The name that can be named is not the eternal name
The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth
The named is the mother of myriad things
Thus, constantly without desire, one observes its essence
Constantly with desire, one observes its manifestations
These two emerge together but differ in name
The unity is said to be the mystery
Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders
What Does This Mean?
Start at the end of this chapter.
When it says the mystery of mysteries, the most mysterious thing of all is "Why and how did we get here? What is our purpose?" If we could understand this secret to the universe, we could live fulfilled lives in accordance to that purpose.
Every day, we experience the world in terms of things and ideas. Every single thing and every single idea is the "myriad things".
When it speaks of Heaven and Earth, it is actually referring to the two categories: the physical and not-physical. Things and ideas. The Tao is where both things and ideas come from.
Things and ideas are circular.
With ideas, we can bring abstract in our lives. We use ideas to describe a thing, but ideas cannot exist without a thing to be an example of it. You cannot know "red" without an fire truck or an apple.
With things, we get to interact and live with reality. A thing is defined by how it represents it's ideas. A thing can have color, shape, size. An apple is in part, made up of "red". You can only know an "apple" by it's ideas: red, round, sweet, soft and so on.
The words we use to name every thing and every idea aren't the same as knowing it. Because of this, our species does not have the ability to describe the Tao. Words fall short of understanding. To demonstrate, consider the following:
- Can you describe a mystery and still keep it a mystery? No. The act of describing a mysterious object makes it less mysterious.
- Try to imagine white and black at the same time as the same thing and what that looks like. No. It cannot be gray or have stripes or flash as those are different.
- Can you truly envision an infinite number of anything in it's entirety? Not really. In your mind's eye, whatever you envision is still too small to see infinity.
Now just think about a thing that is occupying infinite space and no space at all at the same time, and it represents every idea, including the idea of mystery or not knowing.
That is the Tao. This is what is meant by the Tao cannot be named.
"Why and how did we get here? What is our purpose?" Those answers directly involve the Tao. There are no words to answer these type of questions just like we cannot imagine contradictions or infintiy, and that is wonderous.
What Can I Take From This?
Accept mystery. We can understand up to a point, but we still use human language and are limited by a human perspective. This is just how it is. We must accept that there are things we cannot know. This includes practical things as well, not just infinity, mystery or Tao. Not all of us have the same level of empathy or intelligence to know, but the wonderful thing is we all have the capacity to live with Tao.
Accept language as a human construct. Humans made up all words, and like any other tool, sometimes people use them in ways you don't understand. In other words, what you think someone said might not be what they meant. Take the time to ask someone about intent if they say something that doesn't make sense in a non-judgemental way. When it is your turn to speak, keep it simple to avoid someone taking what you said the wrong way.
No comments:
Post a Comment