Christ the Eternal Tao: Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve from the book 'Christ the Eternal Tao' by Hieromonk Damascene.
Text:
Before the Way came to earth,
He was known to have distinct qualities and properties
As does a person.
And yet the Ancient Sage, not having seen Him,
Could not know Him fully as Person.
To the Sage, He was, as it were, a Person without a face or name;
A Person Who spoke no words, left no report of His coming, no footprints;
A Person Who could not be touched.
Therefore the Sage could but call Him "the Uncertainty".
"Looked for", he said, "but invisible,
The Way may be called the indistinguishable.
Listened for, but inaudible,
It may be called the elusive.
Grasped at, but unattainable,
It may be called the subtle.
These three cannot be discovered by investigation,
For they blend into one.
This appears as darkness."
For the Sage, the Way dwelt in the Darkness of Incomprehensibility,
Yet He was not that Darkness;
The Way dwelt beyond all being,
Yet He was not non-being;
The Way emptied Himself,
Yet He was not emptiness.
He was not an eternal void,
For He existed in eternity.
Therefore, said the Sage,
"The Way considered as a reality is impalpable, indefinite.
But, within this impalpability there is form;
Within this indefiniteness there is Being.
Dark and dim, within is the Essence.
The essence being supremely true,
Within is the true evidence."
For the Sage, the Way could not yet be known wholly as Person,
But neither was He wholly impersonal,
For He was known to care for the ten thousand things.
Therefore, said the Sage,
"All things arise from the Way,
And by the power of the Way they are nourished,
Developed, cared for,
Sheltered, comforted,
Grown, and protected."
"Is the Way a Child of something else?" the Sage asked,
But could not answer.
The Sage had not seen the Mind Who had given birth to the Word outside time,
For "he who has seen the Word has seen the Father-Mind";
And the Word, the Mind’s first Interpreter and Herald,
Had not yet revealed His face,
Had not yet revealed Himself as Person.