The Essence Of Karate Is Energy And Action

Zen master Taisen Deshimaru said, “Only two things matter, energy and action.” The practice of zazen, seated meditation, can free you from your limitations and help you realise your original nature. It energises you, by helping to regulate the nervous system, increasing your vital capacity and the efficiency of oxygen exchange. However, if you were to withdraw from the frenetic chaos of life to one of monastic life is this not delusion also? It would be, if there were no action.

Zazen creates energy. It connects you to your inner energy. Karate trains you in applying that energy to action. Action and movement is part of life but in karate, you experience them with the energy of Zen.

When you leave the dojo and go back into the marketplace of life, you take your practice and give it to others. Karate means “empty hand”. An empty hand clings to nothing. It does not hold on to preconceptions, prejudice, or the status quo. An empty hand can be of service to others. As you move about in your daily life, you are practising moving Zen, total involvement and absorption in the present moment.

When you watch a karate master do a kata, you are riveted by the beauty and power of the movements. They do not have to be explained but seem to come from within. If this experience were possible only in the dojo, then karate would be of limited value. However, it is possible for students to have the same experience in their everyday lives, as a teacher giving a lecture; a stockbroker working in the chaos of the trading floor; a nurse in the charged atmosphere of a hospital. Karate Zen helps you to get in touch with your “original self” and to take that “big self” and put it to work to alleviate the suffering of others.

A true karate-ka takes the physical skills; discipline and power of concentration developed at the dojo and applies them to work, family and social life. In this way, karate is integrated into the fabric of our lives; it is not something separate. The way of karate is the way of everyday life.

Karate is an efficient form of physical conditioning that can be practised by any one. It develops aerobic fitness by raising the heart rate into the training zone and keeping it there for significant intervals. Strength is developed progressively through exercises using the body’s own weight. Emphasis is also placed on developing and maintaining flexibility through progressive stretching of major muscle groups. In the Seido system, every student is asked to give 100 per cent to training, recognising the individual’s own capacities and limitations. Training is done only under the supervision of certified black belt instructors.

Karate is an efficient form of self-defence. Students learn basic kicks, punches and blocks that develop self-confidence. Beyond that they learn techniques that are applied in specific situations. Seido students are also taught to develop an inner awareness for avoiding potentially threatening situations.

Finally, the study of karate develops discipline and concentration, skills that are useful for people in all walks of life. Students usually notice subtle changes in the way they do their work or in the way they study. In time and with practice, these benefits flow almost automatically, without conscious effort.

The Secret Quality Of Sacred Mantras

Mantras are sound vibrations that permeate every cell of your being; they let the mind dissolve. Mantras are impulses or rhythms of consciousness. They create spiritual vibrations.

Mantra is that which saves you from repetitiveness. A repetitive thought is a worry. Mantras help to free you from worries. Often we wonder why we chant some sounds without understanding their meanings. Can something that we do not understand, help us?

The meaning of every mantra is infinity. It is a sound vibration beyond the cognition of the mind. When the mind is unable to do this, it simply dissolves and moves into a meditative space.

A mantra is like a seed. Every seed has the potential to become a tree. Similarly, these sound vibrations contain all the possibilities of creation. Some mantras are in seed form, called the bija mantras. Others are fully expressed, that is the fruit of the mantra is also expressed, like the Gayatri mantra.

Mantras are a secret. That which is kept a secret alerts the subconscious mind. Mantras work at the level of consciousness. When we want a seed to sprout, it needs to be sown into the soil, hidden, a secret. If it is simply thrown around, birds may eat them up. We can read and learn about mantras and their uses from books and the internet but that will only satisfy the intellect and not translate into experience.

When we chant the mantras, or listen to them, we get purity of mind and word. This prepares us for meditation. As a result of the sound vibrations, different patterns of the mind rearrange themselves to become tranquil. Agitation is reduced, helping us to turn inward. For instance, when we laugh, our happiness increases. When we cry, the heaviness of sorrow is released. Just as sounds of laughter and crying help, mantras act similarly. Repetition of mantras creates a psychological or mental response that is deep, beyond the realm of words or expression. It can only be experienced. Speech falls short as it cannot go beyond expression into the experiential level.

When the mind is calm and centred, it can turn inward. Only a mind turned inward can experience the vastness and beauty of Divine Consciousness. When our focus is outward on the objects of the senses, our mind is scattered; it races after one craving or other. Physical senses seek to know all about the external universe. Meditation is the tool for inner exploration. ‘Antarmukhi Sada Sukhi’ – one whose mind is turned inward is ever in bliss. Mantras are tools that allow the mind to dissolve and repose in the Self.

Why should we repose in the Self? How is this going to help us in our day-to-day life? When a river is calm, it reflects. When the mind is calm, there is greater clarity of expression. Our sense of observation, perception and expression improves. As a result, we are able to communicate effectively and clearly.

Most of our problems and misunderstandings arise because of a lack of effective communication. When our mind is free from agitation, the way we interact and communicate is much more pleasant and effective. Our efforts are not hindered by communication gaps. This leads to a lot of positivity in outlook.

Good Times, Bad Times: What’s The Difference?

It is human nature to get disenchanted with the world when we see around us much violence, crime and degradation of values. It makes us worry over what is in store for future generations. However, the present time is as good or bad as any other time and the state of the world and society could not be some thing other than what it is now.

Our predecessors have poured out their anguish at the declining moral and ethical standards then prevalent. Seers and social reformers have tried, since ages, to combat negative forces and reform society. Was human society ever better than it is now? Socrates was poisoned. Christ was crucified. Caesar was betrayed. Deceit, treachery and court intrigues fill the pages of history.

Unalloyed happiness is impossible because the world cannot exist except as an amalgam of the good and bad. Negativity cannot survive by itself. It needs the support of some good alongside to survive. The Kauravas thrived because of Bhishma, Dronacharya and Karna. Once these eminent men departed, the Kauravas had to go. Such was the case with Prahlad and his father Hiranyakashipu. The demon king tried to eliminate his pious son who, indeed, was his lifesupporting system and the king paid the price for it.

On the flip side, pure good also cannot survive all by itself. Pure good would sublimate and merge with the Supreme Force without trace. We might ask: How did saintly souls like Christ, Buddha, Ramana Maharshi, Tukaram, Guru Nanak and others lead a pure life? How can we associate them with any form of negativity? The reason for their living through the appointed time is twofold. First, their own past karma kept them grounded here. Second, although they did not commit any sin, the sins got stuck to them. It is people like us who prostrated before them, sought their blessings and deposited our sins at their feet. Is it not said that Jesus bore the cross for the sake of the sinners?

Strangely, Kaliyug is the favourite whipping boy. The Supreme incarnated nine times in all and His tenth incarnation is expected in present Kaliyug, to root out suffering and reestablish Dharma. In the three earlier yugs comprising, Satyug, Dwapara and Treta Yug He had to descend nine times. It could mean there was greater evil then than in this age when He is slated to appear only once.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: “Whenever adharma surpasses the limit He will incarnate on earth.” That He has not done so yet implies that the evil, which we fret about, has not transcended limits.

Krishna’s statement could allude to the evil within each of us and when it transcends the limit He will incarnate within us to purge, cleanse and establish dharma within us. Did He not make a highway robber into Maharshi Valmiki, did He not transform the miser into Purandara Das and did not Kartikeya transform the fleshhungry youngster into a poetsaint Arunagirinathar?

The collective goodness of mankind seeks a medium to express itself and manifests as godliness in few individuals whom we worship as saints and prophets. Likewise the collective evil within all of us seeks to find an expression and manifests in a few individuals whom we call as demons. There is enough goodness outside of us and we need only to focus our attention on the canvas instead of the picture.

Look To Arunachala For A Divine Experience

While Mount Kailash is regarded as the divine abode of Shiva, the Arunachala Hill at Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, is regarded as Shiva Himself. That is why it impels more than 15 lakh pilgrims to walk barefoot on the 14-km path around it every full moon night.

The Shiva Purana says that Shiva manifested here as a Tejoling or subtle column of the blazing light of knowledge. In the Satya Yuga, the first epoch of Creation, Arunachala was brilliant gold. In the Treta Yuga, Arunachala took on the mellow hue of Panchaloha. In the Dwapara Yuga, it had the lustre of burnished copper. In Kali Yuga, Arunachala appears like a rocky hill with bristles and thorns, but its incredible power remains undiminished. Hence Giri Pradikshina or circumambulation of the Hill is considered auspicious.

The Shiva Purana describes Shiva as the source of power because He contains the energy of the whole cosmos, and yet remains unmoving and stable, with no trace of negative energy. Shiva is static, potential energy and Shakti is dynamic, creative energy. The cosmic dance of Shiva and Shakti creates, sustains and dissolves the Universe. However, while Divinity in the formless state, nirakaar, can be experienced by enlightened seekers, many find this intriguing. So, Arunachala, the subtle column of light being still and as eternal knowledge, froze into a static form in order to become more palpable.

The Bharani Deepam or lamp is lit on its summit every year during the Kartik month, when the Bharani star is ascendant. The blaze, a manifestation of His knowledge, burns brightly on the austere, majestic Hill. It is said that those who obtain a darshan of the Bharani Deepam will receive Shiva’s grace in the form of total awareness of the Self. He blesses each seeker saying – “Let karma and thoughts of this being be dissolved and let the radiance of soul be unveiled.” The flame represents our own atma jyoti, the effulgence of soul.

How does Arunachala unveil the light of your soul? Normally the mind conceals the soul with thoughts and traps you in time and space. The constantly chattering mind prevents you from experiencing the sound of silence and bliss of soul. Arunachala splits the mind, segregates thoughts and burns them in the fire of knowledge. So, when you enter the vibrant aura of Arunachala which pulsates with serenity and tranquillity, thoughts disappear, revealing the effulgence of soul. “Aruna” means dawning of light and “achala” means unmoving or still.

Each one of us experiences a pull towards Divinity sometime in life. The pull becomes a propulsion, a constant motion that generates a divine vibration which makes us aware of our Soul. This is the call of Arunachala. The Shiva Purana says we can go to Arunachala only when we get this call. Sages assure us that when we circumambulate the Hill with complete surrender, Arunachala dissolves the ego by burning our thoughts one by one, as thoughts form a base for ego. The process liberates us from the cycle of birth and death. The glowing beacon of Jnana or knowledge activates our souls and liberates us from the shackles of time and space forever by making us aware of the limitations of body and senses.