Dao with Ian Felton

Chapter Six of Daodejing is brief and abstract. We explore Laozi's metaphors of the mysterious female and ways to connect with it.

Let's explore the idea of De 德, or Virtue. What purpose does virtue serve in society and who is it for? How do we cultivate virtue once we have a better understanding of what it is? We also examine our current society and whether or not our leaders have virtue.

What does it mean that Dao treats people like ceremonial dogs? How does this realization change our way of experiencing life?

How does music relate to Dao? What purpose does music serve? Where does it come from?

Chapter Four of the Daodejing is the precursor to The Three Treasures and wuwei. We explore the four central abstract concepts in this chapter and ground them in human experience.

Daoist leadership is described as containing five characteristics: being altruistic, modest, flexible, transparent, and gentle but persistent. We explore these and the challenges of being a Daoist leader in a non-Daoist world.

Chapter three of Daodejing explores how to govern to minimize chaos. We contrast Laozi's wisdom with our modern world and discuss what it might look like to return to a simpler way of living.

The world is full of chaos because of a system that has lost its way. So long as the proposed solutions can only exist within the upside-down global economic system, chaos will remain.

In chapter two of Daodejing, Laozi explains why we need to accept the wholeness of life and not cling to our narrow actions and views. We also explore the role of death anxiety and how it leads to people seeking security in dogma and cultural symbols.

Diane Dreher, PhD, author of "The Tao of Inner Peace," joins us to talk about balance, leadership, activism, virtue and Walking the Timeless Way.

We return to the beginning of Daodejing to guide our listeners through the earlier chapters. We explore the mysterious and erotic nature of Dao.

Conflict is part of the human condition. However, the sage can help mitigate conflict by a careful examination of desires. We explore organizational conflict, the conflict in Europe, and how the Metaverse may help civilization navigate our desires in a less damaging way.

The Dao of Courage requires us to be willing to let go of a lot. How can we practice courage in our lives while trying to align with Dao?

Many of us live mundane lives with a lot of routine. How do we create magic in our life?

What does Daoism say about our wants and desires? What responsibility comes with freedom? What is true humility?

Daoism can free us from dogma and labels. It can allow us to be more spontaneous and it also fosters deep human connection. We begin to explore changing our worldview to live more whole.

Society is stuck and needs to be reinvented. The future of this podcast is to explore how we can move away from bosses and politicians and move toward individuals with character.

The way of the sage is to cultivate personal virtue, not by trying to control things.

We're addicted to a way of life that stresses us out and lacks meaning. Why is this so and what are our options?

Western culture is ego-driven and individualistic. How can we align with Dao and live with more grace?

Western culture is transactional and exploitative. How can we be like water in this type of world?

The Way of Heaven gives to those without and takes from those with too much. Those in power do the opposite. What will happen?

Modern psychology built on "evidence-based" research tells us the value of being psychologically flexible. This is what Laozi explained to us in chapter 76 of Daodejing thousands of years ago.

Our spirits are crying out to return to a way of living that is aligned with our nature. We only need to wait for the current system to die.

People go to great lengths to control death but they backfire in the long run. We can listen to Laozi to better live with nature and death.