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Chapter 14 |
視之不見名曰夷，聽之不聞名曰希，搏之不得名曰微。此三者不可致詰，故混而為一，其上不皦，其下不昧，繩繩不可名，復歸於無物，是謂無狀之狀，無物之象，是謂惚恍，迎之不見其首，隨之不見其後。執古之道，以御今之有，能知古始，是謂道紀。 |
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shi zhi bu jian ming |
Anything caught in the eye, but beyond our visual ability to sense its existence, is called flat. |
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ting zhi bu wen ming |
Anything caught in the ear, but beyond our aural ability to sense its existence, is called thin. |
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bo zhi bu de ming yue |
Anything beyond our manual capability to break it down further is called tiny. |
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ci san zhe bu ke zhi jie, gu hun er wei |
These three are something beyond the analytic ability of human consciousness. They can be regarded as something fusing together in the world beyond knowledge. |
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qi shang bu jiao |
Anything beyond the upper boundary of human sensibility is too bright for people to sense. |
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qi xia bu mei |
Anything beyond the lower boundary of human sensibility is too dark for people to sense. |
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sheng sheng bu ke |
Anything beyond human capability to define with a definition does not exist in the scope of human knowledge.
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fu gui yu wu wu, |
Then these things can be regarded as matterless. These matterless things are of the form of formlessness. |
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wu wu zhi xiang, shi wei hu huang |
In the beginning, the sign of matterlessness is flickering, not stable and not steady. |
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ying zhi bu jian qi |
When you happen to approach it in front, you will not be aware of its front. |
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sui zhi bu jian qi |
When you happen to follow it behind, you will not be aware of its hind. |
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zhi gu zhi dao, yi yu jin zhi you |
This was the natural way of pre-logical thinking often used by the people in the very early time to explore new knowledge. It is better to grasp this way of thinking to open up your mind in order to reconsider the current socio-political form of possession administration. |
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neng zhi gu shi, shi |
When you understand the way people lived in the very early time, you will know the principle for living today. |