Verse 1: Body of the Way

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Introduction

The Dao De Jing is a primary classical text of Daoism. Its name is challenging to translate, so it is often left untranslated. However valuable that approach is, there is also value in expressing its meaning in ways we can understand. Please consider this offering.

Dao is a term that translates as The Way and refers to cosmic principles and natural laws.

De connects to the qualities humans express when aligned with Dao, seamlessly weaving in the tapestry of life. In the Weaving Way, we check for them in two groups of four. The four characteristics of integrity: fortitude, acceptance, curiosity, truthfulness (FACT). The four conditions of sovereignty: integrity, coherence, order, alignment (ICOA, pronounced eye-co-ah).

Jing is a term applied to the “classics” of any religious or philosophical perspective and derives from the meaning of a weave, or thread, in a larger tapestry.

Since this text is intended as a pragmatic primer for a way of life, giving the title a sense of activity makes sense. And so, I offer the title:

Weaving the Way

The text opens with a description of The Dao, titled “The Body of The Way.” Here is my translation:

Translation

Spoken words about the Dao do not say it all.
Nor does any word written convey its essence.

The unnameable is the embryo of existence.
The act of naming gives birth to all things.

Become desireless and discover the mystery of life.
Through desire, behold its frontiers.

Both in combination – this is the mystery.
The most profound of mysteries.
All that is precious is found through this gate. 

Commentary

Spoken words about the Dao do not say it all.
Nor does any word written convey its essence.

The text’s opening, confusingly but delightfully, makes a profound statement about the Dao. Dao cannot be shown to us. We cannot receive it from someone else. Whatever teachers teach or sacred texts transmit is not the natural law. So where can we find it? We can only see it within our own experience. The Dao is a never-ending, never-failing manifestation of life, a mysterious unfolding of truth. It is an ever-new and ever-present expression of this exact moment. We can only know it intimately by being open to the completeness of our experience at this very moment. 

Upon investigation, we find that the Dao affects itself through the interplay of two opposing forces: nameless and naming. 

The unnameable is the embryo of existence.
The act of naming gives birth to all things.

The unnameable is the space-like pure potential of the Dao’s transcendent and immanent qualities. It is like an empty fullness and is the quality of mystical experience all major traditions point to. It is the seamless, unitive experience at the base of our experience. 

Naming is what we align with by default. It is the activity of discursive consciousness that creates the world around us. It provides the distinctions and boundaries necessary to know this and that from the other. It is the provenance of language, emotion, and interpersonal relationships. Without the act of naming, there is no form born out of the potential space the nameless provides. 

Nameless and Naming are both aspects of the Dao, mutually dependent and emergent aspects of one complete whole. The next verse gives a context for how they relate to each other. 

Become desireless and rediscover the mystery of life.
Through desire, behold its frontiers.

The first line points to the unnameable – the mystery of life. How do we experience this nameless state? Simply by giving up all desire. We no longer need to name things when we have no preferences and crave nothing. There’s no need to make distinctions when we sit there doing nothing. We can observe this absolute, inexpressable, numinous experience as we surrender and release into empty fullness. The result of becoming desireless is a rediscovery because all of our experiences have always emerged from this pure potential.

But the Dao is not one-sided. This way of life is not a dissolution into oblivion. We have the power of creation, of naming, to explore what life has to offer. Naming doesn’t only refer to our discursive thought processes; it relates to the very nature of energy to organize itself into units. The act of desire, which could also be called Love or attraction, leads to the beautiful diversity of creation. 

Both in combination – this is the mystery.
The most profound of mysteries.
All that is precious is found through this gate. 

Weaving the Virtuous Way begins by abandoning what we “know” to stop and rediscover the immanent transcendence of the unnameable. Then, without losing touch with the sense of unitive potential, re-engage the creative capacity of naming. This Virtuous Way is not life-denying but radically life-affirming. We must experience the unnameable cosmic principles of natural law and honor them by applying our desire to create and engage in life’s diversity. To truly enter the Dao means reconciling its two aspects within our experience. 

There is a famous saying by Qingyuan Weixin, one of the most influential early meditation masters of China, that clearly expresses the stages of practice. It goes like this: