Beyond Names

The names that can be named,

are not the constant names.

Daodejing 1

I walked a single path to where you lived,

and found a footprint in the moss.

White mists surround a quiet island.

The idle gate is overgrown with spring grass.

After the rain, the pines are a deeper green.

Following the mountain, I reach the water source.

Creek flowers for a meditative mind:

facing them, I have no need for words.

“Searching Nanxi for the Reclusive Changshan Taoist,” Liu Changqing (710?–789?)

The origin of heaven and earth has no name.

Names are the Mother of the ten thousand things.

Daodejing 1

Too much speech counts for little.

Don't compare; guard the middle.

Daodejing 5

Human affairs follow one after another:

coming, going, and completing, from past to present.

Rivers and mountains endure in splendid place,

and we return to visit them again and again.

Beyond rapids, fish swim in shallows by a bridge;

the cold sky is like a dream in a deep pool.

Here is General Yang's stele with its inscription.

Once we read it, our tears soak our gowns.

“Climbing Xian Mountain Together with Friends,” Meng Haoran (689/691–740)

One word can be worth a thousand pieces of gold.

Proverb

Thunder beneath the mountain

is the image of nourishing.

A noble one is guarded in speech

and moderate in food and drink.

Yijing, Image of hexagram 27: Nourishing

Red leaves, a gloomy and sad night.

This long pavilion, a ladle of wine.

The clouds part: I would return to Taihua

where rain showers cross its dividing center.

Trees color the distant slopes green.

Rivers resound to the far-away seas.

I will reach the imperial city tomorrow

but I dream of being a fisherman or woodsman.

“On an Autumn Day, Inscribed at Tongguan Staging Post on My Way to the Capital,” Xu Hun (791–858)

Heaven and earth join as one

and send down sweet dew

to everyone evenly

without anyone's command.

Once that starts, it has a name.

Once it is named,

then people know to stay in it.

Once they know to stay in it,

they know no danger.

The Tao in this world,

can be compared

to streams running in gullies,

turning into rivers

coursing to the seas.

Daodejing 32

When drinking water, think of the source.

Proverb

Wind blowing from fire by itself

is the image of a family.

A noble one is true in speech

and constant in deed.

Yijing, Image of hexagram 37: Family

A clear creek of unmeasured depth.

A lone retreat hidden in clouds.

A row of dewy pines, a faint moon:

its pure light beams onto you.

Flower shadows dapple a thatched hut

and a courtyard patterned thick with herbs.

So much! I'm grateful to pass the time:

crane and phoenix flock to the western hills.

“Lodging for the Night at Wang Changling's Retreat,” Chang Jian (708–765)

If you don't want people to know, don't do it.

Proverb

Fire on the mountain

is the image of the traveler.

A noble one is clear and cautious

when giving punishment

and yet does not delay trial.

Yijing, Image of hexagram 56: Traveler

To teach without words

and to increase without acting—

nothing in the world compares.

Daodejing 43

A great square has no corners,

a great vessel takes long to make,

a great sound is a faint tone,

a great image has no shape,

Tao is hidden without a name.

But only Tao has the perfection

to bring completion.

Daodejing 41

When old, we only want calm,

and we lose interest in all else.

I even lack plans to care for myself.

Empty of schemes, I return to old woods,

loosen my sash to pine breezes,

and play my qin in mountain moonlight.

You ask if failure passes to success?

Let a fishing song sound from shore to depths.

“Reply to Vice Prefect Zhang,” Wang Wei (699–759)

Doing good takes repeated milling.

Proverb

Heaven inside a mountain

is the image of great restraint.

A noble one frequently studies

words and deeds of the past

to raise their own virtue.

Yijing, Image of hexagram 26: Great Restraint

Those who know do not speak.

Those who speak do not know.

Seal your mouth,

block the doors,

blunt your blades,

untie your knots,

temper the bright,

settle with the dust.

This is called “uniting with Mystery.”

Then you will be

beyond favor

and beyond loss;

beyond profit

and beyond harm;

beyond honor

and beyond disgrace.

Yet you will be among the greatest in the world.

Daodejing 56

Nourish your breath-energy beyond words and rules.

Settle your heart, and act by not acting.

Still all movement, know the ancestral model.

Nothing truly matters—so who is it who searches?

True constancy must fit everything.

To fit everything requires no confusion.

The self abides in this unconfused nature.

When one's nature abides, breath-energy restores itself.

With the breath-energy restored, the dantian is firm.

In one pot mix Water and Fire.

Yin and yang are born, return, and renew.

The mundane is transformed in a single clap of thunder.

The pilgrim climbs to the white clouds in the head.

Sweet dew sprinkles Mount Meru.

Drink the wine of immortality for yourself.

Be at leisure—who needs to care?

Sit and listen—yet no string bends.

Understand through nature's works.

Everything comes through these twenty lines.

Climb them like heaven's ladder.

“The One Hundred Word Stela,” Lu Dongbin (b. 796)

My words are easy to understand

and easy to practice.

But in all the world

no one understands

and no one practices.

My words have principle

and meaning

to make a system.

Daodejing 70

Empty your neck, raise your power to the crown.

Sink your breath-energy to the dantian.

Move evenly and do not lean.

Vanish suddenly, appear suddenly.

Shanxi Wang Zongyue's Taijiquan Treatise

True words are not beautiful.

Beautiful words are not true.

Daodejing 81