Ancient Origin
Translation by Tree Buffalo
Look at it without seeing the name: call it colorless.
Listen to it without hearing the name: call it soundless.
Grasp it without holding the name: call it formless.
These three qualities cannot be further investigated, because they eventually blend into one.
Its surface is not bright, and its bottom is not dark.
An indescribable yet unbroken strand, it loops back again and again to non-existence.
Call it formless form; an object without an image; an illusory illusion.
Confront it and you will not discover its head.
Follow it and you will not discover its rear.
Hold fast the ancient ways in order to ride the present paths.
For it is the power of the ancient origin that Nature threads throughout.
Read some of the first English translations of Chapter 14 here.
