1 We look at Him, and we do not see Him, and we name Him 'the Equable.' We listen to Him, and we do not hear Him, and we name Him 'the Inaudible.' We try to grasp Him, and do not get hold of Him, and we name Him 'the Subtle.' With these three qualities, He cannot be made the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and obtain The One.

2 His upper part is not bright, and His lower part is not obscure. Ceaseless in His action, He yet cannot be named, and then His works again return and become nothing. This is called the Shape of the Shapeless, and the Semblance of the Invisible; this is called the Fleeting and Indeterminable.

3 We meet Him and do not see His Front; we follow Him, and do not see His Back. When we can lay hold of the Way of God of old to direct the things of the present day, and are able to know it as it was of old in the beginning, this is called (unwinding) the clue of the Way.