The quieter you become the more you are able to hear. - Rumi
The spirit of the warrior is rooted in learning to listen. In our dojo, Aikido training is conducted in silence or rather in the practice of chinmoku (沈黙) or “silence.” Both teachers and students are not supposed to be engaged in excessive or loud talking. The main reason for this quietness is to not distract others from their training, but there is a deeper reason. Sound, whether it be music or talking, can disable us from finding our true center or the sound that resides within us. This inner sound or vibration in Hindi is called nada (नाडा) or “The premise that the entire cosmos and all that exists in the cosmos, including human beings, consists of vibrations.” In an interview, 3rd Doshu, Moriteru Ueshiba touched upon this when he said, “When you practice and your mind is still or in mushin (無心) your movements are spontaneous and [you’re] in [a] premeditated silence almost a state of nothingness [and] being combined with the universe. The Founder referred to this as sumikiri (澄み切り) or being [in] a state of stillness or a clear state of mind. Sumikiri is reached through [the] practice of using mushin and concentration.” There is a link between our brains and our nervous systems which can be seen in the movement of our tongues. When our minds are relaxed and calm, our tongues are relaxed or do not move. When we are thinking or talking, our tongues become rigid or move. Thus, when we are practicing and talking we are not able to get into the relaxed state of mushin and cannot reach sumikiri or nada. Most of us don’t know how to actively listen and are generally just waiting for our turn to talk and so getting into this state is not something that we are used to. Thus, we need to learn to be quiet and learn to listen so that we can hear the sound, vibration or voice that exists inside of us and that is why the spirit of the warrior is rooted in learning to listen.
Today’s goal: Try your best to spend time in quietude and listen. What is your inner sound trying to say?