Help
A couple mornings this week, I've wanted to share some new-to-me notion on help, and by the evening I've forgotten again. But I think the main point in there is that while giving help is usually considered a form of compassion, asking for help is as well -- the notion that hidden in the request of a person, book or deity is an acknowledgment of connection to that insight/book, world/person, knowing/deity. We ask for help having already developed some confidence in our own capability for understanding and the intelligence of the question itself; we also demonstrate confidence in the target of our request, that this being (or thing) might be able to hold a mirror to the question to show its resolution.
Of course, there are ways I have misused notions of help -- turning question-asking into a form of greed (or stubbornness!), or as a "helper", by attempting to replace the questioner's insight with my own. Ultimately, nobody needs saving (not even me!) and the question is its own response a seed -- hopefully for an interaction that's beneficial for all. But the reason why that works is because help is allowed -- exemplifies completeness. Well, anyway, I still like help and the way it reveals new perspectives.
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This morning, I was thinking about push hands / kumite (partner practice) as an example of help. Shintaido (a martial art I use to practice) uses the terms "give" and "receive" rather than attack and defense.
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