ABSTRACT
Ultimate reality in Western religions refers to the idea that a transcendent other, a being or power from beyond this world, initiates creation and gives shape to the world in a physical form. It also involves the promise of order and a way to resolve the predicament of the human condition. Daoism defines the latter as the attempt to attain harmony and transcendence and focuses on “Dao,” which can mean anything from the road one walks on through the way one speaks to the ineffable power at the root of creation. The underlying power of creation and functioning underlying all, it pervades and shapes everything that is. Its key expression is in the law of alternating circulation, most commonly expressed in the notion of yin and yang, comparable to laws in biology and physics today.
