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Taoism Vocabulary Text

Hi, this is AJ. Welcome to the vocabulary lesson for “Taoism.” Let’s get started.

Our first word is skull, skull. Alan Watts said “You have all the necessary intelligence you need inside of your skull.” Now your skull is your head bone, right? It’s the bone that protects your brain. We call that the skull, your skull. So again skull is simply head bone.

Next is the word strain. He said “You can strain your head just like you can strain a muscle.” To strain means to try very hard, to work very, very hard, a lot of effort. Sometimes it has the idea of working too hard, trying too hard, too much. Sometimes it has this idea of too much. So if you strain your muscle, you work your muscle too much. Maybe you’re lifting something, it’s a little too heavy. If you strain your mind, strain your brain, it means you’re thinking too hard. So it’s trying very, very hard. To strain, to strain, one more time, strain.

Okay, our next word is contemplate, contemplate. Alan says you need to contemplate your problems. Don’t think about them, don’t strain. Just contemplate your problems. Now to contemplate means to calm your mind. It means to have a calm mind, calm brain, very relaxed. It’s the opposite of straining your head, straining your mind. Straining is trying hard. Contemplating is relaxing and thinking calmly. So it’s thinking very slowly, thinking very calmly, or maybe not thinking at all, just a calm quiet mind. So to contemplate means to make your mind calm, or to think very calmly and slowly, to contemplate. Contemplate a problem, think very calmly and slowly about the problem.

Our next word is visualize, to visualize. To visualize means to imagine. So he says imagine your question, visualize your question, then simply wait. So he’s saying just, just have a question, your question about your problem. Just visualize it. Just think about it in a simple way. Just imagine it. Imagine the question only. Don’t think about the solution. Just visualize, just imagine the question and then just wait. So to visualize means to imagine.

Next is the word brute. He says if you try to solve your problem with brute mental strength, you may be disappointed. Brute mental strength, of course, mental means mind or brain, so brute strength means like animal…animal-like. Brute means very strong and similar to an animal. So brute strength means strength like an animal, very, very strong. It’s the opposite of subtle if you know the word subtle. It’s the opposite of careful strength. Brute strength just means super strong and…rawr…like an animal…rawr. So he’s saying if you try to use brute strength, just if you try to use a lot of strength, very strong strength, with your mind, in this case, you’ll be disappointed.

Our next word is supervise, to supervise. So he says your stomach will digest your food and you don’t need to supervise it. You don’t need to supervise your stomach. You don’t need to supervise your heart, your heart will beat…bom-bom, bom-bom…automatically, you don’t need to watch it and think about it all the time. So to supervise means to watch, to watch. Usually, to watch somebody or something, some action happening. So to supervise, to supervise your heart means to watch your heart and think about it all the time. Watch it carefully. It really means this idea of watching carefully.

Our next word is employ. He says conscious attention, conscious thinking, employs words. It employs words. To employ means to use, it’s very simple. To employ means to use. So conscious thinking uses words mostly. Conscious thinking employs words. So to employ something means to use it. To employ words means to use words.

Our next phrase “a single track.” Your conscious mind can only think along a single track. A single track means a single way, just one way. It means one thing and then another thing and then another thing, right? Kind of in a line, in a line. So a single track has this idea of in a single line. You have one thought, then the next thought, then the next thought. One after the other after the other after the other…one by one, one by one. So a single track has this idea of one by one. A limited way, a single way, one way. So you’re conscious mind only thinks about one thing at a time, one by one. Your subconscious mind can think about many things at the same time. That’s the difference.

Our next word is proceed, proceed. He’s saying the world doesn’t proceed along a single track. To proceed means to continue or to happen. So to proceed means to continue. To proceed…to continue…to continue or to happen. So the world doesn’t happen one by one, right? Everything’s happening at the same time. Many, many, many, many, many things all happening at the same time. Not a single track. Not one by one. It’s not proceeding, it’s not going, it’s not continuing one by one. So to proceed means to continue, to keep going, to keep happening.

Our next phrase is “take into consideration.” This is a common phrase, we do use it a lot. He says your conscious brain cannot take into consideration everything that’s happening. It cannot take into consideration everything that is happening in the world. Take into consideration means think about. To take something into consideration means to think about something, to think about it. Take it into consideration means think about it. Your brain cannot think about everything consciously. But it can subconsciously take almost everything into consideration. It can think about almost everything at the same time. At least many, many, many things. So take into consideration means to think about.

Our next word is innumerable, innumerable. There are innumerable things happening in the world at the same time. Innumerable means uncountable, too many to count. It means there’s too many things to count, too many. Can’t count them it’s so big. So uncountable, not possible to count because too many, innumerable.

There are innumerable things happening. There are too many things happening in the world, you can’t count them all, right? There’s too many. It’s too fast. In fact, he says there are innumerable variables in the world. So too many variables to count, too many variables.

A variable is a choice or a possibility or a potential. So choices really, there are innumerable choices, there are too many choices in the world. There are too many possibilities, too many variables. Variables means choices or possibilities, variables, choices or possibilities.

Just two more words…our next word “to handle.” It’s a verb, to handle. Your brain can handle innumerable things at the same time if you use your subconscious. So to handle means to manage, to take care of, to use. Kind of like this idea of manage. Your brain can handle a lot of things. But your conscious brain, words, for example, cannot handle more than one thing at a time. Your brain can only handle things one by one if you use words. When we speak we use one word and then another word and then another word, one by one…a single track, right? So our conscious brains using language can only understand, can only handle things one by one. It can only handle words one by one. So handle is to manage, to manage or to take care of and use. To take care of use, to manage, that’s handle…to handle, the verb.

And finally, our last word is crude. Words are very crude. They are very crude, they can only be understood one by one. Crude means very simple and primitive. So crude means simple and primitive, simple and primitive, simple and primitive…that’s crude, crude. So he’s saying our conscious minds are very crude. Our conscious minds, which use language, which use words, they’re very crude, they’re very simple, they’re very primitive. Conscious thinking is very crude. The subconscious is more advanced, more intelligent. The conscious mind is crude. It’s simple and it’s primitive.

Alright, that’s it. That’s the end of the vocabulary for Taoism. See you for the mini‑story.