Chapter 1

The Tao that can be "tao-ed" is not the eternal Tao

The Name that can be named is not the eternal Name



Namelessness is the origin of Heaven and Earth

The named is the mother of the ten thousand beings



Therefore,



Always be free of desires

You will reveal it's subtle essence



Always have desires

You will reveal it's manifestations



These two originate in unity,

But are called by different names



This unity is called the deep obscure mystery.

It is mystery upon profound mystery

the gateway of the subtle essence of the Tao



Translation by Shi Fa Jun Shakya, inspired by Jonathan Star and Victor H. Mair



Labels are very good for quantifiable things, but what about when we are dealing with that which cannot be quantified? The word here that is translated as "eternal" can also mean Absolute. For something to be absolute, eternal, it can have no opposite, it can have nothing other than itself.



Just think, you have the absolute, and then you have something outside of it to compare it to? This cannot be, because any new thing would be part of an even greater whole. The Tao we are concerned with here is not something that can be compared with anything. There is nothing that it is not. There is nowhere that it isn't. How could one speak of something like this? How could one begin to tame it and make it ones own?



Lao Tze says that the Name that can be named is not the eternal name. This is simply respectful if you are to speak about the Divine. It is important for us to know that all of our concepts concerning what divinity is will be flawed. Knowing this, and being humble about it, we can begin to expand into the undertanding that is our birthright. We should know at the beginning that our concepts are provisional. They are provisions to get us along a part of our journey, we should use them up to sustain us. But they are in no way absolute truth.



Lao Tze does us a great kindness here by pointing these things out. Some have wondered why he begins his 81 chapter discourse on the nature of the Absolute by telling us that it cannot be described. I believe that it is so that even at the very beginning we must release some of our habitual grasping.

These egos that we have grown want so much just to know something for sure. We just want to accumulate the knowledge and power that it will take for us never to have to be hurt again. We want the keys and the perceptions that will make us invulnerable.

The only problem is that we seem to think that we can get this by making an ever harder shell around ourselves. We take all of the names and schemes that we can learn and we form walls and armour that momentarily makes us feel secure. These egoic "structures" are much like a house of cards. The game feels fun while we are on the first levels, but then, as it gets taller and taller, everything begins to feel very unstable. It is because we have gone about setting up something that is contrary to nature, contrary to the mystery. We have chosen to grasp at that which can only be caught by letting go of everything.



Do not, however, fall into the mistake of "not grasping". You may wish to stop speaking all together, to move to the desert and give away all that you own, to fast and visualize many things or chant mantras. These are all wonderful identities to have, but still not the Absolute Tao. There is no problem with mantras or fasting, but don't use them to try to gain more knowledge, more armour - we must use them to make ourseleves soft. We must become soft enough that our illusory boundaries merge with the All-That-Is.



Things will not finally be "o.k." when this happens, nothing will be special at all. You will recognize that you were already one with All-That-Is (how could you be otherwise) and it will feel wonderful.

"therefore,
Always be free of desire,
you will reveal it's subtle essence.
Always have desire,
you will reveal its manifestations.

These two originate in unity,
but are called by different names."

I feel the order of this verse is important. We are first told to be without desires, so that we may percieve the subtle essence of the Absolute. This means freedom from all desires. If we look at desires, we realize that they are always about something that is not. "There is something that is not here and I want it." If we are to recognize the essence of the Tao, we must realize that there is nothing lacking from this moment. When you find your way to this recognition everything becomes somehow richer and filled with meaningfulness, yet it is completely plain and ordinary. I've actually experienced it quite a number of times. Upon remembering the experience, though, it becomes something "larger than life", a goal to strive for - and for some reason, this makes it harder to enter this awareness. The problem here is that one falls back into the trap of desiring. I recognize in my own practice - moment to moment - that if I can let go of the need for things to be other than they are, what they are is revealed as something amazing.

Lao Tze goes on to tell us that we should "always have desire". Taoist practice is not one sided, nothing is left behind. We are not told to always be without desire and that we should punish ourselves if desires arise, no, desires are a natural part of existence. There are actually two types of desire that are being spoken of here. One is desire for things to be other than they ARE. This desire can never result in happiness. The other is desire that doesn't carry a heavy charge of suffering. We have a desire to eat, no problem - there is no need to fight this desire. We have a desire to sleep, ok - this is the way of nature keeping the body in a state of health.

When we have settled into the recomendation to be without desires which are infused with suffering, the desires that we do have are in alignment with the movement of the cosmos. The Tao is not a static thing. It is a great emptiness which is continually moving. We are small expressions of this great emptiness. We, and all the world are it's manifestations. When we are without desire, we come to know the realm of the Unmanifest - this is the realization that all things are one. In Buddhism, we might refer to this as Emptiness. When we posses desires that are in alignment with all that is, and free from the taint of suffering, we exprience the Tao as manifest. There is a distinct emotional tone associated with this expreience, we often call it love or compassion.

The amazing and wonderful thing is that when we get closer to this state, we start to realize the unmanifest throughout our manifest lives. The power of this feeling of compassion or love is immense, and this is why it is at the core of all true spiritual systems. When we relinquish our suffering desire for things to be other than they are, we come into alignment with all that is. From this empty center arises compassion, or the Will-To-Act on behalf of others. This arises because one suddenly feels his or her unity with all others (even if just a little bit). Even more amazing though, is that when we form intentions and actions in this way - without the taint of suffering, and with compassion and love for others - a great force lends itself to our actions and intentions. You may begin to notice that the things you think about in this state show up in your life with surprising rapidity. You may begin to wonder whether you are becoming clairvoyant, and able to feel what is coming your way, or if your thoughts are taking on shape as soon as you think them. In reality, the truth is somewhere beyond and between these two - your mind is beginning to become one with the Divine Mind - what you think IS what manifests, you are plugged into all that is in a very powerful way.

These two are called by different names, but originate in unity. The spiritual practice of a person of the Tao is one of absolute stillness, and unceasing action, at all times. Yin and Yang fuse together. The manifest face of the Tao is where we act out the intimate experience of unity which is the unmanifest face of the Tao. We become like a Taiji master - empty of all thoughts, but highly sensitive, and responsive to all changes. Our practice of emptiness and silence feeds our daily activities, and our daily activities emerge from the deep root of silent calm bliss.

It is the unity of these two, manifest and unmanifest, desire and emptiness which is called the gate to the profound mystery. It is only by embracing all that is, by dancing the Tao in our every action while maintaining the awareness of silence within, that we can begin to penetrate the mystery of what this life is. By abiding without desire, without name, as the absolute, we stand at the threshold of the Way.