Taoist thought suggests you should “Be like the Sun and Moon.”
This saying means several things, but one important one is that the sun radiates outward and the moon reflects.
The sun is full, so it radiates, asking nothing but giving everything. The moon is empty; it has nothing, so it receives everything.
The sun does not give too much, nor does the moon take too much. Each gives and receives according to its own capacity.
In the West we have a related concept – “Give and you shall receive.”
When you give according to your capacity, without expectation of return, then you will receive much goodwill, just like the sun.
When you express appreciation for what you have received, you will receive more, just like the moon.
To be like the sun and the moon is to be bright, or Ming (明) in Chinese. This is the spiritual glow associated with realized or enlightened beings. When you can be as empty as the moon and full as the sun, then you are well on your path to being a Sage, Immortal or Buddha.
