The Tao,chapter 1, line 2 through end
Chapter 1
Line 2: The name that can be named, is not the everlasting name.
When you give something a name, that name does not last for eternity. The Tao in actuality is nameless and came before everything else. The name Tao does not represent the Tao for what it is. When something does not have a name, thus nameless, it existed before all else. The entire universe originated from the nameless Tao. When the universe first came into existence the Tao was nameless. However, people named the Tao. We know that everything in the universe is connected to The Tao and began there. The Tao, in its complexity is the source of all life.
The Remainder of Chapter 1
The line that talks about desire vs no desire is not using the word desire in the every day definition of the world. When it says “ desire” it is actually talking about having a purpose in mind. To have a desire is to have an objective. It is talking about looking at something with no objective and how you can then begin to see its wonder. However if you look at something and try to learn something from it with goals in mind then you will learn in more detail, but may miss its wonder. Sometimes we act with purpose or desire, other times we simply act. Take watching TV for example. Sometimes we do not care what it being shown, while other times we pick a particular program and watch it intently. We listen, learn, and analyze it at some level. Both of these are acceptable and serve a purpose.
It is stated that The Tao cannot be talked about. The reason for this is that The Tao is constantly changing. Once you have described it transforms and your description becomes faulty.
As per human nature we try to label things and put them in categories in order to understand them. One we understand something we become able to give it a label or a name. So only something you know can be truly labeled. If you do not understand the Tao you cannot call it Tao. If you call it Tao it means you understand it. However whatever you understand as Tao is not the true Tao. The Tao is actually nameless and Tao is not its real name.
When a person believes they truly understand what Tao is he does not. What he actually understands is the Tao within himself. A person can only understand the Tao from his or her own perspective and experiences. People have their own personal Tao within them, each distinct and personal in nature, yet deriving from the same source. Ones personal Tao changes and transforms as we one goes through life. As ones heart changes so does their personal Tao.
The unnamed Tao has been present from the beginning of time; before heaven, earth, and the entire universe. It has always been. The named Tao and the nameless Tao are one in the same; they are just being referenced from two different places and times. One example I found explained it like this:
“Before a girl is married she is a person. After she gets married she is still a person. After she gives birth to her children, she is still a person but in all these three stages her role is different. In the last stage, she is a mother.”
We can apply this analogy when discussing the nameless and named Tao. The nameless Tao is like the woman before she became a mother. When she becomes a mother, “mother” is her name because her role is different. We know there are some differences between girl and mother- this is like Tao with a name and Tao without a name. Now, when a girl becomes a mother, we cannot see her as a girl again because it is too late. The Tao we know is the Tao that is the mother. It is hard to imagine what Tao was like before it became the mother of everything. That is why Lao Tzu said it couldn’t be described.
The first chapter emphasizes that the Tao is ever changing so we cannot ever fully understand it. The Tao we know may not be the same Tao that was written about years ago. Chapter 1 of The Tao talks about both the universal and personal Tao. The purpose of the first chapter is to help us to conceptualize what the Tao is, nothing more nothing less.