Thread: torifune and IS
View Single Post
Old 10-21-2011, 04:41 PM   #26
Rev.K. Barrish
 
Rev.K. Barrish's Avatar
Dojo: Tsubaki Kannagara Jinja
Location: Granite Falls, WA
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 42
United_States
Offline
Re: torifune and IS

Hello Mr. Truong,

As for the Furitama....in the original Jinja Shinto exercise, during Jumbi Taiso it is generally right over left with the exception of the time of the "Furube-no-kamu-waza" of the formal Chinkon Saho....interestingly enough what I believe Saotome Sensei and Ikeda Sensei where alluding to regarding move your insides is quite esoteric Shinto practice..in ancient times the general thinking was that ones Mitama/ soul could easily rather become dislodged from the body. This thinking is the origin of many aspects of the practice of Chinkon Meditation. The origin of Mitamafuri or Furitama had to do with the shaking of the Kannadakara while repeating the Hi-fu-Mi norito/ a mantra of counting from 1 to 10 in order to recall a wandering Mitama. This is also the thinking behind Tamamusubi or the tying of 10 knots into a piece of string as well as the practice of shaking a box containing the clothing of an ill person 10 times in order to seat the soul more firmly in the body/ hara. The moving of the " insides" refers to consciously moving the center through a series of circles of 10---- vertically, to the left, to the right, on the centerline anti-clockwise, clockwise, horizontally to the left, horizontally to the right and again vertically. This type of "spiritual calisthenic" is the basic of Chinkon's Furube-no-kamu-waza...it is really very great that Saotome Sensei and Ikeda Sensei are transmitting the heart of this important practice.....

FURITAMA:

re: Furitama ( Soul Shaking)

1. Stand with your legs apart about shoulder width .

2. Place your hands together with the right hand over the left. Leave space
between them big enough for an imaginary ping pong ball.

3. Place your hands in that position in front of your stomach and shake
them vigorously up and down.

4. While shaking them concentrate and repeat the words: Harae-do-no-Okami -
an invocation to the kami of the place of harai.

The Object of Furitama

The purpose of shaking the soul is to generate awareness of it within
yourself. Kon, (the soul), in Shinto, is one of the four important elements
along with Mei (life), Rei (spirit) and Ki (which means Spirit in its causal
aspect - Ki is a kind of energy source). Kon is the most important of the
four since human beings can also be described as Waketama (separated
individual souls), which is another way of saying "children of the kami".

As for the practice of Furitama, sometimes called Mitamafuri....lit. to shake the soul.... this is a really very important exercise..through Kaiso/ the Aikido founder it is true that many people in various Aiki traditions practise, but often without understanding. The origins of the movements are:

1) from Furube no Kamu waza of Chinkon Saho = the movements of Shinto active meditation

2) Misogi Shuho Jumbi Taiso = exercises such as Ame-no-torifune and furitama come from the movements used to activate the mind/spirit/body for ritual purification in moving water.

Chinkon is also called mitamashizume or mitamafuri. Mitamashizume means to pacify the spirit and settle it in the center of the body. Mitamafuri means to reinvigorate the withered soul by shaking a ritual object or the human body. It also means beckoning a spirit into the body.

Misogi (purification) and chinkon are the two most important practices of Shinto. We practice misogi to cleanse our body and mind of obscuring KI and to create the opening for the fresh new Ki and possibilities, and then practice chinkon to calm/ integrate the spirit and to connect to the divine world. Every morning as part of Chouhai/ morning prayer we practice chinkon. Here at Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America we also practice Chinkon after each Aiki Keiko and very formally each Saturday morning.

...........during Furitama while standing, an important note is that it is advisable to raise up onto the balls of your feet and extend KI downward through your foot chakras and receive the echo of that extension through the same channel.

...and yes the "move inside" is exactly the real thing...................
  Reply With Quote