“How Things Mean” - Live Lecture From Maastricht, The Netherlands - 4.30 26

I realized that perhaps more helpful than comparing Taoism withing the context of Mohism, Legalism and Confucianism would be to compare it to Calvinism. Calvinism, derived from Platonism, is THE domin...

14 Aug 46min

A lot of the narrative around our struggles with the modern world focuses on individual responsibility. However, the rates of stress, sleep troubles, prescription drug use, depression and more all poi...

10 Aug 46min

Two tales from Chuang Tzu emphasize how we consistently pay too much attention to Language rather than Experience and hence stay confused. By emphasizing the importance of the individual and experienc...

7 Aug 40min

As one cultivates a sense of the human it is difficult to not notice how inhuman much of the world is. Our encounters with people and the environment around us will be a constant reminder and challeng...

3 Aug 51min

Besides a cultural bias towards action, we also have a strong drive towards suffering, overcoming, grit, drive etc. in pursuit of external goals. Taoism argues this is exactly the wrong approach. Acti...

31 Juli 43min

The bankruptcy of Thames water represents a pattern in infrastructure failures that are increasing and will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. The question is when, and perhaps if, elect...

29 Juli 40min

Lin-Yutang, Henry James and Herman Hesse all agree that kindness is perhaps the central value for any civilization. Obviously, our current dominant culture has little or no place for kindness as a goa...

27 Juli 52min

If you reject laws, codes, rituals, and words as guides to organizing life and society, what is left? Nature! To understand the Taoist emphasis on Nature it is important to understand that it is offer...

24 Juli 42min