line after years of trying, and how it all unfolds when you're leading with purpose rather than flash.We also get into:The “rollercoaster on fire” of startup lifeWhat makes a startup acquirable, especially in emerging marketsWhy leading with social impact turned out to be Pipit's greatest strengthLessons learned the hard way: cap tables, crowdfunding, and mental resilienceOllie's unexpected deep dive into Daoism and Tai Chi, and how it shaped his founder mindsetThis one's packed with honest reflections, tactical insights, and a rare look inside the real M&A journey from a founder who lived every second of it.If you're building with purpose, fundraising under pressure, or just trying to stay centered through it all, this one's for you.Connect with Ollie Walsh and Qenta:Ollie Walsh: LinkedInQenta: LinkedIn  |  Website⁠Leave a review and subscribe onApple PodcastsSpotifyMoneyNeverSleeps (website)Email us: info@norioventures.comConnect with Pete Townsend and MoneyNeverSleeps:Pete Townsend: X/Twitter  |  LinkedIn MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter  |  LinkedIn  |  Newsletter

Clarity isn't about having all the answers; it's about finally hearing the truth that's been waiting inside you.   What if the fog you keep running into isn't a barrier, but an invitation? In this episode, Nesha Pai sits down with Emily Paul, the founder of Aum Holistic Healing Arts, to talk about what it really means to come home to yourself. Through her work rooted in Daoism, alchemy, and intuitive guidance, Emily helps people reconnect with their purpose, not by chasing something outside themselves, but by learning to listen inward.   Nesha and Emily discuss how clarity often arrives quietly, after we've started shedding old stories and tuning into the parts of ourselves we've been taught to ignore. Emily shares how her approach, including the Nine Palaces of Daoist alchemy, offers a structure for understanding the different areas of life like health, wealth, creativity, wisdom, and how they can work together to bring us into alignment.   This episode reminds us that clarity grows when we pause long enough to ask better questions and stay open to what rises up.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Introduction 02:02 Why Clarity Matters 05:18 Navigating Inner Fog 10:32 The Challenge of Going Inward 13:31 Resistance as an Ally 14:37 Taoist Alchemy and the Nine Palaces 19:04 Returning to Your True Nature 23:04 Soul Purpose vs. Societal Norms 24:04 Intuition vs. Mental Noise 27:48 Clarity's Role in Leadership 30:36 Follow the Nudge Connect with Emily Paul: https://www.aumemily.com/nine-palaces-compass/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-paul-83712774/   Connect with Nesha:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neshapai/ Website: https://www.neshapai.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neshapai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neshapaicpa Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm  

What fills your cup—and what coats it in dust?In this free monthly episode of Living the Tao, Master Steenrod dives into two essential metaphors from Daoist thought: the vessel and the red dust. You'll hear how the "filled cup" reflects our capacity to give, learn, and grow—and why sometimes, we must empty ourselves before receiving anything new.But the episode doesn't stop there. As the walk continues, we step into the deeper terrain of the “red dust”—an ancient metaphor for the social forces that cling to us simply by existing in society. What is the social mind? Can we resist it? And what does true liberation mean in the modern age?Whether you're new to Daoism or walking the path already, this is a conversation about self-care, choice, and awakening in a world that doesn't stop trying to fill your cup for you.

Struggling with stress, chronic pain, or low energy? Sifu Boggie reveals how Tai Chi and Qigong can regulate your nervous system, ease discomfort, & enhance longevity with minimal effort. He'll break down the bioelectric principles behind these ancient practices, showing how breathwork, movement, & the Dao's wisdom create effortless resilience & balance. Whether you're looking to improve recovery, sharpen focus, or increase vitality, this episode delivers powerful insights into optimizing health with time-tested methods. Learn these & more on today's episode, ‘Ancient Arts for Longevity' Meet our guest Sifu Boggie (Paul Brighton) is a Daoist guide, mentor, & self-healing practitioner with 40+ years of experience in Daoism & Qigong. Trained by renowned masters, he specializes in Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Shun Dao philosophy, Reiki, Reflexology, TuiNa, Tit-Tar, Acupressure, & Daoist Shamanism His teachings blend Daoist wisdom with practical energy & bodywork techniques, guiding individuals to unlock their own healing potential. With a diverse background from law enforcement to baking, he brings humor, storytelling, & deep insight to help others find balance, transformation, & self-discovery Thank you to our partners Outliyr Biohacker's Peak Performance Shop: get exclusive discounts on cutting-edge health, wellness, & performance gear Ultimate Health Optimization Deals: a roundup article of all the best current deals on technology, supplements, systems and more Gain mental clarity, energy, motivation, and focus with the FREE Outliyr Nootropics Mini-Course The simple, guided, and actionable Outliyr Longevity Challenge helps you unlock your longevity potential, slow biological aging, and maximize your healthspan Key takeaways Qigong is like musical notes & Tai Chi is a composition of those notes, combining various Qigongs The symbol often called “yin yang” is actually named Tai Chi, representing the balance of yin (black) & yang (white) Taoism recognizes three minds in the body—one in the head, one in the heart & one in the gut Modern science supports brain-heart coherence, a key concept in Tai Chi & Qigong Star Wars & the concept of the Force are inspired by the Tao, with chi as the basis for "the Force" Qigong helps with conditions like IBS, fibromyalgia, diabetes & more Qigong applies in martial, medical & meditational contexts, showing its versatility Episode Highlights 9:49 Understanding Dao: Flow & Change 24:50 Health & Life Benefits of Tai Chi & Qigong 48:12 Practical Daoist Tips & Philosophies 1:01:41 How to Deal with Trauma Stored in Your Body Links Watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ppbBW36NTt0  Full episode show notes: mindbodypeak.com/203 Connect with Nick on social media Instagram Twitter YouTube LinkedIn Easy ways to support Subscribe Leave an Apple Podcast review Suggest a guest Do you have questions, thoughts, or feedback for us? Let me know in the show notes above and one of us will get back to you! Be an Outliyr, Nick

Nature holds the key to balance—when we align with it, vitality follows. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor sits down with Michelle Oravitz, founder of The Wholesome Lotus. Michelle began her career as an architect but found her true calling in alternative medicine after acupuncture transformed her health and well-being. Inspired by this personal shift, she pursued extensive training in Ayurvedic and Oriental Medicine, graduating as valedictorian. Now, she specializes in gynecological health and fertility, drawing from her own journey with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Michelle is the author of “The Way of Fertility” and the host of “The Wholesome Fertility Podcast”, where she shares expert insights and holistic fertility strategies. In today's Clinicians Series, we explore how Daoism and Chinese medicine influence Michelle's approach to healing. Our conversation delves into the art of listening to the body, the power of balance, and the integration of ancient wisdom for lasting wellness—with a special focus on reproductive health and personal empowerment.   For more information about Michelle Oravitz, please visit: https://www.michelleoravitz.com For more information about “The Way of Fertility: Awaken Your Reproductive Potential Through the Power of Ancient Wisdom” by Michelle Oravitz, please visit: https://www.michelleoravitz.com/thewayoffertility For more information about The Wholesome Lotus Fertility, please visit: https://www.michelleoravitz.com/thewayoffertility Get a Free Fertility eBook: My Top 10 Fertility Boosting Tips, please visit: https://www.michelleoravitz.com/mytop10fertilityboostingtips Connect with Michelle on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/thewholesomelotusfertility/ Connect on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/?ref=bookmarks Connect on X at: https://twitter.com/Wholesomelotus

What if healing didn't come from a pill, a diagnosis, or a doctor—but from your own breath, your mindset, and your movement? Join me for a truly inspiring conversation with Sifu Boggie, a master of the Daoist Arts with over 40 years of experience in Qigong and self-healing. From his unconventional journey as a bullied child to becoming a close protection officer, police community support officer, and skilled baker, Sifu Boggie shares how these diverse experiences shaped his unique approach to teaching and healing. His insights challenge conventional wisdom and offer a refreshingly playful perspective on self-healing.In this episode, you'll discover:✅ How simple breathing techniques and mindful movement can activate your body's natural healing abilities✅ The powerful connection between your thoughts, emotions and physical wellbeing through the lens of epigenetics✅ Practical tools to transform pain and tension into vitality and strength✅ Why age is never a barrier to healing, illustrated through inspiring student success storiesWhether you're a healthcare practitioner, someone on their own healing journey, or simply curious about Eastern wisdom meets Western science, this episode offers valuable insights into unlocking your innate healing potential. Tune in to learn how making small, mindful changes in your daily routine can lead to profound transformation.Join us for this enlightening conversation and discover how you can become your own best healer. The power to heal lies within - let's explore how to unlock it together.

In this episode, I sit down with James Rafael, a yoga teacher and movement expert with a fascinating story. We explore his journey from addiction to recovery and how yoga became a tool for healing and transformation. The conversation also delves into queer identity, the role of aesthetics in the yoga world, and the ongoing debate about depth versus surface appeal. Along the way, we challenge assumptions about what it means to be a teacher, a student, and a person navigating the modern wellness landscape. This is an honest and thought-provoking discussion for anyone interested in yoga, personal growth, or the deeper connections between movement and identity. Read more about James here: jamesrafael.com ------------------------------------------------------ James Rafael is a movement and meditation teacher who emphasises inclusivity, kindness, and freedom through discipline. His formal practice and teaching over the last two decades draws from diverse practices including yoga, somatics, mindfulness, Daoism, Buddhism and qigong. He is especially interested in practice as a way to navigate addiction, shame, and the queer experience.  ------------------------------------------------------ Check out our YouTube channel for more coaching tips and our Podcast channel for full episode videos Uplevel your coaching with a free copy of Mark's latest eBook, The Top 12 Embodiment Coaching Techniques  Join Mark for those juicy in-person workshops and events Fancy some free coaching demo sessions with Mark?  Connect with Mark Walsh on Instagram 

In this episode of The Cinedicate, host Armand and guest Hector from Reshoot delve into the enthralling world of the 2018 Chinese film "Shadow." They explore its intricate portrayal of chaos and order, woven through the philosophies of Taoism. Hector shares his personal connection to the film through his studies in Taoism, while marveling at the film's stunning cinematography and storytelling. They discuss the dynamic characters, the mesmerizing fight scenes, and the unexpected depth of this underrated gem. Tune in for a deep dive into a film that masterfully blends martial arts with a thought-provoking narrative, leaving you eager to explore more extraordinary cinema.What to expect from the episode:A deep dive into the themes and philosophies of the film "Shadow," with a focus on its portrayal of Taoism and the yin-yang dynamic.An exploration of the movie's captivating cinematography and unique storytelling, praised for its visual artistry and thematic depth.Reflections on the experience of watching "Shadow" as a foreign film and a discussion on its accessibility to different audiences.Episode Chapters:00:00 Introduction01:03 Nine Souls: Tao Punk Metroidvania05:58 Shadow: A Cinematic Masterpiece10:00 Daoism's Flow11:20 Kingdoms Clash Over Jing City15:39 Dueling Brothers Motif17:46 Impressive Low-Budget Cinematography21:42 Not Following the Dao26:07 Epic Fight Choreography Highlights33:23 Eastern Storytelling35:42 "Discussing Jet Li and 'Hero'"37:38 Cliffhanger: Bold or Cop Out?46:08 Anime's Growing Influence on Creatives48:11 Closing Thoughts55:02 Kung Fu Hustle and Outro----------Listen to Hector on his podcast, ReShoot: An Amateur's Guide to Gooder Film----------The Cinedicate on InstagramThe Cinedicate's Discord Community Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode features Russell Duvernoy, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy at King's University College at Western University in London, Ontario. We discuss Russell's engagement with process philosophies, environmental philosophy, contemporary Continental philosophy, and comparative philosophy (including classical Daoism, Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, and world Indigenous philosophies). We touch on topics like attention, affect, tensions between speculative and existential philosophies, and the idea of ecological conversion. Some of these topics are covered in his monograph, Affect and Attention after Deleuze and Whitehead: Ecological Attunement (Edinburgh University Press, 2020).

BONUS Episode 6 – The Call to Wu WeiWhy do some of us feel an unexplainable pull toward something deeper—toward the flow?In this bonus episode, we go beyond pop-philosophy and into the lived, raw terrain of Wu Wei, one of Daoism's most iconic yet misunderstood concepts. While modern culture likes to equate Wu Wei with “flow state,” the truth is far more layered. We peel back the linguistic drift, social media buzzwords, and surface-level interpretations to return to the source: the old-school Daoist practices rooted in physical discipline, internal alchemy, and spiritual transformation.Together, we ask:What is Wu Wei really, and how has its meaning changed?Can you train for Wu Wei—or must it arise naturally?Why do some people chase the Dao, while others walk away?How do questions themselves become the first steps on the path?Whether you've glimpsed the Dao before or are just starting your journey, this episode invites you to examine your motivations, recognize the illusions of control, and maybe—just maybe—begin the long walk toward true alignment.✨ “You don't get the magical flow without being highly accurate. And accuracy starts with asking real questions.” ✨Taoist resources: https://linktr.ee/taoismforthemodernworld

Jim talks with Mark Stahlman about Trump as an avatar of the current digital transformation. They discuss the GameB movement & complexity theory, predictions made to the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, security through development as alternative to war, the three spheres (East, West, Digital), China's approach to digital vs. the Western approach, Catholic social teaching principles, neo-feudalism vs. the scribal paradigm, Humanity 2.0, Aristotelian concepts of soul & hylomorphism, Cyber Sabbath practices, transitions between oral/scribal/digital paradigms, technological change as evolutionary pruning, Jonathan Rauch's Constitution of Knowledge, memory & imagination as key faculties, versions of the Enlightenment project, Daoism & Eastern philosophy, coherent pluralism, and much more. JRS EP 174 - Fred Beuttler and Mark Stahlman on Trivium University Center for the Study of Digital Life Exogenous (Mark's Substack) The Three-Body Problem, by Liu Cixin Analogia: The Emergence of Technology Beyond Programmable Control, by George Dyson JRS EP 287 - Jonathan Rauch on the Epistemic Crisis Science and Civilization in China, by Joe Needham Mark Stahlman is a biologist, computer architect and ex-Wall Street technology strategist. He is the President of the not-for-profit Center for the Study of Digital Life (CSDL, 501(c)3,  digitallife.center) and its educational project Trivium University (Triv U, trivium.university). He is also CEO of Exogenous, Inc. (EXO, exogenousinc.com), a strategic risk analysis group and on the editorial staff of its publication, the Three Spheres Newsletter (TSN). He studied for but did not complete advanced degrees in Theology (UofChicago) and Molecular Biology (UW-Mad). He has been widely interviewed and published, including teaching online courses (available on YouTube via 52 Living Ideas).

In this episode, Matt Prewitt sits down with Audrey Tang, Taiwan's Cyber Ambassador-at-large and 1st Digital Minister, as well as the star of the new short documentary Good Enough Ancestor. It is a fascinating conversation exploring the profound intersections of technology, spirituality, and democracy. Topics they cover include: Daoism and spiritual practice – and their favorite Leonard Cohen lyrics.“Laser blended vision” as a metaphor for democracy – integrating different perspectives into a coherent whole.“High-bandwidth, low-latency” democracy – allowing for real-time collaboration.January 6 vs. Taiwan's Sunflower Movement – contrasting two parliamentary occupations.Marshall McLuhan's “hot and cool media” – and what it means for how we should build and use AI.The role of education in democracy – and how spirituality's place in learning differs between the East and West.AI's moral tradition gap – why today's models lack cultural and ethical grounding.Trade, sovereignty, and democracy – how to balance open societies with national autonomy.RadicalxChange – how the movement is like “conservative anarchism” and Daoism in transcending left-right divides.Watch Good Enough Ancestor at combinationsmag.com/good-enough-ancestor.Bios:Audrey Tang, Taiwan's Cyber Ambassador-at-large and 1st Digital Minister (2016-2024), is celebrated for her pioneering efforts in digital freedom. Named one of TIME's “100 Most Influential People in AI” in 2023, Tang was instrumental in shaping Taiwan's internationally acclaimed COVID-19 response and in safeguarding the 2024 presidential and legislative elections from foreign cyber interference. Tang is now focused on broadening her vision of Plurality — technology for collaborative diversity — to inspire global audiences.As the first nonbinary cabinet member globally, Tang identifies as “post-gender” and is comfortable with any pronouns. She is a respected community leader and a founding contributor to g0v, an initiative promoting transparency by making information about Taiwan's economy, history, politics, and culture accessible.Tang has been key in developing participation platforms such as Join.gov.tw, leading to practical improvements like enhanced access to tax software and revised cancer treatment regulations. A “conservative anarchist,” Tang is dedicated to boosting digital competence and safeguarding information integrity online through collective intelligence.A child prodigy, Tang excelled in advanced mathematics by age six and computer programming by age eight. By 19, she had held significant positions in software companies and worked as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. Growing up in a large family following Christian and Taoist traditions, Tang embraced pluralism and the internet's potential to connect people based on shared interests rather than geography, fueling her drive for global impact.In Taiwan, Tang's generation has always intertwined politics with the internet, striving for a more transparent and inclusive society. Despite Taiwan's martial law history, Tang and her fellow civic technologists have achieved internationally acclaimed progress toward greater governmental transparency.During the 2014 Sunflower Movement, Tang played a crucial role in livestreaming protests against a trade agreement with Beijing, facilitating real-time communication that led to more peaceful negotiations and the movement's success.“Democracy can evolve.” Tang says. “We can create innovative policies by simply asking the people, ‘What should we do together?'”There is also promising news behind Tang's grand plan: more than half the world's population – over 4 billion people – are holding elections in 2024. That's over 70 countries.Says Tang, “I want to be a good enough ancestor for future generations.”Audrey's Social Links: ⿻ Audrey Tang 唐鳳 (@audreyt) / X⿻ Audrey Tang 唐鳳 (@audreyt.org) — Bluesky唐鳳Audrey Tang (@digitalminister.one) • Threads, Say morePlurality.net Matt Prewitt (he/him) is a lawyer, technologist, and writer. He is President of the RadicalxChange Foundation.Matt's Social Links:ᴍᴀᴛᴛ ᴘʀᴇᴡɪᴛᴛ (@m_t_prewitt) / XMatt's Writings Additional Credits:This episode was recorded, narrated, and edited by Matt Prewitt.Production support from Jack Henderson. Connect with RadicalxChange Foundation:RadicalxChange Website@RadxChange | TwitterRxC | YouTubeRxC | InstagramRxC | LinkedInJoin the conversation on Discord.Credits:Produced by G. Angela Corpus.Co-Produced, Edited, and Audio Engineered by Aaron Benavides.Executive Produced by G. Angela Corpus and Matt Prewitt.Intro/Outro music by MagnusMoone, “Wind in the Willows,” is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

This episode is a replay from The Existential Stoic library. Enjoy! Do you feel like you are constantly going against the grain? Does it feel like you're always trying to control everything? Do you get stressed, worried, or freaked out when things don't go as planned? In this episode, Danny and Randy discuss how to go with the flow. Subscribe to ESP's YouTube Channel! Thanks for listening!  Do you have a question you want answered in a future episode? If so, send your question to: existentialstoic@protonmail.com  Danny, Randy, and their good friend, Russell, created a new podcast, CodeNoobs, for anyone interested in tech and learning how to code. Listen to CodeNoobs now online, CodeNoobs-podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

 https://www.iservalan.com https://www.taletellerclub.comChapter 2: Classical Antiquity – Pleasure, Power, and Myth(Greece, Rome, India, China, Japan)Erotic Art in the Classical World: Sensuality, Divinity, and the Human FormThe civilizations of Greece and Rome profoundly shaped Western attitudes toward eroticism, beauty, and the human body. Meanwhile, in Asia, India, China, and Japan developed their own rich traditions of erotic art, where sexuality was intertwined with spirituality, aesthetics, and philosophy. Across these cultures, erotic imagery was not just about desire—it was deeply connected to mythology, religious devotion, and social identity.The Greek Celebration of the Nude and the DivineAncient Greek art (c. 800–146 BCE) is renowned for its idealized representations of the human form, including sensual and erotic depictions. Unlike later Western traditions, which often moralized sexuality, the Greeks saw eroticism as an essential aspect of life, closely tied to their gods, heroes, and social structures.The Male Nude and Homoeroticism in Greek ArtGreek sculptures and vase paintings frequently depicted the nude male body as a symbol of beauty, strength, and divine perfection. The kouroi (statues of young men) and later the works of sculptors like Phidias, Polykleitos, and Praxiteles showcased a balance of realism and idealism.Homoeroticism played a significant role in Greek culture, particularly in the institution of pederasty, where older men (erastai) mentored and formed relationships with younger men (eromenoi). While controversial today, these relationships were embedded in Greek education, social bonding, and military camaraderie. Erotic vase paintings and sculptures, such as those on the Warren Cup, openly depicted same-sex relationships without stigma.Aphrodite and the Feminine EroticThe goddess Aphrodite, associated with love and beauty, was a central figure in Greek erotic art. The first known fully nude female sculpture, Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles (c. 360 BCE), marked a shift in the portrayal of female sensuality. While earlier depictions of women were clothed, this work introduced the eroticized nude female body as an artistic norm in Western art.Rome: Eroticism, Excess, and Moral ContradictionsThe Romans inherited much from Greek artistic traditions but added their own flair for luxury, satire, and explicit eroticism. Roman erotic art ranged from refined frescoes in wealthy villas to bawdy graffiti in brothels, revealing a culture that embraced sexuality in both elite and everyday contexts.Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Window into Roman EroticismThe eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE preserved vast amounts of erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum, offering an unparalleled glimpse into Roman attitudes toward sexuality. Frescoes from the Villa of the Mysteries and Lupanar (brothel) depict explicit scenes, suggesting that sexuality was not hidden but woven into public and private life.One of the most famous artifacts, the Priapus fresco, shows the god Priapus weighing his exaggerated phallus against a bag of money—a humorous but symbolic image of fertility and prosperity. Romans often associated large phallic imagery with protection, luck, and virility.Satire and Social Commentary in Roman EroticaWhile erotic art was common, Rome also saw moral pushback against sexual excess. Writers like Ovid (Metamorphoses, Ars Amatoria) celebrated love and seduction, while others, like Juvenal, satirized the decadence of Roman society. The Augustan moral reforms (1st century BCE) attempted to impose sexual restraint, yet erotic art continued to flourish, reflecting the contradictions within Roman attitudes toward pleasure.Erotic Art in Ancient India: The Sacred and the SensualEroticism in ancient India was deeply entwined with spirituality, particularly through Hinduism and Tantra. Unlike in the West, where sexuality was often seen in opposition to religious purity, Indian art frequently depicted sensuality as an extension of divine energy.Temple Eroticism: Khajuraho and KonarkThe Khajuraho temple complex (c. 950–1050 CE) and the Konark Sun Temple (c. 13th century CE) feature intricate sculptures of deities, lovers, and erotic acts. These reliefs, far from being mere decoration, reflect the Hindu belief that sexual union mirrors cosmic unity and divine creation.The Kama Sutra and Indian Erotic TextsAttributed to Vātsyāyana, the Kama Sutra (3rd century CE) is one of the most famous texts on love and eroticism. Contrary to its popular perception as a sex manual, it is a sophisticated treatise on pleasure, relationships, and aesthetics. Accompanying illustrations in later manuscripts helped visualize its teachings, making it one of the most influential works of erotic literature.Erotic Art in Ancient China: Daoism and Sensual BalanceIn China, erotic art was shaped by Confucian ideals, Daoist philosophy, and later Buddhist influences. While Confucianism promoted restraint, Daoism embraced sexuality as a path to harmony and longevity.Daoist Sexual Arts and Painted ScrollsDaoist texts, such as the "Art of the Bedchamber", describe sexual practices believed to extend life and health. Erotic scroll paintings from the Tang (618–907 CE) and Song (960–1279 CE) dynasties often depicted intimate scenes with poetic inscriptions, emphasizing sensuality rather than crude explicitness.Later, during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties, erotic books known as "spring pictures" (春宫图) became popular among the elite, blending humor, philosophy, and eroticism.Japan's Shunga: The Floating World of SensualityJapanese erotic art, or Shunga (春画), flourished during the Edo period (1603–1868). These woodblock prints, created by masters such as Hokusai and Utamaro, depicted erotic encounters with both aesthetic refinement and explicit detail. Unlike in the West, where erotic art often faced suppression, Shunga was widely enjoyed across social classes.Shunga as Art, Satire, and InstructionShunga prints were not just pornographic; they served multiple purposes, including sexual education, humor, and even political satire. Some depicted fantastical elements, such as Hokusai's famous "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife", blending eroticism with mythology.Conclusion: Classical Eroticism as a Reflection of CultureThe erotic art of classical antiquity reveals a diversity of attitudes toward sexuality:Idealized beauty and divine connection – Greek and Roman art celebrated the nude as an emblem of perfection.Religious and cosmic symbolism – Hindu and Daoist traditions saw sexuality as a path to spiritual enlightenment.Humor and satire – Roman and Japanese art often infused eroticism with wit and social commentary.While some traditions embraced erotic art as sacred, others saw it as a source of indulgence or controversy. The tension between openness and censorship would continue to shape erotic art in the centuries to come.The Warren Cup (1st century CE, Roman) A silver drinking cup featuring detailed homoerotic scenes, the Warren Cup provides insight into Roman attitudes toward male-male relationships. Hidden for centuries, it is now a key artifact in LGBTQ+ art history.Khajuraho Temple Reliefs (10th–11th century CE, India)These intricate sculptures depict a range of erotic acts, reinforcing the Hindu belief in sexuality as a divine force. Unlike Western art, which often separated the sacred from the sensual, Khajuraho integrates both seamlessly.The Frescoes of the Villa of the Mysteries (1st Century BCE, Pompeii, Roman Empire)The Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii contains one of the most famous and enigmatic fresco cycles from ancient Rome. While not explicitly erotic, many scholars believe the images depict a Dionysian initiation ritual, potentially related to sacred sexuality and mystery cults. The frescoes feature semi-nude figures, suggestive interactions, and themes of divine ecstasy, linking sexuality to spiritual transformation. This example highlights how Romans often blended eroticism with religious and ritualistic themes rather than treating it as purely physical pleasure.Shunga by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806, Edo Period, Japan)Kitagawa Utamaro, one of the most celebrated ukiyo-e artists, created numerous Shunga (春画, "spring pictures"), which depicted intimate encounters with exquisite detail and elegance. His prints, such as Poem of the Pillow, emphasized the sensuality of touch, fabric, and movement, offering a refined and almost poetic take on erotic imagery. His work also often featured women's pleasure and agency, making it a significant contribution to the study of feminine desire in erotic art.#stencilart #originalart #investment art #blinkfrictionart #blinkfrictionfashion #reclaimart #reclaimfashion

Enjoy this gentle and meaningful conversation with Marie Bowser, a Licensed Acupuncturist, Feng Shui practitioner, and expert in working with the five elements. We discuss living in attunement with the seasons for finding your way of ease through more rest with fewer plans for a more discerning 2025.Marie encountered Chinese Medicine through her health journey dealing with corporate stress, burnout, and hormone imbalance. The relief she experienced fueled a vision for helping others and a complete career change. Her studies and continuing education eventually brought her deeper into the spiritual aspects of the five elements—qigong, Daoism, the I Ching, Nine Star Ki astrology, and Feng Shui—all of which she uses to help her patients and community develop and sustain self-compassion and empowerment and the unwavering ability to move lingering stagnation through their bodies, spirits, and lives. Connect with Marie Bowser: https://thewayofease.comVisit our websitewww.luxuriesforyoursoul.comInstagramwww.instagram.com/alexiskletjianwww.instagram.com/luxuriesforyoursoulFacebookwww.facebook.com/luxuriesforyoursoul

In this episode of "Joseph Jaffy Is Not Famous," Joseph is joined by Jack Meyers, author of "The Dao of Leadership," to explore the future of leadership, creativity, and media in the age of AI. They dive into the collapse of legacy media and discuss why traditional corporate models are struggling to survive in a rapidly evolving world. Jack shares five core principles of effective leadership inspired by ancient Daoism: harmony, balance, flexibility, stability, and integrity. These principles offer guidance on thriving in an era where machine intelligence is advancing faster than ever before. They emphasize the importance of creativity, human connection, and adaptability in modern leadership. Joseph and Jack also discuss how leaders can embrace innovation without rigidly holding onto outdated business models. They share actionable strategies for building resilient companies, fostering creativity, and preparing the next generation of leaders to excel in a world dominated by AI. If you're looking to understand how to lead effectively through change and disruption, this conversation is packed with valuable insights. Learn how to balance technology and human creativity to build a future-proof business. __________________________________________________________________________ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Jack Meyers 2:05 Exploring Leadership in the AI Era 6:30 The Fall of Legacy Media 9:15 How Technology is Shaping Trust 13:00 The Five Core Leadership Principles 19:40 The Role of Creativity in Business 24:10 The Danger of Holding Onto the Past 29:00 Building Portals, Not Bridges 35:20 Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders 42:15 How Leaders Can Adapt to AI 51:05 Balancing Technology and Human Connection 57:30 Thoughts on Leadership and Media #Leadership #AI #mediarevolution Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I'm joined by Scott Dedels, founder of Block Rewards and author of the Dao of Bitcoin, for a conversation that will challenge the way you think about money, time, and energy. ––– Offers & Discounts ––– Get up to $100 in Bitcoin on River at river.com/Matrix Theya is the world's simplest Bitcoin self-custody solution. Download Theya Now at theya.us/cedric The best Team Bitcoin merch is at HodlersOfficial.com. Use the code Matrix for a discount on your order. Become a sponsor of the show: https://thebitcoinmatrix.com/sponsors/ ––– Get To Know Today's Guest––– Follow  on X: https://x.com/LanternBitcoin Buy The Dao of Bitcoin: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXPJ28GV Scott's company: https://blockrewards.ca ––– Socials ––– Check out our new website at https://TheBitcoinMatrix.Com Follow Cedric Youngelman on X: https://x.com/cedyoungelman Follow The Bitcoin Matrix Podcast on X: https://x.com/_bitcoinmatrix ––– Chapters ––– 00:00 - Intro 01:15 – The Inspiration Behind The Dao of Bitcoin 04:15 – Understanding Daoism 06:17 – The Creature: What Is It and What Does It Represent? 12:57 – Paradoxical Unity & Duality 16:19 – The Meaning of Wu Wei: 20:35 – Non-Intervention: The Art of Letting Things Flow 25:15 – Bitcoin as a Force of Nature 31:36 – Embracing Impermanence 33:10 – Bitcoin, Time, and Energy 48:30 – Bitcoin's Gravity 56:28 – Humility & Compassion: What Bitcoin and Dao Teach Us 1:04:00 – Reversionism 1:14:30 – Oneness & Harmony: The Ultimate Lesson of the Da 1:17:17 – Returning to the Source 1:21:37 – Scott's Bitcoin Rabbit Hole Journey 1:24:19 – How Daoism Transformed Scott's Perspective 1:28:20 – Final Reflections: Bringing It All TogetherI want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for tuning in, supporting the show, and contributing. Thank you for listening!

Send us a textWhat if we could harness the wisdom of nature to transform our lives? Join us as we explore this intriguing question with our esteemed guest, Dr. Paul Wang, whose expertise in Chinese medicine and Daoism guides us through the profound themes of grief, gratitude, and self-care. Reflecting on the recent natural disasters in Los Angeles, we delve into the crucial importance of aligning with nature and fostering a sense of collective well-being. Discover the tools of pausing, noticing, and community as we navigate the challenges of rebuilding and reimagining our connection with the environment.As we venture into the intriguing realm of cosmic and personal cycles, prepare to be captivated by the solar polar flip and its potential effects on our natural world. This cosmic event sets the stage for a broader conversation on life's small signals—those subtle cues that can have a significant impact if left unaddressed. With the help of the Gratitude Blooming Card deck, we reflect on the importance of friendship as a source of resilience and balance, drawing parallels to our personal experiences of feeling overwhelmed and the necessity of self-care to prevent burnout.We then transition into a vibrant exploration of friendship as an ecosystem, reflecting on the diversity of human experiences and the interconnectedness of our relationships. The colorful nasturtium flowers serve as a metaphor for the beauty and complexity of our communities, while ancient symbols like the Rod of Asclepius remind us of the healing power of companionship. As we embrace the sweetness and bitterness of life, we invite you to tune into your own seeds of intention, nurturing them as we all prepare for the growth and transformation that lies ahead. If you'd like to practice seasonal living with us to navigate change and challenge with more wholeness, sign up for our new online Change Well Series launching Feb 23 to Mar 16, 2025.  Together, we will embark on a special journey to prepare for the spring cycle through physical, mental, emotional and spiritual alchemy.  REGISTER HERE:https://www.gratitudeblooming.com/changewell-------Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Your purchase helps us sustain this podcast, or you can also sponsor us here. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!

Czym jest Qi Gong? Jaki ma związek z długowiecznością? W czasach stale rosnącej presji coraz częściej zadajemy sobie pytania o jakość naszego życia. Jak to, w jaki sposób żyjemy, przekłada się na długowieczność? Jak długowieczność w ogóle rozumieć? Odcinek nagrany jest w języku angielskim. Na YouTubie dostępny jest videocast z napisami.(ENG)What is Qi Gong? What does it have to do with longevity? In times of constantly increasing pressure, we increasingly ask ourselves questions about the quality of our lives. How does it translate into longevity? How to understand longevity at all? And what does the complete system of Qi Gong have to do with it? Qi Gong builds the foundations for all kinds of work with the body and internal energy. It covers all aspects of a person's life from physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Qi Gong is a very complex system. Its history dates back thousands of years, and its teachings have been passed down to students through many generations of masters. Qi Gong builds the foundation for any kind of bodywork, work with energies and martial arts. It embraces all levels of human life and of the body (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual).Ron Timm. Born in Germany in 1970, he is the principal teacher and founder of Path of Dao, a school promoting Daoist practices such as Qi Gong, Taijiquan, Bagua and the practice of silence. He has been developing his skills for over 30 years. Since 1999, he has studied with Master Peng Wu Chi in Taiwan, and since 2007 he has been a student of Bruce Frantzis, specializing in Water Path Qi Gong. In 2015, he founded Path of Dao to inspire harmonious living through Daoist practices. His approach combines physical, mental, and spiritual development, helping students at various stages of development, introducing them to the principles of Daoism in a practical and understandable way.(PL)Qi Gong buduje podstawy do wszelkiego rodzaju pracy z ciałem i wewnętrzną energią. Obejmuje wszystkie aspekty życia człowieka, od fizycznego po emocjonalny, mentalny i duchowy. Qi Gong to złożony system, jego historia sięga tysięcy lat, a jego nauki były przekazywane uczniom od wielu pokoleń mistrzów.Ron Timm – urodzony w Niemczech w 1970 roku, jest głównym nauczycielem i założycielem Path of Dao, szkoły promującej daoistyczne praktyki takie jak: Qi Gong, Taijiquan, Bagua i praktyka wyciszenia. Od ponad 30 lat rozwija swoje umiejętności. Od 1999 roku uczył się u mistrza Peng Wu Chi na Tajwanie, a od 2007 roku jest uczniem Bruce'a Frantzisa, specjalizując się w Qi Gongu ścieżki wody. W 2015 roku założył Path of Dao, by inspirować do harmonijnego życia przez daoistyczne praktyki. Jego podejście łączy rozwój fizyczny, umysłowy i duchowy, pomagając uczniom na różnych etapach rozwoju, wprowadzając ich w zasady daoizmu w sposób praktyczny i zrozumiały.Podcastu „Osobiste rozmowy holistyczne” możesz posłuchać na platformach Spotify, Apple Podcasts oraz YouTube.

Aaron French—psychic medium, Akashic reader, and spiritual practitioner with over 30 years of experience, shares his journey of spiritual awakening and how he found alignment with his true path.We talk about his spiritual awakening in 2019, what led up to it—including personal struggles and loss—and how surrendering to the process helped him connect with spirit in a whole new way. Aaron also explains non-duality, the role of suffering in spiritual growth, and what it means to live in alignment with our true selves.We also discuss:How relationships can trigger personal awakeningThe shift in global consciousness and why alignment is more important than everThe meaning of non-duality and its connection to Taoist (Daoist) philosophyThe power of surrender and taking responsibility for our own livesWhy integrating our shadow selves is key to spiritual growthWhere to find Aaron:Website: Natural Heart AlchemyInstagram: @naturalheartalchemySend us a textSUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr0p1zDPaPLmnmI3AIWhDFQFOLLOW US: TikTok - @shiftingdimensions444 Instagram - @shiftingdimensions_podDISCLAIMER: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the guest's own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of Shifting Dimensions. The material and information presented here is for general information and entertainment purposes only.

fWotD Episode 2829: Metaphysics Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Saturday, 1 February 2025 is Metaphysics.Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of human understanding. Some philosophers, including Aristotle, designate metaphysics as first philosophy to suggest that it is more fundamental than other forms of philosophical inquiry.Metaphysics encompasses a wide range of general and abstract topics. It investigates the nature of existence, the features all entities have in common, and their division into categories of being. An influential division is between particulars and universals. Particulars are individual unique entities, like a specific apple. Universals are general features that different particulars have in common, like the color red. Modal metaphysics examines what it means for something to be possible or necessary. Metaphysicians also explore the concepts of space, time, and change, and their connection to causality and the laws of nature. Other topics include how mind and matter are related, whether everything in the world is predetermined, and whether there is free will.Metaphysicians use various methods to conduct their inquiry. Traditionally, they rely on rational intuitions and abstract reasoning but have recently included empirical approaches associated with scientific theories. Due to the abstract nature of its topic, metaphysics has received criticisms questioning the reliability of its methods and the meaningfulness of its theories. Metaphysics is relevant to many fields of inquiry that often implicitly rely on metaphysical concepts and assumptions.The roots of metaphysics lie in antiquity with speculations about the nature and origin of the universe, like those found in the Upanishads in ancient India, Daoism in ancient China, and pre-Socratic philosophy in ancient Greece. During the subsequent medieval period in the West, discussions about the nature of universals were influenced by the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. The modern period saw the emergence of various comprehensive systems of metaphysics, many of which embraced idealism. In the 20th century, traditional metaphysics in general and idealism in particular faced various criticisms, which prompted new approaches to metaphysical inquiry.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:00 UTC on Saturday, 1 February 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Metaphysics on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ayanda.

American-born Jake Pinnick has great passion for Wudang martial arts and the wisdom of Daoism. He has also been exploring the art of traditional Chinese flute called dongxiao, among other instruments, as a means of self-cultivation.

A Major thank you to Brendan for sponsoring todays stream. In this stream I discuss the philosophy and teachings of Confucianism and discuss it from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Make sure to check it out and let me know what you think. God bless Donochat Me: https://dono.chat/dono/dph Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH8JwgaHCkhdfERVkGbLl2g/join If you would like to support my work please become a website member! There are 3 different types of memberships to choose from! https://davidpatrickharry.com/register/ Support COTEL with Crypto! Bitcoin: 3QNWpM2qLGfaZ2nUXNDRnwV21UUiaBKVsy Ethereum: 0x0b87E0494117C0adbC45F9F2c099489079d6F7Da Litecoin: MKATh5kwTdiZnPE5Ehr88Yg4KW99Zf7k8d If you enjoy this production, feel compelled, or appreciate my other videos, please support me through my website memberships (www.davidpatrickharry.com) or donate directly by PayPal or crypto! Any contribution would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Logos Subscription Membership: http://davidpatrickharry.com/register/ Venmo: @cotel - https://account.venmo.com/u/cotel PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/eternallogos Donations: http://www.davidpatrickharry.com/donate/ PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/eternallogos Website: http://www.davidpatrickharry.com Rokfin: https://rokfin.com/dpharry Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/COTEL Odysee: https://odysee.com/@ChurchoftheEterna... GAB: https://gab.com/dpharry Telegram: https://t.me/eternallogos Minds: https://www.minds.com/Dpharry Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/W10R... DLive: https://dlive.tv/The_Eternal_Logos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dpharry/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_dpharry

On today’s episode, Daniele is sharing his views on Daoism, enlightenment, and radical kindness that bring greater understanding. Listen in as Daniele and I explore what happens when we romanticize the concept of religion and philosophy, how Daoism teaches you to get back up, and how creating his own understanding of actions and philosophy led to less anxiety and greater peace. Daniele Bolelli is a writer, martial artist, and university professor. He was born in Italy and currently lives in Los Angeles. His first solo book, "La Tenera Arte del Guerriero," was published when Bolelli was 22 years old. This work, which is a philosophical exploration of martial arts, went on to become a cult classic in Italy even outside the confines of martial arts circles. His second book entitled "iGod: Istruzioni per l’Uso di una Religione Fai da Te" was published in Italy in 2011. This wild ride through comparative religion will be released in the United States in early 2013. Bolelli’s third book, "50 Things You’re Not Supposed To Know: Religion," was published in the United States in December 2011. Some of the most influential thinkers to have affected his world view include Tom Robbins, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ikkyu Sojun, Thomas Paine, Henry David Thoreau, Lao Tzu, and Heraclitus. After graduating from UCLA with a B.A. in Anthropology, and earning graduate degrees at UCLA (in American Indian Studies) and CSULB (History), Bolelli began teaching at several colleges in Southern California. Bolelli was featured in "I Am Bruce Lee" which broke Spike TV’s rating record for documentaries. He has appeared as a guest on popular podcasts such as Duncan Trussell’s, Adam Carolla’s, and Joe Rogan’s. You can learn more about Daniele at http://www.danielebolelli.com/ Learn more about the gift of Adversity and my mission to help my fellow humans create a better world by heading to www.marcusaureliusanderson.com. There you can take action by joining my ANV inner circle to get exclusive content and information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Powerleegirls Hosts Miko Lee and Jalena Keane-Lee host and Ayame Keane-Lee edits a chat about leadership, growth and change during a time of crisis. Listen to Jalena speak with Meng Hua from Tiger Eye Astrology about her path from palm reading to artistry to bazi. Then hear Miko speak with Zen Master Norma Wong  about her new book When No Thing Works. More information about our guests: Meng Hua's Tiger Eye Astrology  Zen Master Norma Wong her new book When No Thing Works Guide to how to hold space about the book   Pathways To Humanity Show Transcript Opening: [00:00:00] Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the Apex Express.   Ayame Keane-Lee: [00:00:29] Tonight on APEX Express: the PowerLeeGirls mother-daughters team. I'm the editor of tonight's show Ayame Keane-Lee joined by our hosts Jalena Keane-Lee and Miko Lee. Tune in as they interview our guests about Pathways – internal and external journeys we take to connect to humanity. First my sister Jalena speaks with Meng Yu about her journey as a full time artist and practitioner of the mantic arts. Then Mama Miko speaks with Norma Wong, the abbot of Anko-in about her latest book When No Thing Works. So listen in to APEX Express. First up is Jalena's interview with Meng Yu.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:01:08] Hello, everyone. I am here with Meng Yu, who is a Chinese astrologer from Tiger Eye Astrology. And today we're talking all about astrology and learning from the stars and other elements to help guide our life path and our decisions and choices. Thanks so much for being here, Meng.    Meng Yu: [00:01:27] Thanks so much for having me, Jalena. It's a pleasure to have this conversation with you.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:01:33] It truly is. and so I'm curious if you could just start us off talking a little bit, you know, about your practice and how you came to the work that you're doing today.    Meng Yu: [00:01:42] I have been a practitioner of the mantic arts for, over a decade and the mantic arts, include astrology, but also divination. So as part of my practice, I also do I Ching or Yijing divination. and it's a kind of circuitous way of how I ended up on this path. I'm also a, a full time artist. and you know, that's kind of how I make my bread and butter. And it's also. In a way, how I approach, Chinese astrology and divination as well, I guess to backtrack a little bit, I always like to start by honoring my teachers and their lineages. So, primarily my teacher has been Master Zongxian Wu, who is my Bazi teacher and also is the lineage holder of, four traditional schools of internal arts. and then I also have a host of daoist teachers who are also artists. their own right, visual artists, martial artists, writers who live in and embody the Dao. these include Lindsey Wei, Dengming Dao, uh, Tamara Jha, Lily Kai. And so, I also want to shout out to my group. Late sixth great aunt as well. My Leo Gupo, who when I was eight years old, she gave me my first introduction to the art of divination through. palm reading. so she actually taught me, sort of an Eastern style of palm reading at a young age. But growing up, other than that, I, was not influenced by, this, form of, wisdom traditions from my heritage. My parents are, both Chinese and they are both, of the cultural revolution generation, which was a mass genocide that occurred in China, right as they were coming of age. So they're very, survival oriented, practical people, you know, from Just historically in China, from the fall of the Qing dynasty to the rise of communism, much of the mantic arts traditions, were basically lost in the cultural landscape. So, how I came to this work, was not really so much through my upbringing as, The search for, I guess, healing in my own life experiences and coming to, sort of critical junctures, and crisis, personal crises in my life where I really sought, alternative, dimensions and ways of, reconnecting to my My purpose and just healing in my life. So I, over a decade ago found myself, in the jungles of Peru, having very close, connections to a shamanistic tradition involving plant medicine, which opened me up to really asking, you know, what are the shamanic and animistic roots. of the wisdom traditions from my own heritage. And this brought me to working with the Yijing, as well as Chinese astrology. So that's, that's kind of a mouthful. It's a bit of a long and complicated story, but that's, that's sort of the bullet notes version.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:05:18] Thank you so much for sharing that. It's perfect because my next question was going to be about, you know, your lineage of healers that you studied under, but I feel like you covered that already really well. So I'm curious, you know, you talked about Bazi and Yijing, could you kind of give us a little bit of a breakdown of these like different modalities and how you use them?    Meng Yu: [00:05:35] Sure, absolutely. so, In the readings that I do for folks, the most popular readings are actually a combination of Yijing divination and Bazi astrology. So to give a little context for both, the Yijing Translates as the book of change or the book of changes it, although it has roots and what we would call, currently ancient Siberia, ancient China, it actually dates back to Neolithic times. Really before, the formation of these nation states. So it's some of our early human ancestors. It's their recorded search for wisdom through the observation of cycles and patterns in nature over thousands of years. as the book of change, as the study of change, it's the oldest compounded record of, the study of time itself. and the Bazi astrology is a modality of Chinese astrology that really came into prominence during the Han Dynasty. the turn of the century, the common era, and, it translates as eight characters. So ba meaning eight and zi meaning character. So there is a element in animal for not only your year of birth, which is what? Folks are mostly familiar with, but also the month, day, and hour. So these are called four pillars. So sometimes the system is called the four pillars of destiny. And we get a look at, these characters that make up one's nature. And the way that I So when I see the two modalities working together, I often give people the metaphor of, you know, say you're in, the ocean of your life and you're driving a boat or a ship. The Yijing is like a weather report. The Yijing gives us an idea of the changes that we are currently in. So are we headed in a storm? is it clear blue skies ahead? What are the conditions of the wind and the waves? And the bazi chart looks at the kind of ship that you are driving. So it could be, you know, a submarine. It could be a sailboat. It could be an ocean tanker. And they all have different conditions. strengths and gifts and flavors of power, as well as certain kinds of limitations and vulnerabilities. And so the bazi chart really looks at these qualities of our nature and encourages us to embrace who we actually are so that we can learn to drive our ship better.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:08:47] Thank you so much for that breakdown and description, and in addition to offering readings, of which I loved, I absolutely loved getting a reading with you, and it was so informative and inspirational, but in addition to these readings and offerings that you have for other people, I'm curious how you use these modalities in your own life, whether it's with your art practice, or just with life choices and changes how do you, use these ways of knowing for yourself?   Meng Yu: [00:09:12] It's very important for me as an astrologer and as a daoist to, to align my life according to the times, these modalities, both the Yijing and Chinese astrology. What they point to at the foundation of their wisdom is the question of what time is it, right? This is where the roots of the tradition come from. It's from telling time, and through understanding time and studying time, we're able to divine When is a good time? what is the right time? And knowing that gives our lives profound meaning and context. so, on the more kind of mundane level, it's adjusting my calendar to observe time with this additional context of living with the seasons. there's actually 24 different seasons, according to the qi nodes of The Chinese lunar and solar calendar. There's also the lunar cycles as well. And these are not simple, mathematical markings. They have, very deep meanings behind them that help us align with the qi quality of the moment. So they give our lives meaning by showing us, is this a time to sow seeds, to be inspired and enlivened like springtime? is it a time of Growing potential, or are we entering a time where we need to, not be accumulating, in terms of harvest, but actually be engaged in shedding, by observing the patterns and cycles of nature, And following the nature of the forces that we find ourselves in, we can align ourselves to live in harmony, and to be in, better alignment with the dao. So that's one way that I see the Chinese calendar providing context for my life. The wisdom of the Yijing has been such a profound. Collaborator in my life. not only in studying and attempting to apply its wisdom, but also has been an incredible creative collaborator for me as an artist. So, one of my favorite things to do is to divine with the Yijing to help make creative choices in my work, and to really treat the Oracle as a collaborator. So I really enjoyed using it in this creative way and as a practice for listening and channeling, which I think is useful for any artist to engage in a meditative practice where, it's not a sense of creativity coming necessarily from you, but actually through you. and that's something that the Yijing through working with it for so many years has really taught me to embody.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:12:19] I love that so much. have you noticed any changes in your life, your energy levels, or your art practice since kind of aligning your life with these forces?    Meng Yu: [00:12:30] Yeah, you know, I would love to say, Oh, everything's just gotten better and better. Now I just live like the perfect artist life. It's that would, that's really not, nothing could be really further from the truth because I think it's really about being in the school of life. You know that this is a form of education and it's a continual form of practice, and, as I've been engaged in it, in over 10 years, every year, the lessons have, there's been more layers of depth and challenge, which I think is, , Something that unfolds sort of dependent on what you're you're ready for. There is a hexagram in the Yijing that Shows you that you are undergoing a massive transition where you're carrying the burden of a really heavy weight . And one of the things you're encouraged to see is to reflect on how, what you are experiencing now is something that would have completely overwhelmed you a year ago or a cycle ago. We are given tasks. And, asked to carry burdens, given what we are ready for. And so, although I would like to say, Oh, it's made my life so easy. I know what to do all the time now. That's not the narrative at all. I feel like there's a kind of profound, I guess maybe meditative experience where I have a little bit more distance now from things affecting me, in an immediate personal way because now I can, refer to. This collaborator, this friend, for advice or allowing me to see where I am in a cycle to reflect what I have exited from, hopefully to be prescient of what's to come, to identify familiar themes and to see, that I'm continuously revolving around, a spiral where Certain points come back that feel very familiar, but it's a couple rungs, deeper, where it's not like just a circle of things repeating, but it's a spiral where there's new layers of depth that, follow familiar themes, if that makes sense.   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:15:06] Yeah, that does. and I know you've talked about, too, how it's like a method for communicating with your ancestors and kind of having An additional channel of communication. So I'm just curious about, yeah, that kind of practice of communication and bringing that forward in your work and how that experience has been for you.   Meng Yu: [00:15:28] Yeah. the piece about ancestors is really an interesting one, because I think what the gift of Chinese astrology to me is that it puts The self within a kind of different context where we're encouraged to see ourselves, not as some, definable thing that has innate qualities, but through Chinese astrology, where we see the elements, the animals, the the stars that indicate ancestral influences, the, unfinished business, the karma, the fate of our ancestors that have been given to us. We're encouraged to see the self as just a live kind of wiggly end of 10, 000 dead people. You know, that what makes us who we are is an enormous inheritance. And what we are here to play out in our lives is this dance between fate and freedom. It doesn't mean that we don't have access to creativity in our lives, but that freedom is inherently, explored and discovered through playing with the limitations of our fate. So for instance, in our natal charts, You can see certain hauntings or ghost energies, inherited from ancestors. So for instance, in my personal chart, I have an inheritance called hidden moaning, which shows an ancestor that has not completed grieving and grief work in their lifetime. And so it kind of. imbues my life with unexplainable bouts of sadness. sometimes this can result in, depression, grieving, this like, wailing grief and knowing this in my chart, I'm able to see that kind of sadness is not something that is just mine, meaning, you know, growing up, the question would be like, Oh, why me, or what am I doing wrong? Why do I feel like this? What's wrong with me? When we look at our lives through the context of ancestors, it becomes a lot more relational, meaning your grief, these burdens are not simply yours. They're a call for communication with your lineage and opening up that pathway, that communication itself is how we resolve the fate of our ancestors. by Listening by asking, what is it that they want, our lives are not just lived for us, but our lives are a way for our ancestors to resolve unfinished chi, that they were not able to complete in their lifetimes. So, you know, when I feel these bouts of sadness, I know that it's time for me to open up these channels, that I can sit in meditation, that I can, engage in my creative practice as a way to channel and speak to my ancestors and ask them what it is that they would like to come forth. What messages they have? That they need to share and speak.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:19:11] Wow, you just dropped so many gems and I was like taking notes. I really like that idea of, you know, this dance between fate and freedom and living out our ancestors kind of unfinished business and promises and hopes. And I'm curious also how this practice has impacted or potentially deepened your own understanding of your culture and your relationship to being Chinese or Chinese American or however you identify.   Meng Yu: [00:19:40] Yeah, it's really provided. I feel extremely honored and, you know that I've been able to work with so many amazing teachers and adepts and have been trusted to practice as well as teach these modalities. it has brought me really close to my ancestors in a very intimate way, you know, like I just talked about with hidden moaning, as well as giving me such an appreciation for the wisdom traditions of my heritage. and this really dates back really beyond, again, our understanding of the nation states of, you know, what it means to be Chinese, it actually gives me a lot of respect for what our ancient human ancestors have left behind for us, their legacy, you know, because the roots of this tradition Like I mentioned, it actually goes back 50, 70, 000 years ago to the retreat of the last ice age. And so we're really talking about nomadic hunter gatherers and their survival, how they observed nature, terrains, and sky. Over cyclical time, they survived by following migration routes of animals and celestial bodies that allowed them to engage in an animistic perspective of life, that, all landscapes, including the landscapes of the cosmos, all of nature is sentient. And this. I guess that world view of aliveness of sentience and intelligence, as well as reciprocity and resonance. You know, that all environments and us, because we are innately tied to that, we are nature. You know, that we're in this reciprocal conversation all the time with life, that I think has had the most profound influence on my life, this idea that we're not just caretakers of the environment, but we are the environment. We are all adapting to each other too. The forces around us inside of us that there's this continual movement of cycles and circulation. that I think is really this wisdom core of the tradition that has really made me feel like not just a citizen of my culture and my ethnicity, but really a citizen of this planet, of Earth. from literally, you know, the air that we breathe, down to the food that we eat down to our blood, it's the same movement of circulation that connects us all and this, you know, really informs my, my worldview and my sense of belonging, my sense of, communion with life.   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:22:54] I feel like these messages and this kind of information about ancestors, unfinished business, purpose in life. It can be both empowering and overwhelming at times. Like, that was my experience of the reading as well. And we're living at a time where In the US for sure and also globally where there's so much going on and it is a moment that can feel empowering at times but also can feel very, very overwhelming so I'm curious if there are certain ways that you practice keeping the faith in amidst times like these or navigating things that are overwhelming but can be seen as, empowering at the same time.    Meng Yu: [00:23:32] Yeah, absolutely. That's a really fabulous question. you mentioned faith, and I think that's a really interesting concept to dig into because I actually hesitate to use the word faith. I like to use the word trust know that we can develop our existential trust through understanding. Tempo with these. modalities, like I mentioned, there's this, putting us back into time, into rhythm, not just Chinese astrology. I think all ancient calendars does this for us, that they Put us back into an earth based tempo and rhythm and helps us understand that the meaning of our lives come from the context of everything that sustains us. And that this isn't some kind of belief system that you have to be indoctrinated in. It is an observable truth that you can see through observing patterns. and cyclical time. Yin and yang is not some far fetched idea that you have to believe in. It's literally night and day, these are the basic rhythms through which our lives have delineation and tempo and when we develop our synchronicity with this type of regularity and rhythm, we develop a kind of trust. and This trust comes from confidence through observation over time, and because we don't like live outside anymore, we're not really in touch with what our ancestors, the ancients observed and recorded in their calendars. You know, the regularity of movement from observing the sun, the moon, the stars and the seasons. And when we can reunite with that, that actually provides a sense of trust. so, when we engage in these modalities, whether it's astrology or divination, we're, we're reading tempo and even with Chinese medicine, Chinese medicine takes a pulse, you know, it's reading your body as a tempo. It's indicating your rhythm, the quality of your rhythm. So even in our medicine, we are reading our bodies temporally. So this idea of time is so fundamental for me in this idea of trust in alignment with rhythm and regularity. In the Tao Te Ching, which is one of the canonical texts of Daoism, the word for trust, Ching, is used many times and it's about, trust is defined. also as a kind of power. It's defined as how beings attain their actuality, that you need trust in order to grow, that it's part of your process of becoming. And through Daoism and through Chinese astrology, which was very much, informed through Daoism. And we learned that the way to grow our Xing, our trust, is to return our body to the rhythm of the universe. Now that the Daoist cure for our anxieties, which stem from a sense of our independent existence. You know, of our, individuality that is such a small, piece of this enormity. The cure for our anxieties is to identify our singularity, our single body with the body of the whole world. And we do that through aligning our tempo, aligning our rhythm. this is one way that we see the intricate ways that we are all interconnected. And I know I just said some really kind of big abstract things, but, I hope that's making sense.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:27:49] Yes, no, aligning and yeah, the tempo and pace of the world. I saw something recently that was like, you know, the power of treating our own bodies like gardens that we're cultivating and not like machines. And I feel like that's sticking to what you were just talking about, too, of like, you know, we are also. Plants and beings that need to be tended to and taken care of and to see ourselves that way in alignment with like the world and the pace of the world.   Meng Yu: [00:28:16] Yeah, absolutely. I love that plant metaphor because it brings us back in touch with life and life cycles, that seeds are sown in the spring. Leaves are shed in the fall, you know, that. Life force and life energy also needs to have time to retreat and withdraw in the winter. All the chi is going back underneath the ground where it's not visible. All the outward and external energy is going inward. It's going hidden. That's the power of yin. When we observe and practice modalities that have survived, not just one genocide, but many, many genocides over thousands of years, we can start to build of broader understanding of the patterns of the universe, the cycles of time. And this is one way that we can embrace and this work with the realities of what's happening, you know, in the current poly crises of our times in, civilization and ecological collapse, you know, it's important that we come to terms with where we are in cycles so that we do the practice that is needed of the Grieving of shedding the anger and the sadness that comes with this time to not live in denial of it and to learn from our ancestors and how they have survived through these times through the practice and the wisdom of understanding, The cycles of nature, how we renew and, regenerate life, the daoists were really concerned with, what is called immortality, but immortality is not like one person living forever. Immortality is. A broader concept about the continuation of life, you know, how do we live in a way that is truly sustainable, that is self sustaining in Chinese, the word for nature is zhi ran, which means self: zhi ran self fulfilling, self renewing, self sustaining. So embedded in the wisdom of these practices is this sense of aligning our lives, aligning our choices in a way that allows life to continue.   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:30:52] Absolutely. Yes. more life and more environments where life can grow and thrive. I'm curious, you know, if anyone who's listening is now really interested in learning more about Chinese astrology, learning more about your work, what would be the best ways for them to start? And then also if there's anything else that you want to share.   Meng Yu: [00:31:11] The best way to find me is to go to my website. I'm not on social media, so, you'll have to get on the web and find me at www. tigereyeastrology.com and from there you can, contact me, request a reading, as well as just read more about, the different modalities that I practice, a little more about myself, and the perspectives that I bring.   Ayame Keane-Lee: [00:31:38] You are listening to 94.1 KPFA and 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley, 88.1 KFCF in Fresno, 97.5 K248BR in Santa Cruz, 94.3 K232FZ in Monterey, and online worldwide at kpfa.org. Next up is Miko's interview with Norma Wong.   Miko Lee: [00:32:01] Welcome Norma Wong to Apex Express. We are so happy to have you with us today.   Norma Wong: [00:32:06] Aloha, Mikko. Thank you for having me.    Miko Lee: [00:32:09] I want to just first start off, you, hold dear to my heart. I just finished reading your book, which I'm excited to talk about, but I just want to start in the very beginning by asking you a question, which is based on a question from the amazing poet Chinaka Hodges. Who are your people, and what legacy do you carry with you from them?    Norma Wong: [00:32:29] Oh, Miko, how much time do you have? my people are people of the Pacific. You know, the people who came, who crossed the ocean, now six generations ago to this place called Hawaii, who are the haka. Nomadic people of China who really traveled all over China came as contract work and my people are the indigenous people of Hawaii, of these islands where I live and where you happen to be right now, on in terms of this interview and, with the indigenous people, the Kanaka Maoli, the native wines of this place. I am blessed to be the ancestors of these two strong strands of people and really, people who have long migrated, irrespective of where they're coming from, where they're going to.   Miko Lee: [00:33:23] That is beautiful. And what legacy do you carry with you from those people?    Norma Wong: [00:33:28] I would say the legacy that I carry is the legacy of remembering food, remembering stories, passing on stories, creating stories into the future so that we may know where it is that we will go to. And I would say that I also carry the legacy of people who can both be with each other and also be fiercely independent with respect to not having to really depend on anything other than their wits, the land that they're on, of the people who are close to them, what the winds may be able to tell them.   Miko Lee: [00:34:11] Thank you so much. I'm very excited. I just finished reading your new book, which is titled, When No Thing Works: A Zen and Indigenous Perspective on Resilience, shared purpose, and leadership in the timeplace of collapse. Incredibly long title and incredibly appropriate for the time we live in right now. Can you share a little bit about what inspired you to create this work?    Norma Wong: [00:34:39] Well, I will, I will say frankly that the book would have not been written if not for Taj James and some of your listeners may know who this is. He is a movement leader and activist, who resides in Northern California, but really does a lot of work everywhere. And Taj, actually convinced me over a two year time period, to write this particular book. And I finally did so, because of a question that he asked. The question that he asked is, with respect to the kinds of knowledge that spiritual ways practice and pass on person to person, can that happen quickly enough only with the people who are directly in front of you? Will that happen quickly enough for the times that we're in? And I had to reflect upon that and say, no, because we were in a time of collapse. And so I had to take the chance of writing something that would find its way into the hands of people who were not directly in front of me. And that is, not the ways of the long line of teachers that I have had.   Miko Lee: [00:35:58] Can you talk a little bit about some of the teachers that you've had and how you carry on the legacy of those teachers that you have had, the impact they've made on you.    Norma Wong: [00:36:09] I've been blessed with many teachers, some of whom are in my young time days. I particularly remember a teacher from my elementary school days, Mrs. Trudy Akau. She was, Native Hawaiian and Portuguese and a woman of big voice and grand stature. And Mrs. Akau really wanted every single one of her students to Be able to find voice in whatever ways, that they might, whether it be writing or through reading or speaking, telling stories. So I certainly remember. This is a call. I remember Tanoi Roshi, uh, my Zen teacher. He was born Stanley Tanoi, second generation Japanese American grew up in Hawaii and who became a teacher. in his own right, not only with respect to Zen, but the martial arts and Stanley Tanoy, who we all know is Tanoy Roshi, is certainly considered to be my primary spiritual teacher, for whom it is now my responsibility to follow his line. I would say that there are people that I have worked with. who are my teachers, you know, so John Waiheee, who was the first native Hawaiian governor of Waii, I certainly consider him to be a significant teacher of mine, as do some young people, some people who are younger than I am. I consider them to be my teachers as well.   Miko Lee: [00:37:41] You mentioned your Zen teacher, Tanoue Tenshin Roshi and you quote in the book him saying, the truth is the intersection of everyone's perspective, if we could only know that. Can you speak more about this?    Norma Wong: [00:37:55] We are, as humans, we're, we're very certain that our perspective is the truth, that whatever it is that we see. But even from a biological perspective, science shows that what it is that registers in our mind is only a small portion of what it is that even our biology is absorbing. And so. We have this tendency to have a lens with respect to how we see the world that lens is colored by many things. And so what is actually so is difficult to ascertain. And this is just in terms of what may be right in front of us, let alone that which may come to us on a secondhand basis, and even more complicated by the way people get most of their information these days. Which is not through direct experience, but through information that has been provided by other channels, the vast aspects of social media, for example, the echo chambers of the conversation, in which we take as facts, things that are talked about that have been observed by other people who are analyzing that which someone else may or may not have actually seen by their own eyes. So we're many times removed from the actual experience of things. And so to know the truth, is a complex thing.    Miko Lee: [00:39:28] As you sort of mentioned this, but it feels like we are living, in this time where there's multiple truths, and especially with the propaganda that we're seeing from right wing mindsets that are really resistant to, influence especially around harm, unless they directly experienced that harm. In cases where it feels like this progress is really stalled until those people experience that kind of harm personally, what is the best way for us to intervene constructively?    Norma Wong: [00:39:56] Well, I think the first thing that we have to do is to make sure that we are also not doing the same thing in reverse. You know, which is to say that the aspect of harm, The many impacts that people may feel will be felt differently. So that which I believe has harmed me would seem to you as not being harmful at all. We tend to see harm, not from a meta perspective, but from an individualized perspective. And so to actually come out of the weeds of that and place ourselves In an observer's stance of community more generally, of humans more generally, not within the analysis of that, not within the frameworks of that, but to observe actual experiences is something that needs to happen on the left and the right and the center. the American. Value system doesn't help, which is to say that we live in a very individualized society. Our country was formed on the basis of values that are individualized. Even something that we'd say may be universal, such as human rights, we tend to think of it through an individualized lens. And to come more into the whole of it, to not. view our existence as being either dependent or independent of others, but more from the perspective of being interdependent. And you know, by interdependence, I'm, I mean that the success that we may have is born not only of my efforts, but the efforts of others. And if it is at the expense of someone else's welfare, then it is not interdependent. So that type of existence, you know, which I would describe as a more indigenous way of being, is what our times call for.    Miko Lee: [00:41:55] I'm wondering, you have such an interesting background as working in the legislature here in Hawaii and then fighting for homeland rights, supporting people in Lahaina. I'm wondering how you have combined both your indigenous background and your own. Zen belief system, how that has influenced you politically.   Norma Wong: [00:42:16] Well, if I were to reflect on that question, I would say that I was extraordinarily fortunate to begin my spirit practice at almost the same instant that I was coming up in the political world. And so I. did not see one as separate from the other. In fact, I would say that the fortune of that is that there are many aspects about the introspective nature of spirit work that, you have to interrupt your ego at every instant. And as you might imagine, there are many ways in, in the political world. Where the ego takes on an outsized importance to what it is that you're doing. And so it's an important centering value that you would get from the Zen practice. But to me, A thing that attracted me to Zen is that it is almost inherently indigenous and, by that I mean that the Zen values are based on interdependence of the whole and the whole does not only include humans, it includes other beings in the universe itself. And so, to center your political actions and the ways in which you might grapple with an issue is not to separate the issue from the people and the place, and to take into consideration not only the history of that, but what your actions would mean for the descendants that have not yet been born. And in that respect, there's should be no separation. In fact, there should be a profound way, in which that can hold your political decision making. your political conversation, your political actions within the concepts and the values of people in place.    Miko Lee: [00:44:08] So centering on people and place and our interconnectedness with each other. That's really powerful and so important and I'm going back to your saying we have to interrupt the ego and I'm wondering in times when we're about to see 45 enter into his, second administration and the impact of somebody who is ego full or narcissistic and this divide that we're seeing, how do we hold faith in ourselves to help to interrupt that ego when it's happening on such a national scale?    Norma Wong: [00:44:41] Well, there's a thing about ego, which is to say that My ego can only be interrupted by me. Your ego can only be interrupted by you. Now, strategy is a different thing, but that's not the subject of this interview. But with respect to ego, it's going to be part of the environment. it's going to be part of what exists and it'll be a powerful way in which you would see many egos, playing with each other. That's going to be a dynamic that will occur. So I would say there's a lot of work to do. Especially if we know that the construct of government, irrespective of whether this person or another person is holding this job. is in a place of peril and the institutions generally are having difficulty in this moment. Some people, because of who it is that they are and the ego that they have, will supercharge the collapse. In other words, they will increase the momentum of that collapse. And so, in that increase of the momentum of the collapse, there's a lot going on. To be done to ensure that peoples and communities and places are able to do what may be necessary to effectively sustain themselves and each other in relationship to each other, all of the things that they may have otherwise been dependent on the artificial structure called government. And with respect to ego, for us to understand that we have to have enough healthy ego to believe in our own capacity, to be able to work with each other, to take on this huge task, not only through these next four years, but in a period of time beyond that.   Miko Lee: [00:46:29] And what are some of the practices or frameworks that can help sustain us during this time to come?    Norma Wong: [00:46:35] Certainly the practice of, not running dry, you know, that within every 24 hour cycle, if we are to be at the top of our game, then we have to pay attention to make sure that we have enough rest, that we have the sustenance we need, Remain hydrated. I mean, very simple things to not waste away our time in the internal dialogue that keeps spinning to separate ourselves from the habits that keep us from making decisions that taking on too many things means that no thing that you do will be given the kind of attention that it needs, the kind of focus that it needs. the kind of depth that it requires. And so this is a time of choices, in order to achieve that place of abundance. You cannot have many things on the plate at the same time. So simple choices, with respect to the practices that you have, And once that require the dreaded D word, which is discipline.    Miko Lee: [00:47:43] Mm. One of the things that has arisen a lot within the network that I work in, AACRE, Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality, is a lot of folks, especially young folks, are finding themselves in able to have conversation with family members or elders that, have different political viewpoints what is a good way to go about navigating this tension with people who hold really different political and therefore, in their minds, worldviews than you, but you are connected to?    Norma Wong: [00:48:12] Well, it may not be possible to have a political conversation the question is, are you still in relationship? I think that is the primary question. are you able to meet someone's eyes? Or do you just look away? can you feed each other? I mean, literally, do you know the foods that other people desire or need? Can you make them? Not just buy it and assemble it from the nearest store. Are we tending to each other's needs? Emotional welfare, are we observant of the ways in which we may be getting into a place of need that we're not asking support for. It's like politics should not be. the first conversation you have with someone, it's like that, the first conversations that you would have with people should be one of relationship and of community, and that if you're going to slip into that part where you're going to say, well, because of your politics, I'm going to put you in this room or that room, then the, possibility of us being able to proceed as people is just not going to be possible. The civil rights, as a political movement, succeeded. I believe that as a social change movement, there is still a lot of work to be done. And that we put a little bit too much of a dependence on the wins that we had politically. And then We believed that, because those wins were, that the world would change as a result of that. Hearts and minds were not necessarily changed. And the heart and mind work is the work of community, the work of storytelling, the work of arts, generally. The work of building relationships with people, so that irrespective of the label that they thought that you carry, that you can have a greater understanding of desires and motivations, needs, and ways in which you might be able to be mutually with each other. So we have to start by actually being in relationship with people versus relationship with our ideas. A relationship with points of view and that is something that we may have given short shrift to. And I would say that that's like a Western kind of thing, like, you know, okay, we're going to have a meeting and, let's sit down for a meeting. By the way, we're not going to spend any time getting to know each other. We want to get directly to. Whatever the point of the meeting happens to be, or in the case of family. You know, it's like, families are complicated. One of the reasons why families are complicated is because we are in blood relationship to each other and therefore forever bound. But that does not mean that we have actually done the work to get to know each other. It does not mean that at all.   Miko Lee: [00:51:09] Thank you. I'm wondering if you can, talk about how do we hold on to our work as activists, and kind of the ultimate urgency of what's happening in the world, like I'm thinking specifically, there's a lot of conversations about the new laws that might happen right after the inauguration . And so there's a sense of urgency there. How do we hold on to ourselves but balance that with that sense of urgency.    Norma Wong: [00:51:34] Well, I like to put urgency in a slightly different perspective. Which is to say that the urgency that I see is what is the work that needs to be done to ensure that descendants that are not yet born will be able to live the kind of life that I would hope them to have in a world that would be able to sustain that. And if I put that out, as. What is urgent, then that forces me, in a way that I choose into, to pay attention to. Larger stories, larger work, more extensive aspects of work that also require many more people to be engaged in. And, to begin right now, because it's urgent, you know, for example, if there's a possibility, That the aquifer will become contaminated, and we do not yet know whether or not that will be the case. Then it's urgent that we work to make sure that whatever contaminant is in the ground will not get to the aquifer and therefore, we have to work on that right now. And so that which we may advocate for with urgency will be about the things that are going to be required. For the long haul and not just a defensive reactive, type of action, just to attempt to defend the things that are collapsing around us at the moment caught. In a tighter and tighter action reaction, a kind of way in which we make choices and make decisions, which will mean that the urgent work to ensure that the descendants will be able to have a better life in a sustainable place. will not be done and will not done in time for that to occur.    Miko Lee: [00:53:26] Thank you so much, for pulling that sense of urgency out to a broader perspective. It reminds me of that Grace Lee Boggs quote, what time is it on the clock of the world that we're really thinking about multiple generations and the ancestors to come and not just what the deadline is immediately. Can you talk with us a little bit about the hu, Hu, that you describe in your book?    Norma Wong: [00:53:50] So I think of Hu as, you know, capital H and, small U as like the missing element on the periodic table. Okay. So, you know, the periodic table it contains all of the elements that are supposed to exist in the universe, and I believe that there's an element called the human quotient. The human quotient is the stuff that humans need to have in order for us to actually evolve as the peoples that we're intended to be. And that the earth requires so, you know, among the human quotient elements would be courage, for example, courage being that which we do, even in the face of fear. So there'll be characteristics like that, but even more fundamental than the characteristics, there is whether or not we will access.and hold d center to everything, the collective humanity of who we are and who we need to become. Whether we take that at the center or will we, will we just see people as a series of identities, a series of allegiances to particular flags as keepers and adherence to ideologies. as, generations or genders, will we just see people as categories? And so, this aspect of coming into our humanity, is what I'm referring to as the human quotient. One of the chapters in the book.    Miko Lee: [00:55:27] Thank you so much. Can you tell us what you would love people to understand after reading your book, When No Thing Works?   Norma Wong: [00:55:37] I would want them to understand that the work is a distillation. So it's very concentrated. It's like Malolo syrup, a favored concentrated syrup that is essentially the fruit punch of the islands. You have to add water to it in order for you to get it to a place where it can actually bear fruit and it can be delicious for you. And that water is yourself, your own experience, your own practice, your own hopes, your own purposes. And if you add that to the book, then the book will be your Malolo syrup.    Miko Lee: [00:56:17] Oh, that is such a great analogy. I love that you're talking to it. It's a syrup. And actually there is a tudy guide or it's called navigate, but the resource to help people go through the book and have conversations with family and friends, which I think is so lovely. It's such a great way for people to read the book in community.    Norma Wong: [00:56:37] Yes. The book site is, Normawong.com and, I believe that the Navigate Guide will be available on that site.    Miko Lee: [00:56:46] And I will host a link to all those things on the show notes for Apex Express. Norma Wong, thank you so much for spending time sharing with us about your work. Um, I really appreciate you and the wisdom that you're sharing for multiple generations. Thank you so much.   Norma Wong: [00:57:04] Thank you, Miko. Thank you so much. Please enjoy your day.    Miko Lee: [00:57:09] You too. And I also want to give a shout out to my amazing friend that introduced me to you, Mariah Rankin Landers, whose book, Do Your Lessons Love Your Students? Creative Education for Social Change really influenced me. And she helped provide some of the context for this conversation. So I thank you to Mariah and thank you for spending time with me, Norma. Please check out our website, kpfa.org. To find out more about our show tonight. We think all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world because your voices are important. APEX Express is created by Miko Lee, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Anuj Vaidya, Swati Rayasam, Aisa Villarosa, Estella Owoimaha-Church, Gabriel Tangloao, Cheryl Truong and Ayame Keane-Lee.     The post APEX Express – 1.16.25 – Pathways To Humanity appeared first on KPFA.

“Curate your environment. Put things around you that make you happy. You have a responsibility to awe and beauty. Make sure that you experience those things in your life.”Let's face it: life's chaos doesn't come with a manual, but meditation might be the closest thing we have. In this episode, Bob Martin—former attorney, mob lawyer (yes, really), and now meditation advocate—shares his fascinating journey from the cocaine cowboy days of Miami to finding his zen as a meditation teacher. Bob reveals how Daoist principles not only transformed his personal life but also inspired a new approach to business and entrepreneurship. Whether you're running a company or just trying to run your own mind, this episode delivers insights, humor, and practical advice for balancing it all. Spoiler: meditation is like hitting the reset button on your brain.Bob Martin is a former prosecutor, defense attorney, and meditation teacher who went from handling high-stakes legal cases to mastering the art of mindfulness. After studying under a 72nd-generation Daoist master, Bob turned his focus to helping others navigate life and business with clarity and calm. His work bridges the worlds of self-discovery and entrepreneurship, offering tools to thrive both personally and professionally.Learn more and connect: A Wise and Happy Life (Bob's website): https://www.awiseandhappylife.comVisit https://www.ecircleacademy.comBlvd area and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

Bright on Buddhism - Asian Religions Series - Daoism Part 2 Hello and welcome to the Asian religions series. In this series, we will be discussing religious traditions in Asia other than Buddhism. Buddhism never existed in a vacuum, and as it has spread all across East Asia, it has developed, localized, and syncretized with local traditions in fascinating and significant ways. As such, we cannot provide a complete picture of East Asian without discussing those local traditions such as they were and are. Disclaimer: this series is very basic and introductory, and does not and cannot paint a complete picture of these religious traditions as they are in the present or throughout history. Today, we will be discussing Daoism, a very historically and culturally significant religious tradition in China. We hope you enjoy Resources: Demerath, Nicholas J. (2003). Crossing the Gods: World Religions and Worldly Politics. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-3207-8.; Idema, Wilt; Haft, Lloyd (1997). A Guide to Chinese Literature. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan. ISBN 978-0-89264-123-9.; Komjathy, Louis (2013). The Daoist Tradition: An Introduction. Bloomsbury.; Mair, Victor H. (2001). The Columbia History of Chinese Literature. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10984-9.; Pregadio, Fabrizio, ed. (2008). The Encyclopedia of Taoism. 2 volume set. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7007-1200-7.; Robinet, Isabelle (1997) [1992]. Taoism: Growth of a Religion. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2839-9.; Daodejing (in Literary Chinese and English), translated by Legge, James (Wang Bi ed.) – via Chinese Text Project; Tao Te Ching: A New English Version, translated by Mitchell, Stephen, New York: Harper Collins, 1988, ISBN 978-0-06-180739-8.; Henricks, Robert G. (1989), Lao-tzu: Te-tao ching. A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts, New York: Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-345-34790-0; Tao Te Ching, translated by Lau, D. C., Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1989, ISBN 9789622014671; Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way, translated by Mair, Victor H., New York: Bantam, 1990, ISBN 978-0-307-43463-0.; Tao-Te-Ching, translated by Bryce, Derek; et al., York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 1991, ISBN 978-1-60925-441-4; Addiss, Stephen and Lombardo, Stanley (1991) Tao Te Ching, Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company. Do you have a question about Buddhism that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by tweeting to us @BrightBuddhism, emailing us at Bright.On.Buddhism@gmail.com, or joining us on our discord server, Hidden Sangha ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/tEwcVpu⁠⁠⁠⁠! Credits: Nick Bright: Script, Cover Art, Music, Voice of Hearer, Co-Host Proven Paradox: Editing, mixing and mastering, social media, Voice of Hermit, Co-Host

Welcome to the Psychedelic Conversations Podcast! Episode 146: In this episode, we explore Howard's transformative journey with psychedelics, beginning with his personal healing from addiction and expanding into over two decades of guiding others. We discuss the power of plant medicines like ayahuasca and psilocybin to heal trauma, reveal our true nature, and reconnect us with the natural world. Howard shares insights on the growing trend of psychedelics, the importance of integration practices, and the critical role of facilitators in creating safe and sacred spaces for these experiences. Together, we reflect on humanity's collective challenges, the necessity of grounded practices, and the timeless wisdom psychedelics offer in helping us remember who we are. Tune in for a profound conversation about healing, awakening, and the future of psychedelic integration!

This episode is a replay from The Existential Stoic library. Enjoy! How often do you think about death and your own mortality? Are you afraid of dying? Are you worried you'll have regrets at the end of your life? In this episode, Danny and Randy discuss the fear of death. Subscribe to ESP's YouTube Channel! Thanks for listening!  Do you have a question you want answered in a future episode? If so, send your question to: existentialstoic@protonmail.com  Danny, Randy, and their good friend, Russell, created a new podcast, CodeNoobs, for anyone interested in tech and learning how to code. Listen to CodeNoobs now online, CodeNoobs-podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode we do a brief overview of the Taoist/Daoist faith/religious philosophy. We're nearly done with our survey of world religions!Two more to go!Enjoy! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jim-grace/support

Dr. Adam Francisco, author, “One God, Many Gods” One God, Many Gods The post Christianity and Other World Religions: Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto and Sikhism – Dr. Adam Francisco, 12/9/24 (3442) first appeared on Issues, Etc..

This episode we go back to the continent for a bit to see how things are going.  Hint:  not well.  While Yamato was building its new bureaucratic state, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla were battling it out while the Tang empire and their ambitions loomed over them all.  Yamato is about to get pulled into the conflicts, but before that, let's look at what was happening from the point of view of the various penninsular polities. This episode goes back over some of the information in Episodes 107 and 109, but mainly to place it in context of what was happening in Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla as opposed to simply viewing it from the rise of the Tang Empire or the occasional mentions in the Nihon Shoki.  Much of it relies on what we have in the Samguk Sagi, the Korean annals of the Three Kingdoms. For more, check out our blogpost: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-115 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is Episode 115: Red Banquets, Fashion Disasters, and Other Continental Adventures It was the year 642, and the hall was decked out in the finest, with banners hung and tables set.  The scene was awash in gold and silk and silver.  The guests were no less opulently adorned: The crème de la crème of Burana, aka Pyongyang, capital of the state of Goguryeo.  The tables were piled high with food, and there was a low murmur as the assembled guests talked quietly as they waited for their host. These guests were among the highest nobles in the land.  180 members of the most powerful families.  As they mingled, they talked.  Much of it was gossip, the currency of court politicians everywhere. They discussed who was up and down in the constant fight for favor.  Who had made a misstep, or was seen talking to the wrong person?  Or how about that time that someone wore the wrong clothes, or misspoke in court? Other conversations focused outward, on the threats from beyond the border.  But the majority of conversation had to do with their host, a striking individual. The murmurs continued as they waited for him to arrive..  Yeon Gaesomun was a hard-liner, pushing his agenda for stronger defenses against Tang encroachment.  That might be understandable for someone stationed out east, as he had been, but the King himself and his supporters felt that relations needed a more diplomatic touch.  Now that Gaesomun was back in the capital of Pyongyang, would he change his approach? The conversation continued apace as people ate and drank.  The whole time they remained blissfully unaware of what was happening just outside.  Drowned out by the sound of the banquet, troops were quietly assembling just outside, girding themselves for what would soon be an irrevocable step forward.  As orders came down the line, they drew their weapons, and then they burst through the doors… Last episode we talked through much of the Hakuchi era, from 650 to 654.  This episode I want to finish out the era, in order to do so we're once again going to touch on what was happening over on the continent. Some of these events we've talked about already: Last time we did a deep dive into this subject, back in Episode 104, we focused primarily on the Tang dynasty and its rise.  We also talked somewhat about Yamato's conflicts with Tang, Goguryeo, and others in Episode 107.  But at this point it's useful to go back and put that Continental narrative together a little bit more clearly, to set the stage for what will be happening in Yamato in the next reign after Karu. This episode we are going to go back over some of that info, but I want to center the narrative a bit more on the peninsula, rather than on the Tang dynasty. As you may recall, the Tang dynasty started in approximately 618, taking over from the Sui.  By 628, the Tang had defeated the Gökturks, and they continued to expand.  They conquered Turpan and Gaochang, in the Western Regions, and their control over the Silk Road was substantial, opening up tremendous trade routes that brought in wealth and more.  The capital of Chang'an became a true center of learning, and the government instituted a national university that was attended by elites from both in and outside the empire. This episode, though, we are going to focus more on the area of the Korean and Liaodong peninsulas, where the countries of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla contended with each other.  Goguryeo was the largest and perhaps even the most powerful of the three, but it was also on the border with the Tang empire, who were nothing to sneeze at given their own string of military victories.  So Goguryeo was beset from all sides, and needed a sizeable force on their western border.  Everything was in a tenuous balance, of sorts. When it came to the Tang empire, Goguryeo walked a delicate line.  On the one hand, they wanted access to the trade goods and the knowledge that was accumulating in the Tang empire and making it the envy of most other nations in the region.  On the other hand, they had to be constantly on the lookout for a possible invasion, and so needed to show their strength.  This wasn't without some confidence.  After all, Goguryeo had defeated attempts by the Sui dynasty to invade, and so they had proved up to the challenge—at least so far. In 619, on the eve of the Tang dynasty's founding, King Yeongnyu of Goguryeo, whose personal name was Geonmu, sent a tribute mission to the Tang, to encourage good relations.  By 622, Goguryeo was responding to the Tang dynasty's request to return soldiers captured during the attempted invasions by the Sui.  They kept sending missions on an annual basis, playing the part of a friendly tributary. Further on the peninsula, Baekje and Silla were likewise reaching out to the Tang dynasty, similarly hungry for the trade goods available in the markets of Chang'an.  Baekje, sitting on the coast of the Bohai sea, had direct routes to the mainland; to both the Yellow river and Yangzi river deltas.  They may not have had an overland border, but the sea was open to them. Silla, on the other hand, was not so quite so fortunate.  They were mainly situated on the east side of the peninsula, and though they had some access through the Han river, near modern Seoul, their access was constantly threatened by both Baekje and Goguryeo.  In 626, a Silla mission to the Tang complained about this very thing, claiming that Goguryeo was attacking them.  In response, the Tang requested peace, and Goguryeo apologized and backed down.  That said, it is unclear if the Tang would have taken much action.  They were, at that point, more focused on the Gökturks and others.  That military action ended with the defeat of the Gökturks in 628, however, a victory for which Goguryeo sent congratulations.  One has to imagine, however, that the congratulations were a bit mixed.  After all, without the Gökturks to hold their attention, what was to keep the Tang dynasty from looking at further conquest? The question of how to react to the Tang Empire seems to be one that split the Goguryeo court.  Some members of the court wanted to appease the giant on their doorstep, with offers of tribute and nominal submission, with the goal of making it clear that they were not a threat and that military conquest was unnecessary.  They could all live in harmony, one with the other.  To that end, they would not want to be too blatant about building up their forces or defenses in an act that could be seen as a prelude to military action.  On the other side were the hard-liners: members of the court that felt that they had to maintain a strong military defense against the likely possibility of a Tang offensive.  To these hawks, military strength was the deterrent, as power only truly respected power.  To be seen as weak and submissive would be to seem vulnerable, and an easy target. Still, there seems to have been relative, if uneasy, peace for a time.  Goguryeo continued to build their relation as a tributary state, and most of the action seems to have actually been taking place in the peninsula.  For Silla, 632 was a banner year, as Queen Seondeok came to the throne.  She was the eldest daughter of her father, who had no sons to inherit, and so she came to the throne.  She is said to have been quite intelligent, and the Samguk Sagi gives various accounts of her Holmsian powers of deduction.  For example, upon seeing a picture of flowers, she immediately concluded that, though they were beautiful, they had no fragrance.  She noted the lack of bees and butterflies around the flowers, and based on that observation she deduced that the flowers must have no scent to attract them. Queen Seondeok would oversee Silla in a time when they were growing closer to the Tang and also seeing increased pressure from Baekje and Goguryeo.  We mentioned how, in 626, Goguryeo had blocked Silla's mission to the Tang court.  Then, in 636, a Baekje general led 500 troops to Mt. Doksan, to attack the Silla position there.  Two years later, Silla defeated Goguryeo troops outside Jiljung Fortress. This wasn't constant warfare, but it did mean that the armies had to be on a constant wartime footing.  You never knew when your neighbor might sense a moment of weakness and try to take advantage of it.  Of course, as the old adage goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.  Baekje and Goguryeo were more directly on the Tang Empire's borders.  And so we see Silla cultivating a special relationship with the Tang. This is nothing new, by the way.  Various dynasties in the Yellow River basin had used similar tactics for generations.  Immediate border countries were often treated more severely, with threats of punitive expeditions if they did not fall in line or give themselves over completely to become a direct vassal of the empire.  Countries just beyond the border were often treated with a lighter touch, luring them into complacency and even friendship with access to elite trade goods, and more.  As borders shifted, so too did the relationship between the empire and those on its borders. Goguryeo and Baekje fell into the former category, while Silla seems to have been in the latter—at least for now.  And yet all three were still trying to get what they could.   In 640, Seondeok sent her sons to enroll in the Guoxue, or National University, that Tang Taizong had set up in Chang'an.  This university had gathered Confucian scholars from all corners of the world.  The school is described as having some 1200 bays, with 3,260 students.  Besides Silla, Goguryeo and Baekje also sent their princes, who mingled with elites from Gaochang, Turpan, and elsewhere.  It was opportunities like this that made Chang'an so attractive: a place where the elites of Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje, could mingle with the members of the Tang Court and the western regions, beyond, sharing ideas and learning about the wider world. The following year, in 641, there are two items of note.  One is the inspection by Chen Dade of the Tang-Goguryeo border.  We talked about this back in episode XXX.  Under the pretense of a diplomatic mission, Dade arrived at the border with numerous gifts of silk, presenting them to the various fortress commanders and then asking to be shown around.  The Commanders were more than happy to show Dade their impressive fortifications, and they were exceedingly polite, but little did they know that Dade's true purpose was to scout for weaknesses in Goguryeo's defensive line.  His report back to Tang Taizong would be critical in what was to come. Also in this year, King Uija of Baekje came to the throne.  We talked about how Uija had sent his son, Prince Pung, to Yamato, and we've touched on him a few times here and there.  Uija was clearly a proponent of the alliance with Yamato, and, as we'll see, he was no friend to Silla.  The following year, in 642, Ujia's forces attacked Silla, capturing 40 strongholds, and pushing Silla's expanding borders back to the Nakdong river, retaking much of the area that had been under the control of the various Kara, or Gaya, confederacy.  This likely included places like Nimna and Ara, though we can't know for certain.  We do know that Baekje forces took Taeya fortress in the south of the peninsula, which gives us an idea of the extent of Baekje's victories. In response to Baekje's brazen attacks, Silla went  to a seemingly unlikely ally.  They reached out to Goguryeo.  In fact, they sent none other than Kim Ch'unch'u. Kim Ch'unch'u was the grandson of the 25th king of Silla, King Jinji.  Though his father, Kim Yonsu, had lost any claim to the throne when King Jinji was overthrown, he was still of “seonggol”, or “Sacred” bone rank, a concept somewhat similar to the kabane of Yamato, though in this case the “Sacred bone rank” indicated nobles specifically descended from the royal family.  These would have likely been the various Royal Princes and their families in the Yamato hierarchy.  Kim Ch'unch'u, in particular, seems to have been well regarded by the Silla court of his day, and since his own daughter had been killed by Baekje, he had a personal stake in the matter.  And so he led the embassy to Goguryeo's capital at Pyongyang to request that they send troops to aid Silla. There was only one problem.  Goguryeo was still fuming about territory that they had lost to Silla many years ago.  They agreed to send troops, but only if Silla would agree to a little quid pro quo.  Silla would need to return the Chungnyung pass and cede everything northwest of it back to Goguryeo.  This would return much of Goguryeo's territory north of the Han river and modern Seoul. Kim Ch'unch'u  rebuked their offer, calling it a threat against Silla.  This angered King Yeongnyu, and Kim Ch'unch'u was jailed for his disrespect.  Ch'unch'u was able to get word out of his imprisonment, however, and Queen Seondeok sent what the Samguk Sagi calls a “Death Squad” of 10,000 soldiers with the aim of breaking him out of prison.  As soon as Goguryeo heard that these troops were on the move, they decided that holding onto Ch'unch'u wouldn't be worth it, and they released him rather than fight.  Kim Ch'unch'u was returned safely, but without the support that he wanted. That said, there may have been other things going on in Goguryeo. The pro-appeasement camp and the hard-liners were fuming, and things in the court were coming to a head.  The two sides pulled against each other in the way that they shaped policy.  For the most part, King Yeongnyu was pro-appeasement, but there were powerful figures in the hard-liner camp, such as Yeon Gaesomun.  At 46 years old, he was a descendant of at least two previous “Magniji” court officials—a title roughly equivalent to that of a Prime Minister, and one of the most powerful roles a non-royal court noble could aspire to.  Gaesomun himself was the Western Governor, directly responsible for the fortresses that defended the border with the territory of the Tang Empire.  As such, it is little wonder that he may have been a bit more focused on the threat that they posed, and he likely held the loyalty of not a few troops. And perhaps this is why King Yeongnyu started to suspect him of being a problem, and why he plotted to have him killed.  Word of the King's plot reached Gaesomun, however, and he decided to take matters into his own hands. Returning to Pyongyang in 642, Gaesomun let it be known that he was throwing a lavish banquet to celebrate his rise to the position of Eastern governor.  He invited over one hundred of the opposing court nobles under this pretence.  But that is all it was. When the nobles had gathered at the banquet site, Gaesomun struck.  He had loyal forces rush in and kill all of his opponents, and then, before an alarm could sound, he rushed his troops over to the palace and murdered King Yeongnyu.  It was the Goguryeo's own Red Wedding, and it would hold a particular place of infamy in Korean history, which said  that the troops dismembered the corpse and discarded it without ceremony. In place of King Yeongnyu, Gaesomun propped up Yeongnyu's nephew, King Bojang.  Gaesomun then appointed himself the Dae Magniji, the Great Prime Minister, or perhaps more fittingly “Generalissimo”.  Though King Bojang sat upon the throne there was no question that it was Gaesomun who now ruled Goguryeo. Gaesomun's legacy is complicated.  Under the Confucian values of the time, many early historians vilified him for murdering the king, and blamed him and his harsh policies for the eventual downfall of the kingdom.  He is portrayed as a man lusting after power. We are given examples of his harsh demeanor, and the Annals state that when he got off of his horse he had high ranking nobles and military officials lie on the ground so that he could step on them, rather than touching the ground.  Of course, some of this we should likely take with a grain of salt, given the Chroniclers' generally dim view of him in general.   On the other hand, some modern histories believe that he wanted Goguryeo to take a tougher stance against the Tang.  Early Korean nationalists rehabilitated him, exalting him for taking such a hard stance against the Tang, or, in their eyes, China.  I suspect that he was a little of both.  A tyrant and a despot—as many rulers of the time were—but also dedicated to the defense of his nation. We mentioned this briefly back in Episode 107, but I wanted to touch on it here in more detail as it really leads to where we want to discuss.  A very brief mention of this lies in the Nihon Shoki, where it says that “Irikasumi” the “Prime Minister” of Goguryeo slew the king and over 180 others.  For the most part it tracks, though it does say that it happened in 641, which may easily just be a simple scribal error. The general narrative from here is that the Tang dynasty used Gaesomun's usurpation as a pretext for war against Goguryeo, but the narrative seems a bit more complex, and when we are reading we should keep in mind that none of the players in this drama knew the outcome beforehand.  And so, as is often the case, things are quite as straightforward as they may seem when we zoom out and take a look at the macro level of historical events, where we've already decide what events we believe to be important and which were less so, often based on knowing the outcomes.  Of course, the Chroniclers would have had similar narratives, but they were still trying to catalogue the events of each year as best they could. And that brings us to the year 643.  In this year, Silla went to the Tang dynasty to ask them for assistance against both Baekje and Goguryeo, who were planning to cut off Silla's access to the Tang court.  Tang Taizong agreed to help, but only if Silla would accept a Tang official who would come and oversee Silla.  Taizong's reasoning is given, which follows a typically misogynistic logic:  “Because your country has a woman as a ruler, neighboring states belittle it.  As you have lost the authority of the ruler, thus inviting the enemy to attack, no year will enjoy peace.”  He basically said that Silla needed a big strong man to help out, and he was willing to send someone—along with troops—to do just that.  Of course, I think we can all see how that was likely to end up, and any thoughts Silla had of being an equal partner in such an arrangement were nothing more than fantasies.  Tang Taizong was agreeing to assist, if Silla became a protectorate of the Tang court. The Silla envoy, for his part, took a very political stance.  No doubt knowing just how bad this was for Silla, but not wanting to disrespect the Tang emperor, whose assistance they still needed, he acknowledged the emperor's words without accepting the terms, returning without the promised help, but also without completely subordinating his country to the Tang empire. Although the troops were not forthcoming, the envoy's mission still had a positive impact.  Having heard that the envoy was traveling to the Tang court, King Uija of Baekje proactively withdrew the troops he had that were planning to attack with Goguryeo and cut off Silla's access to Chang'an.  Thus, Silla's corridor was maintained. Goguryeo, for their part, continued to attack Silla's border, but even though Gaesomun was one of the hard-liners when it came to Goguryeo-Tang relations, his initial envoys to the Tang court took a conciliatory stance towards the Tang empire.  Gaesomun promoted Daoism over Buddhism, and had his emissaries request and bring back 8 Daoist sages from the Tang court. Many historians feel that this was actually something of a show.  Sure, they would get knowledge and learning from the sages, but more importantly was to put the Tang at ease and hopefully allow Goguryeo a chance to annex Silla before the Tang war machine got up and running.  For their part, the Tang were already considering their next moves against Goguryeo, with some suggesting that they use proxies, like the Khitan and the Malgal, to make an attack.  Emperor Taizong's advisors suggested that the best course of action would be to lull Goguryeo into a false sense of security prior to a massive assault.  And so there were no major attacks that year. In 644, however, the Tang sent a message to Baekje and Goguryeo that they would need to stop invading Silla, and that if they didn't do so, the Tang would attack.  Gaesomun was actually leading troops in an attack on Silla when news of the messenger arrived at Goguryeo's court in Pyongyang.  Gaesomun's response was that he was simply trying to reclaim the territory that Silla had previously stolen from them many years earlier.  Along with their excuses, they sent along gold and 50 hostages from the Goguryeo court, but they were refused by the Tang.  It was probably pretty clear at this point that things were coming to a head—and diplomatic relations finally broke down in 645. That year the Tang dynasty—in conjunction with Silla, the Samguk Sagi tells us—launched a massive invasion of Goguryeo.  The pretext of which was, as I mentioned, Gaesomun's usurpation of the throne, but let's not kid ourselves:  The Tang dynasty were not shy about pushing out their borders. The Tang troops, who had been preparing for the past year, invaded in a two prong attack.  An overland attack struck at Gaemo—modern Shenyang—while naval forces landed on the Liaodong peninsula.  These forces initially swept through the border fortresses along the Liaodong penninsula with seeming ease.  Remember Chen Dade and his little factfinding mission?  No doubt all of his work came in quite handy.   Things were going well, and Tang Taizong himself joined the campaign. Still, each fortress took time, so that even though the invasion started in April, they reached Ansi by June. We are told that Goguryeo had amassed over 150,000 forces at Mt. Jipul, near Ansi, a walled fortress town with an estimated population of around 100,000.  Those numbers may be exaggerations, but the context is clear:  This was not just a small fortress and Goguryeo sent a lot of troops to reinforce the area. On the other side, Goguryeo was facing odds that were probably more like 3 to 1, with a massive Tang invasion force, which, since they had split, were attacking from two different directions.  Sure enough, the Tang were able to catch the defenders out of position, with the troops that had crossed the sea assaulting from the front while the overland forces attacked Goguryeo's rear.  It is estimated that over 50,000 Goguryeo troops were killed or captured in the battle. And that left only the fortress of Ansi, with a garrison of maybe 5,000 troops, to face the Tang, who had otherwise swept through previous defenses in relatively short order.  It would have been understandable had they capitulated.  There were still other fortresses between the Tang armies and the capital of Goguryeo at Pyongyang, not to mention the extremely mountainous terrain between the Liaodong and Korean peninsulas.  And yet, the Ansi garrison refused to give in.  The Tang forces, for their part, knew they could not leave an enemy to their rear, and so rather than continuing on, they set a siege to the fortress town. Although we are told that the Tang forces brought siege engines with them, the garrison at Ansi held out.  In fact, they held out for three months, and fall was beginning to turn to winter.  Winter in northeast Asia would bring snow and mud.  Furthermore, the Tang supply lines themselves were fairly long at this point.  Eventually, the defenders won out, and the Tang forces turned back.  On the march back towards Chang'an, Tang Taizong and his troops were caught in an early winter blizzard, which killed more of the soldiers.  Emperor Taizong founded Minzhong Temple—known today as Fayuan Temple, in modern Beijing—to commemorate his fallen soldiers. Although the Tang forces retreated, it is hard to say that Goguryeo was truly victorious in the outcome of the war.  Many Gogouryeo troops perished in the fighting, while Tang could now regroup.  Goguryeo was unlikely to be a major and immediate threat to Silla, as they would need to continue to maintain troops and rebuild the fortresses taken by the Tang, but that didn't mean that Silla was off the hook, either. Through this all, Baekje had taken the opportunity to harass Silla's western border.  They sent wave after wave against Silla, whose forces in that area were under the command of general Kim Yusin.  The Samguk Sagi mentions that his forces would turn back one attack, and he'd be almost back home, when another attack would come and he would have to go back out.  In one particularly poignant moment, he even got so close as to see his house, but he could not stop, and so he marched straight past the gates as he prepared to repel yet another invasion from Baekje. Winter brought a pause to the fighting, and in 646, things seem to have been relatively calm, if still quite tense, as all sides recovered from the events of the previous year.  Nonetheless, this is seen as the start of what is known as the Goguyreo-Tang war, a series of conflicts that would continue for approximately the next 20 years.  Goguryeo, for their part, attempted to normalize relations with the Tang, even sending two women—specifically the Annals state that they were two beautiful women—as a peace offering.  Tang Taizong politely refused them, however, claiming he wouldn't dare to separate them from their families.  In reality, he was rebuilding his forces, preparing for another assault, but that would take time.  In the meantime, diplomatic channels remained open, which really demonstrates the political situation in general, at the time.  Even if two sides were attacking one another, diplomatic envoys were still being exchanged.  Furthermore, though the trade routes may have been slightly less stable, trade continued, regardless.  The following year, 647, Emperor Taizong launched fresh assaults against Goguryeo.  This time, rather than a larger army, he instead had them focus on small-scale attacks that would weaken the kingdom of Goguryeo, forcing them to constantly be on guard and to pour resources into supporting their borders.  At the same time, Silla suffered tragedy as Queen Seondeok died, and Queen Chindeok took the throne.  Later in that year, Baekje troops attacked three Silla fortresses.  They were pushed back, but the Silla troops took heavy casualties.  As we can see, the fighting continued throughout the peninsula. Meanwhile, over on the Japanese archipelago, they were busy incorporating the new reforms.  Envoys from Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo would continue to travel to the Yamato court, which one imagines made for some rather tense State dinners. The year after that, in 648, while Tang forces continued to harass Goguryeo, Baekje attacked and took ten Silla fortresses.  Upon hearing this, Silla general Kim Yusin rallied the troops, counterattacked, and destroyed the invading forces.  Silla's Prince Ch'unch'u himself, the one who had previously gone to Goguryeo to ask for support against Baekje, traveled to the Tang court in Chang'an.  There he requested assistance against Baekje's continual harassment of Silla's borders. It is unclear how firmly Baekje and Goguryeo were allied together and coordinating attacks, but  it does seem clear that they were aligned in their goals.  Baekje may not have been in direct conflict with the Tang, but their attacks on Silla likely kept Silla from further harassing Goguryeo, who was actively involved in defending against Tang attacks.  So whether there were formal treaties or not, lines were drawn, but these were still independent states with their own goals and aspirations. And so, when Ch'unch'u's ship was returning from Chang'an and ran into a Goguryeo patrol, one can understand their apprehension.  Ch'unch'u was known to Goguryeo, and if we was captured it is unlikely that he would live long enough to be rescued by an elite Silla death squad once again.  And so, his men devised a plan, and a man named On Kunhae put on the clothes of a high official—possibly Ch'unch'u's own.  When the Goguryeo patrol captured the ship, they killed him, believing he was a Silla noble or at least an important envoy.  Unbeknownst to them, Ch'unch'u himself had been transferred to a smaller, less assuming ship, which quietly made its way past the patrol and back to Silla controlled territory. And so, once again, we see us how dangerous things were getting at this point.  Travel was risky at the best of times, but now, with the possibility of being intercepted by a hostile country's forces, who knew what might happen. Hostilities continued until 649.  That year, Tang Taizong passed away, and shortly before he did, he pulled back the troops.  His death only brought a brief pause, however, as his son and heir, Tang Gaozong, took the throne and would launch his own series of wars against both Goguryeo and Baekje.  In 650, Gaozong received Prince Kim Ch'unch'u once again as an ambassador from Silla, this time with a poem penned by Queen Chindeok herself.  In the form of poetic verse, she asked for help against Baekje, who had continued their attacks.  Throughout the previous year attacks had continued back and forth.  Silla general Kim Yusin again managed to push back and defeat the Baekje forces, but one can only imagine the toll this was taking on Silla's ability to defend itself over time.  This was the content of the note.  Prior to this, Silla really had gone all in on strengthening their ties with the Tang dynasty, going so far as to institute Tang court dress—both in their robes and caps.  This point had been specifically negotiated by Prince Ch'unch'u with the previous emperor, Tang Taizong.  It sounds as if Silla was trying to have the Tang court recognize their own court nobles and put themselves in a place to receive Tang court rank, though how, exactly, they received said rank is unclear—did it come from the Tang or was it granted by the Queen of Silla. Either way, it was clearly seen by other nations—or at least Yamato—as an unwelcome statement.  In 651, Silla envoys arrived at Tsukushi—modern day Kyushu—wearing their new Tang style clothing and they were turned away.  Specifically the Dazaifu sent them back claiming that they weren't dressed as envoys from Silla should be.  On top of this, we are told that Kose no Omi then suggested that *rather than go to war* over this, they should just make a show of force when the envoys came back.  And let me reiterate that: according to the Nihon Shoki this was such an affront that Yamato was considering whether they should launch a punitive military strike against Silla for sporting the wrong fit.  Talk about a fashion disaster! In the end, they took Kose no Omi's advice, which was that the next time Silla arrived they would have ships lined up all along the Seto Inland Sea as the envoys made their way to Yamato so that there was no doubt in the envoys' minds about just what Yamato could do. This is a great demonstration of how something we might consider innocuous was clearly a Big Deal for the people at the time.  I suspect that there were at least two possible reasons for why this was, besides just considering themselves the arbiters of fashion.  For one, remember that Yamato considered Silla to be subordinate to them, at least in their worldview.  Just like they had been concerned about at least maintaining the fiction that Nimna was still an active and independent entity, this broke the illusion that Silla was a tributary of Yamato. At the same time, it may have just been that they were putting on airs and it was seen as impersonating and even speaking for the Tang court.  After all, if a Tang envoy showed up, I doubt that Yamato would turn them away. In either instance, we can see the lines being drawn, with Silla taking a clear stance in connecting themselves with the Tang court while Goguryeo, Baekje, and even Yamato were still in contact with them, but from a more independent capacity.  In 652, for instance, we know that Goguryeo again sent tribute to the Tang court, no doubt in an attempt to normalize relations.  Still, the alliances were firming up. In 653 we have two items of interest:  one from the Samguk Sagi and one from the Nihon Shoki.  In the Samguk Sagi it explicitly mentions that Baekje and Wa formed an alliance.  This is significant in that the Samguk Sagi really doesn't mention Wa nearly as often as we would expect it to, while the Nihon Shoki is constantly discussing Baekje and Yamato relations.  I imagine that there must have been a significant escalation of Wa involvement around this time for the Samguk Sagi to mention it. On the other hand, the Nihon Shoki doesn't really mention it.  Sure, there are annual tributes mentioned from Baekje and Silla—and occasionally Goguryeo—but they were more focused on another event: an embassy that the Yamato court sent to the Tang dynasty.  This was the first embassy to be sent in some time—at least according to the Nihon Shoki—but it was quite the affair.  Two ships were prepared.  The first ship was led by Kishi no Nagani and his assistant, Kishi no Koma, along with the envoy, Nunobara no Mita.  They were accompanied by numerous students and student priesets, all sons of court nobility, including Jou'e, the son of none other than Nakatomi no Kamatari the “Naidaijin” or central prime minister.  In total, there were 121 people on board the ship. The other ship was led by Takada no Nemaro and his assistant, Kamori no Womaro, as well as their accompanying envoy, Hashi no Yatsute.  Along with various students, they had 120 on board the ship.  Two ships, each with an individual in charge of the particular embassy, meant that even if they met with an accident along the way, they would have someone to carry on the mission.  And that foresight proved unfortunately necessary when the ship carrying Takada no Nemaro sank in the straits of Takashima off the coast of Satsuma.  The ship went down and only five men survived, largely by lashing themselves to a plank and drifting ashore at Takashima island.  There, one of the survivors, Kadobe no Kogane, gathered bamboo and made a raft, by which they made it to Shitojishima.  They surived six days and nights without any food, but they made it.  When he heard about it, the sovereign congratulated Kogane and rewarded him with rank and various presents for his work to bring people back home. Another mission, launched the following year, shows that being lost at sea wasn't the only danger for international travelers back in the day.  In the 2nd month of 654, Takamuku no Kuromaro led another embassy to the Tang court.  He was the Controlling Envoy, though the Chief Ambassador was Kahabe no Maro, assisted by Yenichi no Kusushi, a name that Aston suggests translates to something like “Doctor Yenishi”.  A list of other names are given as well of those who were also on the mission.  More sobering is the outcome of the mission, where we are told what happened to everyone.  Though they reached the Tang court, not everyone would make it back.  According to the author Yuki no Hakatoko—an interesting tidbit in that they seem to be giving us the author of one of the accounts that they used in the compilation of the Nihon Shoki, and we'll come back to him in a later episode—according to Hakatoko, the student priest Enmyou died in Tang, while the student priests Chisou and Chikoku both died at sea.  Another person named Chisou, but using different characters, returned in a Silla ship in 690.  Gakusho died in Tang and Gitsu died at sea.  Joye returned in 665 in the ship of Liu Tekao.  And then others—about 12 total—along with two individuals who were considered Japanese born abroad, came back in 654 with returning envoys.  We are even told that Takamuku no Kuromaro, one of the figures who helped set up the government and played a major role in diplomatic relations with the continent, passed away on this mission as well. So going on one of these missions may have given you some awesome opportunities to see the world like nobody else, but they were anything but guaranteed.  For many people, it was a one way ticket, and we should keep that in mind when we hear about the people going on them. There were other intricacies to deal with as well—including navigating the pathways to the Tang court.  You may remember that Yamato was allied with Baekje in some way.  And yet the 654 mission we are told went by way of Silla and then anchored in Laichou, on the Shandong peninsula.  Later that same year, the previous mission, with Kishi no Nagani and others, returned to Yamato escoted by envoys from both Silla and Baekje.  While the narrative largely focuses on what they obtained, one imagines there were probably some tensions in all of that.  After all, just a year before we are told that Baekje and allied with Wa—which is to say Yamato—against Silla.  So had Silla not yet heard about the alliance?  Or was that just considered par for the course at the time? The year 654 would have more direct considerations for all concerned, however.  In that year, Queen Chindeok of Silla died, as did Karu of Yamato.  In Silla, the new King was none other than Prince Kim Ch'unch'u, known to history as King Muyeol.  As we touched on, earlier, Ch'unch'u was intimately familiar with the Tang court and had spoken directly with the Tang emperor, so this likely only further cemented ties between the Tang and Silla.  Meanwhile, in Yamato, Queen Takara Hime, aka Kyougyoku Tennou -slash- Saimei Tennou, was re-ascending the throne, rather than making way for Prince Naka no Oe, a truly interesting state of affairs. Moving forward, the alliances would continue to solidify, though diplomatic missions would continue to travel between the various countries.  After all, they didn't exactly have many other means of communicating with each other—no email or telephones back then. Tang Gaozong would continue to attack and harass Goguryeo, though Yeon Gaesomun would continue to fend off attacks, while Baekje and Silla would continue their struggles as well.  Both Goguryeo and Baekje would ally against Silla, who in turn would call upon the might of the Tang empire.  All in all, it was a time of great conflict, generally known as the Tang-Goguryeo War, and it was a long-term conflict punctuated with times of peace in betwetween the various offensives.   Yamato was less directly involved, but still affected.  After all, they were closely aligned with Baekje, and they had to wonder what would happen if Silla came out victorious.  Would they be cut off from the continent entirely?  Or would they be forced into a new state of having to send tribute to Silla as an inferior country if they wanted access to continental goods and knowledge?  While we know how it played out, today, at the time the outcomes were far from certain. All of that will continue to provide a backdrop for the second reign of Takara Hime, aka Saimei Tennou.  A part of me wonders if this wasn't also part of the reason to move the capital back into Asuka, in the Nara Basin.  I imagine that a capital sitting on the edge of the water, relatively speaking, while good for trade and foreign relations, also felt rather exposed if anyone were to sail a fleet down the Seto Inland Sea.  Or it may have just been a return to the more familiar lands of Asuka. As conflict on the continent continued to escalate, Yamato would not be able to stay unaffected.  The question is whether or not they would be ready when and if anything came their way.  It was a tense period, certainly. And we'll get more into that as we move forward in the next episode with the second reign of Takara-hime, aka Saimei Tennou. Until then thank you for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.   Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

This is an excerpt from November 2024's Night Gardeners monthly lecture on Daoism and nondual animism that I host for premium subscribers of my Substack The Night Garden. thenightgarden.substack.com

Are you intrigued by the transformative potential of psychedelics? Do you seek to enhance your relationship with mind-altering medicines? Whether you're a novice or an experienced user, this conversation will inspire you with the profound possibilities of these substances.  Given the fact that psychedelic use is on the rise, it's more important than ever to approach these powerful substances with respect, awareness, and responsibility – and Chuchu Wang joins the podcast to point us all in the right direction… As a heartening keynote speaker, leader, and co-founder of Ceremonia, Chuchu facilitates legal psilocybin and ayahuasca retreats designed for profound personal transformation. She is an authority in the realms of consciousness, psychedelics, connection, Plant Medicine, IFS, Gestalt therapy, Qigong, Tantra, and Shamanism. She also integrates ancient spiritual wisdom such as Daoism and Buddhism into her unique approach. In this conversation, we discuss: The importance of using Ayahuasca intentionally in order to achieve transformation. How Burning Man impacted Chuchu's spiritual journey.  Why transactional relationships are so draining for human beings. What makes psychedelics such a powerful tool.  The most important value to develop for positive change.  Are you ready to begin your journey to freedom and healing? If so, embracing the power of psychedelics may be the path for you. Hit play to learn more about this intriguing realm of self-discovery! You can follow along with Chuchu and her Stewardship with Ceremonia by clicking here. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9

Momoko Uno is a doctor of integrative medicine in New York City. After many years of writing in the closet, she decided that if she could make it out of Australian hotel quarantine alive, she would take steps towards her dream of becoming a published author. At the moment of witnessing her mother's death and brushing up against her own mortality, she realized life is too short to live in fear. Throughout her stories, Momoko weaves in elements of healing from her work as a medical practitioner. Her own rich experience with shamanism, spiritual psychology and an upbringing steeped in Zen Buddhism and Anglicanism have added nuance to her world view.http://momokowrites.com/

This episode is a replay from The Existential Stoic library. Enjoy! In this episode, Danny and Randy discuss the Daodejing by Laozi. Discover why Daodejing is a book you should read and find out some of the important lessons contained within it.Subscribe to ESP's YouTube Channel! Thanks for listening!  Do you have a question you want answered in a future episode? If so, send your question to: existentialstoic@protonmail.com Danny, Randy, and their good friend, Russell, created a new podcast, CodeNoobs, for anyone interested in tech and learning how to code. Listen to CodeNoobs now online, CodeNoobs-podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hello and welcome back to the Feng Shui Flow podcast! In this episode, I explore the powerful connection between Feng Shui, Daoism, and mental wellbeing. As we transition through seasonal changes around the world (whether you're heading into summer in Australia or autumn in the UK!), I share insights on how to maintain balance and peace in your life.I discuss how the ancient wisdom of Daoism can help us manage our personal energy and find harmony in our daily lives. From understanding 'wu wei' (effortless action) to practicing mindful presence, these teachings are more relevant than ever for managing stress and anxiety.Exciting news! I'll be speaking at Mani-Fest in Newcastle (UK) on June 16th, where I'll be launching something brand new and special. Can't wait to meet many of you there!Key topics covered:How Feng Shui principles support mental wellbeingFinding balance through the yin and yang conceptThe importance of being presentAccepting what we can't controlSeasonal transitions and their impact on our wellbeingSo much love, Kimberley xxA bespoke analysis of your home to unlock the exact remedies your living space needs to support you in a life of more abundance and prosperity:https://www.thefengshuiflow.com/home-analysis-serviceWork with me 1 to 1 here!If you loved this episode don't forget to subscribe, leave a 5* review on Apple Podcasts and tag me in your stories on Instagram @thefengshuiflow! xx

Science fiction and fantasy are full of wondrous libraries containing everything from powerful artifacts to some dang good reads. How does the idealized view of libraries in speculative fiction compare with the real-life libraries, which are under attack by would-be censors and culture warriors? Also, we talk to award-winning author Ken Liu about his brand new translation of the classic Daoist text, the Dao De Jing. Shownotes and more info at https://www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

In this episode of the Third Eye Awakening podcast, I'm so excited to have Aaron French back on the show! Aaron French is a Medium, Akashic Reader, and Spiritual Guide. He has been a student of Nonduality, Classical Tantra and Daoism for over 25 years, and finds deep comfort in guiding others into the Now. Aaron first realized he was communicating with Spirits in the late 1990's, and has been expanding & grounding into the path of Mediumship since then. He now has a flourishing relationship with beings across the Astral realms and beyond, as well as powerful access to the Akashic Records. Aaron's purpose is to support each one of us as we journey towards our Highest Truth and finding the greatest Joy in being Human on this Earth. In this episode, Aaron and I chat about: -the shift in Consciousness,  relationships, and insights into these shifts -the concepts of Time, Awakening, and the expansion of the present -Wizard and Warrior archetypes -Magic and Beingness -the rise of Feminine energy and the new Masculine… and so much more! CONNECT WITH AARON @naturalheartalchemywww.naturalheartalchemy.com GET INTO AMY'S WORLD *NEW* Akashic Soul Code Readings Akashic Soul Code Activation Akashic Reader Certification FREE Weekly Tarot & Akashic Guidance⁠ - Private Podcast False Matrix Freedom

In this episode, the guys dive into the rich cultural and philosophical background of the East.  They explore the Black Myth: Wukong video game and its connections to the legendary Journey to the West, discuss the four great Daoist-Buddhist works, and take a detour into pop culture with the Dragon Ball series. They also ponder the Stoned Ape Theory's influence on human evolution, and reflect on the wisdom of Confucianism.

Ian Duncan is a Daoist Priest and spiritual alchemist.  He transmits perspectives and methods direct from Source and study in the Dao and Dzogchen, and accomplishment in Inner Alchemy.  In the Daoist tradition, he carries these lineages:  30th Generation Complete Reality Dragon Gate Secret Lineage; 2nd Generation Wu Family Lineage; 25th Generation Complete Reality Dragon Gate XuanWu Lineage.  In the Bonpo tradition, he carries these Dzogchen transmissions:  A-tri Dzogchen Transmission from His Holiness the 33rd; Zhang Zhung Oral Transmission fromn Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.  Be sure to check out his many offerings on these subjects, and links to his classes, and podcast "The Straight Hook" on his website:  https://completereality.org/ This podcast is available on your favorite podcast platform, or here:  https://endoftheroad.libsyn.com/episode-298-ian-duncan-chinese-alchemydaoismintegration-vs-merging Have a blessed week!    

This episode takes us on a beautiful journey exploring the deep connections between Buddhism, Reiki, Daoism, and Traditional Chinese Medicine. We dive into Lara's inspiring path—from her beginnings in Europe to working as a designer in NYC, and eventually immersing herself in the study of Chinese Medicine and Reiki, while embracing the practice of Buddhism. Together, we explore the essence of Yin and Yang and how energy is at the heart of our experiences, health, and balance. Tune in to hear how we can live in harmony with Qi, the life force energy that flows through our bodies, relationships, and minds  About Lara: Lara is a dedicated Zen Buddhist practitioner who blends Eastern and Western healing modalities, including Reiki, Breathwork, CranioSacral therapy, Herbology, and Holistic Health Coaching. With over a decade of experience, she helps clients achieve balance and well-being by addressing physical and emotional challenges. Since 2011, Lara has pursued Chinese Medicine in NYC, earning two Master's degrees to become a licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist. As a Reiki Master for seven years, she has trained students worldwide, offering in-person sessions in Southern California and online.  Connect with Lara:IG: laraelliott1Support the showTo connect with Kasia Join our monthly newsletter www.inflowplanner.com (use code "podcast10" for 10% off) @The_Other_Way_Podcast @InFlowPlanner Submit topic/theme/speaker requests

All wisdom traditions guide us deeper into connection with nature. Angela discusses a two-part question: What are the similarities amongst healing traditions and why are we so disconnected in the West? Learn More About: Similarities amongst Ayurveda, Daoism and Traditional Chinese Medicine Parts of Western Medicine that were once holistic The purpose and pitfall of categorizing A soulcentric perspective on moving out of consumer culture Resource mentioned: Ayurveda Encompassed: Take your understanding of Ayurveda to a new level and step into a more expansive version of yourself. Gain skills to help your clients flourish. Class starts September 16th, 2024. Free 3-Part Series on Ancient Wisdom + Modern Nuance: German New Medicine, Trauma-Informed Ayurveda and Navigating the Liminal Space Join the Simple Ayurveda newsletter Book: The Journey of Soul Initiation by Bill Plotkin

Joseph Campbell alluded to the folk religion of Japan, Shinto - which is not really a religion - as preserving a sort of unpolluted version of humanity's spiritual past. Although developing out of Buddhism and Daoism, themselves probably originating in India - minus regional cultural additions - Shinto is a Japanese practice distinctly separate from Buddhism at its core. Whereas Buddhists see the world as suffering, Shinto observers see the world as harmonious and try to work with that harmony in daily life. Many of the Shinto practices and rituals, and its background mythos, can be compared with other faith-based religions in particular and comparative mythology in general. It preserves this sort of proof that humans, no matter where they developed, and although they may use different words, are all really interacting with the same spiritual forces. In Shinto, there is no founder, holy books, heaven or hell, supreme deity, or even moral code, though such a code is baked into the practice and at the heart of water purifications. The word itself means 'Way of the Gods', obviously sharing a relationship with Buddha's Middle Way, Allah's Way, and the Way of Jesus Christ. -FREE ARCHIVE & RSS: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-secret-teachings Twitter: https://twitter.com/TST___Radio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesecretteachings WEBSITE (BOOKS, RESUBSCRIBE for early show access): http://thesecretteachings.info Paypal: rdgable@yahoo.com CashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.com

Dive into the enchanting world of Chinese mythology in this episode as we uncover the legendary Eight Immortals, or Baxian. These revered figures each have their own unique story, appearance, and powers that have captivated imaginations for centuries. From Zhongli Quan, the leader with the magical fan, to Lan Caihe, the androgynous figure with a basket of flowers, we explore the virtues and secrets that define each immortal.Learn about Lu Dongbin's wisdom, He Xiangu's compassion, Cao Guojiu's integrity, Tieguai Li's healing abilities, and the unconventional wisdom of Zhang Guolao. Discover the deeper meaning behind their quest for immortality and how their stories reflect the principles of Daoism and the quest for enlightenment.Whether you're a long-time fan of mythology or new to these tales, this episode offers a rich and detailed journey into the legends that have shaped Chinese cultural heritage. Join us to explore these timeless figures and understand their enduring influence on both ancient and modern times.Remember to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated with our latest episodes. Your support helps us continue to bring these fascinating stories to life!