Bowing Animals - A bow to innate dignity!

Currently, our students are learning about, "The Way of the Warrior" (as a part of ‘the Gesar of Ling’ unit). One of the simple activities we have integrated into our daily session is bowing to each other. We regard this as a practice of the warrior.

Here, it is very important for us to understand the term warrior, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche explained, “Warrior-ship here refers to realizing the power, dignity and wakefulness that is inherent in all of us as human beings. It is awakening our basic human confidence which allows us to cheer up, develop a sense of vision and succeed in what we are doing.” If we analyze this context, the meaning of warrior goes beyond our ideas and understanding of war as an expression of aggression and violence. It is all about waging a war with one’s own enemy, the ultimate creator of suffering, the ignorance.

Let’s ask this question, how could bowing be a practice of warrior? A bow is a symbol of respect for ourselves and others. It is considered a gesture of respect and veneration across many cultures and traditions. Nevertheless, more important to understand that, this basic principle of bowing is the notion of acknowledging the basic goodness, which we all have. We bow to this uncontrived nature.

When we bow, it is not a gesture of submission. Rather we rouse our own confidence and goodness and offer them to others through simple bowing. It is a practice to extend one’s dignity of mind and to acknowledge the inherent dignity of another person’s mind.

The key to bowing is acknowledging the basic human confidence, persistently.