Instinct "Pulling the bow after the thief has left"

Instinct is a term that is used in different ways and different contexts, but here refers to reflexes, impulses, gut reactions that are conditioned by the external environment and lead to actions-reactions that do not demonstrate self-control. An example is responding to a challenging situation by becoming overly passive and defensive or overly aggressive and domineering. Either approach tends to be an extreme and fails to be persuasive or effective in removing obstacles. Another way to talk about Instinct is by referring to bad habits that once we fall into become almost impossible to break. When this happens, we become our own worse enemy. Another Zen idea is that you can become your own best friend, but in order to do that you have to break the bad habits. An example of a bad habit would be a little leaguer practicing to hit the baseball. He walks up to the plate very stiff and awkward, and strikes out. The coach works with him and gets him to bend his knees, pull the bat back, choke up, keep his eye on the ball and he is able to slug a big hit. But the very next time he walks up the plate, even though the coach has been working with him for hours to correct his stance, he falls back on the bad habit and strikes out again. This symbolizes a tendency we have in the workplace to overreact or under-react to the same stimulus, without really correcting or improving our situation. We need to develop the firm resolve to break those bad habits. This tendency toward a lack of mindful awareness and attentiveness is what leads to Confrontation and what needs to be transformed through the Four Steps of the Heavenly Secret in order to allow Intuition to emerge and become effective. Back to Heavenly Secret Home Page

Everyone is falling into bad habits. The person in the bottom left corner seems to be content to be alienated from the group. The other three are working cooperatively together, but is not interested in including their fourth member.