Tao-te ching - Verse 1
 

The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name . (James Legge's version)

Comments

As Tao means method - see also our explanation of this term here - "a tao that can be trodden is not the endurind and unchanging tao" means there is no perfect method. As Tao means also the Taoist Heaven or its Movement, the significance of the above sentence may be: there's no perfect method to unite with the Tao (of Heaven).

The names we gave to things and forces in the universe are not self-explanatory so "the name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name". Likewise the first quotation this means there's no perfect verbal explanation of the method.

-------
Commentary by Jhian Yang
 

Copyright 2007, Way of Perfect Emptiness. All rights reserved.