Hankuo

Hankuo can be translated from Japanese as "Resistance." It can also be expressed as defiance, rebellion, hostility and opposition. When it comes to the practice of Zen... The way of Unifying heart-mind, the prinicple of hankuo can be really important. Sometimes not understanding what I'm seeing in front of my face, I can get confused, not understandand, feel uneasy or really off balance. What ever it is, there's a discomfort. In those situations it's fight or flight that's more of a reflection of powerlessness and my not accepting it, in the given moment. 

The antidote to hankuo for me, I've come back to again and again, when I lose my way has been surrender... and as I mean it here, not resisting, the growth... the commitment... the temporary discomfort... the positive action... the healing... the necessary work...  the spiritual awakening that comes with opening our eyes, rather than keeping them shut.  To do that requires moving from fear-based living to spiritually-based living. To do that as someone very close to me taught me, "Jaye... there's a time when you have to put the bullshit down," and instead of trying to hold on to what's familar which is ususally some form of suffering, go into what's unfamiliar... do something new... try something new...

In doing something new, rather than staying commited to old self-defeating, self-harming, self-limiting and self-destructive patterns, we can write a new story for this moment. Depending on what we do, we can live forward, rather than backwards. 

May We Practice Our Life Well,

Jaye Seiho Morris 淸峰, Curator
digitalZENDO

Comments

[Neal]

Sometimes I don't have anything to add to your posts, just that I'm humbled and inspired by them. Thanks Seiho :-)