1. The Constant Way｜Tao Te Ching

道（dào）可（kě）道（dào），（）非（fēi）常（cháng）道（dào）。（）

A way that can be put into words is not the constant Way.

Language can describe aspects of the Way, but it cannot fix the whole underlying reality in a final form.

名（míng）可（kě）名（míng），（）非（fēi）常（cháng）名（míng）。（）

A name that can be assigned is not the constant name.

Names help us distinguish things, yet no label can fully contain what a thing is.

无（wú）名（míng）天（tiān）地（dì）之（zhī）始（shǐ）；（）有（yǒu）名（míng）万（wàn）物（wù）之（zhī）母（mǔ）。（）

Without names lies the beginning of heaven and earth; with names comes the mothering of the myriad things.

“Without names” points to an undivided origin, while “with names” points to the world as things emerge and become distinguishable.

故（gù）常（cháng）无（wú）欲（yù），（）以（yǐ）观（guān）其（qí）妙（miào）；（）常（cháng）有（yǒu）欲（yù），（）以（yǐ）观（guān）其（qí）徼（jiǎo）。（）

Thus, by remaining free of desire, one observes its subtlety; by remaining within desire, one observes its outward limits.

Releasing pursuit reveals deeper workings, while attending to particular wants reveals the forms and boundaries through which things appear.

此（cǐ）两（liǎng）者（zhě），（）同（tóng）出（chū）而（ér）异（yì）名（míng），（）同（tóng）谓（wèi）之（zhī）玄（xuán）。（）

These two arise from the same source but bear different names; together they are called profound.

The nameless and the named are not separate realms, but two views of one process, neither exhausted by surface understanding.

玄（xuán）之（zhī）又（yòu）玄（xuán），（）众（zhòng）妙（miào）之（zhī）门（mén）。（）

Profound, and profound again: this is the gateway to all subtle workings.

By moving beyond fixed concepts again and again, one approaches the rich source from which change unfolds.

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