Lao Tzu and the story of the Tao te Ching
As the old story goes, the wise man Lao Tzu was once halted on his travels by a customs official, who demanded he declare his items of value. Laotze replied that he had only one thing of value- his wisdom. The official pondered this and decided that as payment, Laotze should write down his wisdom. The result was the Tao te Ching, or, "The way and its power," a profound, 81 chapter tractate that is the source of Taoism. The Tao te Ching describes the Tao, or Way. The first verse contains a seeming contradiction: "The Tao that can be followed is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name." The Tao is the living source, the ineffable from which all creation springs…it is the totality of the infinite, which cannot be described in words. Naming or describing is always a limiting act, therefore, that which is limitless cannot be named or described. The tao may only be understood in its manifestation:

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