Indian stream·Tao Te Ching·Chapter 25 — The Four Great
Tao models itself on what is so of itself
Something formed before heaven and earth. Silent, solitary — I name it Tao. Tao is great, heaven is great, earth is great, the king is great. The king follows earth; earth follows heaven; heaven follows Tao; Tao follows what is so of itself (zìrán).
Source context
- Theme
- the primordial undifferentiated ground (hun cheng) preceding heaven and earth, as origin of the four greats: Tao, heaven, earth, and the human sovereign
- Soul-faculty
- Consciousness Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Advaita VedantaThe Vedantic concept of nirguna Brahman — the attributeless absolute prior to all manifestation — presents cross-tradition congruence with the hun cheng (undivided wholeness) that chapter 25 posits as antecedent to heaven and earth.
- NeoplatonismPlotinus's account of the One as ineffable and self-sufficient beyond all predication parallels the Taoist description of the primordial ground as silent, formless, and self-standing.
- KabbalahThe kabbalistic Ein Sof — the infinite prior to the sefirotic emanations — shares structural congruence with the Tao's characterization as the unnamed origin that precedes and encompasses all differentiated being.
Chapter 25
There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless, standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no danger (of being exhausted)! It may be regarded as the Mother of all things.
I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the Tao (the Way or Course). Making an effort (further) to give it a name I call it The Great.
Great, it passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it becomes remote. Having become remote, it returns. Therefore the Tao is great; Heaven is great; Earth is great; and the (sage) king is also great. In the universe there are four that are great, and the (sage) king is one of them.
Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its being what it is.