1st Chapter
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
What cannot be named is the source of the power of creation (the beginning).
What can be named is the source of becoming (the place to be formed and nourished).
Perceiving invisible things with the inner sense, one can discover spiritual mysteries (which is hidden underneath physical phenomena).
Perceiving visible things with the outer sense, one can discover physical wonderment (which is the expression of the power of spirit).
Invisible and visible things are both from the same source of creation but named separately.
(One is inward and the other is outward, both are interconnected and interrelated to one with another.)
Both are mysterious, both are the doorway to the knowledge of God.

Implications from the Holy Books

Why do we say, “the Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name”?

God is almighty, but His greatness cannot be brought within the grasp of human limitation. We cannot limit God to a boundary. ……God is the Ancient, the Almighty; His attributes are infinite. He is God because His light, His sovereignty, is infinite. If He can be limited to human ideas, He is not God. ……How could an almighty sovereignty, a Divinity so wondrous, be brought within the limitations of faulty human minds even as to terms and definition? ── Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace

He (God), verily, is from everlasting. No peer or partner has been, or can ever be, joined with Him. No name can be compared with His Name. No pen can portray His nature, neither can any tongue depict His glory. He will, forever, remain immeasurably exalted above anyone except Himself. ──Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 78

To discover spiritual mysteries or to discover physical wonderment, a man needs the light of intellect. But only the Divine Light that can give us insight for the mystery of the Kingdom of God. The Divine Light is the bounty of God and it must be sought through Faith.

With the visible light of the sun we discern the beauties of the world. With the light of intellect we have the ability to understand and gain knowledge. Nevertheless, though it is the function of this light to make things visible to us, it cannot give us the power to see them or to understand what their various charms may be, for this light has no intelligence, no consciousness. It is the light of the intellect which gives us knowledge and understanding, and without this light the physical eyes would be useless. This light of the intellect is the highest light that exists, for it is born of the Light Divine.
The light of the intellect enables us to understand and realize all that exists, but it is only the Divine Light that can give us sight for the invisible things, and which enables us to see truths that will only be visible to the world thousands of years hence. It was the Divine Light which enabled the prophets to see two thousand years in advance what was going to take place and today we see the realization of their vision. Thus it is this Light which we must strive to seek, for it is greater than any other. ── Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks

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