Opening Dao

Life Arts Media

Produced and directed by filmmaker and founder of Life Arts Media Gennaro Ambrosino, Opening Dao is a short documentary film on Taoism and martial arts, filmed in China in 2009. Scholars, top martial artists and monks explain the principles of the way, a treasure of wisdom that survived thousands of years. The film highlights the interconnectedness between the philosophy and the natural world and how its principles manifest in certain martial arts and meditative arts.

 

Alan Watts – Lecture about Taoism

 

L. D. Russell

Part of a Religious Studies lecture series from Elon University.

 

Derek Lin

Seven Characteristics of a Taoist Master

 

The Taoist Psychic

 

Bruce Kumar Frantzis

Spirit of Taoism

Chungliang Al Huang

Chungliang Al Huang is the founder & President of the Living Tao Foundation and author of numerous best-selling books, including the classic “Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain.” Master Huang speaks about using the Tao philosophy of TaiJi and YinYang to embrace opposites and make a whole picture/life, and leads the audience through a number of TaiJi movements that incorporate key concepts and all parts of our lives. Master Huang paints five key Chinese characters and discusses the role of each in the dance of opposites.

 

Stephen Russell

The Barefoot Doctor, Stephen Russell is an acclaimed and controversial interpreter of the philosophy and the methods of the ancient Taoist warrior-sages. Working across all platforms he teaches how these may be best deployed to ameliorate the human condition from the inside out. He’s dedicated nearly 50 years to his specialty, has authored 17 books, including HANDBOOK FOR THE URBAN WARRIOR, produces ‘psychoactive’ electronic dance music, and founded the ‘conscious clubbing’ movement. He is an avid bridge-builder between the worlds of esoteric study and contemporary culture and has a following of millions around the world.

 

Dr. Edward Slingerland

How can you try, not to try? Dr. Edward Slingerland – a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia – has combined his studies of early Chinese philosophy with cutting-edge research from modern cognitive science, evolutionary studies, and social psychology to explore why this paradox is real, why it exists, and how finding a way around it is the key to both social cooperation and personal success. Slingerland is the author of ‘Trying Not to Try: Ancient China, Modern Science and the Power of Spontaneity.” This Google Talk concludes with a Q&A session.

 

Sensei Sandeep Desai

Sensei Sandeep Desai is a master of T’ai chi, Ashtanga Yoga and Martial Arts. He holds a fifth degree black belt in Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate, acquired in Okinawa, Japan. He has trained arduously and extensively in Chenjiagou village, the birthplace of T’ai chi in China. He has received several medals and successfully completed.

 

Alan Watts

This is Alan Watts’ classic lecture “The Tao of Philosophy” in its entirety.