Chapter 25. Grasping emptyness
Before heaven and earth there was the initial essence in the nature.
It was clear, it was unmeasurable.
It was self-existing, it was uniform.
It was everywhere and it didn’t tolerate borders.
It must be considered the omnipresent mother.
I do not know its name but I call it the Tao.
If I have to define it I call it endless.
As it is endless I call it incomprehensible.
As it is incomprehensible I call it unreachable.
As it is unreachable I call it omnipresent.
So the Tao is high, heaven is high, earth is high, the king is high.
In the universe there are four kinds of highness and they all are lead by one.
The human is lead by the earth, earth is led by the heaven, heaven is led by the Tao and the Tao is led by itself.
Own translation from 1925 Finnish translation by Pekka Ervast (ISBN 951-8995-01-X) with kind permission of Ruusu-Ristin Kirjallisuusseura ry.