Throwback Thursday - The Power of Thought
Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on January 18, 2005.
Real & Un-Real: The Power of Thought
In the physical, real world, it is easy to say, "O'Sensei is passed away and gone." In the spiritual world, he is still alive and well and always watching over us. As long as we know or believe O'Sensei is here with us - we always must correct our practice and do good deeds.
Whether we can prove his presence with us or not by science is not the point in our practice. As a way to guide and instruct our selves and develop our Aikido practice, it is always better for him to be “here.” Sometimes, when we think in a certain way, it is good for us and helps us to lead better lives.
In the old days, there was no real proof that smoking was bad for us. For some, it is quite deadly and for some, there was no effect at all. However, it is simply better for ourselves, whether it is true or not, to think that smoking is bad for us and then not even try it.
Some people may find this silly. We think we are only directed by the real facts in daily life but if we look carefully, we will discover more than anything, we are directed by impressions, and judgements and ideas which are not necessarily true at all.
In the tea ceremony, we try to think of ourselves as making tea for our guest as if it is the last time we will ever see them again. This is called ichigo ichie ( 一期一会). Of course, it is not true, and we might see them in our next practice but in thinking this way, we find that we can draw the energy and effort to make the best tea possible for someone else.
On the other hand, I used to have a student who thought that whatever he did was better than anyone else. He always thought that he was better than others. He was always disappointed in life and, of course, he could never understand why. This led to a lot of disappointment, confusion, and frustration in his life. Many things are like this in life and even in our Aikido practice.
The other day, I read about a photographer who was blind. This seems impossible in theory, but in real life, it is quite true. Many years ago, when I was quite young, the best Muso Ryu Jo teacher in Japan only had one leg. Can you imagine to do Jo with only one leg? If we think that something is impossible, then it is quite possible to be impossible. When we go ahead and think, "I can do it," whether something is seemingly impossible or not - we probably can do it. I am a firm believer in this.
The other day we were discussing how to teach Aikido to a person who is blind. Of course, if they say to themselves, "How can I do Aikido if I am blind?” maybe they can't do it at all. Of course, if they say to themselves, “I can do it whether I am blind or not," then I think that energy drives them to become very good at Aikido despite their lack of vision.
If we want to become very good in Aikido, we can certainly do it. The main point is whether we believe it or not.
Watch this video of Furuya Sensei demonstrating and explaining Aikido in 1988.