What is Mystery in Taoism? 什么是玄？
Paul PengWhat is Mystery in Taoism?
Its meaning is equivalent to that of The Dao.
The Mysterious was originally a term used by Laozi.
It appears numerous times in the Dao De Jing: The Mysterious and then the more mysterious, the gate to all wonders; The mysterious virtue is profound and far-reaching.
What is Mystery in Taoism?
Its meaning refers to the profound, obscure and distant, a description of the Dao or virtue.
Taoism evolved this concept into an important tenet of its doctrinal thought.
Annotations on the Laozi by Xiang'er was the first to elevate the Mysterious to a substantial concept, similar to the Dao and bearing the meaning of the origin: The Mysterious is heaven. The immortals of old could uphold the subtle and mysterious, communicating with heaven.
Ge Hong fully elaborated on this idea. In Embracing the Mysterious from the Inner Chapters of Baopuzi, he stated: The Mysterious is the primal ancestor of nature and the supreme source of all diverse things.
The Mysterious, much like Laozi’s Dao, is the essence of the universe; all things in heaven and earth are born from the Mysterious. The nature and state of the Mysterious are: profound and abstruse, subtle and unmanifest; far-reaching and secluded, infinitely divine and wonderful. It takes form through omens and signs, and abides in silence and stillness as non-being... It nurtures the primordial One and frames heaven and earth. It exists before heaven and earth, transcends all things, generates all things in the world, and simultaneously forms their foundation. Where the Mysterious resides, joy is boundless; where the Mysterious departs, the vessel decays and the spirit fades. The Mysterious manifests as being through all things in heaven and earth, and yet reverts to non-being in emptiness and stillness. The Mysterious is the Dao, and it is also interconnected with the "One". The Dao arises from the One: Heaven attains the One and becomes clear; earth attains the One and becomes tranquil; humans attain the One and gain life. To cultivate immortality and achieve longevity, one must practice the art of upholding the One. The Mysterious, the Dao and the One are not only the origin of the generation of heaven and earth, but also the guiding principles for cultivating immortality and refining the Dao.
During the transition from the Sui to the Tang Dynasty, the Twofold Mystery thought of Taoism emerged and philosophical doctrinal studies flourished. Taoist doctrinal theorists incorporated Buddhist ideas into Taoism, developing the Mysterious into a spiritual realm for understanding and comprehending the great Dao.
Li Rong stated in his Annotations on the Laozi: To speak only of being or only of non-being is to cling to one-sided partiality, failing to comprehend the true Dao. To be neither being nor non-being, and to accord with the middle way is the "Mysterious". Yet one cannot stagnate in this Mysterious; one must transcend it through the "further Mysterious", not clinging to clinging, and at the same time not clinging to non-clinging. The Mysterious and then the more mysterious—this is the realm of comprehending the true Dao.
