A Simple Explanation of the Tao Te Ching -- Verse 1

Prior to reading this post, please acquaint yourself with "Start Here: A Simple Explanation--Basic Principles" in the column on the right side of the screen.The Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is an ancient Chinese collection of 81 wisdom verses. In “The Simple Explanation” model, the Tao spoken of by Lao Tzu refers to the metaversal information and principles of organization that have informed our universe since the moment before creation. Non-being refers to clearing your personal UC of earthly memes and karma. Non-action refers to allowing the original higher-order UC to direct your personal UC for the greater good. Here is the first verse of the Tao Te Ching, informed by this simple explanation:

Verse 1, the Mitchell translation                                                             
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.

A Simple Explanation of Verse 1
The information and principles of organization imagined in ideal form in the metaverse are more perfect and complete than we can ever articulate.

Pure conscious awareness without time and space exists outside our universe.

Abstract thought on the part of pure consciousness defined creation prior to the Big Bang. In our universe, we are only able to recognize objects and concepts we have named.

When we set down our meme bundles we are freed from personal preference. In that clear state we may perceive the workings of the universal model and our role in it. Remaining attached to our memes obscures the inflowing metaversal patterns and keeps us tethered to our familiar material and relational patterns.

Pure, undifferentiated consciousness dwells in the unformed darkness of the metaverse. The thought patterns that produce light and matter arise out of the metaverse, but the manifestations of these patterns takes place within our universe. The portal into our universe is the gateway to all understanding.


Tao te Ching, Lao Tzu: An Illustrated Journey. Translated by Stephen Mitchell, Harper Collins:New York, 1999.