Tao Te Ching Chapter 14

14th Chapter
That which cannot be seen is called invisible.
That which cannot be heard is called inaudible.
That which cannot be held is called intangible.
These three aspects of spiritual perception cannot be analyzed, so they become one understanding.
On its surface what you see is not clear, and in its depth that which is hidden is not obscure.
When it manifests, we see it but not clearly, it can’t be named.
Then, it returns to where it comes from.
Therefore, this is called no-form but form (no physical form but in our heart, we perceive the form).

We also call it “no-image, but image”, that is, “seemingly”.
When it manifests, we don’t see it’s beginning. When it returns, we don’t know what comes after.
If we study the eternal Tao enough and know its principles, then we can manage current affairs and reconcile them with these principles. This is called the discipline of Tao.

Implications from the Holy Books

Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is endowed with such potency as can instill new life into every human frame, if ye be of them that comprehend this truth. All the wondrous works ye behold in this world have been manifested through the operation of His supreme and most exalted Will, His wondrous and inflexible Purpose. Through the mere revelation of the word “Fashioner,” issuing forth from His lips and proclaiming His attribute to mankind, such power is released as can generate, through successive ages, all the manifold arts which the hands of man can produce. This, verily, is a certain truth. No sooner is this resplendent word uttered, than its animating energies, stirring within all created things, give birth to the means and instruments whereby such arts can be produced and perfected. All the wondrous achievements ye now witness are the direct consequences of the Revelation of this Name. In the days to come, ye will, verily, behold things of which ye have never heard before. Thus hath it been decreed in the Tablets of God, and none can comprehend it except them whose sight is sharp. In like manner, the moment the word expressing My attribute “The Omniscient” issueth forth from My mouth, every created thing will, according to its capacity and limitations, be invested with the power to unfold the knowledge of the most marvelous sciences, and will be empowered to manifest them in the course of time at the bidding of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Know thou of a certainty that the Revelation of every other Name is accompanied by a similar manifestation of Divine power. Every single letter proceeding out of the mouth of God is indeed a mother letter, and every word uttered by Him Who is the Wellspring of Divine Revelation is a mother word, and His Tablet a Mother Tablet. Well is it with them that apprehend this truth. ── Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 74

… the first bestowal of God is the Word, and its discoverer and recipient is the power of understanding. This Word is the foremost instructor in the school of existence and the revealer of Him Who is the Almighty. All that is seen is visible only through the light of its wisdom. All that is manifest is but a token of its knowledge. All names are but its name, and the beginning and end of all matters must needs depend upon it. ── Bahá’u’lláh, The Tabernacle of Unity

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