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Serving a community of private individuals and professionals
who have the desire to cultivate a life of clarity, compassion,
and creativity. Your feedback is encouraged. Please contact
us at seishindo@seishindo.org.
1. Starting Line
Today's newsletter is the third and final installment of
a three part series I conceived in response to a request by
my colleague Silvia Hartman. Thanks for inspiring me Silvia!
The first of this series was titled: "Energy,
Spirit, and Mind." The second in the series was titled:
"Cultivating
Ki Flow and Mindfulness, Manifesting Mind". I began the
series by talking about how the "ki"/energy that is ever present
in the universe manifests within each individual as spirit,
and how our spirit manifests in each of us as mind.
Next, I talked about how ki supports life when our system is
able to let it flow unimpeded, like when our immune system
spontaneously heals wounds or illnesses. My Aikido teacher
Koichi Tohei sensei used to say that in a healthy person
the flow of their ki is like the outpouring of an
underground spring sitting at the bottom of a deep lake. The
spring feeds water to the lake, much like we can feed the
universe healing energy. The spring feeds the lake a
constant flow of water without ever being diminished, and
this outpouring of water is not at all impeded by the weight
and pressure of the lake bearing down on it. When ki flows
it always follows the path of least resistance. This is a
path of great power. In the same manner as the spring feeds
the lake, as human beings we are designed to feed energy to
the universe, and this feeding of energy is what helps us to
also maintain our own personal health. We receive by giving.
In this newsletter I want to talk about how we can better
appreciate, empathize with, and respect the diverse people,
energies, and opinions that we come in contact with on a
daily basis. I hope to give some small insight into how we
can begin to understand the paradox of One common energy
source feeding all of the diversity and difference that we
see around us. In Aikido we practice what I guess could be
called a "physical" discipline to accomplish this. We
PRACTICE appreciation, empathy, and respect, in regard to
our partner, with the hope that some day in the future our
practice will transform into an embodied reality. We
practice breathing exercises and meditation, and in the
course of these experiences we have a sense of being one
with the universe.
2. Main course
In Aikido, as new students we first learn how to balance
our physical structure and relax the body's musculature. It
is this balance and release of excess muscular tension that
allows the weight of the body's trunk to come to a natural
resting place in our lower abdomen, in the general area of
our reproductive organs. This area in our lower abdomen is
what Tohei sensei calls "the one point" and he exhorts his
students to maintain the feeling of the body's weight resting
naturally in this area. By maintaining physical balance and
relaxation we release excess physical tension, calm the thinking
mind, and sense a common bond with all of life. At such times
we naturally generate a copious flow of ki, and exude a healing
presence to those around us. Previously I said that ki is
the life force that animates all living beings and that all
living beings share and utilize the SAME energy source, the
same ki, the same spirit. In Aikido we call this shared universal
spirit "reiseishin." When we balance and relax the body, unify
our thoughts and actions, and calm our thinking mind, we manifest
an outpouring of "Reseishin" in the same manner that a mother
holding her newborn baby exudes and expresses love, protection,
and compassion. When we experience the flow of "reiseishin"
we naturally appreciate, empathize with, and respect all of
life.
For me personally, what is important to say in regard to sensing
the flow of "reiseishin" is that the experience is not generated
by the activity of the thinking mind. Our sense of unity with
all of life comes about when we "do only what is necessary,
and nothing more or less." It is this "doing less" that leads
to greater power and a greater sense of connection to life.
We gain the paradoxical experience of calmness and action
being two sides of the same coin. One being the mirror image
of the other. Great calmness leads to great action, like a
hurricane radiating out from its calm "eye." Great action
leads to great calmness, as when a strongly thrown top rights
itself and calmly spins round its center.
When you balance and relax your body, unify your thoughts
and actions, and calm your thinking mind, you move from an
experience of duality to an experience of commonality. At
such times you understand experientially what is paradoxical
to the thinking mind - That so much difference comes from
One source.
You breathe deeply and sense the simultaneous inflow and outflow
of ki.
You breathe deeply and feel a "heavy-lightness" in the body.
You breathe deeply and sense the "immovable-movement" of your
spirit.
When you sense and move with the energy that is manifesting
throughout the universe you find that you have a greater ability
to live a life that is healthy and fulfilling, a greater sense
of valuing and protecting all of life. When you learn to instinctively
move with others rather than attempting to oppose them, you
quickly come to a sense of intuitively understanding your
counterpart's thoughts and actions, and you increase the likelihood
of your being able to gently lead your counterpart in new
directions in the future. This is certainly a timely topic
given the current conditions in the world today. Aikido is
a martial art that wages peace. We have no attack form in
Aikido, even though Aikido is very much an effective form
of self-defense. As I said previously, in Aikido we cultivate
an experience that leads us to believe that all living beings
utilize and share a common energy source (ki) that helps to
run and maintain our environment as well as our individual
human systems. We believe that since we all share a common
energy source, that in some important way we are all truly
members of the same family, and that we share our lives with
all of nature. We do not have an attack form in Aikido, because
attacking another human being would be like attacking a family
member that you love. One of the main ideas of Aikido is to
find a way to honor and protect your own being, your own opinions,
your own right to life, while CONCURRENTLY honoring and protecting
the same in your opponent. Not at all a simple task, but one
well worth trying to embody.
As you learn to locate and maintain your own personal "center",
you discover that your center is both local and global, or
as Akio Morita the past CEO of Sony said, "We must think globally
while acting locally. We must develop the capacity to be 'glocal'."
When you experience this sense of being "glocal" you manifest
a greater capacity to join and blend with the "ki" of others.
You realize that in some very important way we all share the
same ki, the same ancestry, the same God, the same life. There
is a "oneness" to all of life, and this "One" can never be
reduced to zero. From this "One" energy two counterbalancing
forces appeared and stimulated and supported each other, and
the conditional world was born. The conditional world requires
the ongoing working relationship of "opposites." Night and
Day, Male-Female, Yin and Yang. These opposites REQUIRE and
support each other. If night were to oppose day, if male denigrates
and or suppresses female, if one group of people subjugates
another, all of life is diminished in some important sense.
The relative world REQUIRES difference in order to maintain
the commonality of life. Differences in opinion, difference
in beliefs, differences in religion, all lead to a feeding
of the "reiseishin" of our common spirit. It is so important
for us to realize that "difference" creates the diversity
that supports the viability of future life, that opposites
are necessary for counterbalance in a conditional world. We
must sense our oneness with all of life, while not in any
way requiring that there only be one right way, one set of
beliefs, one religion.
Three important components in supporting the diversity that
feeds life, are Appreciation, Empathy, and Respect.
1. Appreciation of diversity
fosters an openness to exploring difference. An openness to
exploring difference means that we will have a much richer
wealth of ideas and alternatives to draw upon. This is one
of the necessary components for successful adaptation. We
move away from a concept of "right or wrong" and instead consider
what will work best in this particular instance. We welcome
and acknowledge the process of trial and error, knowing that
all learning requires that we make some mistakes along the
way. If we belittle or stifle the answers or opinions that
don't wind up fitting our needs this time around, we denigrate
the creative process, and diminish the flow of new ideas in
the future.
2. Empathy helps us to be responsive
to the needs, dreams, and desires of others. When we are sensitive
to the thoughts and feelings of others, we soon realize that
"MY" way is not the only way. "My" way is not THE right way.
"My" way is only one of many ways.
3. Respect is an important
component in fostering all of life, because it leads to the
manifestation of "reiseishin." Our task in life is not easy.
But luckily, we each have great capacity, as we are each fed
by the "One" ki of the universe.
May the importance of differences in opinion and beliefs be
appreciated. May we empathize with the plight of others. May
we bow to and respect the sanctity of all life.
3. Practice: "Only One, Only moving, Only calm"
The main idea for today's Practice is to notice how movement
and breath are important components in all of life. Notice
how movement and breath connect all living beings together,
as active players in the symphony of life.
Please click the link to find the full description of the
"Only
One, Only moving, Only calm" Practice.
4. Links
www.seishindo.org/news.html
Have you been to our site recently? It is spring time on our
site and we have a complete new set of graphics highlighting
each page. Also we have added numerous articles in the last
month, so if you have the time, you might want to take a look
around.
If you like what you see on our site and would like to consider
having my good friend, colleague, and webmaster (webmistress?)
Inessa Rebeyko do something for you, please contact her at
inessa@seishindo.org.
Inessa is easy to get along with, hard working, creative,
and highly intelligent. What else can I say without making
her blush?
5. Suggested Books and Music
Book
"Molecules of Emotion-Why You Feel the Way You Feel"
by Candace B. Pert, Ph.D.
This book is a must read in regard to understanding more about
our "mobile brain" which is present throughout our body, and
the concept of our "mind" being fully present in our body,
as well as in the brain in our skull.
CD
Group's name: "Anonymous 4" (Yes, that is the group's name)
A female choral choir made up of women with diverse backgrounds...
Title: "A Star in the East"
This music is very mellow and soothing and I find it great
when doing Practices like the one I suggested in today's newsletter.
6. Endnote and Invitation
We invite you to send in
a) Questions and comments
relating to what you read here.
b) Experiences that relate
to the "Practices" presented.
c) The names of books/music/services/products,
etc. you feel might be of interest to the Seishindo community.
Please include a short write-up about your selections. Let
us know whether or not it is OK to have your name appear with
the information you share. We will do our best to address
most if not all input. Please send all input to seishindo@seishindo.org.
7. Copyright
Unless otherwise attributed, all material for the newsletter "Pure Heart,
Simple Mind"(tm) is written and edited by Charlie Badenhop ©. All rights reserved.
You may reprint, copy, or distribute "Pure Heart, Simple Mind” (tm) provided you: a. Receive our written permission (which is likely). b. Attach the above copyright notice to our material. c. Do not sell our material to others. d. Keep the content of our material intact without any editing whatsoever.
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