Tao Te Ching, 25

There was something undifferentiated and yet complete,

Which existed before heaven and earth.

Soundless and formless, it depends on nothing and does not change.

It operates everywhere and is free from danger.

It may be considered the mother of the universe.

I do not know its name; I call it Tao.

If forced to give it a name, I shall call it Great.

Now being great means functioning everywhere.

Functioning everywhere means far-reaching.

Being far-reaching means returning to the original point.

Therefore Tao is great.

Heaven is great.

Earth is great.

And the king is also great.

There are four great things in the universe, and the king is one of them.

Man models himself after Earth.

Earth models itself after Heaven.

Heaven models itself after Tao.

And Tao models itself after Nature. (Tao Te Ching, 25)

Today, I would try to interpret the above text from the topic "The Tao as the Origin".

In the text, it is clear that even Lao Tzu, who is searching for the Tao, doesn't know what the Tao really is. He doesn't even know if it is called the Tao. He is not sure of what it is. What he is only sure is that the Tao is something coming from nature and is operating everywhere. He thinks of the Tao as a complete entity yet it is formless. He believed that the Tao exists even though man does not know about it.

Since Tao is something from nature and is operating in the world, all things in this world possess the Tao although man or the thing is not conscious of the existence of the Tao. He believed that since the nature of the Tao is being great, everything in this world is great. Now I am not only referring to Earth when I say world but to all living and non-living things that exists.

The Tao is all good and so everything in this world is also good. The Tao is the model of everything. It is present although man may not recognize or notice it.