Reflections on the Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) Chapter 1

This is my own personal reflection on the Tao Te Ching, a sacred Taoist text written by Lao Tzu (Laozi) around 6th century BC.

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

Here Lao Tzu is saying that as soon as you put a label on something, it is no longer the Tao, the Tao cannot be communicated by language alone.

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

Things are naturally, the way they are, they contain no labels, all labels are created through the mind alone. Nothing inherently has meaning or labels.

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

When an individual is established in his base consciousness, free from desires, he naturally flows with "the way" or the Tao. Nothing that he does goes against the Tao, because he has become one with it.

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

Lao Tzu is referring to dark matter, the thing that permeates the majority of our existence. We like to see things on the surface as being full, but within all things is emptiness.

"Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding"

The way to realize the truth is to become like that original, primordial energy, that existed at the beginning of time. The dark matter that is contained within all things. One must let go of the illusory nature of the senses, and desires, and transcend all labels created by the mind.

Hope you enjoyed my interpretation, lets discuss if you like.

-Jason