hi I'm Andy

Today we'll learn Laozi's thinking together

the good virtue is not showing off his virtue

that is considered being with virtue

the bad virtue

is showing off his virtue

that is considered being without virtue

the good virtue do not need to prove his virtue

so

he seemed to do nothing

the bad virtues always try to prove his virtue

so he is busy doing everything

the behavior of benovalence is come out from heart

but not in the name of virtue

the behavior of morality is made in the name of virtue

if the behavior of an etiquette is not

response by other people

they would roll up the sleeves

and the force you carried it out

so when people lost the Dao

they would hold the virtue

when they lost the virtue

they would hold the benovance

when lost benevolence

they would hold morality

after lost morality

they would hold the etiquette

the etiquette is a lack of loyalty and belief

that is the cause of chaos

those things we know previously

is the superficial vanity of Dao

that is the beginning of the foolishness

so the true gentleman should hold the sincerity

but not the surface

hold honesty but not vanity

so we should get rid of a superficial vanity

and hold sincere honesty

okay

good virtue don't show off is virtue

do you think a real wealthy man

should show off his wealth

Bill Gates or Elon Musk

they need to show off his wealth

his money to people

to prove he is wealthy

it's not necessary

so the poor people

they would show off they have money

so the real one don't need to prove

Donald Trump said make America great again

that means America is not great right now

in China we used to say that

we want to build a harmonious society

that means the society now is not harmonious

so the Dao belongs to heaven

but benevolence

morality etiquette those belong to people human being

why the world the society is deteriorating

because we lost the Dao, the Great Dao

it reminds me in the Bible

when Adam and Eva sinned

they were driven out from the Garden of Eden

human beings sinned

they lost the Dao

Confucius is always emphasized on rite

etiquette and music

but why Laozi said it (rite) is the cause of chaos

he said

the etiquette, the ceremony, the rite

if they will not respond and people will

roll up sleeves and force you carried it out

then I will tell you a real story

in 1793

the King of England sent George Macartney as envoy

to celebrate the Emperor Qianlong's

birthday in china

so he traveled all the way

and brought a lot of precious gifts

those gifts were the latest

technology of the Industrial Revolution

but they got an issue

before the emperor

received George Mckinney

because the Emperor of China is the Son of Heaven

so everybody should kneeled down and kowtow to the Emperor

but in the West

they only kneel down with one knee

we don't know the truth if Macartney really

kneeled down kowtow to the Emperor

or he used the western courtesy

but one thing is for sure

both the Emperor of China

and George Macartney were not happy

so when the etiquette was not respond

other people almost force him

to carry out the kowtow in China

that is what exactly Laozi said

in 2,500 years ago in China

so since that time

China was declining

in 1860

the Opium War broke out

that was the beginning of chaos

that's the reason why

we should give up the superficial vanity and hold the

sincere honesty

okay see you next time bye bye

hi I'm Andy

Today we'll learn Laozi's thinking together

today I will use the traditional Chinese tune to

read English

it's maybe a little bit weird

such a thing as Dao

is a trance and blur

trance and blur

there's an image

blur as trance

there's an object

deep and dark

there is an spirit

the spirit is real

there is a belief

since ancient until today

his name never gone

he observe all the creatures

how could I know the status of all the creatures

it's depend on the Dao

okay

the virtue is decided by Dao

Dao is higher than virtue

Dao is like the soul

and virtue is like the body

if the virtue follows the Dao completely 100%

that virtue is up virtue

if only partial follow the Dao

that's called down virtue

but still virtue

it's like in school exams

you got a 100 score

that's perfect

but if you get 70 60

that's okay or maybe

even got 10 15

that's still okay

because you try your best

the Dao is a chance and blur

but it seemed there's an image

and there's object

great Dao is imageless

but it raise all the creatures

when Laozi practiced the Dao

or seeking the Dao

and he said

there's a spirit in a Dao

and that is real

and you can believe it

so that means

if you followed him practice the Dao and

you will find the truth

and you will believe it

so that was 2,500 years ago

but later in China

about 1,800 years ago

people make the Dao thinking as a religion

the Daoism

so when they practiced the Dao

they entered a bottleneck

and they can't go further

and they will find something else to help

like the Daoist priest use incense burner

they will make the pills

to help them

they use chemicals minerals

such like lead

mercury

or charcoal

sulfur

so Chinese people invented gunpowder

I'm serious

the gunpowder was invented by Daoist priest

they want to use the pills to

help them get over the bottleneck

in the whole history of China

we have many emperors

they died of addicted to the pills

because the pills are poisonous

okay see you next time bye bye

hi i'm Andy

today

we'll learn Laozi's

philosophy together

Dao give birth to all the creatures

and virtue

breed all the creatures

all the creatures present various forms

the environment makes all the creatures grow up

so all the creatures

no one doesn't respect Dao

and value the virtue

the reason

why Dao was respected and the virtue was valued

is because

the Dao didn't interfere the growth of the all the creatures

and let them follow the nature

so Dao

give birth to all the creatures and virtue breeding all creatures

they make all creatures grow

and make all creatures mature

and bare fruit they raise up all the creatures

and give them protection

Dao produced all the creatures

but don't claim the possession of them

Dao raise all the creatures

but don't boast his achievements

Dao guide all the creatures

but don't be their master

this is the mysterious and profound virtue

okay

all the creatures could grow up and develop

is because they follow the natural rules

that is Laozi's the Great Dao

after the birth of all thecreatures

who would breed them

that's virtue

so in China virtue is 德

so 道德 Dao and virtue

it means moral

so

Dao give us life

and virtue

raise us

they're just like our father and mother

how could we do not respect our father and mother

so respect down the value

the virtue is nature

it's a human nature

in Chinese

the word of virtue 德

originally means "gain, get"

later it

means "virtual, quality"

the Dao give birth to all the creatures

but do not possess them

he breed all the creatures

but do not boast his achievements

he just guide all the creatures

but do not interfere them

he do not boast to be the master of all the creatures

he was so unselfish

but our human being everything we do

we want a reward or result

like i'm being Youtuber

I want more people to see my video

and to understand the Chinese culture

and I get monetized

but if you make a great effort

you cannot achieve it

and you feel very frustrated

and you will hated the algorithm

that's my desire

cause I have sIIo many desire

those desire become the burden

I have to carry them

but it's really hard to

get rid of the desire for a human being

so I have to follow the Dao

see you next time bye bye

hi I'm Andy

Today we'll learn Laozi's thinking together

the up man heard the Dao

he followed the Dao diligently

the middle man heard the Dao

he's half believed the Dao

the down man heard the Dao

he laughed at the Dao

if the Dao was not laughed

it's not enough to become Dao

so the ancient saying said

the Dao is bright

but it seemed dim

the Dao is a forward

but it seemed backward

the Dao is flat but it seemed bumpy

the noble virtue seemed hollow

the vast virtue seemed insufficient

the strong virtue seemed lazy

the pure virtue seemed stained

the most white thing seemed black

the most square thing seemed no corners

the greatest vassal seemed unfinished

the greatest sound

seemed soundless

the greatest image seemed imageless

Dao is hiding and without a name

but the Dao supplied all the creatures

and give them a good beginning and good end

so the Dao is so great

it's beyond my understanding

so I hope you can understand

see you next time bye bye

hi I'm Andy

Today we'll learn Laozi's thinking together

Dao is always a no name

even it's simple

it seemed small

but Dao didn't yield to anything in the world

if the king the Prince could hold the Dao

and everything was subject to them

the heaven and earth worked together

to fall the sweet dew

the people didn't ask for it but it fall down evenly

since we gave Dao a name

Dao got a name

but Dao know to stop

knowing stop would never feel tired

just like the Dao running the world

just like the river across the valley

and stopped at the sea

the air in the heaven and earth

made the rain and rain fall on the ground evenly

that reminds me of in the Bible

he sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous

and the Dao

he know to stop but it doesn't mean

the Dao has a limitation

he know what he liked to do

and what he did not like to do

the water running all the way across the valley

to the sea before he reached the sea

it's called river

after the water reached the sea

it's called sea

the same water but we give them different name

so the water stopped at the Gulf

and he know

the water know where to stop

so the river would never feel tired it keep running

as a human being we don't know our limitation

we want to explore the whole universe

we send people to the moon

and we want to send people to the Mars

you won't know the secret of the universe

people also built the Tower of Babel

because people have desire

they don't know stop

like being a Youtuber

you want everybody see a video

and that means you don't know your limit

you don't know stop

so you will feel tired

okay I'm Andy

see you next time bye bye

hi i'm Andy

today we'll learn Laozi's thinking together

Dao is always doing nothin

but there isn't anything he didn't do

if the king and princes

they could hold the Dao

and all the creatures will evolve by themselves

during their involvement

they will have a desire

I will suppress them with undefined simple rules

after suppressed by the undefined simple rules

all the creatures will become no desire

without desire

they will be quiet

the whole world will be stable

okay

it seemed the human being

we domained this world

Dao didn't do anything but actually

everything we did is the result of a Dao

it doesn't mean we follow the Dao

sometimes we did things against the Dao

but the Dao allowed it happen

if every king of a country president or a ceo of a company could hold the Dao

and everybody will find its own place they will evolve by their own

and they will do the right thing however

during the involvement

everybody will have a desire

every country have their own interest

so they will be unstable

but you can suppress the desire with undefined simple rules

in English

there's words "you name it"

so the Dao is you can't name it

so it's undefined simple rules

without desire there will be universal peace

but is it desire is the motivate of development

China is an ancient country

we created splendid civilization in the world

but since the Opium War

China lose the war

the western civilization beat our ancient oriental civilization

because in ancient China

the agricultural country

man is farming in the fields

women's weaving fabric at home

that's we called男耕女织

that's the ideal society in ancient China

so we keep it for thousands years

because no desire

even we have some achievements in science and technology

but the whole China was runned in the feudal system

it doesn't matter

if it's Mongolian or Manchurian or Han people

rule China is all the same system

in China

we followed no desire

but when we have conflict with the west

we lose the war

so people will reconsider our culture

if that's the problem

in Laozi's thinking

it will be universal peace if there's no desire

but how could a human being don't have a desire

this is against human nature

so personally

i think if you can control your desire

you are a gentleman

you are a good guy

see you next time bye bye

hi i'm Andy

today we'll learn Laozi's thinking together

in his book

it's written

all the people under heaven

said that the Dao

I mentioned is big, enormous

it doesn't look like anything

it's just because it's enormous

so it doesn't look like anything

if the Dao looks exactly like something

it would not matters long ago

I possessed three treasures

which had been treasured for a long time

the first one is called mercy

the second one is called thrifty

the third one is called do not there be the first one

because of mercy

so I could be brave

because thrifty

so I can be abundant

because I do not dare

to become the first one under heaven

so I could be the leader

of all the creatures under heaven

people today abandoned mercy and seek for bravery

they abandoned thrifty

and seeking for abandance

they abandoned last

and seeking for first

they are going to doom

in this paragraph

I just want to mention one point

in our Chinese culture

in China we have saying

枪打出头鸟

the gun shoot the leading bird

and another saying the

rafter beyond

the roof would be rotten first

so being first is very risky

this is like a research and development

you put a huge amount of money for research

maybe the product will be successful

or maybe maybe

it's a failure you waste

a lot of money

so i think Laozi's philosophy

really influenced the Chinese people and Chinese culture

so even today

you see China

they copy a lot of the technology and product from the West

because the ancient

Chinese civilization is based on agriculture

so Chinese people settle down farming

this is quite different with the marine civilization

so Chinese people are not very aggressive

they don't want to be the first

they want to follow other people and learn from them

it written

that mercy if you use the mercy to fight

and you will win

if you use the mercy to guard

you could guard steadily

if the heaven want to save a country

all the people have used mercy to cooperate

with the heaven to protect the country

this words emphasize the importance of mercy

so be mercy you could have a virtue

the virtue is the key for ruling

because in ancient China

every dynasty collapse

it doesn't matter it's peasant uprising or defeated by nomadics

it's all because they lose their virtues

the God of Heaven want to get rid of them

replace them with a new ruler

who have virtues

and show their benevolence and mercy to the people

okay

see you next time bye bye

hi I'm Andy

Today we'll learn Laozi's thinking together

Dao is the mystery of all the creatures

Dao is the treasure of the good people

and Dao is also the shelter of the bad people

okay

treasure for good people we can understand

but why is that Dao is a shelter for the bad people

it reminds me of the Bible

there's a city of refuge

so the Dao is also a Protection for people

and it continued

the good words could be sold for a good price

good deed could add the value of a person

that teachers speak good words and do good things

be a good person

it continued

the bad things of people

how could we abandon it

okay this is a really hard to understand

if a person is bad

why didn't we abandon him

we should abandon him because he is bad is evil

but if we looking back

the Dao is a shelter of the bad guys

if you follow the Dao we should not abandon

the bad people

so set up the king

the princes the dukes

and also with the round Jade plate

and many horses and chariots

cannot compare with the Dao

which I kneeled down to present

so that means

it doesn't matter how high is your social statue

or how rich you are

can not compare with the Dao

Dao is so precious

and it continued

why the Dao is so precious

valuable since ancient times

it's not because you can achieve your goal with the Dao

if you follow the Dao and you sinned you would be spared

that's why

the Dao is so valuable and precious in the world

okay if you follow the Dao we can achieve our goals

and if we did something wrong we will be forgiven

so personally I think the Dao is the salvation

okay see you next time bye bye

hi I'm Andy, Today we'll learn Laozi's thinking together

in the book is written

Dao becomes one

one becomes two, two becomes three

three becomes all the creatures, everything

okay the Dao is the ultimate Dao

it becomes one,one that means Taiji, supreme

you know the Chinese Taiji boxing huh

one becomes two

the Taiji becomes

Yin and Yang

the Taiji's logo is one black fish and one white fish

and also that two means

heaven and earth

because everything have Yin and Yang

and two becomes three

the heaven and earth they give birth to

many things, two become three

three in ancient China it means many

so the two, the Yin and Yang, the heaven earth

they gave birth to many things

like human being, animals

insects, birds, fish

plants, and three becomes all creatures

the many different creatures evolved to all kinds of

living creatures

it continued

all the living creatures

back to the Yin and holding the Yang

冲 chong air keep the balance

so all the living creatures is backing

back to and carry the Yin

and facing holding the Yang

so Chong air that is

the one

it's like before the Big Bang, that is the power

create universe

when the light air

become heaven going up

and the (heavy) Yin air become earth going down

when there's status keep them balanced

there's a power

the air is called a Chong air

so the Chong air keep the Yin air and Yang air

balance make a harmony. it continued

what people hate

is being lonely

orphan, widow

and not being good. this is what the kings

princes and dukes call themselves

okay and people always hate to be lonely

and especially when the kids

without parents become orphan or a woman

her husband died become widow

that's what people don't want to be and

not be good that's what people hate

people want to be good

but in ancient China the kings and princes and

dukes they always call himself

alone, 孤or（widow）寡

the orphan and widow

we considered lonely the only one

so ancient China

the kings and princes and the dukes call themselves

the only one

so that's in one way remind them

to have good virtue in case

become the only one left

cause nobody will support you or nobody love you

it continued

so in the world all the creatures sometimes

it becomes less is good for them or

it becomes more and is bad for them

so how do we understand these

and I think

what is become less is good for you

pain

no pain is good for you

and what becomes more is good for you money

yeah if more money is good

but sometimes

if got less money

you lose your money

maybe it's good for you

sometimes money is also a cause of problem

it's like in China before the real estate booming

and everybody live in the

quadrangle or bungalow

and people are poor

but we have a

good relationship with our neighbors or with our

family members

but when the real estate was hot

and developers start to buy more land from the people

and they give you compensation they give you money

millions of Yuan

and several unit apartment

and in one family

because this money they didn't split even

so some people think they should take more and

or sometimes

their children take away the money and apartment

they don't take away parents

so before people have money

everybody's happy

it's a harmony

but the money cause a problem people have the money

but they lost love

okay it continued, what the ancients told us

and I will teach you

the one who uses violence will die in violence

and I will make these words as a motto

okay how to understand these words

it reminds me in the Bible

put your sword back in this place

Jesus said to him

for all who draw the sword will die by the sword

I think it's the same way

Laozi make that words as a motto

okay see you next time bye bye

hi I'm Andy

Today we'll learn Laozi's philosophy together

it written

reverse is the motion of the Dao

when he moves to the furthest point

he will return back

it's like a circle

it's like the orbit of the planet

the sun the moon or it's like the four season changed

it go and you come back

it continued

the weak

it says a function

it means

the Dao looks like weak because we don't see the Dao

so maybe we think he is weak

all the creatures under heaven came from being named

being named came from no name

this is like if a chicken or horse born

we know it's called chicken or horse

but before they got a name

they don't have a name

I don't know how to translate

but it's like

before the existence is nonexistence

okay see you next time bye bye

hi I'm Andy Today we'll learn Laozi's philosophy

in the book it written

the Big Dao is flowing in the world

it can go left or right on its own will

all the creatures lived on the Dao

but the Dao never refused

he made these achievements

but do not let people know his name

he supplied all the creatures

but not supposed to be their master

Dao is always unselfish

so you can call him small

and all the creatures subjected to Dao

you can call him big

after all the Dao didn't boast to be big

so he was big

it's so interesting

this is quite different from the Bible

in the Bible God said I'm alpha, I'm Omega

but in Laozi's theory, the Dao is like Mother Nature

he didn't have any personality

so it's like

the Dao is always

behind the curtain

he always step back

in Chinese we called 虚， hollow

step back

so personally I think laozi was seeking the truth

seeking for God

but God never talked to Laozi

okay see you next time bye bye

hi I'm Andy

Today we'll learn Laozi's of philosophy together

in his book it written

watching but not see is called 夷

listening but not hear is called 希

holding but not catch is called 微

okay and

what's watching but not see

it's air

listening but not hear

is that a different frequency of the sound

holding but not catch

is the water so he continued "these three things

you can't keep asking questions

because you don't get the answer

so this Dao was considered a whole

on the top of the Dao is not bright

and the bottom is not dark

it's continued and keep going

you can't name it but after all it come back to nothing

it's a shape of a shapeless

its image is nothing

it's called trance

you face it you can't see his head and you follow it

you can't see his back

so Dao is so mysterious

we can't understand Dao with our human sense

so Dao is beyond our knowledge

Dao is beyond our sense

and it continued

if you hold the ancient Dao before the

beginning of the world

and you could manage today's world

if one person

could understand the Dao of the beginning of the world

then he understood the ultimate spirit of the Dao

okay see you next time bye bye

hi I'm Andy Today we'll talk about Laozi's philosophy

in his book

the Dow is half full and can never be used up

this is hard

to understand

because we can't find this stuff in our world

it's just like

our human being

if we do something with our full strength

and soon will be worn out

but the Dao he never uses 100% strength

just 50%

but his strength never be used up

it continued

it's like the water flew out from the spring

it's the ancestor of all the creatures

so I think a Dao

is a power

it continued

it's clear and transparent

it seemed that it really exists

we don't know whose child is it

but he was born earlier than the God of Heaven

okay so Laozi lived in 2,500 years ago in China

and about 3,000 years ago in the Shang Dynasty

the Shang peoples really believed in

god ghost and ancestors

so they worshiped them a lot

but Laozi

he thought

the Dao

was earlier than the God of Heaven

the book lasted for thousands of years

so it's written in ancient Chinese

it's really hard to understand

sometimes it's so weird

and there's a

few words it seems irrelevant to the content

but I will explain to you with a story

it written

polish the sharpness

mediate the struggles

dim it's brightness

and work together

so

I'll use my understanding

since the pandemic

I start to listen to a Chinese storytelling

they use a musical instrument and tell the story

but it was in the Shanghai dialect

Suzhou dialect

so people from north like me

we could not understand

but I watch a subtitle because the story is interesting

there's a young man

he and his wife is the performer

it's like the Peking Opera is dying art

young people not interested

only the older generation would watch it

this young man publishes video on the Chinese YouTube

but his performance his skill is just so so

so some other performers

don't like him

so he didn't have a good relationship with other

performers

but he keep posting his videos

the social media made him famous

so he was also invited by the CCTV

China Central Television for a show

so maybe other performance was jealous about him

untill one day he post a video on another channel

he said for last five years

all his video was gone and his

channel was unregistered

his channel was cancelled

he don't know who did it

but he said maybe is other

performers

okay

back to the words

polish the sharpness

because he was

too showing off

he was not the

best performers

but he was the one

use social media

to promote that kind of art

I mean this is good

but he have troubles with his other

friends or

colleagues

he's too shining

okay Polish sharpness mediate

mediate the struggles

dim its brightness

work together

if we want to do something

you have to polish your sharpness

just in case you hurt other people with a sharp angle

settle the trouble with your friends

and dim your brightness

because your light will hurt other people's eyes

and you make yourself not too shiny

and blend with other people

then you can work together

do something

okay I'm Andy

see you next time bye bye

hi I'm Andy Today we'll talk about Laozi's philosophy in his book it written you can explain the Dow with the words but that's not the constant Dao you can name his name but that's not the constant name of the Dao okay how to understand these words and that means our human being our language is limited and our ability is limited

chapter 1, the begainning of the world, Dao is the mother of all the creatures, there is 4 kind of Dao, the order of the Dao,

In ancient China, there were many gods, God of City was the protector of a city. One scholar passed the exam and became the God of City after he die. But he came back to life for a mission to...