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Tao Te Ching Verse 25:

translated by Victor Mair

There was something featureless yet complete,
born before heaven and earth;
Silent - amorphous - it stood alone and unchanging.
We may regard it as the mother of heaven and earth.
Not knowing its name,
I style it the "Way."
If forced to give it a name,
I would call it "great."
Being great implies flowing ever onward,
Flowing ever onward implies far-reaching,
Far-reaching implies reversal.
The Way is great,
Heaven is great,
Earth is great,
The king, too, is great.
Within the realm there are four greats, and the king is one among them.
Man patterns himself on earth,
Earth patterns itself on heaven,
Heaven patterns itself on the Way,
The Way patterns itself on nature.

Photo by Shubham Bochiwal on Unsplash

Experiencing the Tao in Others

If we find ourselves in one pattern of many things that keep repeating themselves, we don't have to look very far to see things.  We can observe ourselves from without:  look around us, understand some principles of nature - and then apply them directly to our inner workings.  Biologically, this is sound, insofar as I can understand in general how things work.  I mean there are differences between cats and humans, right?  But the idea of cell division, life, how we move with muscles and skeletons, all that - is pretty much the same.  So can’t we observe how the Tao works and use that to understand ourselves better?  I think that yes, we can!  And we’ve got an awesome guide to help us through that - the 2500 year-old Lao Tzu himself!

What I’ve been able to do is to use this concept to respect, love, and appreciate others in my life.  And I’m not just talking about those who are close to me.  I’m also talking about other people who I wouldn’t interact with directly.  In previous verses, one of the common themes has been an active practice of humility - looking at different ways we can remain humble, and this verse is no exception.  But how?  By simply recognizing the greatness in every person we meet.  Recognizing greatness in those places we don’t think we can find it.
For example, we can consider that everyone on the road this morning has a life - has a version of reality that we don’t.  Everyone has a unique perspective.  Like facets of a diamond, all of these perspectives create a much much larger picture of reality.  Let’s consider other members of society.  How about the people who don’t have a home, the ones who live outside or on the street.  They are great facets of the Tao too, aren’t they?  I wonder what their reality looks like.  I wonder how they experience greatness. 

Everyone is great.  By allowing myself to consider this, and then looking for examples, I can once more realize that I am a part of something much, much greater than myself.  I can practice humility, which can transcend this feeling of existential angst to which I sometimes find myself subscribing.  All of a sudden, I become the Tao.