All There Is

Tao is a principle. Creation, on the other hand, is a process. That's all there is: principle and process, how and what.
~ from The Tao of Leadership by John Heider ~

I'm always interested in how different people attempt to define the indefinable. I certainly like Heider's attempt in his explanation of Verse 1 of the Tao Te Ching.

For me, it underscores a major difference between a deity and Tao. Most people think of the former as some sort of a full or quasi entity -- almost like a super human it. Tao is not an it at all. It's more the underlying essence of everything. Just like the blood that flows through my veins is not me, I can't live without the blood.

When a deity is viewed as an it, he or she, a sense of separation is denoted. This "it" is beyond us. It supersedes us.

Tao cannot be separated from anything because it flows through everything. It IS the perceived breath of life and the stench of death. It IS whatever is and whatever is not.