The Nameless Path

The great square has no corners.

The great vessel takes long to complete;

the great note is rarefied in sound;

The great image has no shape.

The way conceals itself in being nameless.

It is the way alone that excels in bestowing

and in accomplishing.

THE TAO TE CHING

Lao Tzu

(translated by D.C. Laus)

Why is it people, places and things being held in our highest regard frequently cannot be described in words?  How is it when bringing to mind a heart rendering event, emotion overcomes our words? 

So much that is dear to us, cannot be described.  There doesn't seem to be a language known to us that would appropriately encompass all particles of description.  Although artistic expression is an avenue just as the written word, neither captures all of our senses in totality. 

In so many situations, we are left to trust in our lack of description, of our inability to put into words all that we intuit,

and to embrace what I term as "knowing".  It could take a life time to describe in depth one person's definition of the Divine.  One could search for days for words totally embracing the experience of feeling a new born baby's breath against the cheek or breast.  Which words would express entirely the isolation or imprisonment of grief and sorrow from a loved one's death?  The nameless passages in life are endless.

In the words of Lao Tzu, translated by D.C. Laus:

     "The way conceals itself in being nameless."

The sense of absolute is one of quick passing.  We rarely

extend the sense of identity for very long.  So much of life

is unidentified purposefully so that we seek our unique and authentic pathway.

The road I travel still remains nameless and my exact direction continues to be unclear.  Teachers and mentors continue to be exacting road signs on this often times isolated journey; but this nameless path continues to lead me inward where I become less and less of self and expand into all that is.