#40*
The motion of DAO:
returning.
The usage of DAO:
weakening.
10,000 things grow
by having. [1]
Having generates
from not-having . [2]
*Translation by LU Wenlong & Keith Wayne Brown, ©2013.
[1] Having –> 有 [Yǒu]: to have, to exist. We might put here “being” yet the character of yǒu better implies that the existence of something is what that thing has, what it carries. This works well in the notion of an entity moving on-the-way. It also gets at something hidden in our own term “existence” which literally means “to stand out from”. That which exists is that which has or carries characteristics allowing for it to be distinguished from other things.
[2] Not-Having –> 毋 [Wú Yǒu] Recalling us back to the concept of wú-wěi.
Related articles
- Daodejing 41 (keithwaynebrown.com)
- On the Importance of Being Surprised Part 1 (andrewjtaggart.com)
- Nothingness and Liberation (keithwaynebrown.com)
- Prairie Dock Series in the Breeze… (sittinginthewoods.com)
- Daodejing 39 (keithwaynebrown.com)


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