My Zen dharma name is Daiken, given to me by Genpo Roshi. It means great courage.
It’s both what I need and what I am.
Why do I need it? One reason is that I tend to have a clear inner guidance, and sometimes have gone against it due to unexamined scary stories, wounds, trauma, and so on. I haven’t had the courage to follow my inner guidance. Or, said another way, the clarity. Sometimes, this has happened on major life choices and situations, and it has led to feeling profoundly off track.
How is it what I am? My nature is this awake space that forms itself into my world, the world as it appears to me, this field of always changing experiences. It allows it all. It forms itself into it all. It’s infinitely courageous.
That word doesn’t really apply, of course. But for this human self, it’s a good reminder. It’s medicine. It’s a reminder of this one aspect of my nature, and an invitation for this human self to try it on as well. How would it be if I say YES to life as it is here and now? How would it be to say YES to my world, as it is here and now?
How would it be to follow my inner guidance in this situation, and take the consequences?
Note: There are many other areas of life where I need courage. For instance, how would it be to be OK with being visible? To be seen? To put myself out in the world?