What is the Tao, Reason's Realization, Embodying the Tao, The Inadequacy of Names, Mysteries, 體道
"The Dao that can be understood cannot be the primal, or cosmic, Dao.
An idea that can be expressed in words cannot be the infinite idea.
This ineffable Dao was the source of all spirit and matter,
And being expressed was the mother of all created things.
Therefore not to desire the things of sense is to know the freedom of
spirituality.
To desire is to learn the limitation of matter.
These two things spirit and matter, so different in nature, have the same
origin.
This unity of origin is the mystery of mysteries, but it is the gateway to
spirituality."
- Translated by
Dwight Goddard and Henri Borel, 1919,
Chapter 1
"The Way that can be experienced is not true;
The world that can be constructed is not true.
The Way manifests all that happens and may happen;
The world represents all that exists and may exist.
To experience without intention is to sense the world;
To experience with intention is to anticipate the world.
These two experiences are indistinguishable;
Their construction differs but their effect is the same.
Beyond the gate of experience flows the Way,
Which is ever greater and more subtle than the world."
- Translated by Peter
Merel, 1992, Chapter 1
By Alexander and Annellen Simpkins 
Translated by Thomas Cleary 
By Ming-Dao Deng
Translation by Burton Watson, Stephen Addiss, and Stanley Lombardo 
Translation by Stephen Mitchell
"The Reason that can be reasoned is not the eternal
Reason.
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The Unnamable is of heaven and earth the beginning.
The Namable becomes of the ten thousand things the mother.
Therefore it is said:
"He who desireless is found
The spiritual of the world will sound.
But he who by desire is bound
Sees the mere shell of things around."
These two things are the same in source but different in name.
Their sameness is called a mystery.
Indeed, it is the mystery of mysteries.
Of all spirituality it is the door."
- Translated by
Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki and
Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 1
By Alexander Simkins
By Derek Lin
By Ming-Dao Deng.
By Benjamin Hoff.
By Ming-Dao Deng
Translated by Thomas Cleary
"The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao.
The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.
Conceived of as having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth;
Conceived of as having a name, it is the Mother of all things.
Always without desire we must be found,
If its deep mystery we would sound;
But if desire always within us be,
Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
Under these two aspects, it is really the same;
But as development takes place, it receives the different names.
Together we call them the Mystery.
Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and
wonderful."
- Translated by James Legge, 1891,
Chapter 1
Translated by Eva Wong 
Translated by Philip Ivahoe
By James Miller
Translated by Stephen Bokencamp By Alexander and Annellen Simpkins Translated by Thomas Cleary
By Livia Kohn
"Dao ke dao, fei chang dao;
ming ke ming, fei chang ming.
Wu, ming tian di zhi shi;
you, ming wan wu zhi mu.
Gu chang wu, yu yi guan qi miao,
chang you, yu yi guan qi jiao.
Ci liang zhe, tong chu er yi ming.
Tong wei zhi xuan,
xuan zhi you xuan,
zhong miao zhi men."
- Pinyin
Romanized transliteration, Chapter 1
"Tao k’o tao, fei ch’ang tao.
ming k’o ming, fei ch’ang ming.
Wu, ming t’ien ti chih shih;
yu, ming wan wu chih mu.
Ku ch’ang wu, yü yi kuan ch’i miao,
ch’ang yu, yü yi kuan ch’i chiao.
Tz’u liang chê, t’ung ch’u erh yi ming.
T’ung wei chih hsüan.
hsüan chih yu hsüan.
chung miao chih mên."
- Wade Giles Romanized transliteration,
Chapter 1
Annotated and Explained by Derek Lin and Lama Surya Das
Translation and commentary by Victor Mair 
Translation by John Wu
"The Tao, or Principle of Nature, may be discussed by all; it is not the
popular or common Tao.
Its name may be named: but it is not an ordinary name.
Its nameless period was that which preceded the birth of the Universe.
In being spoken of by name, it is as the Progenitrix of All Things.
It is therefore in habitual passionlessness that its mystery may be scanned; and
in habitual desire that its developments may be perceived.
These two conditions, the Active and the Quiescent, alike proceed from Tao; it
is only in name that they differ.
Both may be called profundities; and the depth of profundity is the gate of
every mystery."
- Translated by
Frederic H. Balfour, 1884, Chapter 1
"The
Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying Way;
The names that can be named are not unvarying names.
It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;
The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after
its kind.
Truly, “Only he that rids himself forever of desire can see the Secret
Essences”;
He that has never rid himself of desire can see only the Outcomes.
These two things issued from the same mould, but nevertheless are different in
name.
This “same mould” we can but call the Mystery, Or rather the “Darker than any
Mystery”,
The Doorway whence issued all Secret Essences."
- Translated by
Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 1
Translation and elucidation by Hua Ching Ni
Translated by Brian Walker
Translated by Arthur Waley
Translated by Lionel and and Herbert Giles
By Eva Wong
Tao Te Ching
Commentary, Interpretations, Research Tools, Resources
Chapter 1
Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition
By Jonathan Star. Translation, commentary and research tools. New York, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Penguin, 2001. Concordance, tables, appendices, 349 pages. A
new rendition of the Tao Te Ching is provided, then a verbatim translation with
extensive notes. Detailed tables for each verse provide line number, all
the Chinese characters, Wade-Giles romanization, and a list of meanings for
each character. An excellent reference tool!
Yellow Bridge
Dao De Jing Comparison Table, Chapter 4 Provides side by side comparisons of translations of the Tao Te
Ching by James Legge,
D. T. Suzuki, and Dwight Goddard. Chinese characters for each paragraph in
the Chapter are on the left; place your cursor over the Chinese characters to
see the Pinyin romanization of the Chinese character and a list of meanings.
The Complete Works of Lao Tzu: Tao Teh Ching & Hua Hu Ching
Tao Te Ching Commentaries - Google Search
Chapter 1,
collection of 170 translations of Chapter 1 into English.
Tao Te Ching: A
Bibliography and Index of Translations on the Web
Chapter 4 in the
Rambling
Taoist Commentaries by Trey Smith. The
Rambling Taoists are Trey Smith and Scott Bradley.
Chapter 4, Chinese language research
database for the Tao Te Ching with detailed and extensive hyperlinks.
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
The largest collection of very nicely formatted complete versions of the Tao
Te Ching. The
collection includes 209 complete versions in 27 languages,
plus 28 Chinese versions. There are 112 English language
versions of the
Tao Te Ching available at this website. A variety of search methods and comparision methods are provided, as well a a detailed
index.
Lao-tzu's Taoteching
Thematic Index to the
81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu: Te-Tao Ching - A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui
Texts (Classics of Ancient China)
Next Chapter of the Tao Te Ching #2
Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching
Gushen Grove Notebooks for the Tao Te Ching
April 13, 2011
Green
Way Research, Valley Spirit
Grove, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Red Bluff, California
This webpage was first distributed online on February 6, 2011
Brief Biography of Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.
Valley Spirit Grove, Red Bluff, California
Ripening Peaches: Daoist Studies and Practices
One Old Druid's Final Journey: Notebooks of the Librarian of Gushen Grove
The Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) circa 500 BCE