The Tao Te Ching - Verse 1

Tao Te Ching – Verse 1

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.

Laozi. Tao Te Ching. Translated by Stephen Mitchell. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.

We are sharing the 81 verses of the Tao Te Ching across 81 weeks starting in March 2025. Here is our introductory post if you’d like to learn more about this project.