There are many legends about Lao Tze and till now it is still a mystery about his birth and name. The legend said that his mother was pregnant for 81 years and delivered a grey-haired boy around 571 B.C. "Lao" means old and "Tze" means child and that is why we called him Lao Tze meaning Old Child.

"Tao" means the source of all, the roots of universe, the Truth or the Way. Lao Tze defined Tao as non-descriptive truth. It has no form or substance, yet it creates and cultivates Heaven and Earth. It has no favors, thus it governs the law and order of the cosmos. It has no name, but it gives life to and nourishes all beings. It is so mystical and powerful, there is no proper word to represent it.

"Te" means if "Tao" is the truth or the root of a tree, then "Te" is similar to the branch and leaves. Without Tao, Te cannot exist at all. When we put Tao Te together, it means morals. Morals come from our inner source or heart. If our inner source is polluted, then we have no morals and if our inner source is pure, then we are full of morals.

"Ching" means the path or what we experienced.

When we combine the three words together, "Tao Te Ching," it actually means what we experienced from Tao and Te or what we are going to experience from Tao and Te. "Ching" is not a theory or a talking but a real thing to be experienced with unlimited actions. Tao Te Ching was simplified into 5,000 words without explanations and there are eighty-one chapters and some are quite hard to understand. For example, "Favor and disgrace both seem startling."

Lao Tze said both are very startling, very scaring! Why are we to be favored? Maybe he is going to take advantage of us or something? Why are we to be insulted? Maybe some troubles or disasters are coming soon? From this point of view, both seem to be startling. To understand Lao Tze