HABITUAL PATTERNS

Arrogance comes from lack of gentleness. Beyond that, lack of gentleness comes from relying on habitual patterns of behavior.....By clinging to habitual behavior, we are cutting ourselves off from the warrior's world. Habitual patterns are almost like reflexes: when we are shocked, we panic, and when we are attacked, we become defensive. On a more subtle level, we use habitual patterns to hide our self-consciousness. When we feel inadequate, we employ habitual responses to patch up our self-image: we invent excuses to shield our inadequacies from other people. Our standard emotional responses are often reflections of habitual patterns, as are mental fatigue, restlessness, irritation over something we don't like, and many of our desires. We use our habitual patterns to seal ourselves off and to build ourselves up.
From" Overcoming Habitual Patterns," in SHAMBHALA: THE SACRED PATH OF THE WARRIOR, page 120. Dragon Edition.All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.
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