The Chuang Tzu – The Inner LawThe Chuang Tzu – The Inner Law
Tao of Our understanding Alcohol Recovery Podcast
Buddy, Brian and Drew reflect on Chuang Tzu’s “Inner Law” and relate it to 12-step recovery, control, willpower and approval-seeking. Through stories and humour, they show how Taoist ideas can help shift from fear and people-pleasing towards a quieter, inner-guided sobriety.
44:24•16 Aug 2026
Inner Law, Outer Noise: Taoist Wisdom for Letting Go of Control in Recovery
Episode Overview
- Living from an inner law means acting from personal values rather than chasing approval or control.
- Taoist ideas can make the concept of a higher power more flexible and less rigid for people in 12-step recovery.
- Trying to control people, outcomes or others’ opinions leads to being controlled by those very things.
- Choosing love over fear in everyday situations gradually weakens fear-based habits and discontent.
- Difficult experiences are often where the most learning happens, so asking for all difficulties to be removed may not be helpful.
“Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation circles around a short Taoist story, “The Inner Law” from Thomas Merton’s take on Chuang Tzu, and uses it as a mirror for modern recovery life.
Buddy C, Brian and Drew chat as three people in 12-step recovery who geek out on Taoist texts, but keep it grounded in daily struggles like mowing the lawn, going to AA roundups and trying not to care so much what everyone thinks. The heart of the story is the difference between a "law within" and a "law outside" – living from inner values rather than chasing approval, control and perfection.
You’ll hear them link this to Step Three, higher power, and that familiar AA idea of letting go. Buddy calls the Tao "just step three" and sums it up as "letting go… lowering resistance, stopping the fight". There’s plenty of humour too, like Drew admitting he’s going to mow his yard "so my neighbours don’t think that I’m a lazy slob", then realising how much his actions are still driven by other people’s opinions.
They unpack how trying to control people, outcomes or even our image can quietly run the show in sobriety: "Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner." From overhelping sponsees, to obsessing about work, to secretly hoping recovery ‘kindness’ pays dividends later, the trio keep pointing back to the same practice: notice the fear, choose love, and accept that mixed motives are part of being human.
Anyone in recovery who wrestles with control, people-pleasing or spiritual concepts that feel too rigid will find this chat relatable and refreshingly honest. It might just nudge you to ask: am I living from an inner law today, or someone else’s script?
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