The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The name is the mother of the ten thousand things.
Send your desires away and you will see the mystery.
Be filled with desire and you will see only the manifestation.
As these two come forth they differ in name.
Yet at their source they are the same.
This source is called a mystery.
Darkness within darkness, the gateway to all mystery.
The Wisdom of Lao Tzu
As Translated by Tolbert McCarroll
The reason I started doing these posts relating to the Tao Te Ching is because this verse came to mind after a recent conversation with a new acquaintance. We have different theological views. He is Christian and can't seem to tell me about his life without turning the conversation into a discourse on Jesus. I don't really have a problem with that, even though I no longer consider myself to be a Christian. I believe in Christ's teachings and feel they are certainly a way to "heaven;" however, I can't bring myself to believe he is the only way. When he said the only way to heaven was through him, I think he was meaning through living like him, not to the exclusion of other religions that teach the same ideals. I can't bring myself to believe in the Christian idea of hell either, but that's another story.
I had tried to explain to this guy why I preferred to say and hear the name Christ rather than Jesus. I'm sorry to have to say this, but everytime I hear the name Jesus, especially when said with that distinctive southern enunciation, I cringe. One reason has to do with events that occured during the time I was homeless. The other reason is, I feel Christians have taken advantage of the name "Jesus" to get their own way, and they really don't deserve to use the name. I won't even go into how I feel about the way Christians have used the words, "The Bible."
Getting back to the first verse of the Tao Te Ching, I'm still working on the part about desire. This part, to me, is like having a thought, "on the tip of your tongue." Since the ancient Chinese language is less rigid than English; and translating is almost impossible to do without loosing some part of the meaning, it's helpful to read several translations. I found a translation by Ron Hogan that I found slightly different, a little funny, but helpful nonetheless. I thought I'd share the part of verse 1 that speaks of desire with you.
Stop wanting stuff;
it keeps you from seeing what's real.
When you want stuff,
all you see are things.
Those two sentences
mean the same thing.
Figure them out,
and you've got it made.
There is also a translation by Ursula K. Leguin. Her translation puts it this way:
The unwanting soul
Sees what's hidden,
The ever-wanting soul
Sees only what it wants.
Enjoy Life...
