"Everyone, quiet down. Teacher Hongjun is about to begin his sermon!" Two young Dao Children with rosy lips and pearly teeth walked out and stood silently on either side of the cushion above.
Hearing that a Sage was about to preach, everyone quieted down and sat upright on the ground, their expressions respectful. Not one of them dared behave recklessly.
In a daze, Hongjun appeared before them and sat down, without a sound. Not a single person had noticed how he arrived. They were all shocked. The Sage was indeed unfathomable.
Hongjun sat cross-legged and glanced calmly at the cultivators below. He gave off no imposing aura, yet almost all of them felt as if they had nowhere to hide and had been seen through at a glance. They broke out in a cold sweat.
"From now on, sit as you are now. Do not change places!"
After giving this brief instruction, Hongjun began his first sermon. "The Dao that can be spoken is not the constant Dao. The name that can be named is not the constant name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of all things. Therefore, free of desire, one sees its mystery; filled with desire, one sees its manifestations. These two arise together, though they have different names. Together, they are called the profound. Profound and more profound, they are the gateway to all wonders."
"All things came into being as one, before heaven and earth. Silent and vast, it stands alone and never changes. It moves in cycles without end and may be regarded as the mother of all things. I do not know its name, so I force myself to call it the Dao. Forced to name it, I call it Great. Greatness means passing; passing