The Way which can be seen is not the eternal Way;
The world which can be constructed is unreal.
The Way manifests all that happens or will happen;
The world merely represents all that exists or may exist.
To experience without intent is to sense the world;
To experience with intent is to anticipate the world.
The two experiences are indistinguishable;
Their construction differs, but the effect is identical.
Beyond the gate of experience flows the Way,
Which is ever greater and more subtle than the world.
This translation of the Tao Te Qing (literally: \"Way Force Book\" or \"Way Power Book\") is one that I really like. It illustrates the unreality of reality, and that there can't be any one individual who can explain exactly how the Force works. If you can explain it all, you're wrong: the Force defies explanation.
The other lesson that this passage teaches is humility. You must get your own ego out of the way, so that you can be in the Way. If you take things as they come without anticipation, you're living the Way of the Force; if you anticipate, you're just living. You have to get beyond your own experiences--your own ego, that part of you which tries to claim that you yourself are in control of anything--in order to be able to experience the Way.
This was written by Lao Zhi (Lao Tsu, Lao Tse, Lao Je, Lao Shi... same individual, different Anglicizing of the Chinese characters). It was an explanation of how to seek the Way. The entire book is filled with instruction, though it is unclear to most scholars what this instruction really says.
But what I tend to take from this passage is: the more you try to define how the Force works, the more the definition evades your grasp.
I hope this is food for thought.
