This lecture centers on exploring the‘centripetal’ return. This is not only a teaching of the Tao Te Ching, but also a cross-cultural life experience. From the Gospel of Thomas discovered in Egypt in 1945,the Gospel of Thomasto the Bhagavad Gita within the Indian epic Mahabharata,the Bhagavad Gita, sages across cultures have pointed to the same goal: how to gather scattered life force back into the original 'One'.

Cross-civilizational proof of 'returning to the source'

SageKrishna (Shri Krishna) in the Bhagavad Gita guides practitioners toward Brahman, which parallels Laozi’s ‘returning to the root is stillness.’ Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas speaks of the relationship between light, motion, and stillness, revealing that mastering the eternal, unchanging‘Daoji’ (the thread of the Dao), is the sole path to governing the complex multiplicity of the present moment. This awakening (Budh) is not about seeking supernatural powers, but rather to‘holding one’, uniting the turbulent ego with the eternal Dao.

The logic of applying ancient principles to manage the present

The phrase‘Hold the ancient way to govern the present manifestations’, here ‘ancient’ does not refer to time, but to the ‘first principle’ in logic. Sages become ‘models for all under heaven’ (principles or patterns) because they uphold the unchanging ‘One,’ enabling them to handle the most complex worldly conflicts with the simplest principles.‘To know the origin of antiquity is called Daoji.’