I read a fabulous point of view on the spiritual foundations of shi ho na ge in John Stevens' book "The Secrets of Aikido". Often when I meditate I light 4 candles and make an effort to consider and feel gratitude towards each of the four directions Stevens Sensei outlines. Has anyone else read this wonderful book? If so, do you agree with me that this truly is the sort of insight that can take us to a higher spiritual plane? i.e. Can this type of spiritual release open the gates of the "heaven" deep within each and every one of us?

I look forward to any thoughts/responses 8).

--Drew G.

someone reply, pleassseee???
 

I will reply to this so my pride isn't hurt.


The chapter in "The Secrets of Aikido" entitled "Kami..The Divine Alchemy of Fire and Water"

To me this is simple: a kami is a person (male or female or neuter or whatever) who doesn't hate, who loves the natural world and the human beings that would be inseparable from it. The kami live freely, without fear. They can never understand the Creator (the Kami), only learn about It and do Its will. Its will is to enlighten and purify the world. Its will is to make all human beings into kami, and all kami into one family.
Human beings do not have to be kami if they so choose. This free choice, this option, is the greatest gift SU ever presented us with. Age numbers are important at times, but meaningless at other times. We are all in this together. The kami unite to form the missing link. A kami is wonderfully in touch with his/her animal needs as well as his/her human needs.
For a kami, MA-AI has become MAAI. The kanji for AI looks a little like a house to me. A little like a dojo. A sanctuary. A place where the only thing laughed at is ego. The rest is laughed with. I long for the day when my AI becomes MAAI, and I think that day is nearing for me. Consider this matrix:

4 -4

-4 4

Consider this proportion:

4/-2 = -2/4

Cross multiply both the matrix and the proportion, all you get is a positive outcome.

All any one of us really longs for is happiness, a positive sense of self-worth. So few of us know how to achieve this. So few. So few kami. They want more in their family, when all human beings are kami, we will all live forever and protect each other and love each other and respect each other and teach each other, and learn from each other. One Divine, invisible Sensei (God/the Creator/Kami/Allah/etc..) many millions of Sensei.

Just some sushi for thought,
Drew

Good points. When I meditate, I prefer to do it in darkness, and in seiza. After some ibuki breathing, I just let my mind drift, focusing on everything, and yet nothing. I do this until I feel fulfilled, and, upon ending the session, I feel more alert, but also much more calm. If only they would devote the first 15 minutes of class to mokusoo instead of the first 15 seconds...

-Nick

Perhaps if you got to class 15-20 minutes early you could it yourself!

Pete

I would be ever so happy to, but we share our dojo with Hapkido, and it is rather hard to clear your mind when you hear kiai's and people being thrown, talking, etc.

-Nick

I think you miss the point. Drew, baby, here is making a feeble attempt at mocking what he doesn't understand.
This Andy-Kaufman-wannabe is using complex nonsense to try and make fun of the esoteric study that Stevens has done of O-Sensei's philosophy. While the book is abstruse and a bit weighty, it gives factual info without judging, which is fine by me.
Drew forgets his own (mis)quote on another thread whereby O-Sensei say when you attack you've already lost.
No attack here - consider me your fifth candle!

to aikitom
 

I didn't catch your real name, but I'll just ass u me it is Tom for now. Tom, criticizing another's thoughts is ok, but can't you provide some other explanation, then, for what Stevens Sensei might mean? Or would this be considered sharing aikido secrets with "hoodlums" and you wouldn't thereby have all the power for yourself? Come on, Tom, didn't they teach you to share in kindergarten (Kinder Garden)????

Drew-baby
"I am but a baby in the martial arts."
Some famous last words from the Greatest of the Sensei<=^==^=>Ueshiba Morihei

Is a "dbgard" something like a jockstrap?


DBG Holda-no bokken
hava-no balz
So-maka-fun of udderz
<db@nowhere>
16 candles (matrix 4x4-offroad)

[Edited by AikiTom on July 8, 2000 at 09:07am]

lf I wanted to mud-sling, I'd go into politics, c'mon now!!
 

dbgard is actually mee signiture laddie.

human beings are inherently lazy creatures

kami are not

i think i have taught you much of the absurdity of ego, mr. tom. I wouldn't have known this w/o your feedback. thanks.

i hope you get well soon 8)

Drew Gardner Sensei

4x4
$x$
0x0

...and you throw yourself.


aiki no-noa
cann-no throa
8)

[Edited by AikiTom on July 8, 2000 at 01:31pm]

tenkan
 

kaiten kokyu nage