新年快乐
Xīn Nián Kuài Lè!
Happy New Year!
This Lunar New Year is the year of the Ox which should bring calmness with a sense of steadiness and prosperity. Incidentally this year is also the start of a new decade and the date is a palindrome. It is said that a warrior rides swiftly forward on a horse while a man of peace rides slowly upon an ox. Wisemen, like Lao Tzu, are often depicted riding on the back of an ox. The ox and the ume or plum blossoms are the symbols of the coming of spring and the beginning of farming. In Asians cultures, the ox is a symbol of prosperity and when we think of an ox, we think of a hardworking animal, but also an animal that has a quiet sense of determination and is quite stubborn. Hopefully, the ox will be a steadying force that guides us forward into not only a new year but a new decade as well. It is easy to think that the growth of a martial artist is linear as most only “see” the end results. However, most martial arts training, regardless of style, is tangential and full of ups and downs. The journey of a martial artist is much more like a ride upon a slow ox than a swift horse. Most of the time, our progress doesn’t seem like progress at all and it can be quite discouraging. However, what most don’t know is that learning to preserve through the struggle is the training. In Asian culture, the ox is often depicted by a man pulling it while it pulls a cart. The man pulling the ox is supposed to represent the struggles that we all experience following the Way. When we climb upon the oxen’s back we stop trying to pull and learn to go with the flow. That is when we supposedly begin to see the Buddha nature which supposedly exists within all of us. It is a constant that every year will have its ups and downs but the factor which can change is how we perceive those ups and downs and how we choose to deal with them. We get to choose whether to ride a horse and do battle with them or harmonize with them and ride an ox toward inner peace. I wish you all a year of quiet determination filled with calmness, hard work and peace.
Today’s goal: What things are you fighting with that you can instead harmonize with? Learn to let go.