![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Dirty Hippies and Dae Gak's Good Idea
Apr. 6th, 2004 11:07 am
It is depressingly easy to forget that you are indeed connected with the people around you, and that slapping someone who's rowing in a boat with you will ultimately lead to you being slapped back...more often than not, with a paddle.
In "Going Beyond Buddha" by Dae Gak, he lists bowing practice as a really important part of Zen. This was news to me; I had always considered bowing a kind of optional thing. "If it's your thing, sure go ahead, but don't expect anyone else to follow along." The more I listened to what he had to say, though, the more things made sense.
Still, when he suggested that you try bowing to everyone and everything you come across in your travel, I balked. Bowing to me has a decidedly self-derogatory flavor; when I think of bowing, I think of bald, gap-toothed Asians dressed in brightly colored robes and broken English, mixing their l's and r's as they acquiesce to whatever you wish because, well, that's what Asians *do*. To bow to something is to submit your will to it, right? To admit that it's better than you are...right? Right?
Well, hold on there. Maybe not. And since when did I ever pass up the opportunity to practice something odd? Curious, I decided to give wholesale bowing a shot.
I discovered immediately that there are many ways that you can bow, even physically. From the full-on, knee-cracking prostration to simply tilting your waist a few degrees as you walk past someone, there's a myriad of ways that you can do it. Bowing doesn't even have to be physical; you can bow mentally to someone, just passing over a crowd of faces and lingering on each one just long enough to focus yourself in mentally bowing to them. So, it's possible to maintain this practice on a crowded city street without looking like a complete idiot. All you need is focus and a little time.
It's amazing how much the perceptions about people changes when you bow. Suddenly those scary black people playing basketball in the parking lot have Buddha-nature, and so does that monstrous trailer-trashy mother who walks by them. It becomes obvious that bowing isn't about acquiescing, lowering yourself or degrading your esteem...but it is, in a way. You lower yourself in realizing that you're not too good to bow, that your inner-nature is the same as everyone else's, that each and every person that you come across is worthy of the same respect, their Buddha-nature deserving of the same reverence you usually give to Zen masters or at least highly eloquent pretenders. Everyone is equal, and more than that, everyone is the same. By realizing this, it's easy to realize the unique situation that everyone finds themselves in, and better yet to react to that situation as needed. This is the foundation for compassion.
Dae Gak mentions bowing practice because it's a great equalizer; it removes fear, hostility and willful ignorance and leaves you looking at people as they are. When you manage this, it's much, much easier to listen to them. Robert Aitken says that compassion doesn't begin with honesty, and I finally understand what he means; compassion begins with effort, and that effort leads to an honest understanding of the world around you. Compassion sprouts from this.
At least, that's my theory. My practice is catching up, steadily.
Aside from reading a few books, things are as hectic as ever. I thought I would be able to slow down after PMP, but no dice; there's a parade of company slated for this month, starting with Jessie T. Wolf and Prismo. Jessie's already here, and she's proven herself quite adaptable to our quirky American culture...though like most sensible people she's developed an extreme aversion to McDonald's. <:) I've really enjoyed having her down, and Prismo should be just as cool. Still, don't leave me much time for other things without feeling a wee bit guilty. <:) I talked with my mom last night. She's not doing too well, but she's making it through, because that's what my mom does. She survives anything. Really. You can throw a nuclear war at her and I bet you she'd be ordering cockroaches around to start rebuilding civilization. While this doesn't put my mom in the best light (Your mom's a COCKROACH QUEEN?!?), you get the picture. ;) We've been rocky, but it doesn't really change the fact that I love her immensely and admire her for all she's done. Anyway, I talked to my sister too, and I found myself slipping back into the Bawlmerese accent I had no idea I lost. It was...creepy. Reah and Rikusho probably won't ever let me live it down. <:) My sis is doing fine; she quit her job at Burger King ("Ain't no white woman just gonna be talking to me any kind of way.") and she's now a waitress at Ruby Tuesday's. I can see her doing that, for some reason. When she loses the attitude, she's real personable. Honest. ;) I found out my other sister died recently; it turns out she had sickle-cell anemia and baby sis and I never knew it. I was asked after at the funeral, and I guess my family misses me more than I realized. My lesbian aunt is especially keen to talk to me. ;) Maybe next time I talk to sis I'll get her address and drop a hello. I could even give her the crappy Black Gay and Lesbian Gospel CD I have as a way to break the ice! I'm not kidding, I really do have this CD. <:) There's a lot of other things I want to spazz about, but they deserve seperate entries and I'm at work, so I should keep this short. Well...relatively.
In "Going Beyond Buddha" by Dae Gak, he lists bowing practice as a really important part of Zen. This was news to me; I had always considered bowing a kind of optional thing. "If it's your thing, sure go ahead, but don't expect anyone else to follow along." The more I listened to what he had to say, though, the more things made sense.
Still, when he suggested that you try bowing to everyone and everything you come across in your travel, I balked. Bowing to me has a decidedly self-derogatory flavor; when I think of bowing, I think of bald, gap-toothed Asians dressed in brightly colored robes and broken English, mixing their l's and r's as they acquiesce to whatever you wish because, well, that's what Asians *do*. To bow to something is to submit your will to it, right? To admit that it's better than you are...right? Right?
Well, hold on there. Maybe not. And since when did I ever pass up the opportunity to practice something odd? Curious, I decided to give wholesale bowing a shot.
I discovered immediately that there are many ways that you can bow, even physically. From the full-on, knee-cracking prostration to simply tilting your waist a few degrees as you walk past someone, there's a myriad of ways that you can do it. Bowing doesn't even have to be physical; you can bow mentally to someone, just passing over a crowd of faces and lingering on each one just long enough to focus yourself in mentally bowing to them. So, it's possible to maintain this practice on a crowded city street without looking like a complete idiot. All you need is focus and a little time.
It's amazing how much the perceptions about people changes when you bow. Suddenly those scary black people playing basketball in the parking lot have Buddha-nature, and so does that monstrous trailer-trashy mother who walks by them. It becomes obvious that bowing isn't about acquiescing, lowering yourself or degrading your esteem...but it is, in a way. You lower yourself in realizing that you're not too good to bow, that your inner-nature is the same as everyone else's, that each and every person that you come across is worthy of the same respect, their Buddha-nature deserving of the same reverence you usually give to Zen masters or at least highly eloquent pretenders. Everyone is equal, and more than that, everyone is the same. By realizing this, it's easy to realize the unique situation that everyone finds themselves in, and better yet to react to that situation as needed. This is the foundation for compassion.
Dae Gak mentions bowing practice because it's a great equalizer; it removes fear, hostility and willful ignorance and leaves you looking at people as they are. When you manage this, it's much, much easier to listen to them. Robert Aitken says that compassion doesn't begin with honesty, and I finally understand what he means; compassion begins with effort, and that effort leads to an honest understanding of the world around you. Compassion sprouts from this.
At least, that's my theory. My practice is catching up, steadily.
Aside from reading a few books, things are as hectic as ever. I thought I would be able to slow down after PMP, but no dice; there's a parade of company slated for this month, starting with Jessie T. Wolf and Prismo. Jessie's already here, and she's proven herself quite adaptable to our quirky American culture...though like most sensible people she's developed an extreme aversion to McDonald's. <:) I've really enjoyed having her down, and Prismo should be just as cool. Still, don't leave me much time for other things without feeling a wee bit guilty. <:) I talked with my mom last night. She's not doing too well, but she's making it through, because that's what my mom does. She survives anything. Really. You can throw a nuclear war at her and I bet you she'd be ordering cockroaches around to start rebuilding civilization. While this doesn't put my mom in the best light (Your mom's a COCKROACH QUEEN?!?), you get the picture. ;) We've been rocky, but it doesn't really change the fact that I love her immensely and admire her for all she's done. Anyway, I talked to my sister too, and I found myself slipping back into the Bawlmerese accent I had no idea I lost. It was...creepy. Reah and Rikusho probably won't ever let me live it down. <:) My sis is doing fine; she quit her job at Burger King ("Ain't no white woman just gonna be talking to me any kind of way.") and she's now a waitress at Ruby Tuesday's. I can see her doing that, for some reason. When she loses the attitude, she's real personable. Honest. ;) I found out my other sister died recently; it turns out she had sickle-cell anemia and baby sis and I never knew it. I was asked after at the funeral, and I guess my family misses me more than I realized. My lesbian aunt is especially keen to talk to me. ;) Maybe next time I talk to sis I'll get her address and drop a hello. I could even give her the crappy Black Gay and Lesbian Gospel CD I have as a way to break the ice! I'm not kidding, I really do have this CD. <:) There's a lot of other things I want to spazz about, but they deserve seperate entries and I'm at work, so I should keep this short. Well...relatively.
