Tao Te Ching, 4

Tao is empty (like a bowl),

It may be used but its capacity is never exhausted.

It is bottomless, perhaps the ancestor of all things.

It blunts its sharpness,

It unties its tangles.

It softens its light.

It becomes one with the dusty world.

Deep and still, it appears to exist forever.

I do not know whose son it is.

It seems to have existed before the Lord. (Tao Te Ching, 4)

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

From the text, it is said that the Tao is empty but at the same time full. It is empty in the sense that it takes no shape. The physical aspect of the Tao cannot be determined as it cannot be perceived by the senses. It becomes one with the dusty world so it just floats in it. The Tao is formless. The Tao, on the other hand, is full in the sense that its capacity is never exhausted. Its capability cannot be completely used up. The Tao cannot be used up completely as it takes no form. What I mean  by this is that the entire Tao is unknown to man and it is in him if he would look for it. Searching for the Tao would not be easy as it is not perceived by the senses, therefore it would be hard for him to know the Tao completely. Since he does not know the entire Tao, then all of its capacity is not revealed to the man leaving it not fully used up.

It is also said in the above text that the Tao is the ancestor of things. Meaning all things originate from it. Since it is the original source of things, its power is really great. It encompasses all things in the world. It is eternal.

The Tao is powerful and searching for it would not be easy as it is like God that does not give answers in the form of revealing it through the senses. It is am search that may mean nothing to others.