Universal Love...AIki..

Aikido has as one of it's fundamental principles the concept of universal love. This is not a philosophy but a real component of Aiki itself.

So what is this universal love? Why do so many folk describe it in so many different ways?

Well the reason in my opinion is down to how most folk think. We are brought up and taught how to think in terms of THINGS. This is why the main focus of much of Aikido is on technique because they are things, they have shape and form. They can be seen. Yet they of themselves are not Ai, are not Ki and are not the Do either. They are results of it.

                                   
So back to the mind and thinking. As I said earlier most think in terms of things. Thus they think in terms of QUANTITY. Along with this we may get timing and geometry and movement but still in terms of quantity.

Well to understand the basics a simple thing has to be recognized and that is that this universe and all in it is not just physical and in fact the physical is the result of underlying non physical principles. In fact to make it nice and simple we could look at it in terms of Quantity (physical) and Quality (non physical).

                                       
QUALITY. Can you think in terms of quality? Quality is spiritual, quality comes before quantity. When we all just follow quantity we end up with a world based on economics and profit where everyone is into image and bits of paper and titles and accumulation of more and more things and wealth of such and so we enter a hollow world lacking ant true notion of quality.

Universal love is a quality. Ki is a quality. Spirit, heart and soul are qualities. Faith itself and thus you too are actually a quality.

The path of peace.......peace is a quality too. No wonder those who think in terms of things can only see peace as a thing which relies on another thing being absent ie: war. Unenlightened thinking.

QUALITY. Love. Yes let's take love as an example. People think they can have a lot or a little of it, they think in terms of quantity. Yet love is a quality. You cannot look at it from the viewpoint of quantity except from the one aspect of quantity relevant to it and that is that it is either there or is not there. You do a technique with it or you don't.

Why? Because a quality is infinite. Hence UNIVERSAL love. kI is infinite. Peace is infinite. Harmony is infinite. Only quality is infinite.

                                       
Truth is infinite facts are temporary.

Aikido is the practice of the infinite.

Peace.G.                                                    

Aikido and Balance

What is balance? The result of balance is stability but many within and without Aikido do not fully understand what balance is.

There is a concept in Aikido which is mind and body co-ordination. This is also to do with balance but first we must know that mind and body are always co-ordinated. The problem is 'which mind?' and the missing data is balance.

An angry mind is an imbalanced mind.

Then there is intention. A lot of emphasis is placed nowadays on intention. Yet an intention to control, an intention to harm, an intention to take anothers' centre or balance is not a balanced intention.

We see in life those who support something good and worthwhile yet are extreme. We see animal rights activists who may act very violently. Imbalance. They are thus unbalanced. When you get angry or protesty or any negative way you are suffering from an imbalance. You are at that point unbalanced.

You may feel very loving and yet lack inner peace and thus lack balance. Aikido is about developing balance. From balance comes true energy.

There is another concept in Aikido called Kuzushi. Taking someones balance, taking their centre. Where this idea comes from I don't know for it is not Aikido and is of itself an unbalanced intention.

Aikido is about giving back that which is missing. It is about restoring the attackers lost centre not taking advantage of it. Why would I take someones balance when balance is what they need?

So in Aikido it must be recognized that the attacker and the attacking mind is already an unbalanced mind, lacks true centre and is asking for restoration.

There is a problem in this world and in your world and it can be understood from the view of balance.

I say to you now that I know what you need and indeed what you want and this applies to everyone. We may search and search for happiness and contentment but without knowing what we search for we will never find it.

A little powerful word. ENOUGH. Enough gives balance.

When the body is hungry you feed it. Too much and it is not happy and too little it is not happy.

Poor people may have not enough and yet rich people may have more than enough and so both feel unhappy, like something is missing and thus they crave more yet this is self defeating. Too much is just as unbalanced as too little.

 The greedy mind, the jealouse mind, the angry mind, the controlling mind, the manipulating mind, the dominating mind etc. are all unbalanced. Thus they lack something.

 Restoration is a devine action. Aikido.

Aikido is non violence.

Aikido is the art of non violence. The power of non violence. The dynamic way of peace.

Peace itself is a real thing, an energy. You cannot fight for it, you cannot force it, in fact you cannot defeat it for it itself is power also.

Peace moves mountains. But can you hold it? It is held by faith and faith is you.

Non violence. Aikido follows a principle of non resistance and this leads to a world of non. A simple but powerful word.....NON. Thus within Aikido we enter the realm of neutral for neutral is the axis of the universe. All things turn around an axis and the axis is thus always neutral.

So principles extant and in operation in Aikido include non aggression, non disturbance, non control, non opposition, non dominance, etc. The divinity of non. The divinity of budo.

Peace moves mountains. Goodness moves the universe. G.

Eight Directions of Aikido

http://youtu.be/U_6RCG_HEnY

In Aikido there is much to learn from the viewpoint of energy and geometry. The paths, natural paths of energy.

Aikido deals with motion and energy thus ut has nothing to do with fighting, the true art of 'fighting' without fighting. So we nust learn the techniques, yes, but only in order so that we can transcend them and Be Aikido. In doing so we find the view of 'opponent' changes for all we see is a motion in alignment with anothers motion and a joining with and fun. Yet it takes great discipline to learn and reach such a level.

Once techniques are known and comfortable then the paths of motion within Aikido become more apparent. It is quite funny to see and and really realize that no matter how you are attacked or held there are always Eight Directions you can go.

Thus you cannot really be trapped except by your own mind.

Now, if we look at this on a plane so to speak and geometrically then we find there are Eight paths, from north, north east, east, south east, south, south west, west and north west. If you move north then you are moving straight unto the attacker. There is more to these paths than reach the eye.

 
When talking about straight paths of motion, paths you can walk along, natural energy paths of non resistance, then we find they are always there waiting to be seen. This is to do with motion, this is to do with lower body movement from hips to legs and feet and has nothing to do with upper body and arms. A different discipline. In the end the upper and lower become one but for many they never find the true art art of motion in harmonious movement, oblivious to the natyral pathways waiting to be found.

     Seek and you will find. Harmony is waiting. Peace.G.

The Seven Noble Truths of Aikido

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Budo is Fearless.

The one factor which fits budo and warriors is fearlessness. Here I am going to talk about this but am going to talk about Shin no Budo. True Budo. The Budo of Ueshiba and Aikido.

Bu is love. There is no fear in love itself. It is only we ourselves through fear who disconnect from it.

Once upon a time there was a battle. A samurai battle. In this battle it involved one set of Samurai attacking a monastery. So the monks got involved in this battle too. A group of Sohei monks. Now after the battle the Samurai who had fought alongside the monks had won and were celebrating and the monastery allowed celebrations inside it's walls.

As one monk sat quietly watching a Samurai who recognized him from the battle came over to him and congratulated him on his courage and bravery and skill and asked how he learned to be so fearless. The monk in return said to the Samurai how he had noticed him too and commented on how fearless he was also and reversed the question inquiring as to how that was so for him.

The Samurai proudly explained how they meditated on being dead already, how to die in battle was indeed an honour, how he focused on the one thing and that was to serve and that was his centre. As such he had no fear.

The monk acknowledged him and bowed to him in respect. "Interesting" he said, then returned to just being there peacefully. The Samurai realized he hadn't answered as to what his secret was and inquired once more and added there was something different about the monk that he couldn't fathom. The monk smiled and explained that like him he feared not death, like he he served, like him but that they served different masters. "I meditate like you and focus on the one but in my case the one is life." said the monk. "Whilst you focus on facing death, we focus on facing life, thus we become fearless."



Shin no Budo. Apart from love it is the discipline of non resistance. From non resistance comes Ki and you could even say non resistance is Ki. For from fear comes resistance, from resistance comes suffering and pain and from suffering and pain comes the opposite budo, the budo of war and fighting, the untrue budo.



Many try to assign great similarity between Ueshiba's Aikido and a certain man he met who he said opened his eyes to true budo but I would say it definitely opened his eyes for he found a man skilled in the untrue budo and luckily also met a man of shinto who showed him a way to true budo. Thus he learned the difference and thus came about Aikido.

So it is wise to know the two Budo's or existence there of to save confusion. There is no fear in true Budo and thus it is to be a state of peace and harmony within yourself. Unmoved by fears of self or others, unmoved but words and tricks and dramas and all kinds of cleverness. Unmoved by worries or negative emotions of any kind. Moved only by goodness and love and kindness and thus in harmony with heaven and earth.



Thus there are and have been many great true warriors of the past following shin no budo. From Jesus to Mohammed,from Buddhas to Yogi's, from Martin Luther King to Ghandi. I watched a film before called A Bronx Tale and there in that film was a father who drove a bus. Another following the path of shin no budo. A warrior. No fear.

Only the tool of non resistance and thus Ki leads to the truths you are after and only the truth will set you free.

T


Fear builds walls and plants seeds of destruction.

Faith moves mountains and is the essence of Budo.

G.

Yin and Yang

The basic principles of harmony. Much is written and much has been said about yin and yang and the whole theory of complimentary opposites and even today in Aikido there are those who try to discover the mysteries of it within Aikido and what some now refer to as 'aiki'. Unfortunately the mind and ego likes the thought of opposites and balance but fails to see the truth behind such things and thus we wind up with expertise on the matter which seems to make sense but is actually far from the truth.

The two forces of yin and yang, what are they fundamentally? For they are complimentary and thus do not oppose each other. In fact they are needed by each other in order to create balance and harmony.


Goodness and love. There you are. Yin and yang.

Now in Aikido true budo is love. So that's half of Aikido. That's 'bu'. The other 50% is 'bun' which fundamentally is goodness.



So I ask you to stop for a moment and consider this. We have in this world many who recognize the true power of love and those people are usually quite spiritual people and more in tune with nature also for they recognize the true power of budo by doing so. True budo, shin no budo. But now look at this aspect of it. We have many folk who due to their love for animals or nature or indeed people then go and do very rebellious and outright harmful things due to their love for. They get very passionate and end up fighting and even killing in the name of what they love, even religion.

There is an imbalance there. They lack 'bun' goodness. 'Bun' has been described as education and yes they lack eduction, education in goodness.



Aikido is the way of both goodness and love and thus is the way of devine. Devine is thus true and balanced.

As these two principles combine from the centre comes the sword. From the centre of yin and yang comes the sword of kindness. Opening up the universe to Ki and life.

This is Aikido.


Peace.G.