Daoism embraces an important paradox and this paradox runs throughout its history: on the one hand, the way is active to be sought and to be attained; on the other hand, the flourishing of things are achieved by letting them be. All of this suggests that the Daoist world has an irreducibly reciprocal character of continuous action and re-action. The harmony that is sought in the Daoist worldview is thus not a static harmony, but a dynamic creative harmony that is far more than the sum of its parts. Often this harmony is symbolized in ways that might seem magical or superstitious to the Western mind, but this appearance stems from our failure to appreciate the radically dynamic and self-transformative nature of the Daoist universe, a universe in which caterpillars ‘magically’ turn into butterflies. All these things are possible not because of some divine power that exists beyond the limits of human understanding, but because this radical creativity or ‘supernatural’ power is built into the natural constitution of the universe. Realizing that the world is actually like this leads naturally to a sense of awe and wonder. Where does all this extraordinary power come from? The answer is that it lies in the Dao, the Way itself.

That is, the power of transformation that is inherent within things does not come from any external source or creator, but rather ‘wells up’ within things causing them to have life and to grow. Thus, the Way is nothing more than the Power that lies within things, and the Power is itself the manifestation of the Way. Without the universe, there would be no Way, and without the Way, there would be no universe. This is just another example of the inherently reciprocal character of the Daoist world or Journey.