無念無想 Munen muso = “no convictions, no thought.”

The Character — driven by the wheels of The I.

having penetrated the opinions current among the people and being indifferent in the face of speculation, he leaves it to others, he remains calm among the agitated, he does not take part in the verbal battles of those who maintain: ‘This only is the truth,’ he does not consider himself equal to others, nor superior, nor inferior.  ~ Julius Evola, The Doctrine of Awakening

We have studied the Stoics for many years, and we are sure that this short article will resonate finely on the gong of the heart of all the Stoic practitioners in our group. Emperor Marcus Aurelius — “the Stoic´s Stoic” — in the Book I of Meditations, thanks his teacher Junius Rusticus for introducing him to the teachings of Epictetus. We will ponder several of his quotes that might evoke in us the proper attitude of Being that can be recognized in many East Asian martial art and contemplative practices. These simple suggestions, practices of strict observance, constant correction, the inner search of the Light Logos, simplicity of being, communicating, participating in the horizontal and vertical creation through the axis of the I, that subjectivizes itself in the Soul of each one as truth, beauty and Love, are the main desired characteristics of the order, and each single part of it as a unified resonant nucleus.

Again, to refer to Epictetus:

Whatever you would make habitual, practice it; and if you would not make a thing habitual, do not practice it, but accustom yourself to something else. (Discourses, Book II, ch. 18.)

But God hath introduced Man to be a spectator of Himself and of His works; and not a spectator only, but also an interpreter of them. Wherefore it is a shame for man to begin and to leave off where the brutes do. Rather he should begin there and leave off where Nature leaves off in us: and that is at contemplation, and understanding, and a manner of life that is in harmony with herself. See then that ye die not without being spectators of these things. (13, Golden Sayings of Epictetus).

Your character is God-given to You as an expression of Soul and Spirit working in harmony. Therefore, it should be an expression of the Eternal Logos. Visible, clear, as a reflection upon the surface of body of water is. Similar to how Light reflects itself on the white surface — enlightens it, or as in the works of the old masters of the vitrail, gives it unique precious hues that reflect the otherworldly beauty where colours nowhere to be found in the world encapsulate the Soul and Spirits light climbing, as in Jacob’s ladder on the scale to ultimate Light.  That Light is to be found not outside of oneself but inside. In the Sphere of the Heart. Heart, represented as the 12 petalled Sun wheel where all opposition to the life of Good, Beauty and Truth has to be conquered.

Take care of that reflection. We are as if immersed in the dirt and swamp — all is based on greed, money, power, sex, illness, and death. What Cologero often mentions from the Bible are the three curses of the Father: toil, illness and death. The Bible, for a Western reader should be studied as a lifelong discipline of personal growth. Note that down. I will show You another analogy here — a Human being through the symbol of the sacred lotus flower, profoundly mystical and venerated in all cultures. Here is why.

The lotus raises itself out of mud, mire and dross, out of the murky, congested waters; that is similar to  your earthly existence, you must allow it to raise itself towards the light, out of these waters and mud into the purity and beauty of many proliferate forms and colours. Again, to refer to the respective Christian tradition and the analogy with the lotus observe how the Lotus slowly emerges from a pond over a three-day period and then blooms on the morning of the third day. Ponder on it. For many days and if still there is no clarity remember how the ancient Egyptian scholars observed that in the night-time the lotus closed its flowers and sank into the water, how the flower is related to rebirth and the Sun.

The lotus flower (Sanskrit: padma) is one of the 8 Ashtamangala of Buddhism, representative of creation and cosmic renewal and “primordial purity”, so may it be for you a symbol of the spiritual Sun. For a Christian that is Christ.  As observed through the system of chakra, it represents the Crown chakra Sahasrara or, in the terminology of Rudolf Steiner, the eight petalled Lotus. Beautiful similarity is found on paintings and icons of Christian Saints, where their enlightenment and development are attested through the depiction of the halo, the spiritual crown. Labour is hard, it begins in purifying your heart, starting first, with purifying your thinking, feeling, willing – then your words and actions. This process is not just to benefit you but also our brothers and friends, all those whom one recognizes as belonging to the same spiritual family — they might not be people you have ever shared a cup of water with, but the fact that you work under same inspirators, the same spiritual fathers, is enough. Honour Your Father. That means honouring all those who have come before you. Make yourself honourable for someone in future.

I will remind You how Cologero often speaks of the City of the Sun by Tomaso Campanella, as well as Plato´s vision of the State. Remember confraternity and duty above all, whoever fails that, has failed his spiritual family, has not honoured the Father, and finally has failed himself by incurring bad karma. We have also studied Dante’s moral Universe and its Infernal core, remind Yourself constantly of it.

Ultimately, we have not gathered here to have tea and cake followed by idle chatter, or as many among you mistook the work as a chance to promulgate individual points of view, intellectual bashing of the others on the first sign of a soft spot, posting endless and often pointless comments that revealed your characters. Some have passed the strict observance period, some have failed. Some have suffered and cried to the Lord, some have laughed at their misery. Make your own conclusions and stand responsible for them.

Govern thyself, Know thyself.

The unique principle (universal governing principle) is called, in Japanese Shinto, sangen, symbolically represented by the three origins: triangle, square, and circle.  First is a movement, second is affixed stability, and third is continuity.  These three combine to create the spiral principle of Aikido as taught to us by O-sensei. Cologero speaks about the principle of “As above so below” — this is to be understood in the same way.

In the sacred sounds of kototama this will be represented in the word suberu. Su represents the ki of nonresistance, Ru resistance, and the kototama of Be represents, equanimity and equilibrium, as the perfect balance between the eight powers of tate and yoko. Sensei teaches us to practice Good and not to create evil. Good will always, in martial arts, be represented through peaceful, non-violent attitude. But be aware that all governing principles are based on the polarity, for without the tools of polarity even God could not create everything; this is a sacred mystery, a himitsu. The fire ki (Hi) is the right hand of God, and water ki (mitsu) the left hand of God. Again, there is a form of triangle, for these two come together in the universal law of dharma, or Logos. The Tao Te Ching states:

The Way (Tao)  begets one, one begets two, two begets three, three begets the myriad…

The teaching of Sangen is ancient it comes from the well-respected Kannagara no michi tradition, the origin of Shinto. Passed down as a cosmology of the ancient mystery of worshiping the Sun, the same Sun worshiping race that reached India around 400 BC. In Hinduism it expressed as the trinity of Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. Their kototama is A, U, M. This is easily connected, as it must be clear to you, to the Christian Trinity and Christ as the Spiritual Sun.

Know well, that both fire and water ki is begotten from the earth ki, (tsuchi no ki), and the earth ki defines the hara, movement. The water principle, the water ki (mizu no ki) relates closest to earth, while Hi no ki — fire ki — relates to heaven.

May all your hara, all your movements be from now on according to the truthful and beautiful, moral and orderly, confraternal and faithful.  As Zen master Dogen says, “Practice is enlightenment.” Aikido draws its knowledge and technique from many older martial arts, but most important movements derive from the misogi, spiritual purification exercises of Japanese Shinto, through breathing. “The breath of life”.  In the movement of Funakogi and Furutama, used as preparation exercises, one will focus especially on breath. Note that you also breathe in and breathe out throughout the day. Ideally, it should be your way of being through each moment of the day. Using your breath and concentration, the power of moral judgement, draw the ki upward from the earth and downward from heaven. Let that be your heaven mudra.