Character Work

Character Work is a practice that enables us to focus our awareness on our many personality traits, transform the traits that are getting in our way and holding us back, and decide from an informed perspective which traits we wish to cultivate. We do this practice by itself and in every other practice that is part of Shen Ming Kung Fu. It is through the refinement of our character work that we can evolve our consciousness.

Everyone has within them traits that shape how they think and behave. These traits can be constructive or destructive, hold us back or help us evolve, and create suffering or liberate us from suffering. There are many traits in each person, and we are constantly building and transforming the traits we hold within ourselves through the choices we make in every moment. It is the total sum of these traits within us that make up our Character. Although we are always vaguely aware of our Character, our awareness is fractured and confused by the sheer volume of traits and their sometimes contradictory nature.

The first step in doing Character Work is identifying as many traits as possible. This type of self-discovery can be scary at times, because in taking a good, long look at ourselves, we come to the realization that we don’t really know ourselves like we thought we did. It can be unsettling to come to terms with knowing that you don’t know yourself, when it seems that your self is something you should probably know more about than anything else. Luckily, identifying character traits is a simple as making a list- writing down everything you see within yourself and devoting time to making the list as comprehensive as possible. One of the most potent opportunities to list our character traits is right after meditation, when the thoughts and feelings we observe are still fresh in our mind. We can also add to our list throughout the day, as we notice thoughts and feelings driving our actions. It’s best to make two lists- one for negative traits and another for positive traits.

The next step in the process involves identifying common themes in your character. Some negative traits have a tendency to show up again and again, as we respond to a variety of situations with the same attitudes and reactions. These traits are important to notice, because they are ways in which we are bringing suffering into our lives and those close to us. Having identified these traits, we seek to resist the urge to act out on them whenever we can. This part of Character Work can be very challenging, because some patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting are very ingrained as deep habits within us. Choosing to resist these traits is literally attempting to break these habits and can feel like breaking free from an addiction. However, this step can be a turning point for us. When we are able to control our impulses in this way, we can choose to promote positive alternatives instead.

Promoting and emphasizing positive traits is the final step in this process that is often overlooked. It is surprising how many of us are willing and able to admit our negative sides and work to control them but are hesitant to admit that we have positive traits as well. Sometimes we doubt ourselves, because we don’t have much practice choosing positive alternatives to our more familiar negative traits. Other times we are afraid to take responsibility for these traits. Once we admit they exist, we know that the choice is left to us to determine what traits we want to act out on. However, the promotion of positive character traits is empowering. It is at this point that we no longer have to resist something negative. We cease to fight against something within ourselves, which is a battle that can’t ever be permanently won (our negative character can always spring up again whenever we let our guard down and give in to the familiar urges of old habitual patterns). Instead, we work with something within ourselves, something positive, and at this point simply remember we have the freedom to choose what traits we want to bring out and manifest.

Character work begins with simple and easy to identify traits and patterns. These beginning examples tend to be ones that we have been aware of for a long time. My favorite one to bring up is getting angry in traffic (although the “easy” traits to work with are different for everyone). When we work our character in areas which are easy to handle, we become more knowledgeable and skilled with the process. After that, we can tackle more challenging issues, which are often more ingrained in our personalities and require a firmer commitment to transform. With time, we come to understand the universality to character work. No matter what experience in which we find ourselves, our character is always there as both an impediment to our progress and a reliable tool which empowers us forward.