One Hundred and Ninety-one

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[RonRagusa]

I am as poised
upon the head of a pin.

Oblivion stretches in all directions
away from me, vast, uncharted
unknowable in its totality.

At One Point
bits and pieces of
that expanse come together
to form me.

At One Point
is now,
perfect in its stillness
a point of transformation.


At One Point
I turn and expand outward
a perfect sphere of me-ness, Ki-ness.

As I breathe in
of the Universe am I born
as I breathe out
of me the Universe
receives its form.

We are distinct yet one
in constant synchronicity and
I am as poised
upon the head of a pin.

(Original blog post may be found here (http://ron-aikidothoughts.blogspot.com/2011/04/one-hundred-and-ninety-one.html).)

[Diana Frese]

Hi Ron, I'm still getting to know the various blogs, and yours looks very interesting. Today's, in poem form reminds me of a breathing exercise taught by Hikitsuchi Sensei in a relatively brief visit to NYC and Connecticut in 1977, I think it was.

For a little background, he lived in Shingu in Wakayama Prefecture, where O Sensei grew up and returned from time to time. He taught Hikitsuchi Sensei from the time Hikitsuchi Sensei was around twelve if I remember correctly, I'll have to look it up or you could ask someone. He is said to be tenth dan in some sources, but I am not an authority. But people sometimes asked me why this special honor and recognition.

When asked a question like that, the answer, for example, from me could be "I am not an authority." Of course his technique was very good, but who am I to judge what is a tenth dan. So I would answer: Hikitsuchi Sensei is in a large city, but not one of the main cities. He has something valuable to share and O Sensei wanted to make sure people noticed him and learned from him. Many American students went to Shingu to learn about Aikido and Shinto.

If O Sensei considered himself to be still learning, then the tenth dan may have signified the person reached a certain level, maybe a symbolic mountaintop of vision and understanding and practice, but would be still learning and developing. I'm not sure how to put this into words, maybe someone else can.

Anyway, your poem has a beautiful perspective so you might understand Hikitsuchi Sensei, who many people say was a Shinto priest. And many people say Shinto is very connected with nature.

That's just my guess. You can contact Mary Heiny, who gives seminars in Maine and New York city as well as elsewhere in the US. She studied with him.

The breathing exercise he taught in New Haven was simply breathing out over the entire universe, breathing in from the entire universe. Your poem reminded me of him, so I decided to share.
Thanks, Ron.

Daian

[graham christian]

Nice style. Clear, alive, masterful and peaceful. That truly is from one point. Thank you.

[RonRagusa]

Diana, Graham -

Thank you both for the kind words. This blog is my attempt to record both my walk along the path of Aikido and how Aikido has wrought its transformative ways upon me.

I'm glad you are finding my musings informative and entertaining.

Best,

Ron

[George S. Ledyard]

Hi Ron, I'm still getting to know the various blogs, and yours looks very interesting. Today's, in poem form reminds me of a breathing exercise taught by Hikitsuchi Sensei in a relatively brief visit to NYC and Connecticut in 1977, I think it was.

For a little background, he lived in Shingu in Wakayama Prefecture, where O Sensei grew up and returned from time to time. He taught Hikitsuchi Sensei from the time Hikitsuchi Sensei was around twelve if I remember correctly, I'll have to look it up or you could ask someone. He is said to be tenth dan in some sources, but I am not an authority. But people sometimes asked me why this special honor and recognition.

When asked a question like that, the answer, for example, from me could be "I am not an authority." Of course his technique was very good, but who am I to judge what is a tenth dan. So I would answer: Hikitsuchi Sensei is in a large city, but not one of the main cities. He has something valuable to share and O Sensei wanted to make sure people noticed him and learned from him. Many American students went to Shingu to learn about Aikido and Shinto.

If O Sensei considered himself to be still learning, then the tenth dan may have signified the person reached a certain level, maybe a symbolic mountaintop of vision and understanding and practice, but would be still learning and developing. I'm not sure how to put this into words, maybe someone else can.

Anyway, your poem has a beautiful perspective so you might understand Hikitsuchi Sensei, who many people say was a Shinto priest. And many people say Shinto is very connected with nature.

That's just my guess. You can contact Mary Heiny, who gives seminars in Maine and New York city as well as elsewhere in the US. She studied with him.

The breathing exercise he taught in New Haven was simply breathing out over the entire universe, breathing in from the entire universe. Your poem reminded me of him, so I decided to share.
Thanks, Ron.

Daian

I was once in a discussion with Stan Pranin and Saotome Sensei. I posed the question, who amongst the deshi tried the most to understand Aikido the way the Founder himself understood it. The answer was Abe, Sunadomari, and Hikitsuchi. While not an Omotkyo follower to my knowledge, Hikitsuchi Sensei was a Shinto Priest I think had a fairly unique relationship with the Founder. O-Sensei awarded him a special certificate that stated Hikitsuchi Sensei understood his Bo... no one else that I know of received anything like that from the Founder. The promotion was not from the organization but was an oral promotion given by O-Sensei directly to Hikitsuchi Sensei, consequently there were folks who disputed it's validity. But I always figured the one that really counts is the one you got from your Teacher, not some organization... Anyway, I do believe the folks back at Headquarters gave in and issued a certificate but I could be wrong on that.

O-Sensei made the guys running the organization crazy... he was always giving out ranks to folks who impressed him with their mastery of various activities and would simply tell a deshi he was a certain rank if he thought he deserved it. All the "time in grade", proper order for sempai / cohai to get promoted, etc tended to go right out the window with O-Sensei. They'd overrule him sometimes but they had to pick their issues to stand firm on carefully and I'm sure they sent Kisshomaru to do he tough talk in reigning in his Dad.