In Zen Buddhism, the practice of “Koan Study” is meant to give the practitioner a transpersonal experience by exhausting the mind with an unanswerable riddle. But what happens when you insert koan practice into our experience of conflict?

In this short video of “The Aikido Koan”, I lead you through a simple (but not necessarily easy) spiritual practice for working with conflict from the “way of the spiritual warrior”.

There are 3 three typical “egoic” trigger reactions in conflict: aggressiveness, passiveness, or passive-aggressiveness. All three perpetuate conflict rather than resolve it.

The “Aikido Koan” is a self-inquiry practice done while staying present with the stress of conflict, which initiates a process of healing. Engaging with conflict in this mindful, ego-free way opens a path to transformation.

Leave your thoughts, comments, and questions below!

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