Living the Tao-A Spiritual Podcast

What if the future is already visible in the present?

In this trailer for Living the Tao Episode 1-197, Master Mikel Steenrod introduces one of the simplest—and most demanding—skills in Taoist training: observation.

He explains why his teacher could often predict what was about to happen simply by watching carefully, how judgment interferes with perception, and why learning to see what is actually there can become a form of Taoist practice.

The episode then moves into advanced Qigong training and the practice of blessing, where thousands of repetitions can expose an uncomfortable question: is what you believe about yourself actually true?

Watching, Blessing, Living explores observation, wu-wei, symbolic truth, qi, and the difference between reality and the stories we tell ourselves.

This full episode is available to Living the Tao subscribers on Supercast. 

Premium Episodes, Full Catalog (4x the content), and episode commentary: https://living-the-tao.supercast.com

What if karma isn’t a cosmic system of reward and punishment?

In this Living the Tao Short (2-30), Taoist Master Mikel Steenrod and Morgan unpack the idea of the karmic nursery—a condition in which actions may have social consequences without accumulating the kind of karmic weight that produces lasting power.

That protection comes with a tradeoff: no consequence also means no power.

Steenrod explains why karma, in this framework, is not the universe handing out justice. Instead, karmic accumulation depends on consistency. A person may act positively, negatively, or neutrally—but without consistency, little accumulates. Leave the nursery, and actions begin to add up. They can build power, diminish it, move you toward what you seek, or move you away.

The conversation also explores why someone might choose to return to the nursery, why doing so can mean living a “much smaller life,” and why the karmic nursery is not simply a product of the social mind.

A short discussion about consequence, responsibility, ling, and what it means for your actions to truly matter.

 

hat if the future already exists—and your choices still matter?

In this Living the Tao Short, Taoist Master Mikel Steenrod and Morgan explore the Taoist concept of nonlinear time: a model in which past, present, and future are not simply points moving along a single line.

The conversation moves from memory and our ordinary experience of time into much stranger territory. If every moment remains part of existence, does that mean everything is predetermined? Steenrod argues that it does not. Change, in the Taoist model he describes, does not necessarily depend upon linear time.

Along the way, they examine why our sense of the past may be tied to fading memory, why every action may remain part of existence, why Taoism resists placing the individual at the center of creation, and why nonlinear time was traditionally a subject reserved for more advanced practice.

The future has already happened.

And somehow, you may still be writing it.

 

Prefer the video format?  That's here: https://youtu.be/gI1MFRJGASs

🌐 Explore more Taoist teachings:
https://www.the-taoism-for-modern-world.com

🎧 Listen to more Living the Tao Shorts & full episodes:
https://podcast.the-taoism-for-modern-world.com

-From Beginner to Expert, examine our collection of free videos and articles on qi gong: https://www.watermountainvirtual.com/qi-gong-collection/

Premium Episodes, Full Catalog (4x the content), AMA, and episode commentary: https://living-the-tao.supercast.com

Can Qi stop a bullet?

That question opens a much larger discussion about the Four Spheres and a common human mistake: trying to solve a problem with the wrong kind of tool.

In this episode (1-196), Taoist Master Mikel Steenrod explores why physical force, social influence, intelligence, Qi practice, and other approaches each belong to different kinds of problems. The issue is not simply whether one sphere is “stronger” than another, but whether the method being used actually fits the situation.

Along the way, Steenrod and Morgan look at Taoist martial skill, surgeons and swordsmen, negotiation, asymmetric warfare, intelligence networks, revolution, and why force often becomes most useful only after better options have already disappeared.

And then there is Camelot: Arthur, the Round Table, Merlin, the dream of the perfect kingdom—and Steenrod's observation that he owns shirts that have apparently lasted longer.

A practical discussion about timing, strategy, Qi, and why lasting change usually begins before the crisis does.

Prefer to watch rather than listen? https://youtu.be/-6_6SYmIn8Q

🎧 Listen to more Living the Tao Shorts & full episodes:
https://podcast.the-taoism-for-modern-world.com

The supercast version of this episode has extensive commentary: https://living-the-tao.supercast.com

Intro music: “Finding Movement” by Kevin MacLeod — licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Source: incompetech.com

What happens when your questions become part of the show?

The Living the Tao AMA gives Supercast subscribers a place to ask about Taoist practice, the I Ching, spiritual development, unusual experiences, and the questions that do not always fit neatly into a regular episode.

In the August AMA, Taoist Master Michael Steenrod takes up questions about changing interpretations of the I Ching, choosing among too many possible paths, becoming the complete human, and how we decide whether something is real.

Some questions get a brief answer. Others open a much larger door—and can become the basis for future episodes.

This AMA episode is available exclusively to Living the Tao subscribers on Supercast.

Bring your questions.

Premium Episodes, Full Catalog (4x the content), and episode commentary: https://living-the-tao.supercast.com

What if the future already exists—and your choices still matter?

In this Living the Tao Short, Taoist Master Mikel Steenrod and Morgan explore the Taoist concept of nonlinear time: a model in which past, present, and future are not simply points moving along a single line.

The conversation moves from memory and our ordinary experience of time into much stranger territory. If every moment remains part of existence, does that mean everything is predetermined? Steenrod argues that it does not. Change, in the Taoist model he describes, does not necessarily depend upon linear time.

Along the way, they examine why our sense of the past may be tied to fading memory, why every action may remain part of existence, why Taoism resists placing the individual at the center of creation, and why nonlinear time was traditionally a subject reserved for more advanced practice.

The future has already happened.

And somehow, you may still be writing it.

 

Prefer the video format?  That's here: https://youtu.be/4KQ6FH6UNZc

🌐 Explore more Taoist teachings:
https://www.the-taoism-for-modern-world.com

🎧 Listen to more Living the Tao Shorts & full episodes:
https://podcast.the-taoism-for-modern-world.com

-From Beginner to Expert, examine our collection of free videos and articles on qi gong: https://www.watermountainvirtual.com/qi-gong-collection/

Premium Episodes, Full Catalog (4x the content), and episode commentary: https://living-the-tao.supercast.com