John Minford

The Tao that can be Told

Is not the True Tao;

Names that can be Named

Are not True Names.

The Origin of Heaven and Earth

Has no Name.

The Mother of the Myriad Things

Has a Name.

Free from Desire,

Contemplate the Inner Marvel;

With Desire,

Observe the Outer Radiance.

These issue from One Source,

But have different Names.

They are both a Mystery.

Mystery of Mysteries,

Gateway to All Marvels

The Tao that can be Told is the mundane Tao of the Art of Government, as opposed to the True Tao of Nature, of the So-of-Itself, of Long Life, of Self-Cultivation through Non-Action. This is the Deep Tao, which cannot be Told in Words, which cannot be Named. The Names that can be Named are such worldly things as Wealth, Pomp, Glory, Fame, and Rank

The Ineffable Tao

Emulates the Wordless Infant,

It resembles

The Unhatched Egg,

The Bright Pearl within the Oyster,

The Beauteous Jade amongst Pebbles.

It cannot be Named.

The Taoist glows with Inner Light, but seems outwardly dull and foolish. The Tao itself has no Form, it can never be Named.

The Root of the Tao

Proceeds from Void,

From Non-Being,

It is the Origin,

The Source of Heaven and Earth,

Mother of the Myriad Things,

Nurturing All-under-Heaven,

As a Mother Nurtures her Children

The Tao itself

Can never be

Seen.

We can but witness it

Inwardly,

Its Origin,

Mother of the Myriad Things.

The Tao itself can never be

Named,

It cannot be Told

And yet we resort to Words, such as Origin, Mother, and Source.

Every Marvel

Contemplated,

Every Radiance

Observed,

Issues from this One Source.

They go by different Names,

But are part of the same

Greater Mystery,

The One Tao, the Origin, the Mother.

In freedom from Desire,

We look within

And Contemplate

The Inner Marvel,

Not with eyes

But inwardly

By the Light of Spirit.

We look outward

With the eyes of Desire,

And Observe

The Outer Radiance

Desire itself, in its first Inklings, in the embryonic Springs of Thought, is born within the Heart-and-Mind. Outer Radiance is perceived through Desire, in the World, in the opening and closing of the Doors of Yin and Yang. This is the Named, the Visible, these are the Myriad Things. Thus, both with and without Desire, we draw near to the Mystery of Mysteries, to the Gateway that leads to all Marvels, to the Tao

The Great Tao cannot be Told. The Great Discussion lies beyond Words . . . Where can I find someone who Understands this Discussion beyond Words, who Understands the Tao that can never be Told? This True Understanding of the Tao is a Reservoir of Heaven-and-Nature. Pour into it and it is never full. Pour from it and it is never exhausted. It is impossible to know whence it comes. It is Inner Light

Only through experience, only through living Life to the full, in both the Inner and Outer Worlds, can the True Nature of the Tao be Understood and communicated. Not through Words.” Desire and the Life of the Senses are part of that experience. Through Desire we witness and enjoy the Beauty of the World, we Observe the Outer Radiance of the Tao. We live Life, we bask in its Radiance

Not only are Books the mere discarded husk or shell of wisdom, but Words themselves, expressing as they do only such things as belong to the normal state of consciousness, are irrelevant to the deeper experience of the Tao, the “wordless doctrine.”

In the Taoist Heart-and-Mind, Psyche and Cosmos are related to each other like the Inner and Outer Worlds