Aikido of Petaluma

Fuller/Finer Dimensional Experience of the I/Self

Published on 2021-03-12

I appreciate everyone participating in this new format and welcome to everyone coming for the first time. We are working to keep our regular class schedule going so it will be easier to return to our training together.

Please share any comments, suggestions or questions.

This difficult time; while we wish it was not going on, is an opportunity to deepen our practice by appreciating what is really important to us and what we can let go of-Philosophy of Masters by Dr. He-Young Kimm (pg. 12).

Introduction

In our last on-line class we continued our series on fuller/finer experience of the I/self. We worked to balance and integrate the I and then made a dimensional shift from level 1 to level 2.

Today we will continue to work on this deeper experience of the I/self with further dimensional shifts.

Defining I/self can be a difficult task. We will rely more on experiential practices than definitions in words.

However a very basic outline may help us to get started.

O Sensei talked about the consciousness we call self as being present even before the dawn of creation.

By this he meant two very important things that will help us to focus our practice.

First, consciousness at this most original level played an instrumental role in the birth of creation itself. O Sensei said the energies of creation, coming from spirit that formed the creation, flowed through the consciousness we call the self at the very beginning of creation. Consciousness was present even before the creation and was a co-creative partner in the birth of creation.

Second, since consciousness was present prior to the creation, it is not a part of the creation or the function of creation but is an experiential partner to creation. At its most original level, self is a mirror that provides clarity and order to creation precisely because it is not a part of the creation itself. We worked with this to some degree in our most recent series of classes with the experience of the Pure Witness.

When you experience the beauty and harmony of the balanced energies of creation we are providing a clearer opportunity for I/self to shine through. It is however important to recognize that when you feel the balance and harmony of creation that is not the self but a beautiful experience of the creation.

The I/self functioning as a witness or experiential partner to creation is true at this most original level of creation.

Our more normal experience of I/self, which we are calling I, functioned to provide a consistent sense of personal identity. This is true in both the ordinary and extraordinary experiences in our daily lives regardless of which aspect or level of the creation with which we are interacting.

This is how we have been using the experience of I in our forging practice.

The I/self is the part of our system, at a basic level, that provides a qualitative experience of satisfaction and meaning to our activities. It is the source of our perspective on our lives and our world in both an immediate and overall sense.

The health of the I is a big factor in how well we forge with the units that are important to us both in the sense of personal satisfaction and wellbeing and our functional performance.

The overall goal of this series of classes is to experience progressively finer/fuller dimensional levels of I/self.

O Sensei and most other spiritual traditions teach that the I in our ordinary frame of reference is entangled with the creation so that we don’t experience the I/self in its deeper, finer levels.

He said starting at the dawn of creation and then as the creation unfolded, we became increasingly entangled.

This entanglement interferes with our ability to more fully experience I/self and also interferes with the functioning of creation itself.

We have all experienced versions of this in our daily lives. One example is when attempting a difficult or challenging task the harder we try the less able we are to complete the task. In some cases we may get so upset over our inability to function at the level we expect that frustration and anger boils over and causes us to say “I don’t know who I am.”

Our plan for this series is first to practice disentanglement between the I and the creation.

This process will allow us to backtrack from an entangled state to a state closer to the experience of I/self at the most original level before entanglement first occurred.

We can also continue an additional practice we added in our previous series. On a purely voluntary basis, select a call-off with which you would like to work throughout this series.

This will help to make the practices in each class more personal and well connected.

It is an opportunity to practice dimensionality with something of specific significance to you over a series of classes and in a longer timeframe.

Our technique for today will continue to be mune-tsuki irimi nage.

Let’s bow in and start with misogi breathing and a good full warm-up.

Five Principles for Ki Breathing

Our tip today on the misogi breathing

as we have worked on in our recent classes, is to experience the pause between inhalation and exhalation as an opportunity to experience the I/self.

Breathe out with the sound of HA, don’t let your breath just leak out
Breathe out as calmly and quietly as possible
Breathe out the Ki of your head to the Ki of your toe
Breathe in from the tip of your nose until your body is full of air
Calm your mind infinitely smaller at the one point after inhaling.

Fuller/Finer Dimensional Experience of the I/Self

Let’s begin with a round of practice with the technique.

Begin with the practice of mune-tsuki irimi nage.
Get feedback on the technique to establish a baseline to use for comparison as the practice progresses.

Let’s start with a basic practice of clearing and settling. This is how we begin our forging practice. Here we will spend a little more time and attention by working through several levels of clearing. It is a simple process of relaxing and settling. Feeling the back, the under half of the body and then deeper.

Clearing

Let’s go through three cycles of clearing to experience clearing at deeper level.

What is your experience of this deeper level of clearing?

From this deeper level of clearing let’s work with the two parts of the I/self. In our forging practice we work with the I/self having two parts.

One part is more awareness oriented and the other is more experientially oriented. Our shorthand for these are the mind of I (awareness/thinking) and the body of I (feeling/experience).

Our goal, initially, is to experience these parts of the I and their interaction with each other. It is in this interaction that a real opportunity for growth and development of the I/self exists. When there is a lack of connection or even conflict between the parts of the I we are starting from a place of fragmentation rather than wholeness.

If this lack of integration is not acknowledged we will experience the effects of it in reduced satisfaction and performance. It will also make it difficult to progress to dimensionally finer experiences of I/self.

One way this happens is that part of the I ranges out and tries to obtain satisfaction from outside itself.

An example is when the I tries to direct the unit, it results in maintaining the fragmentation of the I within itself and interferes with the unit’s ability to perform.

From O Sensei’s perspective, this tendency toward entanglement and its results is a key part of the difficulty of the human condition.

Bringing the two parts of the I into a more balanced and integrated experience with each other is a big step toward reducing entanglement and its resulting negative effects. It is also an important first step in experiencing dimensionally finer levels of I/self.

Our practice starts by allowing each part of the I an opportunity to experience itself.

In some cases this may take some time as one or both parts may need to balance and integrate within themselves before they can interact with their counterpart other half.

Let’s now move to a practice of interaction between the two parts of the I.

Mirroring Mind and Body of I

Let’s start with the mind of I, utilizing the practice from our forging classes. The mind of I has a capacity to mirror. Often this mirroring capability is turned toward what is going on in the outside world. Here we will turn it inward. As the mind of the I, allow a mirrored image of the body of I-the more feeling/experiential part of the I-to form in you the mind of I.

What is the experience of this mirrored image?

Then switching perspectives move to the body of I. Allow yourself a moment to change perspectives.

Before we continue with the mirroring practice, what is the difference in your experience between the mind of I and now the body of I?

From here the body of I mirrors the mind of I. The body of I may take a different approach to mirroring than the mind of I does. It may not even be visual.

What is the experience of this mirrored image?

Fuller I

We now have the two parts of the I mirroring each other. What is your experience? What is their relationship with each other in this mirroring process?

Is there a greater overall experience of wholeness as I?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it as the more whole I.

Let’s now move to a deeper level of experience of I/self.

Level 2

We can use the circle/center practice to get started. Open a circle of the next level of I/self and the next level of center of I/self.

Our question-what is the circle and the center of the next level of I/self? We can use O Sensei’s principle of the mountain echo to allow the experience of the space to present itself.

Then let’s repeat the mirroring and integration practice with the I we just did, but now at level 2.

How is your experience different than level 1?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it as the more whole I-level 2.

Level 3

Let’s now move to level 3 of I/self. Let’s work with a quieting practice we have used in previous classes.

Our practice is a breathing exercise from Koichi Tohei Sensei. He calls it the Breathing Method That Transcends Breathing-Aikido in Daily Life (pgs. 36-37).

The practice starts with a very slow and quiet inhalation through the nose and then focusing your attention on your center. This allows your attention to rest comfortably and gently on your center.

From this gentle focus on center move the hands into position in front of your center with the left hand on top of the right, thumbs pointing toward each other.

This part of the practice is added to Tohei Sensei’s.

Visualize the circle formed by your hands as an opening to a place of great, great quiet. It is an opening like a tunnel or a portal to a quiet place where we can ask the question what is the experience of the next level of I/self?

We can continue to use O Sensei’s principle of the mountain echo to allow the experience of the next level of I/self to present itself.

Then let’s repeat the mirroring and integration practice with the I we just did, but now at level 3.

How is your experience different than level 2?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it as the more whole I-level 3.

Conclusion

In this class we continued our series to experience finer/fuller levels of I/self. We started with some fundamental practices from our forging process.

Then we worked with a more refined level of I/self going from level 1 to level 2 to level 3. We completed the class by going back to the technique to get feedback on how levels 2 and 3 were different than level 1.

In future classes we will continue our movement to increasingly refined levels of the I/self as we move further from entanglement to wholeness.

My Journey With the Grand Master by Major Bill Hayes, USMC (ret.) (pgs. 80-81).

Feedback and Discussion

Practice before next class:

Select a daily life activity and take a moment to pause and allow the experience of I/self to shine through as deeply as you have time for before beginning the task. See how even a small experience of I/self may change the task.

You may also take a moment to experience any dimensional shifts in the area you selected as your call-off for this entire series of classes.

Finish with misogi breathing and bowing out.

Dimensional Practice of Fuller/Finer Experience of the I/Self

Published on 2021-03-09

Please share any comments, suggestions or questions.

This difficult time; while we wish it was not going on, is an opportunity to deepen our practice by appreciating what is really important to us and what we can let go of-The Secret Teachings of Aikido translated by John Stevens (pg. 80).

Introduction

In our last on-line class we began a series of classes on fuller/finer experience of the I/self.

Today we will continue to work on this deeper experience of the I/self. Defining I/self can be a difficult task. We will rely more on experiential practices than definitions in words.

However a very basic outline may help us to get started.

O Sensei talked about the consciousness we call self as being present even before the dawn of creation.

By this he meant two very important things that will help us to focus our practice.

First, consciousness at this most original level was an instrumental part of the birth of creation itself. O Sensei said the energies of creation, coming from spirit that formed the creation, flowed through the consciousness we call the self at the very beginning of creation. Consciousness was present even before the creation and was a co-creative partner in the birth of creation.

When we experience the beauty and harmony of the balance of the energies of creation we are providing a clearer opportunity for I/self to shine through. It is however important to recognize that when you feel the balance and harmony of creation that is not the self but a beautiful experience of the creation.

The I/self being a witness or experiential partner to creation is true at this most original level of creation.

Our more normal experience of I/self, which we are calling I, provides a consistent sense of personal identity. This is true regardless of which aspect or level of the creation with which we are interacting in both our ordinary and extraordinary experiences in our daily lives.

This is how we have been using the experience of I in our forging practice.

The health of the I is a big factor in how well we forge with the units that are important to us both in the sense of personal satisfaction and wellbeing and our functional performance.

The overall goal of this series of classes is to experience progressively finer/fuller dimensional levels of I/self.

O Sensei and most other spiritual traditions teach that the I in our ordinary frame of reference is so entangled with the creation that we don’t experience the I/self in its deeper, finer level.

He said starting at the dawn of creation and then as the creation unfolded, we became increasingly entangled.

This entanglement interferes with our ability to more fully experience I/self and also interferes with the functioning of creation itself.

Our plan for this series is first to practice disentanglement between the I and the creation.

This process will allow us to backtrack from an entangled state to a state closer to the experience of I/self at the most original level before entanglement first occurred.

We can also continue an additional practice we added in our previous series. On a purely voluntary basis, select a call-off with which you would like to work throughout this series.

This will help to make the practices in each class more personal and well connected.

It is an opportunity to practice dimensionality with something of specific significance to you over a series of classes and in a longer timeframe.

Our technique for today and Thursday will be mune-tsuki irimi nage.

Let’s bow in and start with misogi breathing and a good full warm-up.

Five Principles for Ki Breathing

Our tip today on the misogi breathing

as we worked on last week, is to experience the pause between inhalation and exhalation as an opportunity to experience the I/self.

Breathe out with the sound of HA, don’t let your breath just leak out
Breathe out as calmly and quietly as possible
Breathe out the Ki of your head to the Ki of your toe
Breathe in from the tip of your nose until your body is full of air
Calm your mind infinitely smaller at the one point after inhaling.

Dimensional Practice of Fuller/Finer Experience of the I/Self

Let’s begin with a round of practice with the technique.

Begin with the practice of mune-tsuki irimi nage.
Get feedback on the technique to establish a baseline to use for comparison as the practice progresses.

Let’s start with a basic practice of clearing and settling. This is how we begin our forging practice. Here we will spend a little more time and attention on clearing by working through several levels of clearing. It is a simple process of relaxing and settling. Feeling the back, the under half of the body and then deeper.

Let’s go through three cycles of clearing to experience clearing at deeper level.

What is your experience of this deeper level of clearing?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it from this deeper level of clearing.

From this deeper level of clearing let’s work with the two parts of the I/self. In our forging practice we work with the I/self having two parts.

One part is more awareness oriented and the other is more experientially oriented. Our shorthand for these are the mind of I (awareness/thinking) and the body of I (feeling/experience).

One way this happens is that part of the I ranges out and tries to obtain satisfaction from outside itself.

An example is when the I tries to direct the unit, it results in maintaining the fragmentation of the I within itself and interferes with the unit’s ability to perform.

From O Sensei’s perspective, this tendency toward entanglement and its results is a key part of the difficulty of the human condition.

Our practice starts by allowing each part of the I an opportunity to experience itself.

In some cases this may take some time as one or both parts may need to balance and integrate within themselves before they can interact with their counterpart other half.

Let’s now move to a practice of interaction between the two parts of the I.

What is the experience of this mirrored image?

Then switching perspectives move to the body of I. Allow yourself a moment to change perspectives.

Before we continue with the mirroring practice, what is the difference in your experience between the mind of I and now the body of I?

From here the body of I mirrors the mind of I. The body of I may take a different approach to mirroring than the mind of I does. It may not even be visual.

What is the experience of this mirrored image?

We now have the two parts of the I mirroring each other. What is your experience? What is their relationship with each other in this mirroring process?

Is there a greater overall experience of wholeness as I?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it as the more whole I.

Let’s now move to a deeper level of experience of I/self.

We can use the circle/center practice to get started. Open a circle of the next level of I/self and the next level of center of I/self.

Our question-what is the circle and the center of the next level of I/self? We can use O Sensei’s principle of the mountain echo to allow the experience of the space to present itself.

Then let’s repeat the mirroring and integration practice with the I we just did, but now at level 2.

How is your experience different than level 1?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it as the more whole I-level 2.

Conclusion

In this class we continued our series to experience finer/fuller levels of I/self. We started with some fundamental practices from our forging process.

Then we worked with a more refined level of I/self. We completed the class by going back to the technique to get feedback on how level 2 was different than level 1.

In future classes we will work with increasingly refined levels of the I/self as we move further from entanglement to wholeness.

The Spirit of Aikido by Kisshomaru Ueshiba (pgs. 46-47).

Feedback and Discussion

Practice before next class:

You may also take a moment to experience any dimensional shifts in the area you selected as your call-off for this entire series of classes.

Finish with misogi breathing and bowing out.

Fuller/Finer Experience of the I/Self

Published on 2021-03-04

Please share any comments, suggestions or questions.

Introduction

In our last on-line class we completed our series on dimensionality with a focus on a unified experience of the Pure Witness; including manifest, hidden and divine dimensions.

Today we are beginning a series on a deeper experience of the I/self. Defining I/self can be a difficult task. We will rely more on experiential practices than definitions in words.

However a very basic outline may help us to get started.

O Sensei talked about the consciousness we call self as being present even before the dawn of creation.

By this he meant two very important things that will help us to focus our practice.

First, consciousness at this most original level was an instrumental part of the birth of creation itself. O Sensei said the energies of creation, coming from spirit that formed the creation flowed through the consciousness we call the self at the very beginning of creation. Consciousness was present even before the creation and was a co-creative partner in the birth of creation.

The I/self being a witness or experiential partner to creation is true at this most original level of creation.

Our more normal experience of I/self, which we are calling I, provides a consistent sense of personal identity. This is true regardless of which aspect or level of the creation we are interacting with in our ordinary or extraordinary experiences in our daily lives.

This is how we have been using the experience of I in our forging practice.

Today, we will begin a series of classes on working with the I/self.

The health of the I is a big factor in how well we forge with the units that are important to us both in the sense of personal satisfaction and wellbeing and our functional performance in those roles.

The overall goal of this series of classes is to experience progressively finer dimensional levels of I/self.

O Sensei and most other spiritual traditions teach that the I in our ordinary frame of reference is so entangled with the creation that we don’t experience the I/self in its deeper, finer level.

He said at the dawn of creation and then as the creation unfolded, we became increasingly entangled. This entanglement interferes with our ability to more fully experience I/self and also interferes with the functioning of creation itself.

Our plan for this series is to practice disentanglement between the I and the creation.

This process will allow us to backtrack from an entangled state to a state closer to the experience of I/self at the most original level before entanglement first occurred.

We can also continue an additional practice we added in our previous series. On a purely voluntary basis, select a call-off with which you would like to work throughout this series.

This will help to make the practices in each class more personal and well connected.

It is an opportunity to experience dimensionality with something of specific significance to you over a series of classes and in a longer timeframe.

Our technique for today will continue to be kata-dori ikkyo.

Let’s bow in and start with misogi breathing and a good full warm-up.

Our tip today on the misogi breathing is to experience the pause between inhalation and exhalation as an opportunity to experience the I/self.

Five Principles for Ki Breathing

Our tip today on the misogi breathing

is to experience the pause between inhalation and exhalation as an opportunity to experience the I/self.

Breathe out with the sound of HA, don’t let your breath just leak out
Breathe out as calmly and quietly as possible
Breathe out the Ki of your head to the Ki of your toe
Breathe in from the tip of your nose until your body is full of air
Calm your mind infinitely smaller at the one point after inhaling.

Fuller/Finer Experience of the I/Self

Let’s begin with a round of practice with the technique.

Begin with the practice of kata-dori ikkyo.
Get feedback on the technique to establish a baseline to use for comparison as the practice progresses.

Clearing

Let’s start with a basic practice of clearing and settling. This is how we begin our forging practice. Here we will spend a little more time and attention on clearing by working through several levels of clearing. It is a simple process of relaxing and settling. Feeling the back, the under half of the body and then deeper.

Let’s go through three cycles of clearing to experience clearing at deeper level.

What is your experience of this deeper level of clearing?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it from this deeper level of clearing.

Awareness & Experience of the I

From this deeper level of clearing let’s work with the two parts of the I/self. In our forging practice we work with the I/self having two parts. One part that is more awareness oriented and the other that is more experientially oriented. Our shorthand for these are the mind of I (awareness/thinking) and the body of I (feeling/experience).

Our goal, initially, is to experience these parts of the I and their interaction with each other. It is in this interaction that a real opportunity for growth and development of the I/self exists. When there is a lack of connection or even conflict between the parts of the I we are starting out from a place of fragmentation rather than wholeness.

One way this happens is that part of the I ranges out and tries to obtain satisfaction from outside itself. One example is when the I tries to direct the unit, it results in both maintaining the fragmentation of the I within itself and interferes with the unit’s ability to perform.

From O Sensei’s perspective this tendency toward entanglement and its results is a key part of the difficulty of the human condition.

Unifying

Our practice at this level is to allow each part of the I an opportunity to experience itself.

In some cases this may take some time as one or both parts may need to balance and integrate within themselves before they can interact with their counterpart other half.

Once each part of the I had had a turn and feels comfortable with itself, let’s return to the technique for feedback.

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it where each part of the I is comfortable with itself.

Let’s now move to a practice of interaction between the two parts of the I.

What is the experience of this mirrored image?

Then switching perspectives moving to the body of I. Allow yourself a moment to change perspectives.

Before we continue with the mirroring practice, what is the difference in your experience between the mind of I and now the body of I?

From here the body of I mirrors the mind of I. The body of I may take a different approach to mirroring than the mind of I does. It may not even be visual.

What is the experience of this mirrored image?

We now have the two parts of the I mirroring each other. What is your experience? What is their relationship with each other in this mirroring process?

Is there a greater overall experience of wholeness as I?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it as the more whole I.

Conclusion

In this class we began a series to experience finer/fuller levels of I/self. We started with some fundamental practices from our forging process.

In future classes we will practice to move toward more refined levels of I/self, the goal being to get as close as possible the experience of what O Sensei called the most original self.

The Heart of Aikido translated by John Stevens (pg. 93).

Feedback and Discussion

Practice before next class:

Select a daily life activity and take a moment to pause and allow the experience of I/self to shine through before beginning the task. See how even a small experience of I/self may change the task.

You may also take a moment to experience any dimensional shifts in the area you selected as your call-off for this entire series of classes.

Finish with misogi breathing and bowing out.

Experience of the Pure Witness in the Manifest, Hidden and Divine

Published on 2021-03-02

Please share any comments, suggestions or questions.

This difficult time; while we wish it was not going on, is an opportunity to deepen our practice by appreciating what is really important to us and what we can let go of-Dzogchen The Self-Perfected State by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu (pgs. 24-25).

Introduction

In our last on-line class we continued our series on experiencing dimensionality with a focus on a unified experience of the Pure Witness; including manifest, hidden and divine dimensions.

Dimensionality is both a concept and a practice stemming from the recognition that our identities and our experiences exist on multiple levels.

In this series we are using the word dimensionality in two ways. First, is the experience of greater depth and wholeness. This can occur at any time in one’s practice.

One example is provided in a few paragraphs below going from hand to arm to whole body in the manifest/physical realm.

Second, is the shift from one realm of consciousness to another-from manifest physical to energetic hidden as an example. Hopefully, this dual use of the word dimensionality will not be confusing.

The primary benefit to the practice of dimensionality comes from a greater experience of wholeness and functionality as we experience ourselves in a more total way.

When we experience dimensionality from the perspective of the Pure Witness, we also gain a sense of freedom from the inherent limitations that exist in the dimensional creation.

We can begin with a basic example, our bodies.

If we start by focusing on our hands and we explore their functionality and aliveness we will have some very interesting experiences. Obviously though this is a small part of our total body experience and embodied identity.

Then we shift our awareness to the entire arm not just the hand. This increases the scope of our experience and embodied identity from just focusing on the hand.

We can go further focusing on more parts of the body until we arrive at a whole body identity and experience.

This example shows a progression in dimensionality within the manifest state of physical reality.

As O Sensei outlined, a more complete picture of the creation also includes the hidden or energetic realm and the divine or causal realm. Dimensional experiences are also present in the hidden and divine parts of creation as well as in the manifest.

We will begin our practice, as we have been throughout, with the manifest and then move on to explore the second of the three basic dimensions-the hidden dimension and then the third dimension-the divine.

We will continue our focus on the realms which correspond to our embodied personal experience as manifest, hidden and divine bodies and our interaction with them.

Today we will also continue our practice to include all three realms and increase our focus of bringing them together into a unified centered experience. We worked toward this experience in previous classes.

We will deepen our exploration into this unified experience we are calling the Pure Witness.

We also added one additional element to this series that we have not done in earlier class series. On a purely voluntary basis, a call-off was selected with which you would like to work throughout this series.

This will help to make the practices in each class more personal and well connected. It is an opportunity to experience dimensionality with something of specific significance to you over a series of classes and in a longer timeframe.

Our technique for today and Thursday will be kata-dori ikkyo.

Let’s bow in and start with misogi breathing and a good full warm-up.

Five Principles for Ki Breathing

Our tip today

on the misogi breathing is the same as last Thursday; to experience the manifest, hidden and divine dimensions from the perspective of the Pure Witness.

Breathe out with the sound of HA, don’t let your breath just leak out
Breathe out as calmly and quietly as possible
Breathe out the Ki of your head to the Ki of your toe
Breathe in from the tip of your nose until your body is full of air
Calm your mind infinitely smaller at the one point after inhaling.

Experience of the Pure Witness in the Manifest, Hidden and Divine

Let’s begin with a round of practice with the technique.

Begin with the practice of kata-dori ikkyo.
Get feedback on the technique to establish a baseline to use for comparison as the practice progresses.

Manifest

Let’s now begin, as we have in this series with a dimensional practice with the manifest/physical body.

What is your experience of the manifest body?

Let’s expand our experience in the manifest realm. As an embodied identity in the manifest realm, scan the manifest space where you currently are.

What is your experience as a manifest being in a manifest body of the manifest realm?

Does the experience of the manifest realm enhance your experience of your identity as a manifest embodied being? What is your experience of the interaction between you as a manifest being and the manifest realm?

The experience of the interaction between the realm and the body is a first step in two important areas of our practice.

First, it allows us to mix an embodied unit that can enable us to express our experience in a functional manner.

Second, it is a good step toward the unified experience of the Pure Witness.

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it from the manifest realm.

Let’s pause for a moment to further review the dimensional process and how it works, as well as potential difficulties in making and maintaining dimensional shifts.

Depending on circumstances, we may experience resistance of different kinds in making dimensional shifts.

Here are a couple of examples. We may resist changes that we feel are being forced upon us by outside circumstances and pressures.

Basic Aikido practice is a good example of this. As the nage we are being attacked by the uke.

We feel pressure from our uke/partner to respond in an aiki manner with a flowing, well executed technique.

In the context of a class or series of classes, especially when preparing for a promotional test, we may also feel pressured to improve our ability with the technique to reach a higher level of performance. This performance pressure can lead to tension and other responses that may actually diminish our performance rather than improve it.

A second example is resistance to a dimensional shift when we feel we will lose something we value in the process.

A common call-off in our Energy Classes is achieving greater levels of authenticity. As we feel the dimensional process beginning it may seem as if parts of our current identity, such as wanting to please others, may be lost or reduced.

This could cause us to pull back for fear of losing a part of ourselves that we value.

Another common example is our basic tendency to return to the familiar and often initially more comfortable level from which we started our dimensional practice. This can happen for a variety of reasons.

One, is at the new dimensional level we may not notice an immediate improvement in our performance or in our experience of well-being.

We may even feel our performance is not as good as it was before we made the dimensional shift.

Any change in our sense of routine or identity may require some time to internalize the benefits of making the dimensional shift.

If during this adjustment period we feel we are losing ground, it creates a desire to pull back to our familiar level.

Sometimes it may also be as simple as we haven’t recognized the dimensional shift has occurred or that a movement back to the familiar has happened.

Another example is as the intensity of interaction between us and the world we are in increases there can be the sensation of overload. This creates a desire to shut ourselves off and pull back to a lesser level of ourselves. This may be a good idea in the short term.

We can use that pull back as an opportunity to further open and integrate ourselves so we can return to that larger space in greater comfort.

One further example is if the call-off or focus of your practice is large in scale, it may generate a level of change beyond your system’s ability to support it at that time. Perhaps you are trying to make a major shift in some basic area of your life. You may have struggled to make this change for a long time. Making a change of that magnitude may require some time and incremental steps to achieve it.

Starting with smaller more basic practices like the ones in these classes, may help to reduce resistance to dimensional change because we can experience a basic truth of dimensionality.

That truth is dimensional shifts transcend our current level but they also include and in some cases enhance the qualities we value in ourselves rather than reducing them.

We will still recognize ourselves and our identities as we advance through dimensional growth.

This is also an opportunity to share your experiences with the series length call-offs you have selected and see how they are progressing.

Let’s now move to an experience of the energy body in the hidden dimension.

Hidden

To transition from the manifest/physical to the hidden/energetic we can use our familiar practice, first with palms facing each other and flowing energy between them.

Once the flow is well established, shift your focus from the hands to the energy itself.

Follow a similar, pattern with the universal post practice by opening the hands and arms into a circle. Once the space feels energetically full, shift your attention to your energy body.

From the energy body shift your attention to the energy space which allows your mind to flow out to the energy world surrounding you as the energy body.

Does the experience of the hidden realm enhance your experience of your identity as a hidden realm embodied being? What is your experience of the interaction between you as a hidden realm being and the hidden realm?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it from the hidden realm. How is it different than the round from the manifest?

Let’s now move on to the divine dimension.

Divine

The divine dimension is a place of primal emptiness but full of the potential that becomes form in the hidden and manifest.

Prof. Cheng in Thirteen Treatises calls this the Heavenly Dimension, the place of perfect clarity. Shankara calls it the Causal Dimension. It is place of total emptiness and freedom in which all possibilities reside.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead calls it the place of Pure Light.

Our practice for the divine is a breathing practice from Koichi Tohei Sensei. He calls it the Breathing Method That Transcends Breathing-Aikido in Daily Life (pgs. 36-37).

The practice starts with a very slow and quiet inhalation through the nose and then focusing your attention on your center. This allows your attention to rest comfortably and gently on your center.

From this gentle focus on center move the hands into position in front of your center with the left hand on top of the right, thumbs pointing toward each other.

This part of the practice is added to Tohei Sensei’s.

Visualize the circle formed by your hands as an opening to the divine dimension of great, great quiet. It is an opening like a tunnel or a portal to the divine dimension. In this place of great, great quiet your divine body is already present in a potential form. It is like a silhouette waiting to be filled in. This potential body has the ability to experience itself as a centered divine being in a divine world.

Maintaining center is crucial at all times but especially in the divine. The divine is a place with few external references. If you reach outside of yourself for external references you push yourself out of the divine realm of consciousness.

This is because you are searching for external references that exist in the hidden and manifest dimensions but do not exist in the divine.

Does the experience of the divine realm enhance your experience of your identity as a divine realm embodied being? What is your experience of the interaction between you as a divine realm being and the divine realm?

Let’s return to the technique to see how this experience in the divine dimension has enhanced your performance of the technique.

Unify

Let’s now move to a practice to unify the experiences of manifest, hidden and divine. We are not looking to unify the manifest, hidden and divine realms themselves. We are expanding our own capacity to experience them in a unified way.

In the Buddhist tradition this is called the perspective of the Pure Witness-Integral Spirituality by Ken Wilbur (pgs. 74-76).

Let’s begin with the circle/center practice to establish a space of unified experience. Using O Sensei’s mountain echo practice, ask the question what is the space of a unified experience of manifest, hidden and divine?

From that unified space ask the next question, what is the experience of unity including manifest, hidden and divine? Once again rely on the mountain echo practice. Stay full, present and alert and allow the experience to present itself.

What is your experience? How is it different than the individual experiences of each dimension?

As we get more comfortable in the experience of the Pure Witness we also achieve a freedom from the limitations of these dimensions which together represent the sum total of the creation. We are not separate in a non-functional way from these dimensions but achieve an experience of freedom from them. This freedom also allows the creation to function in a more unified manner free of interference from the entangled self.

Let’s return to the technique to see how the unified experience of the Pure Witness has enhanced your performance of the technique.

Conclusion

In this class we concluded our series on dimensionality. Our beginning practice was working with the whole manifest body experience.

We then expanded further into the manifest dimension by including the manifest realm experience in addition to the manifest body.

We also explored some of the possible areas of resistance to making dimensional shifts.

Next we moved to the hidden dimension and experienced the technique from the hidden dimension perspective.

We experienced the hidden dimension both as an embodied energy being and then included the hidden realm in our experience.

We then experienced the divine dimension, focusing on the experience of the divine body and as divine being in a divine world.

We also explored the experience of interaction between the embodied identities in each realm.

We completed our practice with a unified experience of the Pure Witness that included all three basic dimensions of consciousness.

Buddha Is As Buddha Does by Lama Surya Das (pgs. 237-238).

Feedback and Discussion

Practice before next class

Select a daily life activity and take a moment to open your system to focus on the witness state. Go as deeply as time allows. See how this unified opening changes the experience as you perform the task you selected. You may also notice the task itself changes due to this shift in experience as the Pure Witness.

You may also take a moment to experience any dimensional shifts in the area you selected as your call-off for this entire series of classes.

Finish with misogi breathing and bowing out.

Focusing on a Unifying Experience of Dimensionality in the Manifest, Hidden and Divine

Published on 2021-02-23

Please share any comments, suggestions or questions.

This difficult time; while we wish it was not going on, is an opportunity to deepen our practice by appreciating what is really important to us and what we can let go of-The Heart of Aikido translated by John Stevens (pgs. 77-78).

Introduction

In our last on-line class we continued our series on experiencing dimensionality.

Dimensionality is both a concept and a practice stemming from the recognition that our identities and our experiences exist on multiple levels.

The primary benefit to the practice of dimensionality comes from a greater experience of wholeness and functionality as we experience ourselves in a more total way.

A basic example with which to start are our bodies.

If we begin by focusing on our hands and we explore their functionality and aliveness we will have some very interesting experiences. Obviously though this is a small part of the totality of the body experience and our embodied identity.

Then we shift our awareness to the entire arm not just the hand. This increases the scope of our experience and embodied identity from just focusing on the hand.

We can go further focusing on increasingly more parts of the body until we arrive at a whole body identity and experience.

This example shows a progression in dimensionality in the manifest dimension of physical reality. As O Sensei outlined, a more complete picture of the creation also includes the hidden or energetic realm and the divine or causal realm. Dimensional experiences are also present in the hidden and divine parts of creation as well as in the manifest.

We will continue our focus on the realms that correspond to our personal experience as a manifest, hidden and divine bodies and our interaction with them.

Today we will continue our practice to include all three realms and increase our focus of bringing them together into a unified centered experience. We worked toward this experience in our Thursday night class last week. Today we will work to go more deeply into this unified experience.

We are also adding one additional element to this series that we have not done in earlier class series. On a purely voluntary basis, select a call-off with which you would like to work throughout this series.

This will help to make the practices in each class more personal and well connected. It is an opportunity to experience dimensionality over a series of classes and a longer timeframe with something of specific significance to you.

Our technique for today and on Thursday will be katate-dori irimi nage.

Let’s bow in and start with misogi breathing and a good full warm-up.

Five Principles for Ki Breathing

Our tip today on the misogi breathing is to experience the riai-blending of truths-as we go through the three rounds of breathing visualizing manifest, hidden and divine coming together into a unified experience.

Breathe out with the sound of HA, don’t let your breath just leak out
Breathe out as calmly and quietly as possible
Breathe out the Ki of your head to the Ki of your toe
Breathe in from the tip of your nose until your body is full of air
Calm your mind infinitely smaller at the one point after inhaling.

Focusing on a Unifying Experience of Dimensionality in the Manifest, Hidden and Divine

Let’s begin with a round of practice with the technique.

Begin with the practice of katate-dori irimi nage.
Get feedback on the technique to establish a baseline to use for comparison as the practice progresses.

Manifest

Let’s now begin, as we have been in this series with a dimensional practice with the manifest/physical body.

What is your experience of the manifest body?

Let’s expand our experience in the manifest realm using the circle/center practice. As an embodied identity in the manifest realm, scan the manifest space where you currently are. What is your experience as a manifest being in a manifest body of the manifest realm?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it from the manifest realm.

Let’s pause for a moment to further review the dimensional process and how it works, as well as potential difficulties in making and maintaining dimensional shifts.

Depending on circumstances, we may experience resistance of different kinds in making dimensional shifts.

Here are a couple of examples. We may resist changes that we feel are being forced upon us by outside circumstances and pressures.

Basic Aikido practice is a good example of this. As the nage we are being attacked by the uke.

We feel pressure from our uke/partner to respond in an aiki manner with a flowing, well executed technique.

A second example is resistance to a dimensional shift when we feel we will lose something we value in the process.

This could cause us to pull back for fear of losing a part of ourselves that we value.

Another common example is our basic tendency to return to the familiar and often comfortable level from which we started our dimensional practice. This can happen for a variety of reasons.

One is at the new dimensional level we may not notice an immediate improvement in our performance or in our experience of well-being.

We may even feel our performance is not as good as it was before we made the dimensional shift.

Any change in our sense of routine or identity may require some time to internalize the benefits of making the dimensional shift.

If during this adjustment period we feel we are losing ground, it creates a desire to pull back to our familiar level.

Sometimes it may also be as simple as we haven’t recognized the dimensional shift has occurred or that a movement back to the familiar has happened.

Another example is as the level of interaction between us and the world we are in increases there can be the sensation of overload. This creates a desire to shut ourselves off and pull back to a lesser level of ourselves. This may be a good idea in the short term. We can use that pull back as an opportunity to further open and integrate ourselves so we can return to that larger space in greater comfort.

Starting with smaller more basic practices like the ones in these classes, may help to reduce resistance to dimensional change because we can experience a basic truth of dimensionality.

That truth is dimensional shifts transcend our current level but they also include and in some cases enhance the qualities we value in ourselves rather than reducing them.

We will still recognize ourselves and our identities as we advance through dimensional growth.

This is also an opportunity to share your experiences with the series length call-offs you have selected and see how they are progressing.

Hidden

Let’s now move to an experience of the energy body in the hidden dimension.

To transition from the manifest/physical to the hidden/energetic we can use our familiar practice, first with palms facing each other and flowing energy between them.

Once the flow is well established, shift your focus from the hands to the energy itself.

Follow a similar, pattern with the universal post practice by opening the hands and arms into a circle. Once the space feels energetically full, shift your attention to your energy body.

From the energy body shift your attention to the energy space which allows your mind to flow out to the energy world surrounding you as the energy body.

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it from the hidden realm. How is it different than the round from the manifest?

Let’s now move on to the divine dimension.

Divine

The divine dimension is a place of primal emptiness but full of the potential energy that becomes form in the hidden and manifest.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead calls it the place of Pure Light.

Our practice for the divine is a breathing practice from Koichi Tohei Sensei. He calls it the Breathing Method That Transcends Breathing-Aikido in Daily Life (pgs. 36-37).

The practice starts with a very slow and quiet inhalation through the nose and then focusing your attention on your center. This allows your attention to rest comfortably and gently on your center.

From this gentle focus on center move the hands into position in front of your center with the left hand on top of the right, thumbs pointing toward each other.

This part of the practice is added to Tohei Sensei’s.

This is because you are searching for external references that exist in the hidden and manifest dimensions but do not exist in the divine.

Let’s return to the technique to see how this experience in the divine dimension has enhanced your performance of the technique.

Let’s now move to a practice to unify the experiences of manifest, hidden and divine. We are not looking to unify the manifest, hidden and divine realms. We are expanding our own capacity to experience them in a unified way.

In the Buddhist tradition this is called the perspective of the Pure Witness-Integral Spirituality by Ken Wilbur (pgs. 74-76).

What is your experience? How is it different than the individual experiences of each dimension?

Let’s return to the technique to see how this unified experience has enhanced your performance of the technique.

Conclusion

In this class we continued our series on dimensionality. Our beginning practice was working with the whole manifest body experience.

We also explored some of the possible areas of resistance to making dimensional shifts. We then expanded further into the manifest dimension by including the manifest realm experience in addition to the manifest body.

Next we made a shift to the hidden dimension and experienced the technique from the hidden dimension perspective.

We experienced the hidden dimension both as an embodied energy being and then included the hidden realm in our experience.

We concluded with an experience of the divine dimension, focusing on the experience of the divine body and as divine being in a divine world.

We also explored the experience of interaction between the embodied identities in each realm.

We completed our practice with a unified experience of the Pure Witness that included all three basic dimensions of consciousness.

The Secret Teachings of Aikido translated by John Stevens (pg. 53).

Feedback and Discussion

Practice before next class:

You may also take a moment to experience any dimensional shifts in the area you selected as your call-off for this entire series of classes.

Finish with misogi breathing and bowing out.

Unifying Centered Experience of Dimensionality in the Manifest, Hidden and Divine

Published on 2021-02-19

Please share any comments, suggestions or questions.

Introduction

In our last on-line class we continued our series on experiencing dimensionality.

Dimensionality is both a concept and a practice stemming from the recognition that our identities and our experiences exist on multiple levels.

The primary benefit to the practice of dimensionality comes from a greater experience of wholeness and functionality as we experience ourselves in a more total way.

A basic example with which to start are our bodies.

Then we shift our awareness to the entire arm not just the hand. This increases the scope of our experience and embodied identity from just focusing on the hand.

We can go further focusing on increasingly more parts of the body until we arrive at a whole body identity and experience.

We will continue our focus on the realms that correspond to our personal experience as a manifest, hidden and divine bodies.

Today we will continue our practice to include all three realms and then work with a practice to bring them together into a unified centered experience. We discussed this in our Tuesday night class but today we will work with a practice to provide the direct experience.

Our technique for today as it was on Tuesday will be shomen-uchi irimi nage.

Let’s bow in and start with misogi breathing and a good full warm-up.

Five Principles for Ki Breathing

Our tip today on the misogi breathing is the same as Tuesday, as we go through the three rounds of breathing visualize manifest, hidden and divine coming together into a unified experience.

Breathe out with the sound of HA, don’t let your breath just leak out
Breathe out as calmly and quietly as possible
Breathe out the Ki of your head to the Ki of your toe
Breathe in from the tip of your nose until your body is full of air
Calm your mind infinitely smaller at the one point after inhaling.

Unifying Centered Experience of Dimensionality in the Manifest, Hidden and Divine

Let’s begin with a round of practice with the technique.

Begin with the practice of shomen-uchi irimi nage.
Get feedback on the technique to establish a baseline to use for comparison as the practice progresses.

Manifest

Let’s now begin, as we have been in this series with a dimensional practice with the manifest/physical body.

Previously we were starting with the hand and progressing to the whole body. Since we have had practice in prior classes let’s start with the whole body experience.

What is your experience of the manifest body?

Let’s now expand our experience in the manifest realm using the circle/center practice. As an embodied identity in the manifest realm, scan the manifest space where you currently are. What is your experience as a manifest being in a manifest body of the manifest realm? Does the experience of the manifest realm enhance your experience of your identity as a manifest embodied being?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it from the manifest realm.

Let’s pause for a moment to review further the dimensional process and how it works, as well as potential difficulties in making dimensional shifts.

Depending on circumstances, we may experience resistance of different kinds in making dimensional shifts.

Here are a couple of examples. We may resist changes that we feel are being forced upon us by outside circumstances and pressures.

Basic Aikido practice is a good example of this. As the nage we are being attacked by the uke.

We feel pressure from our uke/partner to respond in an aiki manner with a flowing, well executed technique.

A second example is resistance to a dimensional shift when we feel we will lose something we value in the process.

A common call-off in our Energy Classes is to achieve greater levels of authenticity. As we feel the dimensional process beginning it may seem as if parts of our current identity, such as wanting to please others, may be lost or reduced.

This could cause us to pull back for fear of losing a part of ourselves that we value.

Another common example is our basic tendency to return to the familiar and often comfortable level from which we started our dimensional practice. This can happen for a variety of reasons. One is at the new dimensional level we may not notice an immediate improvement in our performance or in our experience of well-being.

We may even feel our performance is not as good as it was before we made the dimensional shift.

Any change in our sense of routine or identity may require some time to experience the benefits of making the dimensional shift.

If during this adjustment period we feel as if we are losing ground, it creates a desire to pull back to our familiar level.

Sometimes it may also be as simple as we don’t recognize the dimensional shift has occurred or that a movement back to the familiar has happened.

Starting with smaller more basic practices like the ones we are doing in these classes, may help to reduce resistance to dimensional change because we can experience a basic truth of dimensionality.

That truth is dimensional shifts transcend our current level but they also include and in some cases enhance the qualities we value in ourselves rather than reducing them.

We will still recognize ourselves and our identities as we advance through dimensional growth.

This is also an opportunity to share your experiences with the series length call-offs you have selected and see how they are progressing.

Hidden

Let’s now progress to an experience of the energy body in the hidden dimension.

To transition from the manifest/physical to the hidden/energetic we can use the practice from recent classes, first with palms facing each other and flowing energy between them.

Once the flow is well established, shift your focus from the hands to the energy itself.

Follow a similar, pattern with the universal post practice by opening the hands and arms into a circle. Once the space feels energetically full, shift your attention to your energy body.

From the energy body shift your attention to the energy space which allows your mind to flow out to the energy world surrounding you as the energy body.

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it from the hidden realm. How is it different than the round from the manifest?

Divine

Let’s now move on to the divine dimension.

The divine dimension is a place of primal emptiness but full of the potential energy that becomes form in the hidden and manifest.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead calls it the place of Pure Light.

Our practice for the divine is a breathing practice from Koichi Tohei Sensei. He calls it the Breathing Method That Transcends Breathing-Aikido in Daily Life (pgs. 36-37).

The practice starts with a very slow and quiet inhalation through the nose and then focusing your attention on your center. This allows your attention to rest comfortably and gently on your center.

From this gentle focus on center move the hands into position in front of your center with the left hand on top of the right, thumbs pointing toward each other.

This part of the practice is added to Tohei Sensei’s.

Maintaining the experience of center is crucial at all times but especially in the divine. The divine is a place with few external references. If you reach outside of yourself for external references you push yourself out of the divine realm of consciousness.

This is because you are searching for references that exist in the hidden and manifest dimensions but do not exist in the divine.

Let’s return to the technique to see how this experience in the divine dimension has enhanced your performance of the technique.

Unifying

Let’s now move to a practice in which we can unify the experiences of manifest, hidden and divine. We are not looking to unify the manifest, hidden and divine realms. We are expanding our own capacity to experience them in a unified way.

What is your experience? How is it different than the individual experiences of each dimension?

Let’s return to the technique to see how this unified experience has enhanced your performance of the technique.

Conclusion

In this class we continued our series on dimensionality. Our beginning practice was working with the whole manifest body experience.

Next we made a shift to the hidden dimension and experienced the technique from the hidden dimension perspective.

We experienced the hidden dimension both as an embodied energy being and then included the hidden realm in our experience.

We concluded with an experience of the divine dimension, focusing on the experience of the divine body and as divine being in a divine world.

We completed our practice with a unified experience that included all three basic dimensions of consciousness.

The Heart of Aikido translated by John Stevens (pgs. 65-66).

Feedback and Discussion

Practice before next class:

Select a daily life activity and take a moment to open your system to include the manifest, hidden and divine dimensions in a unified centered experience. Go as deeply as time allows. See how this unified opening changes the experience as you perform the task you selected.

You may also take a moment to experience any dimensional shifts in the area you selected as your call-off for this entire series of classes.

Finish with misogi breathing and bowing out.

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Unifying Experience of Dimensionality in the Manifest, Hidden and Divine

Published on 2021-02-17

Please share any comments, suggestions or questions.

Introduction

In our last on-line class we continued our series on experiencing dimensionality.

Dimensionality is both a concept and a practice stemming from the recognition that our identities and our experiences exist on multiple levels.

The primary benefit to the practice of dimensionality comes from a greater experience of wholeness and functionality as we experience ourselves in a more total way.

A basic example with which to start are our bodies.

Then we shift our awareness to the entire arm not just the hand. This increases the scope of our experience and embodied identity from just focusing on the hand.

We can go further focusing on increasingly more parts of the body until we arrive at a whole body identity and experience.

We will continue our focus on the realms that correspond to our personal experience as a manifest, hidden and divine bodies.

Today we will continue our practice to include all three realms and then work with a practice to bring them together into a unified experience.

We are also adding one additional element to this series that we have not done before in earlier class series. On a purely voluntary basis, select a call-off with which you would like to work with throughout this series.

Our technique for today and Thursday will be shomen-uchi irimi nage.

Let’s bow in and start with misogi breathing and a good full warm-up.

Five Principles for Ki Breathing

Our tip today on the misogi breathing is as we go through the three rounds of breathing visualize manifest, hidden and divine coming together into a unified experience.

Breathe out with the sound of HA, don’t let your breath just leak out
Breathe out as calmly and quietly as possible
Breathe out the Ki of your head to the Ki of your toe
Breathe in from the tip of your nose until your body is full of air
Calm your mind infinitely smaller at the one point after inhaling.

Unifying Experience of Dimensionality in the Manifest, Hidden and Divine

Let’s begin with a round of practice with the technique.

Begin with the practice of shomen-uchi irimi nage.
Get feedback on the technique to establish a baseline to use for comparison as the practice progresses.

Manifest

Let’s now begin, as we have been in this series with a dimensional practice with the manifest/physical body. Previously we were starting with the hand and progressing to the whole body. Since we have had practice in prior classes let’s start with the whole body experience.

What is your experience of the manifest body?

Let’s go back to the technique to experience it from the manifest realm.