Chapter 25

Something mysteriously formed,
Born before heaven and Earth.
In the silence and the void,
Standing alone and unchanging,
Ever present and in motion.
Perhaps it is the mother of ten thousand things.
I do not know its name
Call it Tao.
For lack of a better word, I call it great.

Being great, it flows
It flows far away.

Having gone far, it returns.

 

Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
Chapter 25

Translated by Gia-Fu Feng  馮家福  (1919–1985) and Jane English (1942 – )
Vintage Books, 1989

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.