Although the Tao Te Ching is not a Buddhist scripture, the influence of Taoism on Chinese Buddhism, including Zen, is undeniable. So much so, that some Zen masters used the term ‘Tao’ as synonymous with ‘Dharma’. However, this is not to say that Buddhism and Taoism are the same thing or even see eye-to-eye, they are not and do not. However, as this extract makes clear, there is a serious overlap in understanding and wisdom.

XXV

There is a thing confusedly formed,

Born before heaven and earth.

Silent and void

It stands alone and does not change,

Goes round and does not weary.

It is capable of being the mother of the world.

I know not its name

So I style it ‘the way’. 

I give it the makeshift name of ‘the great’. 

Being great, it is further described as receding,

Receding, it is described as far away,

Being far away, it is described as turning back.

Hence the way is great; heaven is great; earth is 

great; and the king is also great. Within the realm 

there are four things that are great, and the king 

counts as one. 

Man models himself on earth,

Earth on heaven,

Heaven on the way,

And the way on that which is naturally so.

(Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu; pub. Penguin Classics 1963)