Welcome to AikiWeb Aikido Information
AikiWeb: The Source for Aikido Information
AikiWeb's principal purpose is to serve the Internet community as a repository and dissemination point for aikido information.

Sections
home
aikido articles
columns

Discussions
forums
aikiblogs

Databases
dojo search
seminars
image gallery
supplies
links directory

Reviews
book reviews
video reviews
dvd reviews
equip. reviews

News
submit
archive

Miscellaneous
newsletter
rss feeds
polls
about

Follow us on



Home > AikiWeb Aikido
Go Back   AikiWeb Aikido Forums > AikiWeb AikiBlogs > Nothing Works...

Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history, humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.

If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced features available, you will need to register first. Registration is absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!

Nothing Works... Blog Tools Rate This Blog
Creation Date: 04-12-2012 03:29 PM
James Sawers
Offline
rss2
Meditations...

This poem and others are available in my books, Nothing Works: Meditations on Aikido, Buddhism, the Tao, Zen, and other inconsequential things....and, Nothing Special, and Nothing Matters..., available thru Amazon.com, in print and Kindle editions and Barnes & Noble websites.....Also available as an e-book via Smashwords.com. Try this link: www.nothing-works.com for the full array of options.
Blog Info
Status: Public
Entries: 360
Comments: 68
Views: 633,244

In General Musashi Station Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #350 New 08-17-2020 04:25 PM
Musashi Station

With my back to a small Japanese maple
I look up at hazy puffs of white clouds
Drifting, drifting…
Beyond the clouds I see a small lake
Lake Ueshiba, surrounded by some
Low, rolling, green hills
The green hills of Musashi Station
That we are famous for
Nestled at their base is the small village
Of Chiba: bright, golden sangawara tile roofs
Easy to spot even from far across the station

After all this time I still marvel
At seeing half my world upside down
But, I count myself lucky to be here
Olde Earthe has fallen on hard times
And for a professor of Natural Science
And Philosophy, and a part-time
Aikido instructor
Musashi Station is a precious haven
And a small, priceless part of Humanity
As a space-faring species

Soon, the aikido seminar with my group
And a delegation from Valhalla Station
Will meet to start practice
And the small sun of the station
Will shine on swirling black hakama
And white gis
For now, we warm up with ancient
Low-tech wooden weapons - bokken and jyo
Under a serene artificial sun
In a high-tech chrysalis
Far from a dying Olde Earthe

Views: 1591


In General GHOSTLY REMNANTS Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #349 New 08-06-2020 04:42 PM
GHOSTLY REMNANTS

Sometimes
You find their marks
You find evidence
Of those who have gone before
They did it without fanfare
Not seeking attention or fame
Not even acknowledgement
They just did it
Ghostly remnants
Reminders that it can be done
Fragments of a psychic journey
Hammer holds left
In spiritual mountains
That can guide you to the peaks
And what lies beyond

Views: 1062


In General UFO Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #348 New 07-18-2020 01:37 PM
UFO

Was it an angel?
A UFO?
A natural manifestation
Of something?

Its light settled around me
Both warm and cool
No fear
No panic
Surprise?
Wonder?
Confusion?
I don't know

But when it left
I felt both abandoned
And fulfilled
At the same time


Views: 927


In General But...? Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #347 You are subscribed to this entry  New 01-08-2020 06:04 PM
But…?

5 and 5 are 10.
2 and 8 are 10.
1 and 9 are 10.
You should harmonize like this

So I've been advised
But….?


Views: 1135


In General Nafudakake Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #346 New 11-17-2019 04:53 PM
Nafudakake

The Nafudakake
The name-board in our dojo
Is full of students' names
And their various ranks

I look at it
My name is up there
Among many others
But the names and ranks
Are not final destinations

Our Nafudakake is an active record
Of history and potential
Not a hard set of names and ranks
With no past or future

Our Nafudakake is a circle
Actually a spiral, the dojo
At its center, with
Ranks lowest to highest
Spiraling outward

Some names even drift off
The board, off the spiral
Flowing somewhere into
An ever-changing world
Not necessarily an Aikido one

But some start their own dojos
Fresh and bright
Full of dynamic energy and hope
Creating their own spirals
Within their own Nafudakake

Views: 1329


In General Saboru Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #345 New 11-10-2019 04:41 PM
Saboru

Sometimes I don't want to practice
To go to the dojo, do Aikido, and sweat
To feel effort and pain
And do that whole misogi thing

I just want to lounge on my couch
Watch TV, do nothing
Or, go and sit in a coffee shop
Reading, sipping coffee, just veg'ing

I always thought Saboru would be
A good name for a coffee shop
Timeout Coffee, or Saboru Coffee
But, I know I'll go to practice, anyway

Views: 1104


In General What Am I? Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #344 New 11-03-2019 06:10 PM
What Am I?

An action of non-action
As in that: fire does not burn fire
Indicating the self-identity of fire

But combustion has its ground
In non-combustion, so
Because of non-combustion
Combustion is combustion!
As in water is not wet…

I am totally confused
What is my own self-identity?
At the home-ground of my being
What am I?
What is my not-I?

Views: 1124


In General I Don't Know Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #343 New 10-27-2019 06:57 PM
I Don't Know

I don't know how the young do it?
They breeze through life with no clue
Though, of course, they think they do
At what point does that change?
For me, each step is filled with
Agonizing existential dread
I place one foot forward
And, somewhere, a star explodes
Another step, and the last of a species
Goes extinct, one more, a war starts,
A child cries, galaxies collide,
The homeless wander on by,
Quantum realities split apart; yet, another
And the universe expands even further
Stretching my mind and sanity even more
I tell myself: I can make it! I can make it!
Just get to Starbucks!



Views: 1317


In General This or That Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #342 New 10-22-2019 04:55 PM
This or That

When we speak of a nothingness
Outside of existence
We speak of a relative nothingness
Not true emptiness
We still have a this or that
A this and that mind set
Absolute emptiness is one with being
Not separate from it
It is not out there
It is near at hand
We are forced to say
It is not this thing or that
Therefore, it is this thing or that
Fire does not burn fire
The sword does not cut the sword

Perhaps it is a language problem?


Views: 1139


In General Misogi Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #341 New 10-12-2019 08:08 PM
Misogi

Aikido is my regular misogi practice
No talking, tongue to roof of mouth,
Breathing through the nose
Warm-ups with torifume,
With furitama, with otakebi
Responding as uke without thinking
(Or, at least, trying to)
Performing as nage without thinking
(Or, at least, trying to)
No other-criticism
No self-criticism
No self
Quiet


Views: 933



Sorted By:       Per Page:  



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:07 PM.



vBulletin Copyright © 2000-2024 Jelsoft Enterprises Limited
----------
Copyright 1997-2024 AikiWeb and its Authors, All Rights Reserved.
----------
For questions and comments about this website:
Send E-mail
plainlaid-picaresque outchasing-protistan explicantia-altarage seaford-stellionate