have handled  for thousands  of years  have been

　　　　  concept-mummies;   nothing  real  escaped  their

　　　　  grasp alive.  When these honorable  idolaters of

　　　　  concepts  worship  something, they  kill  it and

　　　　  stuff it;  they threaten  the life of everything

　　　　  they worship. Death, change, old age, as well as

　　　　  procreation  and  growth,  are  to  their  minds

　　　　  objections-even refutations.(18)

　　   In   sharp   contrast,  Lao   Tzu   emphasizes   the

　　   flexibility of names vis-a-vis Tao.  The name Mother

　　   of the Ten Thousand  Things applies  to Tao as Being

　　   (yu), that is, the "manifest forms" that are subject

　　   to   linguistic   analysis   and   fixation.   These

　　   correspond to the limits of cognition and intellect.

　　   But it also has another name, "No-

　　   ────────────

　　   (17) One example would be the Japanese  phrase "mono

　　　　   no  aware."  There  is no exact  equivalent  in

　　　　   English, inasmuch  as  its  cultural  aesthetic

　　　　   does not include  nor value precisely  the same

　　　　   experience as does the Japanese aesthetic.

　　   (18) Friedrich  Nietzsche, "Reason'  in Philosophy,"

　　　　   from  Twilight  of the  Idols, Walter  Kaufmann

　　　　   trans.  And included in The Portable  Nietzsche

　　　　   (New York: Viking Press, 1968), p.479.

　　　　　　　　　　　　  P.352

　　   thingness"  (wu) as "origin of Heaven and Earth." In

　　   the latter sense we are forced  beyond the limits of

　　   language  and into the realm of the wondrous (miao).

　　   This  is the same rarefied  territory  tread  by the

　　   Ch'an  Buddhist, a region  suffused  with  ineffable

　　   spirituality.  Deprived  of the crutch  of language,

　　   how  are we to communicate  such  things? The Taoist

　　   invites  us to soar on the wings of poetry, engaging

　　   our creative imagination and transcending  cognitive

　　   reason.  Lao Tzu seems to echo the insights of Lu Ji

　　   regarding the creative process:

　　　　  Impose on empty nonbeing to ask forth being,

　　　　  Knock on deepest silence in search of sound.(19)

　　   Although  both  perspectives,  the  Mother  and  the

　　   Origin, are possible, there is a definite  priority,

　　   ontologically speaking, given to No-thingness.