TAOISM

This cute little boy turned two last Saturday. Yes, he's all grown up, getting smarter and cuter every day. He knows the colors and numbers and letters (almost all of them). He can also have a political discussion with you and knows the presidential candidates by name and can recongnize them from the internet or T.V. He used to favor Obama, now he's favoring Bush for some reason.... Scary. I'll fix that, don't worry.

He calls himself "Dao", pronounced "dow", as in the Dow Jones. It's a form of Tao, (pronounced Tayo), which is short for Mateo. (Don't ask me how he chooses to change the sounds of certain consonants.)

Tao (道, Pinyin Dao ) is a metaphysical concept found in Taoism, Confucianism, and more generally in ancient Chinese philosophy. While the character itself translates as "way," "path," or "route," or sometimes more loosely as "doctrine" or "principle," it is used philosophically to signify the fundamental or true nature of the world. The concept of Tao differs from conventional (western) ontology: it is an active and holistic conception of the world, rather than a static, atomistic one.

In Taoism, Tao both precedes and encompasses the universe. As with other nondualistic philosophies, all the observable objects in the world - these are referred to in the Tao Te Ching as 'the named' or 'the ten thousand things' - are considered to be manifestations of Tao, and can only operate within the principles of Tao. Tao by contrast is often referred to as 'the nameless,' because neither it nor its principles can ever be adequately expressed in words. It has no shape or form, is simultaneously perfectly still and constantly moving, is both larger than the largest thing and smaller than the smallest, and in general is outside of all dichotomies.

That pretty much sums him up. He is my "encompassing universe". What would we do with ourselves if we didn't have him?

(I can answer that, but I won't)

We love you, Tao!