The Nature of the Tao

Taoism

Tao Te Ching 1-2

The opening two chapters of the Tao Te Ching form a chiasm: the ineffable Tao that cannot be named mirrors the sage who acts without doing, with the paradox of being and non-being at the center.

AThe Tao that can be told is not the eternal TaoA'

BThe nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of ten thousand thingsB'

XBEING AND NON-BEING PRODUCE EACH OTHER — THESE TWO SPRING FROM THE SAME SOURCE

B'The sage acts without doing; teaches without speaking; ten thousand things rise and fall without his controlB

A'He acts but does not possess; does his work but makes no claim — the work is done, then forgottenA