{"id":5877,"date":"2024-06-24T03:16:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T11:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/?p=5877"},"modified":"2024-06-19T10:06:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T18:06:42","slug":"how-you-can-embrace-the-mysterious-virtue-of-jesus-lao-tzu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/2024\/06\/how-you-can-embrace-the-mysterious-virtue-of-jesus-lao-tzu\/","title":{"rendered":"How You Can Embrace the Mysterious Virtue of Jesus & Lao Tzu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Everyone has darkness in their soul. Instead of trying to drive out darkness, Jesus and Lao say there\u2019s a mysterious virtue in nurturing it.<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/a>
Image generated by Gregory T. Smith on openart.ai\/create<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
There\u2019s a mysterious virtue hidden in the Tao Te Ching<\/strong>. This Chinese word for \u201cvirtue\u201d is more than simple goodness. Instead, Te<\/span><\/a><\/em> means a way of being that is full of harmony and authenticity. This verse explores how to live with such a virtue. Jesus and Lao Tzu agree that to nurture this virtue, you must turn inward into your own soul.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lao Tzu\u2019s \u201cTao Te Ching,\u201d Verse 10\u2014J.H. McDonald Translation<\/h2>\n "
Nurture the darkness of your soul*****
\nuntil you become whole.
\nCan you do this and not fail?
\nCan you focus your life-breath until you become
\nsupple as a newborn child?
\nWhile you cleanse your inner vision
\nwill you be found without fault?
\nCan you love people and lead them
\nwithout forcing your will on them?
\nWhen Heaven gives and takes away
\ncan you be content with the outcome?
\nWhen you understand all things
\ncan you step back from your own understanding?<\/p>\n
**
Giving birth and nourishing,
\nmaking without possessing,
\nexpecting nothing in return.
\nTo grow, yet not to control:
\nThis is the mysterious virtue.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
**
*****\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nurturing the Darkness of Your Soul<\/h2>\n
\u201cNurture the darkness of your soul until you become whole,\u201d says the first line.<\/strong> The Christian reader might shrink back, mistakenly identifying this darkness of the soul as sin. Taoism has no such concept. Instead, think of darkness as Yin<\/a><\/em>. In Taoism, Yin represents obscurity, intuition, contraction, softness, receptivity, contemplation, and the feminine. Nurturing the Yin of one\u2019s soul means turning inward. It means, as Jesus said, going into your inner chamber<\/a><\/span>. Often, we close our eyes in prayer to facilitate the darkness of the soul. It minimizes distraction and puts us in touch with our inner voice. The only way to become whole is by turning off the outer world and looking within.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Turning Inward<\/h2>\n
Stephen Mitchell translates<\/a><\/span> the next line: \u201cCan you coax your mind from its wandering and keep to the original oneness?\u201d<\/strong> Gia-Fu Feng renders<\/a><\/span> it as: \u201cCarrying body and soul and embracing the one, can you avoid separation?\u201d This is all about turning inward, listening to the still, small voice<\/a>,<\/span> and being still enough to know the heartbeat of God<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Becoming Like a Child<\/h2>\n
\u201cCan you focus your life-breath until you become supple as a newborn child?\u201d Lao Tzu asks.<\/strong> This focused breathing is one meditation technique that will allow the practitioner to soften their spirit and become receptive, like a child. Jesus said<\/a><\/span>, \u201cTruly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.\u201d A child is simple, uncomplicated, and trusting.<\/p>\n
In Western thought, we often describe a newborn child as a tabula rasa<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0or blank slate. The idea is that the child\u2019s mind is like an empty chalkboard upon which nothing is yet written. Everything is potential. Taoism uses a similar metaphor, the concept of Pu<\/a><\/em><\/span>, or the uncarved block. Just as the blank slate could become anything, the uncarved block holds infinite possibilities within itself. It\u2019s not until the carver applies knife to wood that the uncarved block loses its potential and starts to become only one thing. When Lao Tzu and Jesus talk about becoming like a child, this is what they mean\u2014returning to a state of pure unjudgmental potential. <\/strong><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cleansing Your Inner Vision<\/h2>\n
Lao Tzu asks, \u201cWhile you cleanse your inner vision will you be found without fault?\u201d<\/strong> Again, the Christian reader may tend to superimpose the idea of sin\/fault and faultlessness\/righteousness upon this line. Yet, for the Taoist, it is not about God finding you sinless. Instead, it is about becoming whole. You do this by cleansing the inner vision. In Luke 11:34-36<\/a><\/span>, Jesus says:<\/p>\n
Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is unhealthy, your body is full of darkness. Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. But if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here, Jesus uses the eye as a metaphor for the soul\u2019s inner vision.<\/strong> If the soul\u2019s inner vision is cleansed, then the whole body is full of divine energy, or Chi (Qi<\/a>)<\/em><\/span>. Chi is the life force that flows through all things. When the inner eye sees with clarity, the right action follows. This fills the entire being with holy light.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Loving People Without Forcing Them<\/h2>\n*************
**
Lao Tzu asks, \u201cCan you love people and lead them without forcing your will on them?\u201d<\/strong> This is the way that Jesus loved and led during his ministry on earth. Unfortunately, this is quite different from the way many followers of Jesus have exercised leadership throughout the centuries. Historically, Christian religious and political leaders have often employed violence to force their will on other people. This is not the way of Jesus. Jesus leads by gentle influence, not by power and coercion. Followers of The Way must do the same.<\/p>\n
**
*************\u00a0<\/p>\n
Being Content with the Outcome<\/h2>\n
The Tao Te Ching asks, \u201cWhen heaven gives and takes away, can you be content with the outcome?\u201d<\/strong> Like the biblical character Job<\/a><\/span>, can you experience calamity and still respond, \u201cNaked I came from my mother\u2019s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord<\/a>?<\/span>\u201d Like Jesus anticipating his crucifixion, can you say, \u201cFather, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done?<\/a><\/span>\u201d Job and Jesus expressed the kind of contentment that is based on trust that heaven knows the Way. Even if it is unpleasant, this kind of faith knows that Heaven\u2019s Way is full of love. The path of Christ calls every believer to this same mysterious virtue.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stepping Back from Your Understanding<\/h2>\n
The Tao Te Ching says, \u201cWhen you understand all things, can you step back from your own understanding?\u201d<\/strong> Can you do as the author in Proverbs recommends? He says, \u201cTrust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths<\/a><\/span>.\u201d This does not involve a mindless acquiescence. It is trust rather than submission.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Giving Birth and Nourishing<\/h2>\n
The life of faith involves giving birth and nourishing.<\/strong> It is making without possessing, expecting nothing in return. This spirituality is about becoming generative yet holding loosely to that which you have created. It is growing, without needing to control. To illustrate this principle, Jesus told a story<\/a> <\/span>about a farmer who planted seeds in his field.<\/p>\n
"
\u201cListen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. If you have ears, hear!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The parable of the sower perfectly illustrates the way a Taoist sage does their work without attachment to the outcome.<\/strong> It appears as if the farmer sows indiscriminately, without regard for intentional planting in good soil. The agrarians in Jesus\u2019s audience would have heard the humor in Jesus\u2019s story. What planter throws seed on the roadway? Or on rocky ground? Or in thorns? How foolish the Tao is, and how foolhardy those who follow the Way! Yet, those seeds that fell on good soil yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold!<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Mysterious Virtue<\/h2>\n*********************
**
When we learn to grow, without controlling others, this is the Mysterious Virtue.<\/strong> This is the Te<\/em> of Christ. This indiscriminate planting is our way of loving people and trusting God to lead them, without forcing our way on them. We simply share the truth and rely on God for the outcome. This helps us to step back from our understanding. It allows us to abandon the need to be right. We are simply scatterers of seed, allowing God to give the increase.<\/p>\n
**
*********************\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something to Pray\u2026<\/em><\/h2>\n***********************
**
***********************Eternal essence of darkness as well as light, I take this moment to do as Jesus said. I go into the inner chamber of my heart. Free from the distraction of all the things that light calls attention to, I nurture this Yin aspect of my soul. As the waters of pre-creation were dark, formless, and void, so I make my heart receptive. Help me to become like a little child, a blank slate, and an uncarved block. Cleanse my inner vision so I can love people without forcing or controlling them. Help me to be content, no matter the outcome. May I be willing to step back from my own understanding of things. Make me fertile, so that I may give birth to and nurture this mysterious virtue in my own life, and in the lives of others.<\/em><\/p>\n
<\/h3>\nFor related reading, check out my other articles:<\/h3>\n\nJesus And Lao Tzu Talk About Eternal Life<\/a><\/span><\/li>\nJesus, Lao Tzu, And Bruce Lee: \u201cBe Water, My Friend\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/li>\nJesus & Lao Tzu Agree That Empty Is Better Than Full<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"***************************
**
***************************Everyone has darkness in their soul. Instead of trying to drive out darkness, Jesus and Lao say there\u2019s a mysterious virtue in nurturing it. There\u2019s a mysterious virtue hidden in the Tao Te Ching. This Chinese word for \u201cvirtue\u201d is more than simple goodness. Instead, Te means a way of being that is full of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4628,"featured_media":5883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3731],"tags":[3890,3683,2957,4047,4044,2960],"class_list":["post-5877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-taoism","tag-christianity","tag-jesus-and-lao-tzu","tag-taoism","tag-taoism-concept-of-pu","tag-taoism-concept-of-te","tag-yin-yang"],"yoast_head":"\nHow You Can Embrace the Mysterious Virtue of Jesus & Lao Tzu<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everyone has darkness in their soul. 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