4. Limitless
The Way is a limitless vessel;Used by the self, it is not filled by the world;
It cannot be cut, knotted, dimmed or stilled;
Its depths are hidden, ubiquitous and eternal;
I don't know where it comes from;
It comes before nature.
In my opinion it is a lot easier to understand the poems if more about the Tao philosophy is known. This feeling about life is pretty easy going and revolves a lot around balance. The yin and yang symbol that everyone loves so much is actually the one that the Tao people use to represent balance. These people also find nature and the Way to be very important. In the poems, the way is talked about a lot and it is not something someone can just trip over on the sidewalk, but Lao Tze tries to bring forth the feel and description of the Way in his poetry.
Now for the moment you have all been waiting for... the analysis of Limitless, a poem by Lao Tze.
This poem starts by comparing the Way to a vessel that is limitless and at first this seems to be contradictory because a vessel holds something so it can't be limitless right? Well after thinking about it, the vessel itself is limitless in that it is able to go wherever it wants or wherever the Way wants. This is the part of Taoism involving balance because a vessel and limitless are opposite yet they come together in a balanced relationship.
In this poem the Way is also described as being everywhere (ubiquitous), eternal and unable to be knotted or stilled. I feel this means that the Way just is, it is not something that can ever be contained or held. It is everywhere and it will always be.
Again, nature is a big part of this philosophy and the last line says that the Way comes before nature and I think this may mean the Way has existed before time and before nature. It could also mean that the Way presents itself in nature and is just something natural.
I hope my description was able to help you find meaning in a poem that doesn't make sense and I hope this helps you to be able to read and interpret other Tao Te Ching poetry.
Until Next Time,
Stephanie :)
