Daodejing Chapter 40: being and non-being

Reversion is the motion
of the Dao.
Softness is the application
of the Dao.
In all-under-heaven,
The myriad things
Are born from being.
Being is born
From non-being.

「反者，道之動，弱者，道之用，天下萬物生於有，有生於無。」

The Dao is not static or linear. It operates in a dynamic circular motion that governs the lives of all things, always bringing them back to their original starting point so that the process starts once again.

Just as night follows day, spring follows winter, summer follows spring, autumn follows summer, and winter follows autumn. In the same way, animals are born, grow into adulthood, and die — leaving their offspring to repeat the cycle. These are examples of the process of reversion or returning to your original state.

The Dao does not apply any force to make this process happen; it provides the conditions for it to take place of its own accord. It is thus soft and gentle rather than hard and forceful — like the water of a stream that nurtures the people, animals, and plants living on its banks while slowly deepening its imprint on the surrounding landscape and perhaps even ultimately eroding it away.

This is the best example I can come up with to illustrate the meaning of the line: “Softness is the application of the Dao.” Laozi believed that softness or weakness will always overcome strength in the end.

“Being” (有) refers to physical manifestations of the Dao such as animals, plants, and people. It could also be translated as “formed” or “shaped” or “being-within-form”.

Conversely, “non-being” (無) refers to the abstract metaphysical forces within the Dao that we are unable to perceive. It could also be translated as “formless” or “shapeless” or “being-without-form”.

It is this dynamic interaction between “being” (有) and “non-being” (無) that enabled the creation of heaven and earth and sustains all the life on the planet. Thus, as Laozi puts it in the first line of the chapter: “Reversion is the motion of the Dao.”