Yesterday’s news sent me into nature.  I planned to go to Stinson Beach but the road down is closed due to the storms.  I curved my way up Mt. Tam to walk, sit, cleanse and reflect.

Home, I read about Aikido, founded in the late 1920’s by Morihei Uyeshiba.  When he watched hoodlums beat up his father, he vowed to train in the martial arts, and he did.   After winning, he began to examine what it meant to dominate others. One day he was challenged to a duel by an expert swordsman, a naval officer.  As the officer continued to charge him with the sword he simply moved out of the way until the officer, exhausted, sat down.

Uyeshiba walked to a nearby garden and sat down.  He reported:

I felt that the universe suddenly quaked, and that a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into one of gold. At the same time my mind and body became light.  I was able to understand the whisperings of the birds, and was clearly aware of the mind of God, the Creator of the universe. At that moment I was enlightened: the source of budo is God’s love – the spirit of loving protection for all beings. Budo is not felling the opponent by our force; nor is it a tool to lead the world into destruction with arms. I understood: The training of Budo is to take God’s love, which correctly produces, protects, and cultivates all things in Nature, and assimilate and utilize it in our own mind and body.

The secret of Aikido is to harmonize ourselves with the movement of the universe.  It’s a way to live and harmonize as one family.  We recognize the only opponent is within, and we work to correct our own mind.  Obviously, that’s not easy to do.  It is a practice, but more and more I see the value in honoring the practice and dedicating myself to harmony and cultivating peace.