From What Ancient Source Does Tao Energy Flow?
Chapter 4 (The Tao te Ching)
Flowing through all that lives and breathes
The eternal river of life
Without source or mouth.
We draw from it
And yet it remains full.
Gentle as morning mist over stone
It takes our scattered dust and
Creates new soil, new life
Deep beyond measure
gently ushering in light for each dawn
It is elusive, yet everywhere.
Through mountain and cloud
Through root and leaf,
Through blood and breath,
Energy circling back to its source
Without effort
feeding roots, carving valleys,
slipping through every crevice of things becoming.
Use it, and it is not used up.
Join it, and you become
the everlasting tide.
From what ancient source does it come?
Here before the beginning,
it will flow long after the end.
. . .
This reflection on Chapter 4 invites us to notice the inexhaustible source that flows through our own creative work and daily practice. The image above, Gyrfalcon Mountain, emerged from this same current—an attempt to give form to what moves through all things.
