Ineffable Originator

There are many stories about how the universe came to be. Each culture has its own account—which arose in prehistoric times—that describes how the world emerged. Most origin legends begin with an entity or a being who stood outside the world and brought it into existence, in one way or another... an originator who started it all.

Many spiritual traditions attempt to describe the originator, but some acknowledge that it is beyond our mortal minds to do so. The latter consider the originator to be ineffable—something so great and extreme, as to be unable to be defined.

Taoism captures the ineffability of the prime mover in a few simple verses of the Tao Te Ching—the modest and concise book of Taoist scripture. The first verse of the Tao Te Ching says “The named/ Is not the eternal name.” This is an expression of the fact that the true nature of the Tao is beyond our ability to define. Don't waste your time trying to describe it or even name it—instead put your energy into aligning yourself with it. OK, align myself with what? How do I know to do that, if I can't comprehend it?

There's a later verse that helps answer these questions. It describes some of the qualities of the Tao:

There was something formless and perfect

Before the universe was born.

It is serene. Empty.

Solitary. Unchanging.

Infinite. Eternally present.

It is the mother of the universe.

For lack of a better name,

I call it the Tao.

So here we have delineated some of the features of the Tao—even though its nature is beyond words. Since the Tao Te Ching is written in Chinese, translations into English can have some variation—depending on the inclinations of the translator.

In an attempt to develop a broader interpretation of the qualities of the Tao, I consulted five translations of the Tao Te Ching and sorted the qualities of the Tao into six categories, according to the different English words each translator used. The Tao is:

1. Peaceful: serene, still, quiet, calm
2. Unequaled: solitary, standing alone, independent, perfect
3. Eternal: unchanging, eternally present, ceaseless, never alters.
4. Formless: unbodied, empty, incorporeal
5. Infinite: all-pervading, profound, reaching everywhere
6. Omnipresent: ever-present, circulating, functions unhindered

So that's a list of the qualities of that “something formless and perfect/ Before the universe was born.” I recently listened to a philosopher of Chinese culture who said that he considered the Tao to be the equivalent of the Western concept of God. Look back over my list above. Are these not also the qualities that monotheism assigns to God?