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This morning during my breathing time I began to ponder the expanding and contracting of the body and relating it to life. Life itself expands and contracts like some great creature breathing. Breathing and living are inseparable – you can’t have one without the other, yet the quality with which you breathe will determine the quality [...] Continue reading Breathing With Intention Simplicity is a quality of heaven, like mercy The world is not simple. The world is complex. We’re trained to give perfunctory thanks This results in a confused [...] Continue reading Merciful Progress For the religious moralist (in us all): There is no hell (in the sense of something that awaits us). For the story teller (in us all): The notion of original sin is a misunderstanding of aboriginal innocence. For the new [...] Continue reading Food for Thought I can be an ogre as a math tutor I resort too quickly to iff statements. Eat a nutritious snack. Continue reading Math Ogre Broken pots Churning waves Sun Soft moss Maker of music COMING OF AGE SPIED A WEB A gnat Continue reading Spring Poems R) How long did it take you to craft the story about the dime for Ari? G) 5-10 minutes. I first wrote a longer, detailed version describing the street I lived on, and a more complete version about the woman who found the dime. Then slashed it, timed the new version, slashed again and timed it. R) [...] Continue reading Busy Lady Sent to the bakery with a precious dime Crying my eyes out, I walked up and back A lady asked me what I was looking for. She kept asking…and [...] Continue reading Sent to the Bakery Once again I stand on the edge of acceptable, Too many times I leave my heart unprotected. So once again I’ve become too complacent Continue reading Once Again O’Sensei Morihei forbade competition. It is a part of the definition of the aikido that is in Morihei’s lineage—I would say true aikido—that there is no competition. Aikido’s power derives from the deft combination of energies, and expresses a highly refined ability to cooperate. Sometimes students ask. “What do you do if the aggressor will not cooperate?” [...] Continue reading Cooperation I’m weary of listening to ‘rags to riches’ propaganda about people emigrating to the US The choice does not boil down to the virtues of capitalism vs: the evils of socialism, Continue reading Lazy Mentality We just assume that home is where the heart is but…. We first have to open our hearts before we can be at home. There is a fine line between protecting open hearts and closing protected hearts. In the world where fear prevails, In the world where love avails, Whenever we feel [...] Continue reading Commodity or Gift? Oh joyous gratitudinous The snow…all four plus inches But lo ! ………………….. So…Up it went…and Up and Up The wind doth blow The grass appears… WE AIN’T GOT [...] Continue reading Joyous Gratitudinous This is the first book in a series of books that represent my efforts to comprehend the language of peace. It’s clear to me that as a child, I didn’t acquire much fluency with peace as a first language. Thus, the first book of the series is entitled, Peace as a Second Language… As I understand it, the vocabulary of the language of peace consists of any and every situation where our big willingness to narrow meaning (and become exclusive) is transformed by a little willingness to broaden and deepen meaning (and become inclusive). [...] Continue reading Forward to Peace Books So many choices to be made. honor our agreements or break them Perhaps in the end, it [...] Continue reading Fullness of the Moment No need for guilt… No need for doubt… No need for hate… No need for guilt… Continue reading No Need Ah! There’s a very busy squirrel in the lilac bush outside my window, jumping and climbing about, making the branches wave as if a great wind were passing through them. I really enjoy sitting here watching the critters. Ooops…now he’s trying to get inside the window. It’s open and I’m about four feet away from him [...] Continue reading In the Lilacs The art of aikido was created by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969). Master Ueshiba was a Grand Champion in many martial arts before discovering aikido. He was also a deeply dedicated Warrior in the spiritual sense. His life was a never-ending quest for universal truth. Professor Ueshiba, as the First Master of Aikido, is regarded internationally as a great teacher. He viewed the entire planet Earth as one country. He recognized all human beings as members of one family. He believed that the power of love is the greatest power, and he built and refined the art of aikido as a means to express this truth. [...] [...] Continue reading Creator/Discoverer and First Master of Aikido A violin is not just an instrument; it is something that is used to express feelings, emotion, style, and personality. When I chose my violin, it wasn’t just, go to the violin shop and pick one out. There were so many violins to choose from, each one a little bit different. I would depart from Strings (a group in the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association (VYOA)) to the violin shop in Burlington, every Saturday and play five violins, decide to take two home, and choose a few bows to take with them. Each bow made every violin sound so different; changing the tone, and affecting the way I played the instrument in many ways. There are so many varieties of sound, which one to choose was difficult. [...] [...] Continue reading Revelation from the Benzinger The work of schooling is so complex. It is dependent on so many factors that precede the schooling process. Let us list a few so that we might comprehend the multifaceted reasons for learning failure. By the time we’ve reached six years of age, most of the damage and good regarding our schooling potential has already been programmed into us. It is not that there is no way to turn this around, but if the inner feelings related to education and growth are negatively internalized, the commitment to growth and activities is not endogenously mature and is very difficult to positively sustain [...] Continue reading OPT & Script 89: on “Education” You have embarked on a path that I, in free translation, call the Heart Belly Walk. You may [...] Continue reading Welcome to the Mat Aikido has a deep and lasting value in human society - promotes peak physical condition and vibrant health Though Aikido has been understood as an Oriental art, it has become a Global art, a transcultural activity. [...] Continue reading What is Aikido? Let’s learn something about the name of our art so that we can form a certain and clear mental picture to help us navigate. As you focus your study with the ideas which underlie the art, it will smooth the way. As you experience practice and understanding deepens, occasionally go over these concepts for ‘course correction.’ [...] Continue reading Meaning of Ai Ki Do The following is a brief outline of the internal names of Aikido In. These have been inspirational to our development and remain as direction finders when forks in the road appear and new choices must be made. Aiki-in seibu enyu Daidoshii Continue reading Aikido In Courtesy among students and teachers is most important in the sincere practice and study of aikido. The etiquette forms provide a framework for deeper concentration and, as we truly express our appreciation of each other, a harmonious atmosphere (aiki) is created and enhanced. [...] Continue reading Etiquette An academy is a place where, almost by definition, a new student must be confused. There is this interpretation, that point of view, sometimes they are only slightly different, sometimes they seem to be opposite to each other. Which is right? Which is true? Ah! Here is the essence of the academy matrix. The students must reason, and practice, and decipher, and adjust their understandings for themselves—always arriving at a new synthesis, a new interpretation. [...] Continue reading The Meristem Approach The following 5 ideas are powerful aids in centering. If you go over them, Continue reading Five Principles of Aikido Occasionally, in our practice we vocalize, either as we move, or from kneel-sit position. There are four basic sound forms we work with: Iei! is usually practiced from kneel-sit position. Ei-Ho! is usually practiced in principle exercise and techniques motions. These are both uttered to reach toward a completely fulfilled expression of our essence, with an effort to be spontaneous, instantaneous, and complete. [...] Continue reading Mantra; an Exploration of Sound From the beginning, do your best Due to our culture, we have a strong tendency to want to figure it all out mentally, to have the particulars first explained so that we can then move the ‘appropriate ‘ parts of our body ‘correctly’ (usually through separate mental ‘command’). As we continue in this manner, we reinforce a gap between the mental and the physical. We must remove this artificial gap. [...] Continue reading Aikido Practice; the Art and the Science |
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