Bowing: An Energetic Transaction
On my first morning in South Korea in August of 2008, I entered a local “deli” to buy something quick to eat before my first day at work. I arrived from the USA and arrived at my room around 1:00 a.m. I did not get to sleep till nearly 3:30, with a wake-up time of 8:30 a.m. The “deli” is not what I would typically call a deli, as someone who grew up outside of New York City but does not know the correct name for it. The woman prepares several kinds of kimchi, pickled vegetables, and stews, which are hot and ready to go. I did not know what I was thinking when I walked in the door of her small business. She bowed and said a formal greeting I know now as “Annyeong-haseyo” = “Hello”. Her bow is what stopped me in my tracks.
I had been informed that many Koreans still bow before I left the States. I was somewhat excited about experiencing bowing but did not really grasp what bowing really is. That morning of little sleep after a twenty-four-hour flight, followed by a long ride from the airport to my new place in Cheonan, she bowed as casually as someone who has done so without thinking thousands of times. She did not know how strengthening and affirming her common gesture was for me. I knew I had reached my destination and was in the right place. My trip to South Korea was exactly where I was supposed to be.
What Happens While Bowing?
In my first few months in South Korea, I reflected on what actually transpires during the process of bowing, which is so powerful. Is it the honoring of another person’s Self? The honoring of thy Self? Is it the conscious decision that whatever we may be doing at that moment, being focused and present now, is all that matters because there is a human being in front of me who requires my complete attention? We are acknowledging each other; I sense our ancestors and histories as well. Very few people do half-hearted bows in South Korea. They do half-hearted all kinds of other things, but bowing is different. Even entering the E-Mart or Lotte-Mart, Korean equivalents of Wal-Mart and K-Mart, a person inside the door bows to every single person who enters and leaves. I do not understand how, but they mean it. They are genuine every time with every person, even the foreigner wearing a backpack.
Where does the bow come from? I do not mean historically; I assume it is originally a Chinese tradition passed on to Koreans. I am referring to the actual energy of the bow itself. It is too powerful for each one of us regular people to muster up the kind of energetic exchange that a bow transmits hundreds of times a day. It feels like a shot of Reiki, Qi Gong, Prayer, and a loving hug from your best friend and grandmother all in one, without touching or saying a word: Taiji in its purest form.
Bowing and Gratitude
I had the privilege of sharing bows with all three women who served lunch in the school cafeteria daily. All of the clerks, stockers, and employees at the grocery store are by my home almost daily. I entered the cell phone place on my way home to share a bow with the guy who owned the shop where I purchased my cell phone because his bows went right through me and filled my spine with electricity every time without exception. It was worth the two steps to his shop to receive his warm smile and bow. When I walked the halls at school, most of the kids and all the teachers shared a bow with me; it did not get old for them or me. Each time, the exchange was present and refreshing to me, the Real me. It is hard to be miserable, angry, or resentful when bows are plentiful, ruining negativity, like it or not. I was aware of the challenge of holding whatever self-centered or selfish thoughts and emotions I was clinging to while being immersed in bowing. Bowing is in my spiritual lineage and blood. I can feel it inside me. I think if we were able to trace DNA to see who has the “bowing gene,” I would be profiled as one who bows. It is who I am; it just took a long plane ride to figure this out.
Powerful Bowing Experiences
Two specific bows stand out to me. The first is my introduction to a Reiki Teaching Master I met in Kyoto, Japan, Hyakuten Inamoto Sensei. He walked up the steps of the subway station in his black monastic attire, bowing before saying hello. I felt him, the Reiki lineage, and our Inner Connection immediately. Our shared spiritual history had the opportunity to meet in physical form. The acknowledgment this particular bow shared sometimes shows up in my dreams at night and in Reiki sessions in the morning. In that bow, my connection to Mikao Usui Sensei, the man who rediscovered Reiki and the Reiki lineage, was strengthened and fortified. I am grateful for this bow and our meeting. I knew we would share another bow someday. We did the following year when I received Traditional Reiki Training from him.
My other favorite bow happened Monday through Friday at the school where I worked in South Korea. One of the women who shared office space with my co-teacher and I exchanged a mini bow while she was sitting at her desk every day when I entered the space. Her smile and warmth tickled my core. This reminded me why I am a teacher and what being a teacher means. I found her delightful on many levels, since language barriers were bowing was the time we connected and acknowledged each other. I wish bowing could be a method of people getting to know women and men in all forms of attraction; it is honest, pure, respectful, and loving. The other stuff that can cloud feeling attracted to someone dissipates in that brief second we share a bow. I want to expand that statement to include all relations – male, female, friends, or otherwise. Imagine beginning all relationships – personal, professional, social, and spiritual through a bow. Words are not necessary, nor are fake smiles or polite exchanges; it is just a bow acknowledging you are a person and deserve respect. I am a person and deserve respect. Our past, present, and future are not relevant at this moment. We are bowing, and that is what is true right now. We are equal.
Bowing Eliminates Self-Centeredness
“Bowing helps to eliminate our self-centered ideas. This is not so easy. It is difficult to get rid of these ideas, and bowing is a very valuable practice. The result is not the point; it is the effort to improve ourselves that is valuable. There is no end to this practice.”
“When you forget all your dualistic ideas, everything becomes your teacher, and everything can be the object of worship.” Zen Buddhist Teacher Shunryu Suzuki
And I thought bowing was just for spiritual/religious rituals and old folks.
Humility Through Bowing
“Bowing is a beautiful way of practicing humility. Oftentimes when we think of humility it is confused with humiliation – with making ourselves smaller in a way that is demeaning. The kind of humility cultivated through Taoist bowing practice is something quite different from this. It is the humility born of transcending the inferior/superior, large/small, better/worse and – ultimately – the me/you polarities, and unveils our inherent grace and dignity.
I still remember the first instructions I was given, about bowing. “Bring your hands together,” my teacher said, “ with the heel of your hands and the ends of the fingers gently touching. Leave a bit of space between your palms, so that your hands are shaped like the bud of a flower.” Why the bud of a flower? “To remind us – every time that we bow – of the bud of Immortality that lies within us, and to imagine and feel deep respect for the eventual blooming of that flower.” By Elizabeth Reninger
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Blindness – A Spiritual Teaching in Seeing
The Art of Knowing is Knowing What to Ignore
Spiritual Training on Humility – The Janitor Part I
Does Kindness Make You More Attractive? Research Says Yes!
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Michael Swerdloff
Providence Holistic Counseling Services
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