Something mysteriously formed,Â
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.
Therefore, “Tao is great;
Heaven is great;
Earth is great;
The king is also great.”
These are the four great powers
of the universe,Â
And the king is one of them.
Man follows the earth
Earth follows heaven.
Heaven follows the Tao
Tao follows what is natural.
Lao-tzu
from The Taoteching