Shatter myths about peace

Once there was a famous wrestler we'll call “Great Waves.” He was muscular and strong and knew the art of wrestling. In private bouts he defeated even his teacher, yet in public was so bashful that even his students threw him down. He was at a loss for words as well as inner peace. 

Troubled, the wrestler decided to visit a Zen temple for help. There, a wise teacher advised him.

“Great Waves is your name,” said the teacher. “So spend tonight in the temple. Imagine that you are water. You are no longer a wrestler who is afraid. You are those powerful waves sweeping over everything in sight. Do this and you will never again be defeated.”

The teacher left. The wrestler sat still, trying to imagine himself as water. His mind wandered but soon he began to feel more and more like moving waves. As night advanced the waves grew taller and taller. They swept away the flowers and rushed over the statues. Before dawn the temple was nothing but the tide of a vast ocean.

In the morning the teacher found the wrestler in meditation with a slight smile on his face. He patted the man’s shoulder. “Now nothing can disturb you,” he said. “You are the waves. You will sweep everything before you.”

That day, the wrestler entered and won a big tournament, and was never again defeated by his thoughts.

Contrary to popular belief, no peaceful mind exists. Mind itself cannot be peaceful. Its very nature is to be tense and confusing. Mind cannot have clarity. Peace and silence exist without mind. Never attempt to silence the mind. Only as you understand the nature of mind does your life shift. 

Watch and you observe thoughts but never encounter the mind. Thoughts are not one with your nature. Thoughts come and go like visitors. They are like waves in the ocean. You persist as the host. All thoughts are borrowed. As this enters your visceral experience, everything transforms. Awareness is noticing what arises in gaps between thoughts and being that.

Recall martial artist Bruce Lee said, "be like water."  The most challenging adversary is the thinking mind. True confidence and inner peace do not reside in temples or remote places. As we turn inward, go inside our own hearts, here we find all we seek.

5 Tips to develop aikido-monk awareness

Martial artists develop insight into energy, mental and physical strength. They learn the mind and body are inseparable. They see thought and emotion interact together with consequences.  The mind attunes to energy consciousness and sensitivities.

Aikido blends martial arts, philosophy and spiritual beliefs. Practitioners train to re-direct aggressiveness and negativity with precise techniques and loving kindness. Progress arises from using energy fields and learning when not to exert oneself. To harness the flow of energy means one can move out of the way or respond accordingly to heavy energy fields.

Now, monks are spiritual masters of self-restraint. They do not permit egoism, attachment or vanity to control their decisions. They sense the flow of core energy and keep the peace. Monks subdue intense passions and are aware of the right thing to do. They set a standard for wisdom and self-control.

Aikido-monks attain a level of spiritual refinement that combines key traits of both monks and aikido. This hybrid perspective sheds light on inner power and reconciliation. Consider five tips to develop aikido-monk awareness;

1) Set your mind on your vision. Those who seek self-mastery do not find it. Those who master themselves grasp every being has degrees of awareness, but does not always grasp inner power or the paths and guidance to develop it.

2) Step back and observe. The simple step of choosing to become more aware helps you tap into inner knowing. You begin to identify and explore your conditioned responses.

3) Re-pattern instinctive responses to fear. Fear and insecurity are core beliefs that reinforce selfishness. Where these traits are not recognized and addressed, peace and compassion are less likely to become responses to conflict.

4) Synchronize thought, emotion and movement.  Gaining insight into emotions enables you to foresee what is coming or erupting and curtail it. Restraint in the senses can translate into restraint in conduct. That which cannot always be said or expressed in words can still be done. Be consistent.

5) Discipline the spirit. The path to personal harmony invites you to discipline your spirit and to explore power found in action and inaction.  Take steps to reconnect with chi energy and strengthen links between mind, body and spirit. Learn how the storage and sudden discharge of energy is possible without the use of muscular force. Learning is perpetual your way.