In the recent issue of Shambhala Sun, Roshi John Daido Loori says:
“None of the antidotes to stress—numbing ourselves, running away, the various therapies—will ever really get to the root of it. We actually hold on to our stress. It is a way of holding on to our positions, our beliefs, our sense of being right—our self. In that tightness and rigidity, the body cannot deal with it and the mind cannot deal with it. We suffer because we will not let go.”
Isn’t that amazing? This is a totally new idea to me: that we actually want our stress, and thus fiercely hold on to it. Now, when I listen to a colleague lamenting how overworked she is, or see an acquaintance who continues to be victimized by her failures with men, or hear myself complain (yet again) about how I habitually over-pack my days, I see what Loori is saying. These small sufferings have become who we are. How could we possibly let them go????
