People familiar with the teachings of Jesus will have likely heard the phrase “turn the other cheek.” Ultimately, though, what does this teaching really mean? Is Jesus suggesting we should allow ourselves to be abused? Is there some metaphor at work here? Does the teaching apply to everyone all the time, or was it perhaps more like specific guidance for specific people at specific times?
If you’ve ever wondered about any of this, you’re not alone. During a Q&A session, an audience member asked Sadhguru: “Jesus said if someone slaps you, turn and show the other cheek. Is such a teaching relevant today?”
Sadhguru: “Jesus might have said that to the twelve people who are who were around him. That’s not a general teaching. To his Apostles, people who carry his message, he’s telling them if somebody slaps you one side show them the other cheek. He’s not telling that to the whole world.”
“That man, the way he lived, he is not the kind to show another cheek. He comes into the temple and throws out all the business; so he didn’t say okay you got one shop here keep another shop there. Did he say that? Physically, with bare hands, he’s destroying their business, isn’t it? He is not the kind of man who shows the other cheek to everybody. He’s telling his apostles, if you want to carry my message, you must be like this; no resistance in you. No matter what people do, you don’t deviate from your path. You just stick to your path. That’s all he’s telling you.”
“Because these cultures are very dialectical, everything is said with an example or a kind of analogy. He is saying that if somebody slaps you on one cheek, show them the other; don’t deviate. If somebody slaps you on one cheek, if you try to slap him on his cheek, then you’re deviating from your path of peace and love, isn’t it? So he’s saying do not deviate from your path, just stick to your path no matter what somebody does.”
“All he’s telling you is, do not become a reaction in your life. If you want to act in your life, you should not react. If you react, you will get enslaved to somebody else. You’ll go behind those people. So he’s just telling you, do not react. That’s his way of saying it. So that’s not to be taken literally. His life demonstrates he didn’t take it literally, isn’t it?”
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