Yet it is present everywhere.ДГ© (the second character in the bookвЂ™s title) is best described as the Dao when manifested in the creation, at the level of being it is the intrinsic spiritual nature of every person, creature, and thing. It cannot be apprehended on the physical or material plane but can be experienced only through oneвЂ™s higher spiritual consciousness. One could also say that Dao is higher spiritual consciousness, which pervades and encompasses all. From the standpoint of the individual human being, Dao is both the source of the creation and the inner path back to the source. It is also the path of return to the origin or source of creation. Our awareness or consciousness is not stable it is always in flux, so sometimes we experience only the level of existence, of being, and sometimes we approach an experience of non-existence or non-being вЂ“ a level of higher consciousness that contains no trace of the physical or material realms.Дao also means вЂњthe way.вЂќ So Dao is not only the flow of the spiritual power or essence from the state of nothingness, of formlessness, to its manifestation in the вЂњmyriad thingsвЂќ of creation. Existence and non-existence are both present simultaneously, but at different levels of awareness or consciousness. The physical world of forms originates in the non-physical formless realm. Being brings forth the myriad things of the creation, which the DaodГ©jing literally calls вЂњthe 10,000 things.вЂќД®xistence is produced from non-existence. From non-being or ultimate emptiness is projected being вЂ“ existence. In western religions, the level of non-being would be what precedes the existence of the creator, or God. Dao is ultimate emptiness, non-being, non-existence, the eternal formless reality that precedes the creation and yet pervades it it is eternal. The title means the classic ( jing) of Dao and dГ© ( te). It isnвЂ™t known whether these passages were written by a person named Laozi or if they are an anonymous collection of wisdom sayings handed down for generations before they were first published. It was as if I were discovering a voice that expressed my innermost soul, and reading the book made me feel balanced and at peace.ДЄttributed to Laozi, which literally means вЂњthe old man,вЂќ the DaodГ©jing probably dates from about the fourth or third century BCE. It seemed to be a collection of paradoxical sayings, yet they somehow made sense to me. I can still remember my introduction to an English translation of the DaodГ©jing back in 1969 or 1970. That would be the only way to know what it is вЂ“ by experiencing it. Maybe, by circling around the subject, we will get inspired to experience it ourselves.

The best I can do is to share some of the metaphors used to describe the Dao. The Dao is a subject, a reality, so all-encompassing, so difficult to understand вЂ“ even conceptually вЂ“ that it is impossible to put into words. It is absurd to try to write about the Dao. Only a mind empty of content can follow Dao freely. Dao: Where It All Begins - Introduction to the Dao

Dao natural bodies all in one