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Marblehead

Taoist Philosophy

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The Valley Spirit never dies;

It is called the Mysterious Female.

 

The Mysterious Female is the gate

To the roots of Heaven and Earth.

 

Subtle,

Yet everlasting,

It seems to exist.

 

In being used,

It is not exhausted.

 

Continuously,

It remains.

 

Draw upon it,

And it serves you with ease.

 

 

(The Valley, like the bellows, is a symbol of Taoistic "emptiness". The Mysteriuos Female is the principle of Yin, the negative, the receptive, the quiescent. He who makes use of nature's laws accomplishes results "without labor".)

 

 

The Silent Beautiful Universe

 

There is great beauty in the silent Universe. There are manifest laws governing the four seasons without words. There is an intrinsic principle in the created things which is not expressed.

 

The Sage looks back to the beauty of the Universe and penetrates into the intrinsic principle of created things. Therefore the perfect man does nothing, the great Sage takes no action. In doing this, he follows the pattern of the Universe.

 

 

The Root Of All Things

 

The Spirit of the Universe is subtle and transforms all life. Things live and die and change their forms without knowing the root from which they come. Abundantly it multiplies; eternally it stands by itself. The greatest reaches of space do not leave its confines and the smallest down of a bird in autumn awaits its power to assume form. The things of the Universe emerge and submerge, but it remains forever without change. The Yin and the Yang and the four seasons move in orderly procession. Darkly and without visible form it seems not to exist and yet exists. The things of the creation are nourished by it without knowing it. This is the root from which one may survey the Universe.

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