The Agile Tao
By Dov Tsal & Peter Merel
In each episode, we will discuss a poem or two from Peter's book - "The Agile Tao (Lao Tzu Refactored)" - to understand what Lao Tzu had to say about agility, transformation, leadership, and life.
About us:
Dov Tsal is an agile coach and a self-proclaimed Taoist.
Peter Merel is the author of The Agile Tao, a deep-thinker, a translator, and a joy to talk to.
And Hey!
We are in the top Tao-Related podcasts for 2020!
Full list: bit.ly/TopTaoPods
The Agile TaoMar 21, 2022
S2E4 - War! - about revolution, weapons, warfare, reserve, surrender, subversion and mutual benefits.
What does Lao Tzu have to say about war?
Looking from the eyes of the aggressor, the attacked, and of course from a wider angle.
You can find the book, as always, at https://leanpub.com/agiletao
And the beautiful music is still played by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz and can be found here.
S2E3 - The Captain /Shaping Wood
This time, two poems from part 2
- We talked about the role of a leader. what makes a leader one?
- We also talked about the constant attention required from a craftsperson of any kind to attend to its material.
Here are the poems, hope you enjoy them!
And a special thanks to Hekselman, Klampanis & Ravitz for the beautiful music I never get tired of.
29. The Captain (xxvi)
A great captain tirelessly guides his ship at sea
So that, safe in port, he may lose it in sleep.
So calm is the master of haste
And care the path to ease.
The captain of a great ship
Does not treat it like a pleasure boat
Acting carelessly or hastily.
Without care he loses his bearings at sea;
Without calm he loses the trust of the crew.
The great captain doesn’t lead his ship like a jade figurehead
But steadies her like a stone keel.
Shaping Wood (xxvii)
A great explorer leaves no trail unmapped;
A great teacher no question unanswered;
A great detective no fact unexplained;
A great watchman no threat unchecked;
A great tailor no thread unravelled.
So the agile account for everyone
And neglect no one.
Accepting all, neglecting none,
They account for the weakest.
The strong must guide the weak
For the weak are the source of their strength.
If the strong are careless and neglect the weak,
Chaos results no matter how clever they are.
This is their method of adaptation:
As wood is shaped, it becomes a tool;
As a person is served, they become a servant;
So a great carpenter leaves no wood uncarved.
S2E2: Flow (2/2)
Last time, we started reading Flow - the first part of the Agile Tao, we are back with the second part.
Join Peter and me, and connect to the Agile Tao.
S2E1: Flow (1/2)
We are back, after a long break.
To start our second season, and as Flow, the first part of the book, reached a stable version, we are reading thru it, letting it unfold like a story.
This episode contains the first poems of the Flow part, and was a joy to record (as always)
The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
You can send us any questions to theAgileTaoPodcast@gmal.com
And the book can be found at LeanPub by pressing the link.
E12: Collaboration
Today's episode is about the power of collaboration, about how being a part of something bigger allows you to do magic.
Join us to hear about how starlings and dolphins cooperate, and what can you do to unleash the power of collaboration.
22. Collaboration (xii/iii)
Agility builds collaboration, not competition;
Feeds interdependence, not dependence;
Empties peoples’ mouths to fill their bellies;
Softens their hearts to strengthen their bones.
It controls politics by not privileging responsibility;
Bureaucracy by not delegating management;
Scarcity by not allocating roles.
Agility decentralizes ownership and leadership
So those who provide them can’t exploit them;
When no one can take advantage, Harmony remains.
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The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
You can send us any questions to theAgileTaoPodcast@gmal.com
And the book can be found at LeanPub by pressing the link.
E11: Ecosystem
What is an ecosystem? what makes it flow, or be blocked?
Today's poem (from the Flow part) examines the source of its benefits and interactions that make (or break) it.
4. Ecosystem (iv/vi/vii/v)Evolving and revolving,
Life can’t be cut, knotted, dimmed or stilled;
Nor the source of thought
Be plumbed by thought.
Reflecting and responding,
Mind adapts all flesh.
Rippling and refracting,
None breach its shining surface.
Splitting and merging,
Nature follows all paths.
Ranging beyond reach,
None span its winding delta.
Pulsing at root and lung,
Harmony connects all needs;
For what one treats as waste
Another thirsts and breathes.
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The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
You can send us any questions to theAgileTaoPodcast@gmal.com
And the book can be found at LeanPub by pressing the link.
The prehistory of Agile (special episode)
For our 10th episode, we talk about the story behind the story.
Join us to hear how the book of Tao came to be, how the Agile Tao came to be, and how Peter and I met.
You can download the Agile Tao (free of charge) at https://leanpub.com/agiletao
The soundtrack for this episode is HighHo HighHo sang by Tom Waits.
E9: Fear
Where does fear come from? how can it be addressed?
And has does all this to do with the Great Law of Peace, the Iroquois tribes, the game of GO or the XSCALE alliance?
Today's poem talks about fear, and our talk covers so much more...
45. Fear (xxxviii/liv a)Disrupt nature and harmony remains.
Lose harmony and trust remains.
Break trust and justice remains.
Corrupt justice and fear remains.
Harmony doesn’t inspire fear;
But those without it do.
It doesn’t serve or compromise itself;
But those without it will.
As trust serves harmony without compromise,
Justice compromises it to serve it,
And fear compromises it to serve itself.
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You can find out more about the Great Law of Peace here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Law_of_Peace
The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
You can send us any questions to theAgileTaoPodcast@gmal.com
And the book can be found at LeanPub by pressing the link.
E8: The End of Agility
How can one test one's agility? when is it gone and what happens when it is?
Today's poem talks about all this, and our talk covers so much more...
21. The End Of Agility (lxvii)
People love to talk about agility.
Often that’s all there is to it.
But there are three values
The agile express and represent:
Compassion, openness, and discipline.
Compassion generates courage,
Openness, learning,
And discipline, flexibility,
Courage without a warm heart,
Learning without an open mind,
Or flexibility without a coiled spine,
Spell the end of agility.
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The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
You can send us any questions to theAgileTaoPodcast@gmal.com
And the book can be found at LeanPub by pressing the link.
E7: About Form and Function, Usability and Craftsmanship.
This time, we are talking about functionality, and about the form that supports it. about what happens when one is missing or doesn't match the other.
We also talk about product ownership and team awareness.
Here it is:
3. Form and Function (xi/x)
Thirty spokes meet at a hub;
About its axis we turn the wheel.
Clay is spun into a vessel;
At its lip we sip the cup.
Bricks are stacked into a chimney;
By its hearth we warm the house.
Every form that encloses
Functions by opening.
Agility opens the self
To serve, not command,
And sustain, not control
The form of harmony.
--
The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
You can send us any questions to theAgileTaoPodcast@gmal.com
You can find the book at LeanPub by pressing the link.
E6: Bargains
This time we talk about bargains and their cost.
44. Bargains (xliv)
Some die for an idea,
Some for a payday,
Some to win a game.
Noble causes come at great cost,
And glorious victories, terrible suffering.
Only peace comes for free.
To stop when you have enough,
And retire before battle begins,
Incurs neither debt nor dishonour
But wins a long life.
---
The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
E5: Embracing Change
In this episode, Peter and I talk about change, about embracing it and about resisting it.
The poem we read this time is called (unsurprisingly...):
20. Embracing Change (xxiii)
Natural forms change without cease.
Strong winds don’t last long;
Nor heavy rain.
As nature’s forms change, so must our own.
Accepting change, we lead change
Which buoys us on nature’s tide.
Anchored to form we succumb to change
And the tide drags us under.
---
The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
You can send us any questions to theAgileTaoPodcast@gmal.com
You can find the book at LeanPub by pressing the link.
E4: Cycles
In this episode, Peter and I talk about duality, the cycling of forms into their reverse state.
The poem we read is called:
2. Cycle (ii)
Beauty fades and love dies
Because all forms are cycles.
Chaos evolves pattern,
Whole breaks apart,
Hope breeds fear,
Weakness supports strength,
Growth feeds decay,
After becomes before.
As all forms cycle, agility takes no form
But harmony with the ebb and flow of forms.
It accepts forms without commanding them,
Adapts them without controlling them,
Releases them without constraining them.
---
The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
You can send us any questions to theAgileTaoPodcast@gmal.com
E3: Make it easy to take it easy.
In this episode, I talk to Peter Merel, the author of the Agile Tao about war, peace, ecosystems, beaurocracy and harmony.
All embodied in the first poem of 'Ecosystem' - the third part of the book.
43. Horses (xlvi/lxiv b)When people live in harmony
Horses carry fertilizer through their fields;
When people fall from harmony
Horses carry soldiers through their streets.
There’s no worse loss than losing peace,
No worse waste than making war,
No worse defeat than defending dirt.
To fertilize peace,
Make it easy to take it easy.
---
The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
E2: About Mindset (part 1.)
In our first episode of the Agile Tao podcast, we dive into the sense of agility, and hear Lau-Tzu's advice to being agile.
Agility is practical, not mystical,
A way of working, not a state of grace.
Listening as if crossing thin ice,
Testing as if surrounded by danger,
Learning as in a strange land,
Simplifying as thawing snow,
Integrating as the deep woods,
Leading as the river valley,
Innovating as the spring silt.
Imagine the ice solid or the stream clear,
Stop to plan your way ahead,
Ignore what moves underfoot;
You fall and disappear.
The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.
As we had too many conversations for a single episode, next week we will release a different edit. hope you join us.
E1: About Taoism, Agility & Mind.
In our pilot episode, we introduce the Agile Tao by Peter Merel, talk about what is Taoism, what is the Agile Tao, and mainly read and talk about Mind, the opening poem of the book.
1. Mind (i)
Life is not the breath in your lungs,
Nor mind the thoughts in your head;
Mind is the course of all thoughts,
And life, its source.
Thoughts represent forms;
Forms express thoughts;
Each generating the other
In waves on the surface of mind.
Beneath the surface,
Formless and silent,
Boundless and liquid,
Dream dreams with no dreamer.
Join us, and if you like it please rate, share and comment!