Lao Tzu for Everyone
Students, Scholars,
& Seekers
Chinese-English Interlinear
Peter Gilboy, Ph. D.
regarding the characters
chosen for this translation.
Lesson 14
What is
Oneness?
一 yī
(a single stroke 一 )
one, alone, a, an
Interlinear
Line 1
Look for it,
and you won't see it.
Call it 'imperceptible.'
視shì 之zhī 而ér 弗fú 見jiàn
look (pron.) and not it see
名míng 之zhī 曰yuē 微wēi
name (pron.) say tiny, minute
Look it, and not see it
Name it imperceptible.
We cannot see the source of our seeing, in the same way that we cannot see our own eyes, no matter how hard we look.
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Line 2
Listen for it,
and you won't hear it.
Call it 'soundless.'
聽ting 之zhī 而ér 弗fú 聞wén
listen (pron.) and not it hear
名míng 之zhī 曰yuē 希xī
name (pron.) say rare
Listen it, and not hear it.
Name it rarefied.
We cannot hear the source of our hearing.
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Line 3
Reach for it,
and you won't find it.
Call it 'intangible.'
捪mín 之zhī 而ér 弗fú 得dé
touch (pron.) and not it obtain
名míng 之zhī 曰yuē 夷yí
name (pron.) say level and smooth
Touch it and you won't get it.
Name it saying level and smooth.
Reaching for the Way, for Oneness, already implies two: a reacher and what is being reached for. It can't be done.
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Line 4
These three are unfathomable.
Therefore they blend as One
三sān 者zhě 不bù 可kě 至zhì 計jì
three one who not able reach to calculate
故gú 混hùn 而ér 為wéi 一yī
Therefore blend and as/become one
These three are not able to reach calculation.
Therefore, they blend and as one.
Again, the reason we cannot experience Oneness, the Way, is because Oneness is not “out there” apart from us to be experienced.
Similarly, we cannot “know” the Way because our very knowing is itself within the operation of the Way.
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Line 5
One cannot be fathomed
in its height or depth.*
一Yī 者zhě 其quī 上shàng 不bù 皦jiǎo
one one who (pron) high not scarce/bright
下xià 不bù 忽hū
under not exhaust
As to One, its height not illuminated
it's depth not exhausted.
When we measure something, it is always in comparison to something else. But what is outside the Way against which we can measure it?**
*Reference Lesson 2.
**Reference Psalm 139: 7-12:
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Line 6
It is endless!
It's is beyond description
And it is ever
returning home as no-thing.
尋xún 尋xún 呵hē 不bù 可kě 名míng 也yě
arm span arm span exclaim not can name (part.)
復fù 歸guī 於yǔ 无wú 物wù
return return home (prep.) not have thing.
Arm span! It cannot be named.
Returning home in it's no-thing-ness.
无wú 物wù, “without thingness” is not “nothing.” 无wú 物wù simply means that the Way as One exists, but without a physical form. Only its expressions, its appearances, have physical forms—the 10,000 things.
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Line 7
We could say that it is a
shape with no shape
or the image of no-thing.
In other words,
the Way is simply imponderable.
是shì 胃wèi 无wú 狀zhuàng 之zhī 狀zhuàng
this say not have form (poss.) form
无wú 物wù 之zhī 象xiàng
not have thing (poss.) image
是shì 胃wèi 沕wù 望wàng
this say endless view from afar.
This is to say that it is a form not having a form,
an image of not-thing,
which is to say that it is endless to look at.
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Line 8
Follow it and you
won't see it's back.
Face it and you
won't see its front.
隋suí 而ér 不bù 見jiàn 其qí 後hòu
follow and not see (pron.) back
迎yíng 而ér 不bù 見jiàn 其qí 首shǒu
meet and not see (pron.) head
Follow and not see its back
Meet, and not see it's head.
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Line 9
Hold fast to the Way
of the present
and by this
attend to the affairs of present.
執zhí 今jīn 之zhī 道tào
hold present (poss.) way
以yǐ 御yù 今jīn 之zhī 有yǒu
by means of manage present (poss.) thing
Hold to the way of the present
and by this means
manage the things of the present.
While the Way cannot be seen, touched, or heard, its operation--life and the life forms around us. are already and always present. That is where we discover it.
But the present seems to eludes us, focused as we are on the future and past. Simply notice the present, that is all. Notice life.
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Line 10
Knowing the first beginnings
is called knowing
the continuity of the Way.
以yǐ 知zhī 古gǔ 始shǐ
by means know ancient/old origin
是shī 胃wèi 道tào 紀jì
this call way thread, record
By means of knowing the ancient origins,
is called the thread of the way.
The "first beginnings” (古gǔ 始shǐ literally “the ancient origins”) is not a period in time, as when we say, “In days of old,” or “Once upon a time.” 古gǔ 始shǐ, "first beginning," is not in the past at all.
古gǔ 始shǐ could also be translated "starting point" or "point of departure." No matter how far we travel, our starting point doesn't change. Where we are now is in continuous relationship with it. That is the analogy Lao Tzu is asking us to contemplate.
Or, consider an analogy to fire. There are numerous fires and types of fires, from a lit match to a raging forest fire. Different as they may be, and independent as they may seem, their source does not change. It is not time bound. That same source was present for the first fire, and it will be here tomorrow for the next.
It is the same with life itself. It is individual, and yet there is one source. A life may come and go, but life doesn't go away. It stays. Life is One.
古gǔ 始shǐ, "first beginnings, is One, or life itself, including all living things at this present moment. That is why this line follows the previous one regarding the present.
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