Spirit
THE NAMELESS
Look, you cannot see It,
It is Formless.
Listen, you cannot hear It,
It is Soundless.
Grasp, you cannot touch It,
It is Non-Being.
These three are indiscernible
And therefore are merged into the ONE.
Its upper part is not dazzling, its lower part is not dark;
It is nameless and in ceaseless motion,
And returns to the Void.
Form of the formless, image of the imageless,
It is indistinct and indefinable.
Confront It and you will not see Its face,
Follow It and you will not find Its back.
Hold fast to the hoary Tao,
Thus gaining mastery over the moment,
Knowing the beginning of time as the thread of Tao.
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The Nameless is the Source of Heaven and Earth;
The named is the Mother of the Ten Thousand Things.
Desireless, one may behold the mystery;
Desiring, one may see the manifestations.
Though one in origin,
They emerge with distinct names.
Both are mysteries -
Depth within depth -
The threshold of all secrets.
Tao Te Ching
THE FORMLESS
They give to Me name, Who am without name, ascribe actions to Me,
Who am without actions, think of Me with a physical body though I
have none, give form to Me, though I am formless, give attributes to
Me when I am without attributes, and worldly duties to Me where I
have no obligations. They allocate colour to Me, who am without
colour, qualities to Me, Who am without qualities, hands and feet to
Me, Who am without hands and feet. They establish measure for Me,
when I am boundless, location for Me, when I am Omnipresent. As one
sees silvan scenery in a dream when asleep, they imagine that I, Who
am without ears, have ears, Who am without eyes have eyes, Who am
without limbs have limbs, and Who am without form, have a form. They
think Me manifest, when I am not visible.
Dnyaneshwari
BEYOND LIMITS
The human body is always finite;
It is the spirit that is boundless.
Before he begins to pray,
A person should cast aside that which limits him
And enter the endless world of Nothing.
In prayer he should turn to God alone
And have no thoughts of himself at all.
Nothing but God exists for him;
He himself has ceased to be.
The true redemption of man's soul can only happen
As he steps outside the body's limits.
Shemu'ah Tovah
