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[Music]
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I'm living in a Tai Chi School in the
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Wudang mountains which is the heart of
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Taoism in China and my teacher is master
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gu who's a Taoist Tai Chi master so
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sometimes in the afternoons we talk
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about Taoism so hence this series Taoism
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is an ancient Chinese philosophy and
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religion dating back two thousand five
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hundred years to the writing of the Dao
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de Jing by Lao Tzu you can think about
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it as the Bible four thousand now the
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main thrust of thousand is to follow the
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Dow or the path or way
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welcome to with our Mountain sacred and
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enough of Taoism if you observe the
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Chinese counter Dao the first of three
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strokes that's yin and the yang yin that
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represents vahini imbalance then foo
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which means oneself that means thou is
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not far from you
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Tao is within you the last part is so
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true which means to go to move to act
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this is a pretty powerful idea we don't
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have to rely on an external God through
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our own actions we can find balance now
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the obvious question is great tell me
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what is this way but the Dao doesn't
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refer to a thing instead it's the
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underlying order that governs the
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universe so defining it as a fruitless
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exercise what is instead is important is
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to be sensitive to how the universe
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works and then try and live in harmony
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with it that is what is meant by
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following the Dao and Taoist teachings
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have many guidelines on how to do so
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I've been reading the tale tapu which
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argues the children's character Winnie
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the Pooh is in fact a Taoist it's a
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really fun way of getting into the
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Taoist teachings and if you ever read
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Winnie the Pooh when you're younger
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check out the books again I did it
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recently it's a real nostalgia trip in
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it is a nice story that illustrates what
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it means to be a Taoist around a large
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pot of vinegar crowd three men these on
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any ordinary men in fact there were
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three founders of the
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great Asian philosophies Confucius
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Buddha and Lao Tzu each takes a taste of
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the vinegar and for Confucius it was
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sour the world was full of degenerate
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people and corruption and the world was
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out of step with the way of heaven as a
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result the world was sour what was
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needed was rules and rituals in order to
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retain order butter then tasted the
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vinegar and he had a bitter expression
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for life was bitter because man's wants
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and desires led to mass suffering and
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happiness could only be found in leaving
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this world and entering nirvana full out
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so however he had a smile in his face
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Firdaus bitterness and sourness only
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come from the unappreciative and
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inattentive mind
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I asked master gu how it could be
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possible Lao Tzu could keep him smiling
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when tasting this horrible vinegar human
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being come from nature we must have
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follow the nature's path nature itself
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there's nothing about a sour Oh Peter
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in the nature the cosmos there is its
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own natural rhythm path never to be too
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fast not too slow there is you know he
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has its recently its pace we human being
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also must have find finding it
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recognizing it and authorities have
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anyway so only you depend on you
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urban attitude to life as a saying goes
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if you froze life is like a mirror you
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froze the mirror froze at you you smile
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the mirror smiles at you that is alive a
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typical day is never rich yes in their
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sense because they are mixed with the
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whole universe the whole universe is
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boundaries so that's why they are very
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concerned about alive and the wear smile
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wouldn't that be awesome to be able to
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keep on smiling when life sometimes
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turns sour
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that's the prospect that Taoist
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philosophy officers it's a set of
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guidelines for living a contented and
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happy life as many of you will know I
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started this YouTube channel after
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finishing University I found the time
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quite difficult I found my my mood to be
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variable and my brain was just
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overactive so if you're like me and your
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brain is just a little bit too active or
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if you've had depression or anxiety or
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if you're like anyone and you just want
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to live a contented life then my role in
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these videos is to see how we can apply
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Taoist philosophy to our own lives I
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don't want this to be me boring you each
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week I'd love this to be a two-way
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dialogue where you guys tell me what you
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think about the concepts as well as if
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you have any questions or issues that
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are personally bothering you master GUI
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and I can see if Taoist philosophy can
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help you if you prefer to keep that
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private then of course you can message
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me on Instagram or Facebook but also be
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awesome to start a YouTube discussion as
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well
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because then you guys can help each
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other out Master Gao embodies what it
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means to be a Taoist he's a joyous man
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he loves and smiles a lot
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I'm an artist and in cloth and despite
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being 50 plus he's full of energy
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[Music]
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so I'm excited to be able to share with
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you some of the teachings that are in
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part responsible for these wonderful
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qualities and the first question for
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this week is what your knowledge or
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impressions of Taoism is today do you
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guys know anything about it I'm also
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starting from almost zero so it's going
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to be a learning experience for both of
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us okay
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that's it guys thanks for watching
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[Music]