Doorway of the Mysterious Female ... is there within us all the while.

“Doorway of the Mysterious Female ... is there within us all the while.”

The Divine Feminine, Anne Baring and Andrew Harvey

The Feminine Tao

“The “Tao Te Ching” (pronounced Dao De Jing), literally, “The Book of the Way and its Virtue,” is one of the major source texts in Chinese Taoism. It was probably compiled in the 6th–5th c. B.C.E., as a collection of teachings, for the most part passed down from a much older, oral tradition. The name of its faithfully nameless author, Lao-tzu (pronounced Laozi), means simply “old master.” According to Ellen M. Chen's translation, “of all the ancient classics still extant, the Tao Te Ching alone draws its inspiration from the female principle.” Its profound inclusion of the feminine divine is in fact essential to its core teaching. As Karyn Lai points out in an introduction to the TTC's environmental philosophy: its basic tenor “is that a more complete life for all forms of existence can be achieved only through a full appreciation of the connectedness of all beings.”

This spirit of diversity as a wellspring of spirituality, may be aided and abetted, in any study of the Tao Te Ching, by utilizing as many different translations as is comfortable. Allowing these translations to inform each other is a good way to catch on to the various spiritual implications and unworded images, suggested but not spelled out in the ancient Chinese text.

In her essay, “Daode Jing in Practice,” Eva Wong comments: “In the Daoist tradition, study and practice are inseparable: to study is to practice and to practice is to study. Understanding a text can help us practice its teachings; practicing its teachings can help us understand its meanings.”

The Feminine Tao
www.earlywomenmasters.net/tao/index.html

“The image of the primordial Mother was embedded deep within the soul of the Chinese people who, as in Egypt, Sumer and India, turned to her for help and support in time of need. She was particularly close to women who prayed to her for the blessing of children, for a safe delivery in childbirth, for the protection of their families, for the healing of sickness. Their mother goddess was not a remote being but a compassionate, accessible presence in their homes, in the sacred mountains where they went on pilgrimages to her temples and shrines, and in the valleys and vast forests where she could be felt, and sometimes seen. Yet, like the goddesses in other early cultures, she also had cosmic dimensions. Guardian of the waters, helper of the souls of the dead in their passage to other realms, she was the Great Mother who responded to the cry of all people who called upon her in distress. She was the Spirit of Life itself, deeper than all knowing, caring for suffering humanity, her child. Above all, she was the embodiment of mercy, love, compassion and wisdom, the Protectress of Life. Although she had many names and images in earlier times, these eventually merged into one goddess who was called Kuan Yin – She who hears, She who listens.

By a fascinating process which saw the blending of different religious traditions, the ancient Chinese Mother Goddess absorbed elements of the Buddhist image of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, the Tibetan mother goddess Tara, and the Virgin Mary of Christianity, whose statues were brought to China during the seventh century AD. The name Kuan Yin was a translation of the Sanskrit word Avalokitesvara and means “The One Who Hears the Cries of the World.” At first, following the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, this compassionate being was imagined in male form, but from the fifth century AD, the female form of Kuan Yin begins to appear in China and by the tenth century it predominates.

It was in the far north-west, at the interface between Chinese, Tibetan and European civilizations, that the cult of Kuan Yin took strongest root and it was from here that it spread over the length and breadth of China and into Korea and Japan, grafted onto the far older image of the Mother Goddess. Every province had its local image and its own story about her. Taoist and Buddhist elements were fused, creating an image of the Divine Feminine that was deeply satisfying to the people. By the 16th century, Kuan Yin had become the principal deity of China and Japan and is so today. Robed in white, she is usually shown seated or standing on a lotus throne, sometimes with a child on her lap or near her for she brings the blessing of children to women.

Chinese Buddhist texts describe her as being within a vast circle of light that emanates from her body, her face gleaming golden, surrounded with a garland of 8000 rays. The palms of her hands radiate the colour of 500 lotus flowers. The tip of each finger has 84,000 images, each emitting 84,000 rays whose gentle radiance touches all things. All beings are drawn to her and compassionately embraced by her. Meditation on this image is said to free them from the endless cycle of birth and death.

Two Chinese descriptions of Kuan Yin bring her to life, the first from the Buddhist Lotus Sutra which imagines her as a cosmic being devoted to saving the world through her wisdom and compassion, the second from the 16th century:

Listen to the deeds of Kuan Yin
Responding compassionately on every side
With great vows, deep as the ocean,
Through inconceivable periods of time,
Serving innumerable Buddhas,
Giving great, clear, and pure vows...
To hear her name, to see her body,
To hold her in the heart, is not in vain,
For she can extinguish the suffering of existence...

Her knowledge fills out the four virtues,
Her wisdom suffuses her golden body.
Her necklace is hung with pearls and precious jade,
Her bracelet is composed of jewels.
Her hair is like dark clouds wondrously
arranged like curling dragons;
Her embroidered girdle sways like a phoenix's wing in flight.
Sea-green jade buttons,
A gown of pure silk,
Awash with Heavenly light;
Eyebrows as if crescent moons,
Eyes like stars.
A radiant jade face of divine joyfulness,
Scarlet lips, a splash of colour.
Her bottle of heavenly dew overflows,
Her willow twig rises from it in full flower.
She delivers from all the eight terrors,
Saves all living beings,
For boundless is her compassion.
She resides on T’ai Shan,
She dwells in the Southern Ocean.
She saves all the suffering when their cries reach her,
She never fails to answer their prayers,
Eternally divine and wonderful.”

Anne Baring and Andrew Harvey, The Divine Feminine
Godsfield Press UK and Conari Press USA, 1996

The Feminine Divine in Laozi's Tao Te Ching and the Hindu MahaDevi

The concept of the feminine divine in Laozi's Tao Te Ching (TTC) and its alignment with the MahaDevi (Great Goddess) of Hinduism, as depicted in texts like the Devi Gita, Lalita Sahasranama, Devi Bhagavata Purana, and Devi Mahatmya, reveals a profound cross-cultural resonance in the understanding of the feminine as the source of creation, nurturing, and ultimate reality. Below, I analyze and explain how the TTC's "Doorway of the Mysterious Female" and its feminine orientation correspond to the MahaDevi of Hinduism, highlighting shared themes of cosmic motherhood, non-dual unity, and compassionate wisdom.

1. The "Doorway of the Mysterious Female" in the Tao Te Ching

The Tao Te Ching presents the Tao as the ineffable, eternal source of all existence, often described with feminine imagery to emphasize its nurturing, generative, and all-encompassing nature. Chapter 6 of the TTC, as translated by Ellen M. Chen, states:

The mystery of the valley is immortal;
It is known as the Subtle Female.
The gateway of the Subtle Female
Is the source of Heaven and Earth. Chapter 6, Tao Te Ching

Here, the "Mysterious Female" (or Subtle Female) symbolizes the Tao as the cosmic womb, the origin of all phenomena. The "valley" evokes receptivity, depth, and fertility, while the "gateway" suggests the point of creation from which all things emerge and to which they return. This feminine principle is not external but "is there within us all the while," indicating its immanence in all beings.

In Chapter 52, Laozi further elaborates:

The beginning of the world
May be regarded as The Mother of the world.
To apprehend The Mother,
Know the offspring.
To know the offspring
Is to remain close to The Mother,
And free from harm throughout life. Chapter 52, Tao Te Ching

2. The MahaDevi in Hinduism

In Hinduism, the MahaDevi, or Great Goddess, is the supreme feminine divine, embodying the ultimate reality (Brahman) and manifesting as various deities such as Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Lalita. The Devi Gita, Lalita Sahasranama, Devi Bhagavata Purana, and Devi Mahatmya articulate her multifaceted nature as the cosmic mother, creator, sustainer, destroyer, and liberator. Below, I outline her key attributes in these texts:

Key Hindu Texts on the MahaDevi

Devi Gita (part of the Devi Bhagavata Purana): Presents the Goddess as the supreme Brahman, the source of all creation.
Lalita Sahasranama: A hymn of 1,000 names of Goddess Lalita (Tripurasundari).
Devi Bhagavata Purana: Elevates the Goddess as the supreme deity, surpassing even the male trinity.
Devi Mahatmya: Narrates the Goddess's triumphs over demonic forces.

3. Alignment Between the Feminine Tao and MahaDevi

The TTC's "Mysterious Female" and the Hindu MahaDevi share several conceptual and symbolic parallels, reflecting a universal archetype of the feminine divine as the source, sustainer, and ultimate reality.

Theme	Tao Te Ching	MahaDevi
Cosmic Motherhood	The Tao as "The Mother," the "gateway" from which Heaven and Earth emerge (Chapter 6)	The Goddess as cosmic womb (yoni), the source of all creation (Lalita Sahasranama)
Immanence and Transcendence	Tao is both nameless/formless (transcendent) and present in all things (immanent)	Goddess as non-dual Brahman, transcendent as pure consciousness yet immanent as the world's forms
Compassion and Nurturing	Tao nurtures all things without possessing them (Chapter 34)	Goddess as compassionate mother who responds to devotees' cries (Devi Mahatmya)
Non-Dual Unity	Returning to the Tao ("Mother") through wu-wei (Chapter 28)	Realizing the Goddess as Brahman leads to moksha (Devi Gita)
Feminine Superiority	Laozi elevates feminine over masculine (Chapter 28)	Devi texts assert Goddess's supremacy over male deities

4. Cultural and Philosophical Context

The TTC's feminine orientation likely stems from ancient Chinese reverence for the Mother Goddess, later embodied in figures like Kuan Yin, who absorbed elements of the MahaDevi (e.g., Avalokitesvara, Tara) through Buddhist transmission. The Divine Feminine by Anne Baring and Andrew Harvey notes Kuan Yin's syncretism with the Chinese Mother Goddess, paralleling the MahaDevi's role as a compassionate, cosmic mother. This cross-cultural exchange underscores the universal archetype of the feminine divine.

5. Conclusion

The “Doorway of the Mysterious Female” in the Tao Te Ching and the MahaDevi of Hinduism align as expressions of the feminine divine as the cosmic mother, source of creation, and path to spiritual unity. Both the Tao and the MahaDevi are immanent and transcendent, nurturing and compassionate, and embody non-dual reality. Laozi's elevation of the feminine, as “by far the most female” teaching, parallels the Devi texts' portrayal of the Goddess as supreme, challenging patriarchal norms. This convergence reflects a universal recognition of the feminine as the wellspring of existence, wisdom, and liberation, bridging Taoist and Hindu spiritual traditions.”

Pariah Kutta (https://adishakti.org)
https://grok.com/chat/c69e3cf0-4a23-400a-a7ca-d04432658b5d