The named Tao is not Tao
When talking about Taoism, at one point the Tao Te Ching (TTC) will come up as a key reference. For those of us that do not know how to interpret archaic Chinese characters, a translation would be the best place to start digging into its secrets. The interpretation of these ancient Chinese characters is not straightforward and therefore the TTC has been translated hundreds of times. Here’s a list of some English translations of the Tao Te Ching. And yes – literally every translation provides a different viewpoint on the same text. So then it makes sense to inspect at least a few different translations made by people with various backgrounds and agendas. Here’s a list that recommends some of these translations based on varying requirements.
The first chapter in the Tao Te Ching (TTC) is already a very interesting chapter, as it starts with a section that many interpret as a disclaimer for the rest of the book. It’s basically saying that we can talk about the Tao all we want (even write a book about it), but that has nothing to do with the experience of the Tao itself. We can try to understand the Tao and all its complexities and subtleties by studying texts, but this understanding does not translate to knowledge of the Tao. Here’s a translation by D.C.Lao (1963):
The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way;
The name that can be named
Is not the constant name.
The first few lines in TTC chapter 56 allude to the same idea, namely that there are those who talk about the Tao and those who know the Tao. And these groups of people are not the same. Here’s a translation by Derek Lin (1994):
Those who know do not talk
Those who talk do not know
Being and non-being
So then the question becomes – how then, if not by studying the Taoist Canon, may we come to be ‘in the know’. And it so happens that the rest of chapter 1 is dedicated to explaining just that. Consider the next few lines of chapter 1 while using the Tai Chi symbol as a reference. If the nameless (emptiness, mystery, non-being or stillness) is represented by black then naming (fullness, manifestations, being or movement) is represented by white. When we empty ourselves of desire then we are filled with emptiness (darkness). In this state it is easy to observe how sensations manifest and eventually return to stillness. When we attach to sensations driven by desire or fear, we are filled with manifestations. So by observing the Tao we may learn about its inner wonders and its external manifestations. Here’s a translation by Stephen Addiss & Stanley Lombardo (1993):
Nameless: the origin of heaven and earth.
Naming: the mother of ten thousand things.
Empty of desire, perceive mystery.
Filled with desire, perceive manifestations.
Darkness within darkness
The last few lines in the chapter bring everything home. As the Tao is the source of both inner mysteries and outer manifestations, we can trace any expression of the Tao back into the Tao – the darkness. We turn our attention into the darkness by freeing ourselves of desire and observing how every manifestation returns to the source, until there is nothing but darkness left and therefore we ourselves have become the source. Darkness within darkness. Here’s the famous translation by Stephen Mitchell (1988):
Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.