Tao Te Now - Chapter 9

Simple Is Not the Same as Convenient: Why We’ll Need Taoism in 2027Streaming services, cloud storage, sleep trackers, meal kits and password managers all promised to make life easier. So why do so many of us feel more crowded and more tired than ever? In this episode of The Modern Taoist, Kit Mann looks at the difference between simple and convenient, and why that difference will shape the years ahead.Kit draws on the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi to make a pro-human case for balance in an age of AI, apps and endless updates. He covers pu, the uncarved block; Zhuangzi’s gardener and his warning about the “machine heart”; Chapter 38’s call to “dwell in reality”; and Chapter 77’s picture of the Tao as a bow that brings excess back into balance. Along the way he talks about connection to yourself, to nature, to other people and to real life, and why boredom, friction and doing things yourself still count for something. He also offers two questions you can ask about anything new in your life: does this make my life simpler, or only more convenient? And does it bring me closer to real life, or stand in for it?In the listener question, Gianna in Santa Barbara asks how Taoism views charity and homelessness, and how to help without enabling.To support free Taoist education and scholarships for young people, visit themoderntaoistfoundation.com.Taoism for modern life, simple living, digital balance, mindfulness and staying human in a tech-filled world.

How do you know when enough is enough? In this episode of Tao Te Now, Kit Mann goes through Chapter 9 of the Tao Te Ching line by line, using the Stephen Mitchell translation. It is one of Lao Tzu’s most practical teachings on balance, moderation and letting go.Chapter 9 gives four warnings. A bowl filled to the brim spills. A knife sharpened too long goes dull. Chasing money and security keeps your heart clenched. Needing other people’s approval makes you their prisoner. Kit connects each one to modern life: overbooked family calendars, burnout from overworking, a savings goal that keeps moving, and checking your phone for likes. Then he explains the instruction that ties the chapter together: “Do your work, then step back.”If you have been feeling stretched thin, anxious about money, or caught up in what other people think, this chapter offers a simple Taoist practice for finding peace in everyday life.Tao Te Now is a series from The Modern Taoist podcast that walks through the complete Tao Te Ching one chapter at a time, in plain, conversational language

Ancient wisdom. Modern problems. Real life.Join Taoist teacher and veteran broadcaster Kit Mann for The Modern Taoist Podcast, where 2,500 years of Taoist philosophy meets the challenges of living in today's world. No mystical promises, no spiritual shortcuts, and no pretending life is always peaceful. Just honest conversations, practical wisdom, and a fresh perspective on what it means to be human.Three shows every week. One ancient philosophy. A whole new way to look at life.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming, and for a lot of people that means eight weeks of too many events, too much spending, family tension and not enough sleep. In this Weekend Check-In, Kit Mann looks at holiday stress before it starts and gives you a simple way to get ready now.Through the story of Carol, who hosts Thanksgiving for twenty-two people every year and spends it in tears in the pantry, Kit shows how holiday chaos builds out of small tasks left to pile up. He draws on Chapter 63 of the Tao Te Ching, “Do the difficult things while they are easy,” and turns it into a thirty-minute plan you can use this weekend: protect two days, cut one tradition nobody would miss, and pick the one sentence you will use when family drama starts.Practical Taoist philosophy for holiday anxiety, family stress, burnout and slowing down during the busiest time of the year.

What are you afraid of, underneath the spiders and the public speaking? In this episode of The Modern Taoist, Kit Mann looks at four kinds of fear that run people’s lives: fear of the unknown, fear of what other people will do, fear of loss, and fear of failure. He traces each one back to the same root, which is control.Kit talks about a study where people found waiting on an uncertain outcome more stressful than knowing a shock was coming. He also brings in a mechanic who has kept his business plan in a kitchen drawer for eleven years, a dad who keeps refreshing his teenager’s location app, and a daughter learning to stop correcting her mother, who has dementia. He draws on Chapters 29, 71 and 74 of the Tao Te Ching and on wu wei, the Taoist idea of action that does not force. With those, he lays out a practical way to handle anxiety, worry and overthinking: name the fear, sort what is yours from what is not, take one action, and use your breath to calm the body.In the listener question, Jimmy in Fort Collins asks how you can live in the present when you have kids heading to college and retirement to plan for. Kit explains where planning ends and worry begins, and what Lao Tzu says about it.Taoism, the Tao Te Ching and Taoist philosophy for modern life, with practical tools for fear, anxiety and letting go of control.

In Chapter 8 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu uses water to show how the Tao works in everyday life. Water nourishes everything without trying. It settles in the lowest places. It never forces. And everything flows toward it anyway.Using the Stephen Mitchell translation, this episode walks through the six instructions at the heart of Chapter 8 — how to live, think, handle conflict, lead, work, and show up for your family — and connects each one to situations people actually face: the manager who controls instead of trusts, the argument that turns into a negotiation, the parent who pushes too hard and wonders why their kid stopped talking to them.If you have ever felt like you are working harder than the results justify, or that the more you push for something the further away it gets, Chapter 8 is the chapter for you.Part of the Tao Te Now series on The Modern Taoist — a modern, conversational walk through the complete Tao Te Ching, one chapter at a time.

Grounding is having a moment. Wellness culture calls it earthing. NIH researchers have been studying it. And the Taoist tradition has been practicing it for three thousand years.In this weekend check-in, Kit explores what it actually means to feel the earth beneath your feet — what the science is starting to confirm, what qigong has always known, and why rooting downward is the one thing most people skip when they are trying to feel more present.No equipment. No technique. Just ten minutes and bare feet.The Modern Taoist is a podcast about ancient Taoist philosophy and its practical application to everyday life. New episodes every Tuesday, with weekend check-ins every Friday.

You already know what the pattern is. You’ve probably tried to stop it more than once. The problem isn’t awareness — it’s that awareness alone doesn’t reach the level where the pattern actually lives.In this episode, Kit breaks down why repeating patterns survive our best efforts to change them, what the Taoist tradition says about the difference between insight and actual change, and what measurable progress really looks like when the work is finally happening at the right level.Also: a listener from Bristol asks when Taoism was actually invented and whether Lao Tzu borrowed his ideas from someone else — and gets a more interesting answer than Google gave him.The Modern Taoist is a podcast about ancient Taoist philosophy and its practical application to everyday life. New episodes every Tuesday.

The Tao Has Nothing at Stake — Chapter 7 of the Tao Te ChingChapter 7 asks a question most people never think to ask: why does the Tao work the way it does?The answer Lao Tzu gives is this: the Tao is inexhaustible because it has no desires for itself. It holds everything and sustains everything because it spends nothing on maintaining its own position. No agenda. No reputation to protect. Nothing at stake.In this episode, Kit Mann works through what that means for an actual person living an actual life. The second stanza of Chapter 7 is one of the most compressed passages in the Tao Te Ching: the Master stays behind and ends up ahead, detaches from everything and becomes one with it, lets go of herself and is perfectly fulfilled. This episode looks at why those lines are true, not just poetic, and what they point to in daily life.The conversation covers the hidden cost of self-maintenance, the difference between holding something and clutching it, and why the fulfillment most people are looking for tends to be sitting underneath the thing they are working so hard to protect.Part of the Tao Te Now series, a chapter by chapter reading of Stephen Mitchell’s translation of the Tao Te Ching in plain language for people living ordinary lives.

You Are Not Lazy. You Are In October. | The Modern Taoist Weekend Check-InWhy do you feel like slowing down when autumn arrives? Why does the couch suddenly look better than your plans, and why does going to bed early feel strangely guilty?In this Weekend Check-In, Kit Mann explores the Taoist idea of seasonal living, rest, and working with the natural rhythms of the body. Autumn has traditionally been understood as a season of consolidation, when energy begins moving inward after the expansion of spring and summer.There is a difference between nesting and hiding, between genuine restoration and simply checking out. The Taoist approach isn't about becoming less productive. It is about recognizing when forcing yourself against the conditions around you has a cost.If you're feeling more tired, introverted, reflective, or drawn toward home this October, that may not be laziness. It may be information.In this episode:Why autumn can change our sleep and energyThe Taoist view of seasonal rhythmsWhy consolidation is as important as expansionThe difference between nesting and hidingHow to recognize when your body is asking you to slow downWhy rest can be productiveHow to move with the season instead of fighting itA short Taoist check-in for anyone who feels like doing a little less this time of year.Follow The Modern Taoist on Spotify for the Tuesday episodes, and share this episode with someone who needs permission to follow the pull inward this season.