As a person who is walking the Path of Aikido surely, you know the dirty little secret about this art we all know and love; mastery in Aikido takes time! Everyone knows that there are no shortcuts to getting good in Aikido… or are there?
If you’re a serious practitioner of Aikido then I am sure you are no stranger to the occasional struggle. Like every other developmental practice, hitting personal limitations and working on the edge of your comfort is unavoidable. As true as this is in ourselves, so too is it true in the world.
I have recently been conducting a series of “Dharma Discussions” with several of my friends who are meditation teachers. These discussions are exclusively for our current “Meditation For Aikido” course participants. However, these discussions are so good that I’ve decided to take some “bite-sized” excerpts and share them with my blog readers. I’m calling them “Dharma Bites” and here is the first many more to come. Here is an excerpt from a Dharma discussion I had on “The Wisdom Of Awareness, Tolerance & Allowing.”
Well, I’m back from the Dead Sea Seminar for about 10 days now, and my life is finally getting back to normal. I’m still catching up on things, but I thought I’d make a quick blog post here of a video my friend Mark Walsh from Integration Training made with me out at the Dead Sea.
The biggest trend in personal development these days is “mindfulness.” The popularity of Mindfulness today is especially interesting because even though it is adopted as a post-modern practice, it has been the core transformative practice of spiritual awakening traditions for millennia. Mindfulness also happens to be the primary awareness training that lies at the heart of Aikido practice. We call it “Zanshin” – the mindfulness of aikido.
When you’re walking on a higher Path of development each milestone along the way is another marker of learning. These markers are points where you can say to yourself with confidence –“Yes, I learned something there”.
The terms “masculine” & “feminine” do not refer to gender, but rather to the Yin/Yang experience of being human. This is a fundamental duality that reflects two sides of the same spiritual coin. Regardless of gender, we all have access to both masculine and feminine within. We are all expressions of these types, just to different degrees. Awakening, embodying, and enacting the masculine & feminine principles in our life is a Path of practice. A Path that will lead to greater balance, integration, and Oneness.
Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World (Shambhala, 2007)
Aptly referred to as the “Einstein of consciousness”, Ken Wilber is perhaps the most significant philosopher of our times. He is the mapmaker that has synthesized all of the human wisdom traditions into his famous Integral Model, which applies to every aspect of life. Integral Spirituality illuminates the promise and potential of the spiritual path like never before. Through “multiple perspective taking” you will gain a powerful map of the classical path of spiritual states and the skill-sets you need to reach higher and higher stages of spiritual development.
Welcome to my first post for The Integral Dojo Blog. In this space, I will explore everything concerning the nature of a “Path” of practice. So it seems appropriate that here in our first post that we ask “What is a Path of practice”? So here are just a few of the many important elements.
Everything Is Workable: A Zen Approach to Conflict Resolution (Shambhala, 2013)
Diane Musho Hamilton is a dear friend and mentor, a gifted Zen teacher, master facilitator, and professional mediator. In her first book, Diane brings a Zen approach to conflict resolution. You will learn from her to work with your personal “conflict style,” discover the creativity that lies at the core of all conflict, and the 3-fold practice of showing up, listening and witnessing. Diane is just great, and this book will introduce you to the art of conflict, and how to work with it in all aspects of your life.