These observations are loosely sorted by subject and reading value under three categories: Essential Thinking, Supporting Ideas, and Archived Thinking for earlier insights and dated commentary.
Before You Begin
Three foundational essays that frame everything else on this site. Read these first if you haven’t yet.
Is Taoism a Religion?
What is Taoist Thought?
What are the Roots of Thought?
Essential Thinking
The Bio-Hoodwink & Fear/Need
Peeking in on Nature’s Hoodwink
How the Hoodwink Hook
Fear Is The Bottom Line
Fear & Need Born in Nothing
Yin Yang, Nature’s Hoodwink
Of What Is The Taoist Model Symptomatic?
A Symptom’s Point Of View
Free Will
Is ‘Free Will’ the Only Option?
The Decider
Of Free Will, I Am
Will-to-Live, Free or Otherwise
Instinctive Free Will
Free Willers Anonymous
Necessity, the Mother
Resistance is Futile
Knowing vs. Understanding
I understand, but do I know?
We only understand what we know
Earn It to Learn It
Insatiably Curious at 70?
A Word to the Wise?
Buddha’s Work
I am foolish of human mind also?
Guilt, Shame and the Name Game
Language & The Word Trap
Those Who Speak Do Not Know. So, Why Speak?
What Shapes How You Think?
Feeling Animal-ness
Mind Run Away Mind
The Word Trap
Taoist secrets
Emotion Speaks… Literally
Civilization & The Species Predicament
And Then There Was Fire
The Harmless People
Managing Our Disorders
Cultivating Ego
Self-Predation
Civilized Insanity
Ancient Signs Of Modern Behavior
The Tradeoff
Counterbalancing I.Q.
Don’t trust anyone under 60
The Future is Now!
Laws as Symptoms, not Solutions
Where does the fault lie?
Necessity is the Mother
Opiate of the Masses
Consciousness & Profound Sameness
What is ‘the Tao’ actually?
Tao As Emergent Property
Seat of Consciousness
You are Immortal!
Is Rock Conscious?
What’s Not the Elephant?
A Rose By Any Other Name
The Truth vs. The Middle
I Look, But Do I See?
Ego / Illusion of Self
A How-To for Extinguishing Self
Loving Your Eco-System
Alleviating the Hoarding Disorder
Finding Your Original Self
Who are you?
Who are you? (Part II)
Who are you? (Part III)
Who are you? (Part IV)
Who are you? (Part V)
Practical Path
Breathe Into It
Seeking Out Untruth
Use Non-Responsibility
The Only Safe Escape
Remember the Disease
Good Enough Is!
A Taoist Creed
Practice what you preach
A proper sense of awe
Happiness & Contentment
Natural Happiness
The Secret to Happiness!
Poor Thais And Rich Swedes
Science Proves Buddha Right!
Life Is Struggle, Happiness Is Contentment
The Proof is in the Pudding
The Worrier Gene
Gateway / Foundational Essays
An Essential Taoist Secret
Small ‘t’ Taoists
The Trans Tribal Tao
Two Paths
Born Again Taoist
The Why Of It
Belief in Nothing is Dangerous
The Story Trumps Truth
Democracy as Myth
Wrapping Up 2024
The New Science of Practical Wisdom
Nature’s Bell Curve
Mirror Neurons
Hunger and our ‘disease’
A final word on fear
A final word on need
A final word on expectations
A final word on free will
A final word on civilization
A final word on consciousness
A final word on the correlation’s process
A final word on Buddha’s First Noble Truth
A final word on profound sameness
A final word on truth… What is truth really?
A final word on our disease
Facing Fear
Supporting Ideas
Science Meets Taoism
Science, Religion, Truth
Odds Are, It’s Wrong
Placebo Effect
Loss Aversion Management
Networks of Networks of….
Stupidly Intelligent
It Began Now
Naturally Racist
Mind Over Milkshake
BRAIN
Of Mountains, Molehills and the Supernatural
Buddha’s Truths Pertain To All Life
SETI … Quixotic SETI
Civilization Applied
Wealth plays out in odd ways
Really, Have We No Clue?
The Good Old Days
What Climate Catastrophy?
What Follows Loss of the Way?
Tao and Democracy
Free Will & Belief
Sobering up!
Who or What Do You Trust?
Imagining a Better Way
Beware: the Blind Spot
Cultivating Character
Passing judgment is healthy if…
Where Is Freedom?
Dumbfounding
Knowing
Hold the Knowable
Teachers and Students
Happiness
A Wealth of Happiness
Is Happiness In Your Choices?
Discomfort and Pain
Upping the Anti
Be Careful What You Wish
How to Know You’re Happy
Consciousness
“Fixation on same, same”
Alone with Thought
It Is Spooky
Beyond Spooky
Consciousness Physics
Culture & Creativity
Bono & Musk on Creativity
John Cleese, A ‘Taoist’?
Wandering Mind Is Unhappy Mind
Trump and the Mandate of Heaven
Flow Triggers
Why God?
Do Good Christians Make Good People?
The Amazonian ‘Taoists’
As Seen Thru Life Experience
It was a dark and stormy night…
Cease Treading Water and Just Sink
Religion… an Opiate?
A Tao of Parenting
The Cost of Compassion
The Gifts Given — Paid In Full
My Battle With Tobacco
Yamaguchi San
Oh My Aching Bones
Jack of All Trades, Master of None?
Worthy of a Noble Life?
Soaking in Inspiration
“The rich suffer in comfort”
Self Integrity, Slime, and Karma
Why?
Perception & Knowing
Seeing the world ‘out there’
Where There’s Passion (fire), There’s Blindness (smoke)
Mind in Body in Mind in Body…xin
Butterflies have wings; we have minds
Always be a beginner
Can You Believe What You See?
Thinking clouds consciousness
Exquisite Balance
The less I think, the more I know
Illusions, Everywhere I Think
Think what you believe? Believe what you think?
The trick lies in not believing, yet believing
Understanding Understanding
Biology’s Blinders: WYSIWYG
Peeking Through the Covers
We All Know We Don’t Know
Right Mindfulness, Attentiveness, and Concentration?
Ethics & Character
Innately Ethical
Trust But Verify
Know ‘Truth’, Live True
He Who Conquers Self
Thou Shalt Not…
See No Evil
“… Strive On Diligently”
The Truth About Lies
Modus Operandi
Are You A Beliefaholic?
So, You Want Enlightenment, Eh?
When Is Attachment Good?
It’s Time We Changed Our Name
Reward, Fear & Need
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
An Improper Sense of Awe
Mind, Self & Contentment
He Who Speaks Does Not Know, but…
Desire and Contentment
Time’s Arrow
Love
Playing With Dolls
In Praise Of Nothing
Thoughts and Ducks Quacking
You Know
Naked Thought
Am I Bored or Just Content?
What Am I Doing?
Of Course It’s Alive!
Decisions Decisions
“Right state of peaceful mind”
Why Do Idiot Savants Run Things?
The Future Takes Care Of Itself
Nature, Species & Society
Why Man is King
I, Amoeba
Skullduggery is rampant in nature
It’s Simply Nature’s Way
Group Think
The Family Purse
Gossip, Hysteria, News
Chairs: One of Our Big Mistakes
A Brother is a Brother
Science’s Baby Steps
The Wealthy Poor
The Pendulum Swings
Stressors of Comfort and Security
Are You As Happy As You Should Be?
Just How Big Is The Gap?
Even a little progress is freedom from fear
The Nutty Things We Do
Practice & Body
T’ai Chi: Flowing Mindfulness
The Spirit of Yoga
Hatha Yoga: The Essential Dynamics
Children Know What Adults Forget
Hunger: A Natural Stimulant
Headstands and Apes
Suicide Just Doesn’t Work
A Hypochondriac’s Miracle Cure
The Theory of God
Personal Memoir
Into the Jungle?
Cave Man Shakuhachi?
You Are Who You Are By Default
Significant Others
Amazon mother
Water in Mind
Keeping Birthday Happy
Swimming Tai Chi Spermatozoa Style
Family Life
Refreshing Redundancy
We!
You Are What You Own
Peaches and Pleasure
So, I’d like to ask…
Archived Thinking
Political / News
Siren’s Song of Politics
Undecided? You bet!
Why Not Protest To Raise Taxes?
Change we can believe in?
Nothing’s Certain but Death and…
Fear Rules
“It’s the Economy Stupid”
Ponder Between the Lines
Tao of Government
The Year Is 1915
Science-Report Driven
Public Tantrums
A Bee with Personality
Just like Us, Just like Them
Profound Connections Enlighten
Is Gen Y Unhappy?
Who says chickens are stupid?
Just In: We’re All Nuts!
Ants Are Us
We’re Not So Different After All
The Worry Gene
Nutrition
In praise of kale
King Kiwi
Omega-3 and Vitamin D
Straight Poop on the Paleo Diet
Brief / Miscellaneous
Welcome to CenterTao.org 2.0!
Schrödinger’s cat
Such Synergy
What’s With All The Hair?
Gone Fishin’, Back Soon
Begin New Years with a smile
Bathtub Tai Chi
Loss is Gain; Gain is Loss
Naturally Unnatural, Naturally!
Learning What You Know
Giving Your Life a Gift
PS
It’s Like Magic!
Who’s a Sage?
Is Enlightenment Something or ???
Are you out of touch with nature?
Can we pull the plug?
Grinding Out Correlations
Can you say what you think?
Earlier Insights
The illusion of ‘moment’
The Glare Hides ‘Out There’ From View
Enjoy What You Do — or — Do What You Enjoy?
Correlation’s ‘Prime Directive’
Looking Through the Looking Glass
Tao Views of the Dow
How do we know what is true?
Balancing Difference With Similarity
Sage Advice from Wall Street
The best tao? (road, way, principle, speak, think)
Emotion Clear-cuts Perception
A Taoist Solution to Gay Marriage
Religion: The best placebo?
Who is Right?
Do you believe in angels?