In Chinese, the word "道" ( Pronounced Dao or Tao) has multiple different meanings. Aside from its purely prosaic use meaning road, channel, path, principle, in most belief systems, the word is used symbolically in its sense of "way" as the right or proper way of existence, or in the context of ongoing practices of attainment or of the full coming into being, or the state of enlightenment or spiritual perfection that is the outcome of such practices.

is not a name for a thing, but the underlying natural order of the Universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe because it is non-conceptual yet evident in one's being of aliveness.