FAQ 1: What is the Dao?

What is (The*) Dao?

Tao or Dao translates literally as ‘way’ or ‘path’ and more loosely as the natural way of the universe.

The most recognised text is the Dao de Jing which is a thin book said to be written by the sage LaoZi around 600 BC that contains 81 brief verses.

Dao depicts the natural order of the universe and to truly intuit this is to realise the potential for inner wisdom.  This intuitive knowing of ‘life’ (inner wisdom) is not a concept to be grasped but an experience to be lived through ‘being’.

Scholars have tried to explain the Dao, but as the first verse of the text teaches, Dao cannot be described in words. Human language can only give hints that may lead the mind to insights to how it works (it just does, as the sun’s rays warm the earth, as the planets revolve around the sun, as gravity dictates things fall to Earth…).

Dao in its original intent is neither a religion nor a philosophy but rather gives an insight into the Absolute and a system of guidance for the human spirit. Philosophical speculation about what the Tao actually is, is less important. The most important thing about the Dao is to embody the natural order of things and how to relate with this and live with conscious awareness to it.

Dao captures in one word the following concepts:

  • the source of creation
  • the ultimate
  • the inexpressible and indefinable
  • the unnameable
  • the natural universe as a whole
  • the way of nature as a whole

*Western attempts to explain Dao often includes ‘the’ before it. It is not in the original Chinese term and should be dropped. Because it gives Westerners the idea that the Dao is a metaphysical reality, a thing like an object or like a ‘god’.

 

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
On Key

Related Posts

EARTH DAY REMEMBERANCE – The Way of the Dao

𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 — 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗼  Today, I pause and listen. The Earth speaks, though never with words. Her language is the

The Mountain and the Way

 The Mountain and the Way One of my greatest joys is to sail the open seas and wander amidst the mountains. Yet living in the

Cyclone Tam – When The Storm Strikes Wisdom Decides

𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗠 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗗𝗢𝗠 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗦: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗙𝗲𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗵𝘂𝗶-𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 Although Cyclone Tam has now weakened to a lower category, she lingers