The Dao De-jing/Tao Te-ching is not a Buddhist Sutra. But many of its verses and themes can be found in the Buddhist Canon. The author and Old Sage - Lao Tzu - lived in the 6th century BC, about the same time as the Buddha Shakyamuni. He was a scribe in a small kingdom in Eastern China. His verses of wisdom run as a common thread through Chinese and Japanese culture, philosophy and religion, and also in the teachings on Zen (see for example the Sandōkai and Zenmaster Dōgen’s Fukanzazengi).

The verses were translated from the Chinese during the Corona pandemic.