The Tao te Ching – Verse 1

As I mentioned before I want to write about how I interpret the Tao te Ching for myself… so… here is the first chapter… 🙂

Translation used: Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo.

Tao k’o tao fei ch’ang tao
TAO called TAO is not TAO.

Names can name no lasting name.

Nameless: the origin of heaven and earth.
Naming: the mother of ten thousand things.

Empty of desire, perceive mystery.
Filled with desire, perceive manifestations.

These have the same source, but different names.
    Call them both deep-
        Deep and again deep:

The gateway to all mystery.

Tao called Tao is not Tao…. the authors of the translation used by me kept this description as close to the original Chinese as possible. A literal translation would be (word for word):
Way can-be way/tell not enduring/constant way….

There have been several translation of this sentence to make it easier to understand in the English language. The most widely used one is probably:
“The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.”

The way that can be described in words is not the Way. We cannot describe how anyone ultimately finds the way to their source… they just find it… they do not know where the next step will take them… they do not know the way this road will take them… they just trust in the ultimate wisdom and perfection of “the way”… and are brave enough to walk it… trusting in a wisdom that’s everlasting and benevolent to lead them to their source… whatever they may call it. God, enlightenment… its all the same… you cannot name it. Also… you cannot talk about the silence… the space inbetween… as soon as names or thoughts come into it it’s no longer "the space in between"… and you are losing the way. As the Tao is nameless and free of thought…

Names can name no lasting name… “the way” or the "ultimate source" has no name and whatever name we’re giving it does not necessarily matter… as it is not everlasting… it is only temporary… like everything dies, the name we give to the Divine also dies…. and will be forgotten one day. It does not matter if we call it Source, Tao, Way, God, Christ, Jehovah, Allah… ultimately it is all the same and the name does not give it any meaning or power… as it ultimately predates any name and any person capable of naming it.

Naming, a mother of a thousand things… by giving names to things, animals, humans, plants, we are creating them as individuals… and also separate them from source… at the end of the day they are all the same… we… are all the same… coming from one source… and naming us creates the ego. The ego is not source… the ego is an outcome of naming… of creating an individual separate from source. Also called "The Self"…

When we empty our hearts and minds of any thoughts and desires we can perceive the mysteries of what is the Tao. The nameless source of which we came and to which we will return. Filling our hearts with desire we will manifest what we think about… that which we fill our hearts and minds with. Be it good or ill we will start attracting these things into our lives as they become our reality. If we

are scared in our hearts we will manifest scary things in our life… if we are truly compassionate and loving we will attract and manifest compassion and love in the people around us.

Both manifestations come from the same source… they all start in the mind with a mere thought… and are made reality by the passion and feeling behind each thought…. powerful… be therefore mindful with your thoughts and passions. Use this power carefully…

Understanding this will open up the world to you…. you will begin to see miracles in your world.