first verse of the daodejing quote the Dow that can be told is not the eternal
doubt the name that can be named is not the eternal name the Dow is both named
and nameless as nameless it is the origin of all things as named it is the
mother of ten thousand things ever desireless one can see the mystery ever
desiring one sees only the manifestations and the mystery itself is
the doorway to all understanding unquote living the mystery in this opening verse
of the daodejing Lao Tzu tells us that the Dow is both named and nameless this
sounds paradoxical to our Western intellect and it is paradoxical thinking
is embedded in Eastern concepts such as Ian and yang or the feminine and the
masculine and where things are comfortably described as both this and
that we in the West by contrast tend to view
opposites as incompatible concepts that contradict each other yet this book is
asking that we change our ingrained ways of thinking and see how our lives
changed as a result the Dow is an unknowable unseeable realm where
everything originates while at the same time the Dow is invisibly within
everything when we desire to see this invisible list this mystery we attempt
to define it in terms of the outer world of
or blood some calls of the 10,000 he consoles us that letting go of trying
to see the mystery will actually allow us to see it whereas I like to think of
it let go and let God how can we do that one way is to commit ourselves to
practice more paradoxical thinking by recognizing that desiring
and desireless allowing our different and the same rather like the mysterious
ends of a continuum desiring is the physical expression of creating
conditions that allow us to be receptive that is it's in the world preparation
for receiving according to love sooo wanting to know or see the mystery of
the Tao will reveal evidence of it in a variety of manifestations but not the
mystery itself but this isn't a dead end from this ground of desiring the
flowering of the mysterious Dao grows it's as if wanting transforms into
effortless allowing desiring one sees the manifestations desireless one can
see the mystery itself when we tune into what loud sue is
telling us it becomes readily apparent that our world produces abundant
examples of this paradoxical process think of gardening and desiring those
luscious homegrown Tomatoes or spring daffodils allowing them to
grow is ultimately what happens now think of the things in life that
involved wanting and how they differ from allowing wanting to go to sleep for
instance rather than going to sleep wanting to diet rather than dieting
wanting to love rather than loving in this reference to the DAO desireless
means trusting permitting and allowing desire is both the beginning and the
ground of desirelessness yet wanting is also the beginning in the ground of
allow they are the same and they are different pay attention to times when
you can feel in your body where you are on the continuum between desiring and
allowing or trying and doing trying to play the piano drive the car or ride the
bicycle is the same as and different from actually playing the piano or
driving the car and riding the bicycle once these outer world activities are
desired and learned there's a time when allow
is what you do the point here is to recognize the difference in your body
between trying a beloved and to then become aware of the effortless sensation
of the latter this practice will also lead to a greater awareness of the
invisible mystery and the ten thousand things which are the visible phenomena
of our world the ten thousand things that Lao Tzu refers to represent the
categorized classified and scientifically named objects of the
earth which help us to communicate and identify what we're talking and thinking
about yet for all our technological expertise in scientific categorization
we can never truly create a human eye or liver or even a grain of wheat for that
matter each of these things along with the
remainder that comprise the null or named world emerge from the mystery the
eternal down just as the world is not it's named parts were not exclusively
the skin bone and rivers of fluids that were physically made of we too are the
eternal Dial invisibly animating our tongues to speak our ears to hear our
eyes to see and experience the manifest and the mystery consciously allowing
this nameless mystery is ultimately the way to practice the down does this mean
putting yourself in harm's way of course not does that mean trusting
the mystery at the moment you're being mugged or mistreated probably not does
it mean never trying to change things no it does mean cultivating a practice
of being in the mystery and allowing it to flow through you unimpeded
it means permitting the paradox of being informed at the same time that you allow
the mystery to Conformity do the day find your personal way of living
who says in this first verse and the mystery itself is the doorway to all
understanding here's my advice for translating this
passage into daily practice in this 21st century
first and foremost enjoy the mystery but the world unfold without always
attempting to figure it all out but relationships just be for example since
everything is going to stretch out in divine order don't try so hard to make
something work I simply allow don't always toil at trying to understand your
mate or your children or your parents or your boss or anyone else because the Dow
is working at all times when expectations are shattered practice
allowing that to be the way it is relax let go allow and recognize that some of
your desires are about how you think your world should be rather than how it
is become an astute observer judge less and
listen more take time to open your mind to the fascinating mystery and
uncertainty that we all experience and then practice letting go of always
naming and labeling the labeling process is what most of us were taught in
schools we studied hard to be able to define things correctly in order to get
what we called high grades most educational institutions insisted on
identifying everything leading to a tag that distinguished us graduates with
knowledge of specific categories yet we know without anyone telling us that
there's no title or degree or distinguishing label that truly defines
us in the same way that water is not the word water any more than it is agua
Weiser or h2o nothing in this universe is what it's named in spite of our
endless categorizations each animal flower mineral and human can never truly
be described in the same way the dow tells us that the name that can be named
is not the eternal name we must bask in the magnificence of what is seen and
sensed instead of always memorizing categorizing do the dow now at some
point today notice an instant of annoyance or irritation you have with
another person or situation decide to do the Dow or practice the way in that
moment by turning inward with curiosity about where you are on the continuum
between desire and Allah permit the paradox of wanting the
irritant to vanish and allowing it to be what it is look inward for it in your
thoughts and allow yourself to feel it wherever it is and however it moves in
your body turn all of your attention to becoming open-minded allowing
permissiveness to befriend at the mystery within yourself
notice how the feeling manifests itself perhaps doing loop-de-loops in your
stomach giving a rigidness to your skeleton making your heart pound or
tightening your throat wherever it is allow it as an enigmatic messenger
within you and give it non-judgmental attention notice the desire for the
feeling to disappear and allow it to be monitored compassionately by you accept
whatever comes encounter the mystery within without labeling explaining or
defending it's a subtle distinction at first which was take personal
responsibility for identifying you alone can prepare the ground of your being
history