Chapter 4


The Tao is an empty vessel;
it is used, but never filled.
Oh, unfathomable source of ten thousand things!
Blunt the sharpness;
untangle the knot;
Soften the glare;
Merge with dust.
Oh, hidden deep but ever present!
I do not know from whence it comes.
It is the forefather of the emperors.

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THE CAUSELESS

Tao is without limitation; its depth is the source of whatsoever is.

It makes sharp things round, it brings order out of chaos, it obscures the brilliant, it is wholy without attachment.

I know not who gave it birth; it is more ancient than God.


I think this verse speaks to the incomprehsibleness of the Tao while it is simultaneously the cause of comprehension (and no comprehension!). Everything we do, see, understand and misunderstand arises from the depth of the Tao, which itself has no origin, it is the ultimate in paradoxes, the cause of all, the attachment to none.

Travis

I love this chapter. It introduces the concept of emptiness into the mix. Which coming from the last chapter discussing "non-ado" the concept of emptiness takes a more important role in the understanding of Tao. Lao Tzu also uses paradoxes quite often, which is not necessarily used to confuse the reader but to point out that even illogic is logical in the "emptiness" of Tao. It also shows us that what we don't see, may be the most important. For truely, the emptiness in a bowl is what makes it useable. The emptiness in the air is what allows us to move, breath, and live. And even further, without the emptiness in the air, there would be no physical "form" for us to base our physical understanding on. It is in the emptiness that chi is understood. And in the emptiness that Tao is understood. For Tao truely is "The Empty Form."

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