Tao Te Ching: 1

About 10 years ago a teacher with whom I met often suggested that I skim the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. At the time I was going through a "what does it all mean" stage. That has never really changed for me. At times I've tried to avoid finding meaning and purpose in my life but I always return to this personal search. Currently that search includes again reading and thinking about the Tao Te Ching. I'm fascinated by Lao Tzu's ideas. So I'm going to included my interpretations of the 81 poems in the book here in this blog
Tao Te Ching can be translated as The Book Of The Way. In it Lao Tzu presents his ideas about the way things are and how or where a god or universal creative intelligence may exist.
I will be posting the poems from Stephen Mitchell's translation of the Tao Te Ching then giving my interpretation. I'm writing with the premise that a god, a universal creative intelligence, or a way that makes life work for us does exist. So here goes.


Poem 1

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The Name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnameable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the
manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.


The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The God or the Way which can be spoken of or understood is not the actual God or Way that exists. God is a mystery. There is no absolute truth about God or the Way life works. Once we believe we understand either of these we are veering off the road of understanding.


The Name that can be named
is not the eternal Name. 

The unnameable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.
The physicality of things is an illusion. Nothing is really solid. So the name things are given is the name of something in an illusionary state of solidity. All things are masses of electrons spinning around each other so fast that we perceive the thing as solid. Things are not solid, they are not what they seem. Is there some sort of intelligence that controls the actions of these electrons? If there is that may be The Tao.


Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the
manifestations.
A person addicted to something experiences longing and the consequences of their actions. Free from addiction a person can experience life accurately. Someone that is brokenhearted can not objectively experience the person they desire. If I do not desire a person I can know who they really are.


Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.