The Tao Te Ching - Verse 1 'Transcending'

Hello Lovely People,

I have been reading a beautiful translation of the Tao Te Ching by Ralph Alan Dale, and have been writing down my musings on each verse. I have now elected to share these ponderings with you – you lucky, lucky souls!

For those of you who are not familiar with the Tao Te Ching I will transcribe the verse before I start my discussions, although I must reiterate that the verses are originally the work of Lao Tzu and this fabulous modern translation is by Ralph Alan Dale and absolutely nothing to do with me.

I think that we can only truly understand something by examining it and taking it apart for ourselves and this was my aim in writing down my thoughts as I read each verse. This is slightly ironic, however, as the purpose of the Tao Te Ching is to transcend words and the confusion that words can place on everything. The verses also only serve as a framework for reining in my overly wandering mind, so please do not expect a literal discussion of the Tao Te Ching itself. Also, the views and opinions stated within this blog are very much my own – nobody else should be held accountable for them. Anyway here goes!

Verse 1 – Transcending

The Tao that can be told

is not the universal Tao.

The name that can be named

is not the universal name.

In the infancy of the universe,

there were no names.

Naming fragments the mysteries of life

into ten thousand things

and their manifestations.

Yet mysteries and manifestations

spring from the same source:

the Great Integrity

which is the mystery within manifestation,

the manifestation within mystery,

the naming of the unnamed,

the un-naming of the named.

When these interpenetrations

are in full attendance,

we will pass the gates of naming notions

in our journey toward transcendence.

This verse reiterates what I said in the introduction – roughly that the true essence of something gets lost in our tendency to overanalyse and name things. We have trouble in accepting things for what they are – we have to name them and in so doing we categorise them, which in turn means that the original is now something less than it was. As soon as we put someone or something in a box we are preventing them from reaching their full potential. We limit everything by our perceptions, for we can only see something within the boundaries of what we, as individuals are comfortable with, or open to. We can never know the whole story behind any action and we can certainly never know what has happened in someone else’s life and experiences. Indeed, even if we have been through a situation with another person, we would still have had two very different experiences. By labelling, or naming that person we are belittling them, or as Buddhists say ‘slandering’ them. It is vital, although not at all easy, that we accept and allow everything and everyone, for only by doing this can we tap into the infinite possibilities that this universe contains.

I do not mean by this that if we see a hurt being done to another – whether it is person, animal or object, that we should just walk past and allow it to happen. We are the only ones who have to live with our own consciences, and if you are able to do that, then who am I to judge. However, that is precisely what I mean, who are we to judge? We can still take action without judging another, because we do not know their story. If we carry on and walk past then we are allowing the hurt to be perpetrated and are no better than the initiator of the hurt. This can be something as seemingly minor as buying something that you know causes pain and suffering to people in other countries – because you can’t see the suffering you are causing you can dismiss it from your mind. Yet, I put it to you, that we have total and utter responsibility for every action in our lives. This is a very liberating notion when you take time to think about it. No one else has the power to make us do or feel anything, we are the ones who choose how to react. Only by refusing to name other people as good or bad, right or wrong, and by experiencing our own lives and living them as feels to be correct to our own souls can we live a truly empowered and beautiful life.

I hope that you will come and join me for my thoughts on verse 2.

All my love to every person who happens across this blog.

Catherine xxx