Tao (/daʊ/, /taʊ/) or Dao (/daʊ/) DOW; from Chinese: 道; pinyin: Dào [tâu] ( listen)) is a Chinese word

signifying 'way', 'path', 'route', 'road' or sometimes more loosely 'doctrine', 'principle' or 'holistic
beliefs'.[1] In the context of traditional Chinese philosophy and religion, Tao is the natural order of the
universe whose character one’s human intuition must discern in order to realize the potential for
individual wisdom. This intuitive knowing of “life” cannot be grasped as a concept; it is known
through actual living experience of one’s everyday being.
Laozi in the Tao Te Ching explains that the Tao is not a 'name' for a 'thing' but the underlying natural
order of the Universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe due to it being non
conceptual yet evident' in one's being of aliveness.[citation needed] The Tao is "eternally nameless" (Tao Te
Ching-32. Laozi) and to be distinguished from the countless 'named' things which are considered to
be its manifestations, the reality of life before its descriptions of it.
The Tao lends its name to the religious tradition (Wade–Giles, Tao Chiao; Pinyin, Daojiao) and
philosophical tradition (Wade–Giles, Tao chia; Pinyin, Daojia) that are both referred to in English with
the single term Taoism.