Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Nurture the darkness of your soul
until you become whole.
Can you do this and not fail?
Can you focus your life-breath until you become
supple as a newborn child?
While you cleanse your inner vision
will you be found without fault?
Can you love people and lead them
without forcing your will on them?
When Heaven gives and takes away
can you be content with the outcome?
When you understand all things
can you step back from your own understanding?

Giving birth and nourishing,
making without possessing,
expecting nothing in return.
To grow, yet not to control:
This is the mysterious virtue.

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In fact, when you make it explicit that you want something in return for a favor that you may do to your child, friend, colleague or anybody else, people’s sense of gratitude will blow away. The more you talk about your contributions/accomplishments, the cheaper person you become.

Even if they look ungrateful to you, you cannot be harmed if you already thought you wanted nothing in return. Your joy was in the deed of doing what you could do for them and not in the anticipation of earning something from them afterwards.

Therefore, a respectable parent would want nothing more from his child than to see him grow in full independence. This is the exemplary parent that the child can look up to.