Line by Line - Verse 14, Line 12

this is called the Fleeting and Indeterminable.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

It is called indefinable and beyond imagination.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

This is called enigmatic
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

But it's there.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

I think Derek Lin's version captures this line the best, though the Feng & English translation isn't far behind. An enigma is something that is inexplicable and whatever undergirds existence certainly falls into that category!

Whatever we are capable of imagining -- no matter how broad, creative or sci fi -- we know intuitively that it doesn't even come close. Tao represents the grandest of mysteries, the concept that defies definition or description.

As Ron Hogan puts it, it is simply there, somehow, somewhere.

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