Power for the Peaceful: A Course in Tao

Teaser 2: Technicolor Dreamcoat of Religion

Teaser 2 for Technicolor Dreamcoat of Religion - How Religion Gets Made For his next podclass, Marc Mullinax teams up with Chandler Schroeder to bring you a series of po

Verse 81: “Your Table is Ready”

Tao is another way of living, of thinking, of walking, ofwondering. It’s not new, for It’s always been with us. It’s “another” Way. In this last verse of the 81 verses of

Verse 80: "What we Need is Here"

Verse 80 is so counter-intuitive and counter-cultural today. Why travel, when ALL one needs is where one already is. It’s called “home.” While we can be like turtles or

Verse 79: "Keeping Faith, Not Score"

Verse 79 is TTC’s main place where Lao Tzu frames “score-keeping” with “faith-keeping”. So in this verse we look at the various ways we injure ourselves (and our futures)

Verse 78: "What are you thirsty for?"

Today’s episode was recorded outside in Fairview, NC, where the 17-year locusts are partying hard in the background. Verse 78 contains the third of only three instances o

Verse 77: "The Tao of Robin Hood"

Verse 77 this time. I call it ‘The Tao of Robin Hood,’ who was an equalizer of his (mythical) day, like Tao is all the time. In its yin-yang algorithm, ‘just enough’ is g

Verse 76: "Bending, not Breaking"

As we near the end of Tao te Ching’s 81 verses, we see Lao Tzu revisit some high themes we’ve seen before. Today’s verse 76treats how our grounding and rootage in the Way

Verse 75: "Sacred Slack"

Verse 75 recapitulates some themes we havealready seen in Tao Te Ching. Today we focus on how these themes are not Lao Tzu’s alone, but have wide and universal appreciati

Verse 74: "Spiritual Rope Burn"

As we near the end of Tao te Ching’s 81 verses, we see Lao Tzu revisit some high themes we’ve seen before. Today’s verse 74 treats how our prior grounding and rootage in

Verse 73: "The Great Maybe"

Verse 73 has a unique take and message for us looking for patterns in the universe to support our penchants for assigning “good” and “bad”, or “right” and “wrong” in adva

Verse 72: "CTRL-ALT-DEL"

Verse 72 has been translated several ways through the centuries. We look at these differing translations, and then focus on the power of fear to dampen our experience of

Verse 71: “Pretending to Know”

Strongly-worded verse this time! Lao Tzu teaches about the subtle conspiracies of ignorance to dumb us down, weigh us down, & bring us down. But who anymore thinks of ign

Verse 70: "Hiding in Plain Sight"

What’sthe difference between knowing something, and understanding it? Maybe to know something is a mark of achievement and pride we saturate with our words, while to *und

Verse 69: “Befriending the Enemy Within"

Today, Verse 69. The centerpiece of today’s verse is captured in a story I tell about being in the presence of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It’s a story that anyone

Verse 68: "Heaven? Or Hell?"

: This verse 68 is a work-out from verse 67’s three treasures: unconditional mercy, simplicity of wants, and humility. A personoperating from this strong triad of foundat

Teaser for Podclass: Technicolor Dreamcoat of Religion

Subscribe for the episodes when they come out at Please subscribe!! Stay in touch by pressing “Subscribe” at “The Technicolor Dreamcoat of Religion” where you can subsc

Verse 67: "Simple Gifts"

Chandler Schroeder returns as my associate today to help us figure out how the triple treasures of kindness, simplicity, and humility are part of our very being, or as Ok

Verse 66: "Upside-Down Leadership"

Leadership, whether in nations, schools and homes today is usually of a style that preaches, however subtly, “You need me to save, teach or parent you.” But the truth is

Verse 65: "Return to Wisdom"

What a treat this time! I have a local Taoist Reading Club joining me for Verse 65, a community within this magical Christian church in Asheville called “House of Mercy”.

Verse 64: How Things Begin, Pt. 2

Today’s verse 64 we return to consider how things begin, and how we can understand wisely how to (i) let them begin and then grow without my meddling, and (ii) how to liv