Taoism Explained

“Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.”

“A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”

These wise phrases, which you've no doubt heard before are over 2000 years old. They come from Laozi's Daodejing. What many consider to be the founding document of Daoism. This organised religious tradition is known for it's care for nature, peace, and going with the flow.

But what exactly is Daoism? What do Yin, Yang, and Qi mean, and what does it have to do with Obi-Wan Kenobi? Well Let’s Find Out.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE TO MY PATREON PLEASE SEE HERE.

Check Out Nebula, a streaming service made by and for educational creators.

Follow me on twitter

Or Reddit r/cogitoedu

Or Facebook @CogitoYT

MERCHANDISE

Sources:
Lindsay Jones - Encyclopedia of religion. Volume 14

These might look funny but this really is a great intros to Daoism

All images are taken from Creative Commons or used in accordance with fair use. If one of your images has been used and I have forgotten to attribute please contact me by email or on twitter I will instantly resolve that.

#Daoism #Taoism #Laotzu

[CogitoEdu]

What do you think of Daoism? What religion do you want us to cover next? Let us know!

[fratercontenduntocculta]

I love how Asian religions have a unique detachment from human centerdness and present the universe as it appears, harsh yet beautiful.

[slappy]

Everybody asks "what is the dao", but nobody asks "how is the dao".

[A.Oudit_]

Yao Fu does not write Youtube comments merely for fun. He writes them to appease the great algorithm god of Monetization. Yao Fu does not write Youtube comments merely for fun.

[_]

The very FIRST chapter of Dao De Jing teaches us that if a "concept" can be fully explained by only words, it is no deep concept. A deep concept can only be feeled, words are not powerful enough, so if you really want to know what Dao is, go read Dao De Jing. It teaches you the way of feeling "Dao" but not what "Dao" is, because no one can teach you what "Dao" is but yourself.

[MediumDSpeaks]

As someone who lived in a Daoist community for a year (in the US and with a lot of Zen influence as well) this shit is VERY accurate. Good to see something personally related to me again to be able to verify what I always have known: Cogito is that truth

[Trimethylpurinedione]

As an Indian who studies indian philosophy this is alot like a mixture of advaitya vedanta, madhyamaka and jainsim fused . I can now very much understand why daoism and Buddhism go so hand to hand and plan to study daoism after I finish being well versed in the philopshy of Bharat

[sakalam]

Dear cogito
My mothertongue is Tamil and I am from India. You started this video with 'those who know....'
I was taken aback as we have exact same saying in Tamil "Kandavar vindilar, vindavar kandilar"
Wow wow

[relaxedandhappy]

I grew up surrounded by Christianity, Islam and Judaism and could not identify with them at all, so I lived an agnostic life.
Then I learned about Baha'i and thought "how great, there is actually a peaceful, feminist and tolerant monotheist religion!"
Then I found Jainism: "omg, so much better! How incredibly peaceful!"
Then Sikhism: "Wow, this is even better, what an awesome religion!"
Then I watched your video about Daoism and now I'm totally mind blown. I don't even know what to say.
So glad I found this.

[sungodnika]

Only an idiot could explain it




*"LET ME EXPLAIN IT"*
That was hilarious

[dastlangzai]

I only realized now that the word Dao or "Do" in Cantonese is the reason so many Eastern martial arts end in the word "Do".
Jeet Kune do (Way of the intercepting fist)
Tae Kwan do (Way of the Fist and Foot)
Judo (Gentle Way)
Aikido (Way of Peace and harmony)
Karate-do (Way of the Empty Hand)
Tang-soo-do (Way of the Tang Hand)

[pzhikcloethaegeslikhrethyi]

0:00 Intro
0:53 Etymology
1:34 History
2:37 The Dao
5:52 Wu Wei
7:47 Texts
11:07 Yin & Yang
12:02 Qi
14:06 Gods and Goddesses

[puneetmishra]

There is a concept of SHUNYA in Hindu philosophies, literally meaning zero. But it actually means that which is not. Many Indian philosophies including Buddhism say that universe originated from this 'nothingness' which exists without being in existence. All eastern philosophies have many common grounds.

[bestwitch]

As someone who likes to understand beliefs well, I really appreciate how well and respectful you present different beliefs, the people in the comments are always saying how accurate these videos are which is good to hear

[eman]

Being drunk is a great way to feel the Dao, you lose yourself to experience a world without control

[normalhumanperson]

I personally follow the philosophical sect of Daoism and not the religious path and I've been greatly helped by it. It has helped me be true to myself and not to force things as well as avoiding confrontation (which is something that comes naturally to me). There are many great benefits to Daoism and I'd recommend taking a look at the dao de jing if you have any interest in the philosophy/religion.

[biocapsule]

There's actually 1 simple concept to describe Yin and Yang in English. 'Contrast', it's the way human view the universe. Since we are human, we can only understand it the human way. We almost always take 2 contrasting point and measure everything in between. Hot or cold, and everything in between. Hard or soft, we form our judgement from 2 contrasting points, softer then something, harder then something. What those points of contrast are, changes with contexts. What are we trying to make sense of at any moment.

Also you use the name Zhong Kui twice in the 3 deity picture, only the first is Zhong Kui, the last one for examination is likely Confucius. Since Chinese imperial examination is about studying works organized by Confucius scholars, and he is most associated with teaching. He is as close to what Chinese/taoist folk religion has to a god of education.

[ignatiusqi]

"the wonton of chaos" is a funny way to express it.
the Chinese word "wonton (馄饨)" is cognate with that of "chaos (混沌)", presumably due to the fact that it is completely wrapped up by its skin and people cannot see anything inside clearly. that is also the reason why sometimes 馄饨 is automatically translated as "chaos".

[shashishekharsingh]

With the amount of work you put behind these videos you deserve far more appreciation than you are getting right now. And you will get it. It can take some time but you will.

[nickieshuodebuhao]

The great Dao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right. It loves and nourishes all things but does not lord it over them. And when merits are accomplished it lays no claim - Lao Tzu ( heard in A. Watts lecture)