Hello again, fans of the Kuji-In...
This afternoon, I found another Kuji-In resource online, so I thought I'd announce it here and post a link to it in the column to the right. The Kosmix Web site -- which I had not heard of before -- has a section on the Kuji-In, and includes some listings for products that can be purchased, along with some various media resources that are available.
Just one more site you can periodically check to see what's going on and what you might be able to tap in your journey...
You can get there by clicking here.
Namaste,
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Kuji-In: Personal Projects Update
In the wake of my initiation into the Kuji-In and Kuji-Kiri (see the Tuesday, March 10, 2009 post below), I'm continuing with three personal projects. First, of course, is my progression through the nine aspects of the Kuji-In. I'm wrapping up RETSU right now, projecting another week or two spent with this aspect. Then I'm onto ZAI and then finishing up with ZEN.
As I do this, I have added the "cutting of the grid," cutting the Kuji-Kiri, to my daily practice. Now that I've been able to have someone skilled in the art show me how to begin doing this, I certainly don't want to lose any momentum; I want to build on it and take it to another level.
After I finish with my initial exploration of ZEN, I will move onto the Five Elements practice: Void, Wind, Water, Fire and Earth. And from there, I plan on empowering various symbols that I will then incorporate into my grid-cutting.
Somewhere along the way, I want to empower my mala, with a) the nine aspects and b) the five elements. Once I get through all of this -- this initial level of exploration -- my plan is to return to the nine aspects and the five elements with a higher level of empowerment.
Of course, I plan to continue cutting the grid all the while.
My second project is to come up with some explicit personal practice-rituals, perhaps involving some gathas and chanting and prayers. I've already begun this somewhat, but have yet to really kind of cement it or formalize it in a systematic way. I have three English translations of at least two Japanese Kuji manuals (I believe from the Ninpo Mykkyo Shugendo tradition), and I plan to incorporate some of their elements with some of the tpes of practices I've gained via my years of Zen experience.
Initially, I hope to develop a daily iteration of rituals, for use from Sunday through Friday, as well as a separate, more elaborate form, a "weekly service" type of thing, for use on Saturday. (I'm usually in the dojo on Sunday morning, so I don't usually make an extra hour available Sunday morning for a full-fledged Kuji service. But Saturday is my "free day" schedule-wise, and I can easily set aside a good hour or so for a more in-depth plunge into the Kuji waters.)
My third project involves the creation of a comprehensive Kuji practice manual, mostly just as a good learning aid for my own practice. If others would be interested, we could discuss sharing certain aspects of it. As a journalist by profession, I certainly want to make sure I respect the copyrights of authors whose work on the subject I have come across and otherwise gained access to, and which continue to guide and inspire me in my pursuit. Perhaps a good compromise would be for me to share a limited bibliography of recommended readings.
Well, as you can imagine, that's plenty to keep me busy, considering I have a demanding work load that regularly has me working at home some nights/weekends, along with my dojo training three times a week -- and my desire to start getting into regular yoga practice.
Hey, Bodhidharma is reputed to have said, "Life and death are important. Do not suffer them in vain." I intend not to.
Or as Sam Elliott's character in the movie Road House said, I'll have plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead. ;-)
As always, readers of the Kuji Blog are invited to share their comments.
Until the next time,
May all beings be blessed.
-T.N.O.-
As I do this, I have added the "cutting of the grid," cutting the Kuji-Kiri, to my daily practice. Now that I've been able to have someone skilled in the art show me how to begin doing this, I certainly don't want to lose any momentum; I want to build on it and take it to another level.
After I finish with my initial exploration of ZEN, I will move onto the Five Elements practice: Void, Wind, Water, Fire and Earth. And from there, I plan on empowering various symbols that I will then incorporate into my grid-cutting.
Somewhere along the way, I want to empower my mala, with a) the nine aspects and b) the five elements. Once I get through all of this -- this initial level of exploration -- my plan is to return to the nine aspects and the five elements with a higher level of empowerment.
Of course, I plan to continue cutting the grid all the while.
My second project is to come up with some explicit personal practice-rituals, perhaps involving some gathas and chanting and prayers. I've already begun this somewhat, but have yet to really kind of cement it or formalize it in a systematic way. I have three English translations of at least two Japanese Kuji manuals (I believe from the Ninpo Mykkyo Shugendo tradition), and I plan to incorporate some of their elements with some of the tpes of practices I've gained via my years of Zen experience.
Initially, I hope to develop a daily iteration of rituals, for use from Sunday through Friday, as well as a separate, more elaborate form, a "weekly service" type of thing, for use on Saturday. (I'm usually in the dojo on Sunday morning, so I don't usually make an extra hour available Sunday morning for a full-fledged Kuji service. But Saturday is my "free day" schedule-wise, and I can easily set aside a good hour or so for a more in-depth plunge into the Kuji waters.)
My third project involves the creation of a comprehensive Kuji practice manual, mostly just as a good learning aid for my own practice. If others would be interested, we could discuss sharing certain aspects of it. As a journalist by profession, I certainly want to make sure I respect the copyrights of authors whose work on the subject I have come across and otherwise gained access to, and which continue to guide and inspire me in my pursuit. Perhaps a good compromise would be for me to share a limited bibliography of recommended readings.
Well, as you can imagine, that's plenty to keep me busy, considering I have a demanding work load that regularly has me working at home some nights/weekends, along with my dojo training three times a week -- and my desire to start getting into regular yoga practice.
Hey, Bodhidharma is reputed to have said, "Life and death are important. Do not suffer them in vain." I intend not to.
Or as Sam Elliott's character in the movie Road House said, I'll have plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead. ;-)
As always, readers of the Kuji Blog are invited to share their comments.
Until the next time,
May all beings be blessed.
-T.N.O.-
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Prerequisites to the Practice of Kuji-In, Kuji-Kiri
I don't want to discourage newcomers or meditation "noobies" from plunging into the white water rapids of the Kuji-In and Kuji-Kiri, but I do feel compelled to point out that this is indeed an advanced spiritual practice.
A newcomer can jump right on in, and is warmly invited to do so. However, such a one will likely be at somewhat of a loss without some serious remedial attention to get up to speed. As Buddhist teacher Francois Lepine has noted, this is a practice that is easy to start, yet takes years to master.
So, in an attempt to help prospective Kuji practitioners, I include below a list of the prerequisites I believe are necessary for someone to really begin to make the most of this precious practice:
Required Basics:
* Substantial experience in seated meditation: proper sitting posture, proper breathing, proper focus.
* Experience in meditative chanting.
Recommended Additions:
* Experience in energy cultivation, such as Chi-Kung/Qi-Gong.
* Experience in Yoga.
* Experience in Tai Chi.
* Have a working knowledge of the basics of psychology.
You'll be Ahead of the Curve If You:
* Have an understanding of the theory of meditation, especially Buddhist meditation.
* Have the theoretical underpinnings of the Kuji (as per Francois Lepine, Stephen K. Hayes, etc.).
* Participated in a Zen sesshin (intensive, week-long meditation retreat).
* Have practiced yoga.
* Have practiced some yogic breathing.
* Have practiced some yogic meditation, especially that relating to the kundalini.
* Have had some experience in psychotherapy.
* Have some capability drawing or painting Japanese kanji characters (for use in the Kuji-Kiri practice).
* Have experience in iaido or tameshigiri (Japanese sword-drawing, sword-cutting movement; also for use in Kuji-Kiri).
You're Well On the Way to Mastery If You:
* have had some degree of kensho, or realization (enlightenment).
A newcomer can jump right on in, and is warmly invited to do so. However, such a one will likely be at somewhat of a loss without some serious remedial attention to get up to speed. As Buddhist teacher Francois Lepine has noted, this is a practice that is easy to start, yet takes years to master.
So, in an attempt to help prospective Kuji practitioners, I include below a list of the prerequisites I believe are necessary for someone to really begin to make the most of this precious practice:
Required Basics:
* Substantial experience in seated meditation: proper sitting posture, proper breathing, proper focus.
* Experience in meditative chanting.
Recommended Additions:
* Experience in energy cultivation, such as Chi-Kung/Qi-Gong.
* Experience in Yoga.
* Experience in Tai Chi.
* Have a working knowledge of the basics of psychology.
You'll be Ahead of the Curve If You:
* Have an understanding of the theory of meditation, especially Buddhist meditation.
* Have the theoretical underpinnings of the Kuji (as per Francois Lepine, Stephen K. Hayes, etc.).
* Participated in a Zen sesshin (intensive, week-long meditation retreat).
* Have practiced yoga.
* Have practiced some yogic breathing.
* Have practiced some yogic meditation, especially that relating to the kundalini.
* Have had some experience in psychotherapy.
* Have some capability drawing or painting Japanese kanji characters (for use in the Kuji-Kiri practice).
* Have experience in iaido or tameshigiri (Japanese sword-drawing, sword-cutting movement; also for use in Kuji-Kiri).
You're Well On the Way to Mastery If You:
* have had some degree of kensho, or realization (enlightenment).
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Initiated Into the Kuji-In, Kuji-Kiri!
Post Kuji Seminar Update #1
You know the expression, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear”?
Well, that definitely appears to be the case for me and the Kuji-In and the Kuji-Kiri this past year. With all the teachings and the manuals and the rare document translations that have come my way in just the last six months – with more on the way, as previous posts note – this maxim is coming true in my own spiritual practice.
The most recent positive development in this regard was my weekend (March 7-8) spent in the Northwest Chicago suburb of Naperville, where I was finally able to gain some group practice time as well as some hands-on initiation into the Kuji with Do-shu Thomas Jotoshi Maienza, the head of the Jizaikan organization and a former associate of To-Shin Do Anshu Stephen K. Hayes, the latter being regarded by many as perhaps the most authoritative source in the Western world on the subject of Kuji-In and Kuji-Kiri.
I don’t have the time to get into much detail right now, so keep checking back over the next few days if you will, please. But in the meantime, here are some of the initial key take-aways for me:
You know the expression, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear”?
Well, that definitely appears to be the case for me and the Kuji-In and the Kuji-Kiri this past year. With all the teachings and the manuals and the rare document translations that have come my way in just the last six months – with more on the way, as previous posts note – this maxim is coming true in my own spiritual practice.
The most recent positive development in this regard was my weekend (March 7-8) spent in the Northwest Chicago suburb of Naperville, where I was finally able to gain some group practice time as well as some hands-on initiation into the Kuji with Do-shu Thomas Jotoshi Maienza, the head of the Jizaikan organization and a former associate of To-Shin Do Anshu Stephen K. Hayes, the latter being regarded by many as perhaps the most authoritative source in the Western world on the subject of Kuji-In and Kuji-Kiri.
I don’t have the time to get into much detail right now, so keep checking back over the next few days if you will, please. But in the meantime, here are some of the initial key take-aways for me:
- this seminar validated everything I have seen so far from the venerable Francois Lepine, and other sources I’ve referred to in previous posts;
- I got to see and put into group practice, how to arrange one’s practice to facilitate the Kuji-In, and how to cut the Kuji-Kiri grid.
And let me throw this in quickly, if I may: since I’ve returned from the seminar and resumed my own practice in the privacy of my own home and my own little Buddhist alcove, I have noticed a significant boost in the power and intensity of my own practice of the Kuji.
Look for a lot more in some forthcoming posts, one of which will include a warning on the potentially dire karmic consequences one might unleash if practicing the Kuji with an impure motive.
The bottom line? If you are looking to evolve as a human being in ways to facilitate greater and more frequent demonstrations of compassion, you’re good to go. But if you think you’re going to practice this technology to manipulate, exploit or otherwise “get over” on someone else, you risk getting your ass kicked by the Universe. And if you think you’re going to use the Kuji to actually harm someone else, let me know, because I want to get the hell out of your time zone. I want to be nowhere near you, because a great cosmic and karmic boom is about to be leveled upon you.
So, purify your heart by embracing compassion as the motivation for this practice, or stop.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Preparations Made for Chicago Kuji-In Seminar!
Hey, everyone. I have finalized my plans and made all related reservations for a trip later this week to Chicagoland to get my Kuji on.
The Warrior's Edge martial arts school, in Naperville, IL, a northwest suburb of Chicago, plans a Kuji Mind Science Workshop on March 7-8 with Do-shu Thomas Jotoshi Maienza. The Warrior's Edge is affiliated with the Jizaikan school of ninjutsu. More information can be found at the dojo's Web site: http://www.thewarriorsedge.com/.
Mr. Maienza, the head of the Jizaikan organization, which teaches a form of aiki ninjutsu, is a former associate of To-Shin Do Anshu Stephen K. Hayes, regarded by many as perhaps the most authoritative source in the Western world on the subject of Kuji-In and Kuji-Kiri.
I'm scheduled to take a relaxing ride to Chicago via Amtrak so that I can a) maximize my chances of getting to my destination without interference from the weather, and b) relax and review all of my Kuji study materials on the way to and from.
I will, of course, be paying very close to attention to all the materials and every aspect of the instruction, and looking to compare, contrast and otherwise incorporate it all into the material I have received from Buddhist teacher Francois Lepine and other well-informed, confidential sources.
Check back for an update and for my review on the seminar and how it relates to the other teaching sources. I have yet to decide if I'll take my laptop on the train to Chicago. If I do decide to take it, I'll provide some details here as soon as possible.
Stay tuned!
May the sacred Five Elements of the Universe, all Dharma protectors in the three dimensions, and the vast great Divine Mystery that underlies them all, open the way for my participation in this event, and may their blessing be upon all participants.
So be it for the benefit of all sentient beings.
In the name of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
Hai!
-T.N.O.-
The Warrior's Edge martial arts school, in Naperville, IL, a northwest suburb of Chicago, plans a Kuji Mind Science Workshop on March 7-8 with Do-shu Thomas Jotoshi Maienza. The Warrior's Edge is affiliated with the Jizaikan school of ninjutsu. More information can be found at the dojo's Web site: http://www.thewarriorsedge.com/.
Mr. Maienza, the head of the Jizaikan organization, which teaches a form of aiki ninjutsu, is a former associate of To-Shin Do Anshu Stephen K. Hayes, regarded by many as perhaps the most authoritative source in the Western world on the subject of Kuji-In and Kuji-Kiri.
I'm scheduled to take a relaxing ride to Chicago via Amtrak so that I can a) maximize my chances of getting to my destination without interference from the weather, and b) relax and review all of my Kuji study materials on the way to and from.
I will, of course, be paying very close to attention to all the materials and every aspect of the instruction, and looking to compare, contrast and otherwise incorporate it all into the material I have received from Buddhist teacher Francois Lepine and other well-informed, confidential sources.
Check back for an update and for my review on the seminar and how it relates to the other teaching sources. I have yet to decide if I'll take my laptop on the train to Chicago. If I do decide to take it, I'll provide some details here as soon as possible.
Stay tuned!
May the sacred Five Elements of the Universe, all Dharma protectors in the three dimensions, and the vast great Divine Mystery that underlies them all, open the way for my participation in this event, and may their blessing be upon all participants.
So be it for the benefit of all sentient beings.
In the name of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
Hai!
-T.N.O.-
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