I love this exploration of bowing and the conceit of self, because it did seem that I needed to get over myself - but I had never thought of it as needing to actually bow to my idea of self in appreciation and affirmation. Conceit "manifests in the ways we contract around a sense of “self” and “other”; it lies at the core of the identities and beliefs we construct, and it enables those beliefs to be the source of our acts, words, thoughts, and relationships..." rather than what is taking place in this present moment. This concept of self (the article explicates this nicely) is yet another daydream.
A teacher was asked, “What is the secret to your happiness and equanimity?” She answered, “A whole-hearted, unrestricted cooperation with the unavoidable.” This is the secret and the essence of a bow. It is the heart of mindfulness and compassion. To bow is to no longer hold ourselves apart from the unpredictable nature of all of our lives; it is to cultivate a heart that can unconditionally welcome all things. We bow to what is, to all of life. By liberating our minds from ideas of “better than,” “worse than,” or “the same as,” we liberate ourselves from all views of “self”and “other.” The bow is a way to the end of suffering, to an awakened heart.
(Clearly, I should have read the Fall 2008 issue of Tricycle sooner.)
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