The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way;
The name that can be named
Is not the constant name.
The nameless was the beginning of heaven and earth;
The named was the mother of the myriad creatures.
Hence always rid yourself of desires in order to observe its secrets;
But always allow yourself to have desires in order to observe its manifestations.
This was taken from the first passage of Lao Tzu’s seminal work Tao Te Ching. I must admit it’s a bit of a riddle, it’s hard to tell what he was really talking about. He basically talked about two opposing things and gave no preference to either. You could probably say he was on the fence about whatever he was referring to. But perhaps this was what he wanted to express – the middle way.
Lao Tzu didn’t seem to take titles or names too seriously, or at least he didn’t give them too much emphasis. Names are merely tools used for describing things that are temporary in nature. Nothing really lasts forever therefore one cannot capture the essence of something simply by giving it a name or a definition.
Reading the passage, another theme that comes to mind is the concept of detachment. By not leaning towards either side (in this case, the named and the nameless), one detaches oneself from all that is happening in either one of those ‘worlds’. By detaching yourself, you are not too caught up in all the noise that probably doesn’t make your life better in any meaningful way.
This is maybe a somewhat vague and difficult passage, but the beauty of it is that it’s open to interpretation and you can take whatever message from it in any way that suits your situation. Let it be a reminder to find that inner self which we all have.