Name.

　　　　  As  No-thingness  [Tao]  is named the origin  of

　　　　  Heaven  and Earth;

　　　　  As Being [Tao]  is named  the mother  of the Ten

　　　　  Thousand Things.

　　　　  Thus, always   in   terms   of  No-thingness,

　　　　  One contemplates its [hidden] wonders;

　　　　  Always in terms   of  Being,

　　　　  One   contemplates   its [manifested] forms.

　　　　  These two spring forth from the same [source],

　　　　　　　　　　　　  P.350

　　　　  And yet they differ in name.

　　　　  Both are called "profoundly dark";

　　　　  Profoundly dark and ever profoundly dark,

　　　　  The gateway to infinite wonders.(16)

　　   In these lines Lao Tzu initiates the questioning  of

　　   the   legitimacy,  and  even   the  possibility,  of

　　   confining   reality   to  the  limits  of  language,

　　   qualifying   him  as  a  precursor  of  Ch'an.   The

　　   "enduring Tao" as all-pervasive  substratum  remains

　　   everelusive, nor can it be fixated  by a mere  name.

　　   The word "enduring" (ch'ang) is sometimes translated

　　   as "constant"  or "eternal".  The Chinese  character

　　   depicts  a flag  outside  the  headquarters  of  the

　　   commanding general. Extrapolating from this concrete

　　   image, the flag may  be interpreted  as a sign  or a

　　   symbol of leadership. Furthermore, the flag connotes

　　   a special  sense  of  movement  within  constancy, a

　　   supple  flexibility  fluttering  in the breeze.  The

　　   sense  of stability  amid  flux is missing  from the

　　   word "eternal," which refers to something outside of

　　   time, outside of change (e.g., the Platonic  Forms).

　　   Tao,   however,   is   immanent   in,  rather   than

　　   transcendent  of, the  world  of  change-it  is  the

　　   changeless  that endures in the midst of change.  In

　　   the Silk manuscript  the word  "heng"  (constant) is

　　   inserted  in  place  of  "ch'ang."   This  character

　　   depicts the heart/mind  (hsin) in a constant  orbit,

　　   revolving  around  and  around  in  a  set  pattern.

　　   Despite  the differences  between the words heng and

　　   ch'ang, they do share a common sense of movement  in

　　   accordance with a natural rhythm. In contrast to the

　　   western philosophical preference for an otherworldly