The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour.
All things alike go through their processes of activity, and (then) we see them return (to their original state).
When things (in the vegetable world) have displayed their luxuriant growth, we see each of them return to its root.
This returning to their root is what we call the state of stillness; and that stillness may be called a reporting that they have fulfilled their appointed end.
The report of that fulfilment is the regular, unchanging rule.
To know that unchanging rule is to be intelligent; not to know it leads to wild movements and evil issues.
The knowledge of that unchanging rule produces a (grand) capacity and forbearance, and that capacity and forbearance lead to a community (of feeling with all things).
From this community of feeling comes a kingliness of character; and he who is king-like goes on to be heaven-like.
In that likeness to heaven he possesses the Tao.
Possessed of the Tao, he endures long; and to the end of his bodily life, is exempt from all danger of decay. – Tao Te Ching, 16
I need to be careful in my pairings of Scripture and the Tao. It can lead to false senses of dichotomy or consensus. This passage leaves me with a feeling that I may get it wrong. The Tao seems to be saying here that life returns to a state of stillness, what I would call "dormancy" or possibly "death". After a time of wonderful growth, there is a time that things return to their root. This sense of stillness is then the source of intelligence (wisdom?). After this knowledge of the stillness of things, comes a sense of unity with all things. From this unity, comes a kingly character that matures into heavenliness. This heavenliness possesses the Tao (or Way).
I’m not sure if there is something in the Bible that is analogous to this. But here are some Scriptures that come to mind:
Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 (ESV)
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12 (ESV)
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8 (ESV)
These Scriptures point to the same type of contemplation of the end of things: "Look at that flower and see how it dies." "Think about how short your life is." This contemplation of the end seems to lead to wisdom (Psalm 90) but also points beyond the natural world to the God who created it. The stillness is then in the knowledge of God (Psalm 46) and perhaps His word (Isaiah 40).
I don’t know if this passage from the Te Ching is anyway referring to reincarnation. The stillness refers to the period that roughly equates to winter. Is there an implication of the return of spring? If so, then it is not so much the end of things but perhaps the end of a cycle of things. If that is the case, perhaps a better comparison would be the Book of Ecclesiastes where our lives are seen in the bigger picture of the cycle of life and death.
Again, I think that both traditions would say that there is value in the contemplation of the end. Seeing our end as relating to the end of all things in nature helps to ground us in humility. Both would say that this contemplation yields a kind of wisdom. Again the Bible seems to suggest the union is not with the natural order but with God. I would say that as we are united with God, we live in union with His creation. So there is some union with nature in Christianity. The contemplation of the end of things in the Tao and the Bible seem to agree on the benefits though with some difference in what the benefits are and the object of such contemplation is.