In the US today is Mother’s Day, a day to stop and recognize the
love and work and beauty of our mothers.  Although the
commercialization of the day would likely repel a Taoist – it seems
perfectly invented for greeting card companies – the underlying
sentiment resonates with key themes of Taoism.

     The Tao Te Ching
brings to the fore the feminine, the submissive (which the feminine
likely was in the patriarchal society Taoism emerged from), the
fertile, the reproductive.  Way is, at several spots in the text,
identified with maternal forces:

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.’ (Passage 25, Lau Translation)

   Way is, of course, beyond definition, but it can be thought of as
the "mother of the world."  Not the father, but the mother.  When we
think of the many other passages that emphasize the reproductive
maternity of Way, it should give us pause, especially men. 

      I think it is safe to assume that most of the early readers of the Tao Te Ching
were men; they were the ones who were given education and were able to
read.  We might go further and suggest that the book was written – and
that was a process that came not from the hand of a single author but
from a long series of additions and accretions over decades, maybe
centuries – for a male audience.  If that is the case, then we might
understand the book as a cautionary tale for men: don’t rely too much
on your "manly" virtues; don’t try to dominate by force or subjugate
with reason.  Instead, learn from your mother.

     Learn from her deep and
unconditional love for her children, from her intuition for their
security and benefit, from her wisdom in knowing that "in yielding
there is completion."  (OK, I know, I know, not all mothers are Mothers
in this ideal sense, but you see what I mean…)

     Learn from mothers:

The world had a beginning
And this beginning could be the mother of the world.
When you know the mother
Go on to know the child.
After you have known the child
Go back to holding fast to the mother,
And to the end of your days you will not meet with danger. (Passage 52, Lau)

     Happy Mother’s Day!