Tao Te Ching coverChapter 16
Chapter 16

Part 1: Tao Ching

Returning to the Root

Chapter 16Visible text2 paragraphs
By attaining the height of abstraction we gain fulness of rest.
All the ten thousand things arise, and I see them return. Now they bloom in bloom but each one homeward returneth to its root.Returning to the root means rest. It signifies the return according to destiny. Return according to destiny means the eternal. Knowing the eternal means enlightenment. Not knowing the eternal causes passions to rise; and that is evil.