Dao and relationality: remembering the source through the web of phenomena:

Modern physics describes the universe as an interweaving of four fundamental interactions: gravity, electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force. These forces are not merely separate phenomena, but ways in which the fundamental structure of reality expresses itself in different forms. Gravity binds large cosmic structures, electromagnetism makes light and chemistry possible, the strong force holds atomic nuclei together, and the weak force enables the transformations through which stellar and cosmic evolution unfolds.

Yet the question remains: what is the source of the very possibility and establishment of these laws?

If we conceive of the Dao prior to manifestation, it is not another force among forces. It is not part of the universe, but symbolizes the precondition that makes it possible for the universe and its laws to arise at all. It represents the unmanifest transcendence from which the potential One (Taiyi) takes shape; from the One emerge the Two (yin–yang), which unfold into multiplicity.

In this symbolic framework, we can understand the three levels of Sanqing as three aspects of the same process:

Wuji as a cosmological principle is personified in the figure of Yuanshi Tianzun, who represents the source prior to manifestation—a state in which there is not yet any distinction between possibility and realization.

Taiji as a cosmological principle is personified in the figure of Lingbao Tianzun, who represents the principle of the dynamic order of manifestation: the way in which the Dao prior to manifestation expresses itself, through the first differentiation of yin–yang, as an ordered and dynamic universe. With the emergence of polarity comes fundamental relationality, since yin and yang are not separate opposites, but define and actualize one another. This pattern of reciprocity continues at every level of the phenomenal world—from cosmic structures to the interaction of natural forces. At this level, the order described by physics as the laws of nature and the fundamental interactions of the universe emerges.

Bagua as a cosmological principle is personified in the figure of Daode Tianzun, who represents the multiplicity of the phenomenal world—the infinite network of beings, events, and relationships in which the original unity expresses itself as diversity and transformation. In this sense, the weak force, which enables transitions and transformations of particles, can also be symbolically compared to the principle of transformation expressed in Bagua and later in the 64 hexagrams—not as a physical equation, but as a pattern of how phenomena change. Multiplicity, therefore, is not the opposite of unity. It is its expression.

This is precisely where the concept of relationality becomes important. If everything that exists is an expression of a common source, then no phenomenal form or being is wholly separate. Everything in the manifest universe exists through relationships: the atom through forces, the organism through its environment, the human being through nature and community, and consciousness through the world around it. Relationality is not merely a connection between things that already exist. It is the very way reality appears. A being is not an isolated unit, but a node of relationships. In this sense, relationality mirrors what is prior to manifestation within the manifest world. The source is reflected through the multiplicity of relationships. 

Daoist ritual can also be understood in this light. A ritual before the altar is not an act by which a person changes the foundation of reality or influences cosmic laws and order. The deeper meanings of ritual are remembrance and awareness. For a moment, one sets aside the distractions of the everyday world and once again becomes aware of the connectedness from which one comes. Ritual is one possible way for the individual, amid multiplicity, to restore awareness of this original connectedness. A rite matters not because of its outward form, colours, sounds, or movement, but because of the relationship it can deepen. Ritual structures a span of time in which this relationship can be brought into awareness. Without finding and understanding this for oneself, ritual is empty and an end in itself. This is also noted by Spinoza: “At Religionis longe alia est ratio. Nam quandoquidem ipsa non tam in actionibus externis, quam in animi simplicitate & veracitate consistit, nullius juris neque authoritatis publicæ est. / But religion is entirely different. For since religion consists not so much in outward actions as in simplicity and truthfulness of spirit, it is a matter neither of public law nor of public authority.” See Tractatus theologico-politicus, cap. VII, in Spinoza Opera, ed. Carl Gebhardt, vol. III, p. 117. 

He goes on to write: “... ad hoc requiritur pia & fraterna monitio, bona educatio & supra omnia proprium & liberum judicium. / External actions are not enough for a religious life; inner discernment, education, and the individual’s free judgement are necessary.”

Respecting relationality therefore means respecting the very structure of being. When we respect the manifest, we do not merely respect a separate being, thing, or institutional doctrine, but the relationship through which our shared origin expresses itself. Cultivating this respect may also be called true cultivation.

The universe is not merely a collection of things that interact. It is a network of relationships through which a shared origin expresses itself as a multiplicity interconnected by relationality. 

Rector Yuan Weiqi; Slovenian Daoist Temple of Supreme Harmony