The Dark Sameness
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知者不言，言者不知。塞其兌，閉其門，挫其銳，解其紛，和其光，同其塵，是謂玄同。故不可得而親，亦不可得而疏；不可得而利，亦不可得而害；不可得而貴，亦不可得而賤。故為天下貴。
One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know. Block up the openings, shut the door, blunt the sharp edges, untie the tangles, soften the light, be one with the dust. This is called the Dark Sameness. So no one can get close to him, and no one can keep him at a distance; no one can benefit him, and no one can harm him; no one can honor him, and no one can look down on him. So he is prized by the whole world.
What it looks like when someone has made himself the same as the Way itself.
The Dark Sameness is becoming indistinguishable from the ordinary world. Nothing anyone does can touch such a person, and that untouchability is exactly what makes him precious to the whole world.
The four central phrases, from “blunt the sharp edges” to “be one with the dust”, repeat chapter 4 word for word with a shift of subject: there they described the Way’s own hidden depth, and here they describe the person who has made himself the same as it.
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