12:05

泰初有無,無有無名,一之所起,有一而未形。得以生,謂之;未形者有分,且然無間,謂之;留動而生生理,謂之形;形體保神,各有儀則,謂之

修反至同於初。同乃虛,虛乃大。合喙鳴,喙鳴合,與地為合。其合緡緡,若愚若昏,是謂玄,同乎大。[a]


In the very beginning, there is nothing and no name. Once unity arises out of it, there is unity but no form. What gives rise to things are called "powers." When the formless has differentiation but still no gaps between, it is called "fate." Back and forth, it gives rise to things, which, becoming complete, give rise to patterns called "forms." Bodily forms enfolds spirits, each of which has its requirements, called its "inborn nature." 

When inborn nature is trained, it returns to its powers and the powers culminate in unity with the beginning. Unified it is empty and empty it is large. It joins the beak chirps, and when it joins the beak chirps it joins with heaven and earth. The jingling-jangling joining  sounds stupid, sounds benighted, but I call it the mysterious power, the same as the great compliance. [1]

[1] Graham has a great note on this. It is tempting to read this in cosmological terms, about the origin of existence. But I read it equally or instead as phenomenological or psychological, about how to deal with people. In the beginning of a situation, before you have "sized it up," you don't know who the players are. It isn't even divided into "players" yet. In this primordial chaos, everyones' potential contributions, their "powers," are complete. As things gradually take shape, purposes arise: "destiny." Eventually people take on their distinct roles and voices. The trick, as we "train" these roles and voices, is not to lose touch with the inarticulate beginnings which motivate them.

[a] CTP 12.08, HYZY 12/37-41.