First Entry: The Benefits of the Kuji-In Practice

I started my Kuji-In practice at the end of August and have been taking my time incorporating the various teachings -- mostly from the venerable Buddhist priest, Francois Lepine, as well from the "first American ninja," Stephen Hayes, and others -- and spending plenty of time with each of the nine aspects or sets, beginning with "Rin" and moving progressively through each subsequent one.

So far, I'm on the verge of wrapping up my initial exploration of the "Kai" aspect, the practice of which facilitates the development of intuition and the perception of premonitions of danger.

Overall, I would say I'm getting a tremendous benefit from what I like to call the Kuji-In "technology." For instance, I feel a profound sense of harmony within myself and my energies; like all of my internal forces are synchronized and working together.

(I have felt for some time that within the human body, the different organs are in conflict with one another, just as the elements of the Earth are often in conflict with one another. Over an extended period of time, the planet's conflict manifests a certain harmony, but in those instaneous moments when the elements of the planet collide -- when there is an earthquake, or a tsunami, or a hurricane -- that conflict is sudden, massive and violent. So, I feel, that as the literal children of the Earth, born of the Earth's elements, we too experience the same type of conflict within our individual selves, just on a microcosmic level, and of course, certainly among one another.)

But now with my Kuji-In practice, especially in conjunction with my Bujinkan budo taijutsu practice, I feel all of my internal elements are being wooed to work together. As a result, on a mental, psychological and spiritual level, I feel much more at peace within, much more focused, less vulnerable to being ensnared by the various attachments that, as Buddhists, we are advised to relinquish.

And my body feels much healthier too. I'm noticing that nagging, years-old martial arts injuries are fading away. My old right toe's arthritic-like stiffness and crackle are gone. Ditto for my right ankle. The pain from a lot of accumulated pressure in the joints and ligaments in my right elbow are gone. The stiffness in my right shoulder from an old hockey injury is greatly diminished.

And my body recuperates more quickly from the bumps and bruises I'm currently sustaining in my taijutsu training, even tough I'm getting older. And I think my body is increasingly responsive to the medications I'm taking for my high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I'm losing excess weight too and fitting into my non-fat wardrobe more easily.

Oh, and before I forget... my carpal tunnel-like symptoms have all but vanished. I used to squeeze a handful of some progressive resistive exercise putty -- or sometimes those neoprene balls you find in the computer geek department, or even a good old fashioned baseball -- to help relieve the stress on my fingers, hands and wrists from all the time I have to spend on the computer. But not anymore.

This after three months of Kuji-In and budo taijustu.

Now, I'm not saying you will immediately heal all of your ills, reverse the aging process in its entirety, permanently ward off old sick, sickness and death itself and live as an immortal from this time forward. I haven't grown back any of my lost hair. And I still need to use my eyeglasses when I read. And I'm still taking my prescribed meds.

But don't be surprised if, over time, your need for medications and supplements diminishes. But make sure you let that be something your doctor or other credentialed medical professional determines, not some guy you never met on the Internet.