YEAR OF ZEN: SPRING: DAY 42

Q: Bring your hands together and gassho. Where is this easy to do and where is it difficult?

A: It is always easiest to show respect and humility to those who reciprocate it, and most difficult to show the same to people or things I hold no respect for. And therein lies some of the problem: if I approach someone with an active feeling of disrespect it is unreasonable for me to expect them to show me anything but the same back. It becomes a perpetuating circuit that accomplishes nothing more than keeping animosity flowing.