The Way and the Power of Virtue

  There is a phenomenon formed from the co-mingling of matter,  it preceded the birth of heaven and earth. Solitary and still, like an empty house,  it stands independent and it changes not    – it does not need to work on itself.   It is constantly in motion    –it ’s intersections are an all-encompassing fertile field  and yet it is never in danger of breaking down, It can be regarded as the mother of heaven and earth. I don’t know its name but if forced to give it one, I call it: the Way.   If forced to label it, I’d call it: great and enlarging. Enlarging, it is called: precious floodwaters.   As precious floodwaters, it is called: far-reaching.   Far-reaching, it is called: returning. This chapter opens with a description of the Way as a phenomenon formed from the combination of matter that preceded the earth and the cosmos.   As such, it exists apart from and independent of the Newtonian world we l...