Earlier we talked about Lingchi - Death by a thousand cuts, which is a slow death overcoming you from all of the uncontrollable desires we are opening the doors for, which becomes the flood of the seven deadly sins to come overtake us. Today, we are closing the doors and keeping them closed, by knowing when those doors start to creep open.
Han - Look upon and turn over
Sei - Look back and review the past
Hansei - Self Reflection:
- Be aware of short-comings and flaws
- Know what tempts you
- Take responsibility for safe guarding against falling
- Avoid blaming everyone else
- Learn from past mistakes
History often repeats itself. Mainly because the lesson life was teaching was not learned. Reflections on past mistakes will ultimately see you through if things start down the same road as before. You cannot be trapped in the past, reliving the mistakes, you must visit to see what and what not to do for future references.
There are two parts to Hansei:
First, there needs to be reflection on things gone wrong. How did the door open? What started the desire and what fed it until it was uncontrollable?
Second, there has to be an action plan to stop it from happening again.
How can I fix this? Who can help me if it starts again? Where can I go for help?
Set aside some time to seriously start to reflect and search for opening doors. Remember Kaizen, take it a little bit at a time for long lasting improvements.