What happens when road rage turns into a near-death experience?
In Chapter 16 of The Tao of Lloyd, Lloyd Dobler sets out to explore stillness, emptiness, and non-reactivity, and then promptly fails in spectacular fashion at a red light. A reckless moment of political rage escalates into a real-world confrontation that nearly ends very badly, forcing Lloyd to reckon with the gap between spiritual ideals and how the nervous system actually behaves under threat.
Grounded in Chapter 16 of the Tao Te Ching, this episode becomes a darkly funny, uncomfortably honest meditation on anger, ego, and the illusion of moral superiority. Lloyd reflects on what “emptying the mind” looks like when fear takes the wheel, how rage disguises itself as righteousness, and why enlightenment often arrives not as wisdom—but as survival.
Part confession, part political satire, part sorta-guided meditation, this chapter asks a harder question than how to stay calm: what do you do when you realize you’re the one escalating?
A meditation on stillness, humility, and choosing—just once—not to obey the worst impulse in the room.
From the edge of empire and the center of self—this is The Tao of Lloyd.
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ABOUT / The Tao of Lloyd is a Zen-punk mixtape for late-stage everything—blending Tao Te Ching meditations, Gen-X philosophy, and anti-fascist satire from Lloyd Dobler, your reluctant middle-aged dissident. No ads. No paywalls. Just clarity, chaos, and sacred refusal. Support the show & get bonus episodes: patreon.com/taooflloyd.
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