Dao De Jing · I

The text

The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of all things.

The line

Free of desire, you see the mystery; full of desire, you see the manifestations. These two spring from the same source, yet differ in name — both are called the profound.

The note

Mystery upon mystery — the gate of all wonder. First see how things run; then speak of living with them. That is what the first chapter leaves us.