Opening at random John Heider's translation of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, brought the following response to the question:
How shall we conduct ourselves, as concerns the sixth Masters degree class, to be the best school that we can possibly be?
25. Tao: Is and Isn't
This is what Tao is not:
It is not a thing.
It is not a sound or any other vibration.
It is not divisible into parts.
It does not change.
It cannot be diluted or augmented.
It has no partner or complement.This is what Tao is:
It is one; it is unity.
It determines everything.
It comes before everything.
It is the law of everything.
The clearest, most helpful word I know to use for Tao is How, because Tao is the principle of how everything works.
Remember that while it has no form or qualities, it is everywhere, all the time, forever.
Imagine four levels of infinity: people are infinite in a sense; the earth is infinite; the cosmos is infinite; Tao is infinite. Although each of these four may be infinite in a way, the first three are subject to the next greater one.
People are dependent on the earth. The earth is dependent on the cosmos. The cosmos is dependent on Tao.
But the Tao is not dependent on anything.
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