The Tao Te Ching and the Confucist commentary on the I Ching (Ta Chuan) make clear that the ancient Chinese sages whose wisdom brought forth these classics were drawing on an ineffable source that they touched in silence by reaching deeply into themselves “beyond name and form” (Tao Te Ching).

What is unusual about their relationship to this silence is that it becomes the source for the foundation of the society as it is “put to use” through the efficacy of the sages. Lao Tzu speaks of the Great Image, which can neither be seen nor heard:

He who holds to the great image
Will be followed by the people of the world.
They will go unharmed,
In safety, calm and peace.
…
Looked at, it cannot be seen.
Listened to, it cannot be heard.
Used, it cannot be exhausted.