Chapter 14 Dyer
That which cannot be seen is called invisible.
That which cannot be heard is called inaudible.
That which cannot be held is called intangible.
These these three cannot be defined therefore they are merged as one.
Each of these three is subtle for description.
By intuition you can see it, hear it, and feel it.
Then the Unseen, Unheard, and Untouched are present as one.
It's rising brings no dawn.
It's setting no darkness.
It goes on and on unnameable, returning into nothingness.
Approach it and there is no beginning.
Follow it and there is no end.
You cannot know it but you can be it, at ease in your own life.
Discovering how things have always been brings one into harmony with the way.
Chapter 14 Henricks
1. We look at it but do not see it;
2. We name this "the minute."
3. We listen to it but do not hear it;
4. We name this "the rarefied."
5. We touch it but do not hold it;
6. We name this "the level and smooth."
7. These three cannot be examined to the limit.
8. Thus they merge together as one.
9. "One"—there is nothing more encompassing above it,
10. And nothing smaller below it.
11. Boundless, formless! It cannot be named,
12. And returns to the state of no-thing.
13. This is called the formless form,
14. The substanceless image.
15. This is called the subtle and indistinct.
16. Follow it and you won't see its back;
17. Greet it and you won't see its head.
18. Hold on to the Way of the present—
19. To manage the things of the present,
20. And to know the ancient beginning.
21. This is called the beginning of the thread of the Way.
Chapter 14 Lau
What cannot be seen is called evanescent;
What cannot be heard is called rarefied;
What cannot be touched is called minute.
These three cannot be fathomed
And so they are confused and looked upon as one.
Its upper part is not dazzling;
Its lower part is not obscure.
Dimly visible, it cannot be named
And returns to that which is without substance.
This is called the shape that has no shape,
The image that is without substance.
This is called indistinct and shadowy.
Go up to it and you will not see its head;
Follow behind it and you will not see its rear.
Hold fast to the way of antiquity
In order to keep in control the realm of today.
The ability to know the beginning of antiquity
Is called the thread running through the way.
Chapter 14 Wu
Look at it but you cannot see it!
Its name is Formless.
Listen to it but you cannot hear it!
Its name is Soundless.
Grasp it but you cannot get it!
Its name is Incorporeal.
These three attributes are unfathomable;
Therefore they fuse into one.
Its upper side is not bright:
Its under side not dim.
Continually the Unnameable moves on,
Until it retums beyond the realm of things.
We call it the formless Form, the imageless Image.
We call it the indefinable and unimaginable.
Confront it and you do not see its face!
Follow it and you do not see its back!
Yet, equipped with this timeless Tao,
You can harness present realities.
To know the origins is initiation into the Tao.