Silent Knowing

Quotes and Reflection

Quotes and reflections from the book Tao: The Subtle Universal Law & The Integral Way of Life (1979/2019) by Hua-Ching Ni.

According to Lieh Tzu, a master of Taoism: “He who has attained perfect knowledge is silent. He who uses silence in lieu of speech really does speak. He who for knowledge substitutes blankness of mind really does know. Without words and speaking not, he really speaks and really knows. Saying nothing and knowing nothing, there is in reality nothing that he does not say, and nothing he does not know” (p. 143).

Such “silent knowing” is achieved by standing in harmonious relation to the “universal law of subtle energy.”

According to Hua-Ching Ni: Vital energy (or chi) “is formless, elusive and without tangible qualities, yet it is the subtle breath of life which permeates and vivifies the entire universe” (p. 1).

In today’s parlance, we can think of this as the vibe.

“The entire universe is but the manifestation of energy. When the vibration of this energy is gross and heavy, it becomes tangible and perceivable by the senses of human beings. We call this physical energy of the material plane. When the vibration is subtle and light, it becomes invisible, intangible to the five physical senses and is called subtle energy or the spiritual plane. These are the two categories of universal manifestation, the ying and yang. The ancient achieved ones [the ancient masters] called the integration of yin and yang the T’ai Chi – the ultimate law of the universe” (p.144).