Daodejing - Chapter Fourteen

 

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道德經  - 第十四章

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。

 Daodejing - Chapter Fourteen

Look and it can't be seen.

Listen and it can't be heard.

Reach and it can't be grasped.

Above, it isn't bright; below, it isn't dark. 

Seamless, unnamable, it returns to the realm of nothing.

Form that includes all forms, image without an image, subtle beyond all conception.

Approach it and there is no beginning; follow it and there is no end. 

You can't know it, but you can be it.

At ease in your own life, just realize where you come from, this is the essence of wisdom.

References

1. The above translation is based on the translation by poet, translator, scholar and anthologist, Stephen Mitchell.  His reading of the work can be found on the following YouTube video: Tao Te Ching, The Book Of The Way by Lao Tzu: https://youtu.be/t109UFLSQhk?t=1380
2. This chapter on the above video starts at 23:00 and ends at 24.30.
3. You can find the complete 81 chapters of Daodejing in Chinese and English (James Legge version) in the ctext.org website: https://ctext.org/dao-de-jing