Strong and Soft

As the Buddhist saying goes, “Have a strong back and a soft front.”

Love it.  Strong and soft.  Yin and yang.  A combination of riches.

It’s such a powerful dogma.  To me, it simply means we can be strong and open at the same time.  One does not have to preclude the other, as we so often believe in the West.  We think if you are showing strength, you cannot show vulnerability.  We have a fear that if we are open and unguarded of heart, we are fragile and weak.  But this is not true.  Why can’t we possess both qualities – as a means of completeness, as a way to reinforce all that we are?

We need a strong back to hold us upright, to brace us physically and emotionally for whatever comes our way.  In concert with that strength, we need to be pliable, flexible in our fronts, so that if a storm does come blowing through, it will not shatter us into pieces.  Remaining open to the world – undefended if you will – brings us opportunities that we may never see, should we barricade ourselves in fear and doubt.

Strong and soft.  Like a wonderful bed. – BB