Tao Te Ching Part Fourteen

“Look, it cannot be seen – it is beyond form.
Listen, it cannot be heard – it is beyond sound.
Grasp, it cannot be held – it is intangible.
These three are indefinable;
Therefore they are joined in one.”

This is the essence of the Tao, it can’t be seen, heard or touched, it’s beyond the normal senses, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be directly experienced and grasped with a different part of the mind.

“From above it is not bright;
From below it is not dark:
An unbroken thread beyond description.
It returns to nothingness.
The form of the formless,
The image of the imageless,
It is called indefinable and beyond imagination.
Stand before it and there is no beginning.
Follow it and there is no end.”

There is much that the human thinking mind can’t grasp, we ask questions of the infinite like “where does space end?” And “what happens when I die?” When we do this we’re using the wrong tool for the job, by its very nature we can’t define the infinite. The correct tool for the job is our own infinite mind that we can access when calm, still and quiet in meditation.

“Stay with the ancient Tao,
Move with the present.
Knowing the ancient beginning is the essence of Tao.”

By directly experiencing the Tao in meditation, we realise that it can only be found in the present, and it becomes our place of refuge, where we can find balance and healing.