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Introduction

This verse is primarily a summary of concepts that we’ve encountered previously in the text. It emphasizes the Dao’s place as the substratum of all that is (One becomes Many) and how everything will emerge, live, and return to it (Many becomes the One). 

The verse concludes by encouraging the Weaver of the Way to embody this capacity as the maturation of Daoist benevolence. Benevolence is a challenging concept in Daoism because it is ultimately impersonal and non-utilitarian. It is simultaneously the natural function of life and counter-intuitive to regular human sensibilities. 

Being a Weaver of the Way means supporting the life process in all its forms, each according to their need, without claiming achievement or enacting personal biases. The ethical questions that emerge from such a radical position are undoubtedly challenging and beyond the scope of this verse’s introduction. Generally, we each need to chew on that puzzle on our own. Here’s a head start from my inquiry, though…

Skillful means arise within the moment to provide a harmonizing influence in the cosmos. Right and wrong is a false start from this worldview; the initial point is to be fully present, trusting, curious, and committed to universal well-being. 

Translation

The Great Dao is boundless
  It can be either left or right.

Completion follows events,
  it cannot be claimed as a possession.

Phenomena submit to it,
  yet it does not control them,
    eternally without desire,
  It can be called “small.”

Phenomena return to it
  without being led,
It can be called “great.” 

Only like this can the sage become great;
  Because they are not being great
    they can become great. 

Commentary

The Great Dao is boundless
  It can be either left or right. 

The Dao is outside of time or space; it is the material of the fabric of time and space.

Consequently, it is the stuff that makes up the left and right sides of the human experience (see verse 31). One of the traps many people fall into is an attraction to “good” and an aversion to “bad.” While entirely understandable, it’s all the same Dao. Getting this has profound implications for our ability to move through life with the cherished values of kindness, love, tolerance, and peace. 

Completion follows events,
  it cannot be claimed as a possession.

Another repeated motif is that things happen according to their evolutionary process within the Dao unfolding. This idea is present in many verses you’ve previously encountered: 4, 6, 7, 8, 16, 17, 21, 27, 28, 30, 32.

Phenomena submit to it,
  yet it does not control them,
    eternally without desire,
  It can be called “small.”

Remember that phenomena are anything that we perceive. It can be easier to think of the term in reference to “things out there,” like a car or a tree, but it just as equally refers to thoughts, emotions, and other “things in here.” If Dao is like flowing water, phenomena are like ice crystals that form and melt. Ice can only appear where there is water and those molecules move slowly enough to stick together. Yet, simultaneously, the water does not control the ice in any way. Once the ice forms, it grows according to its own crystalline structure. As far as we know, the water doesn’t care one hoot about how the ice goes about its business. 

The quality of the Dao that makes it the basis of all things without exerting any authority over those things is the Dao in its “smallness.” It is extraordinary to be the source of a thing’s existence and give it absolute autonomy to follow its own process. Anyone in a relationship with anyone will know how easily power dynamics come into play. The humility it takes not to control something that we know we “give life to” is called “smallness” here.

Phenomena return to it
  without being led,
It can be called “large.”  

For all that freedom, phenomena always end up dissolving back into the Dao, whether they like it or not, without the Dao having to do anything at all. That’s about as “large” as it gets. 

Only like this can the sage become great;
  Because they are not being great
    they can become great. 

Another oft-repeated lesson ends this verse. Weavers of the Way are in touch with the great and mysterious force of the Dao. They’re just going about their business, doing what they do, following the weave. It’s not about them because they are just one thread in a cosmic tapestry and must attend to their center above all else. Verse 8’s simple guidelines show that greatness emerges from simplicity, sincerity, and faith. 

Live in humility.
Deepen the heart-mind.
Provide what is needed.
Speak the truth.
Rule yourself with reason.
Serve according to ability.
Act following divine timing.