Unification of Mind and Body/ Becoming One with the Universe

Hello Wonderful True Aiki Readers,

Recently I received a wonderfully inspirational letter from a friend.
 He had an epiphany that he was both excited about and wished to share.
 This individual is unique in that he has reached the highest levels in
both most respected of the “hard sciences” and the “soft sciences.”  His
passion and chosen occupation is as an international “problem solver.” Now, one
doesn’t engage the services of a “problem solver” unless one’s regular means of
problem resolution have “run dry.”  So, one can well imagine that “problems”
this individual is tasked with “solving” are quite challenging.  

He shared that a recent situation that had been most challenging had reached
a turning point and an optimal resolution had been achieved.
 Understandably, this was gratifying.  Yet, within the same day,
circumstances changed such that it threatened the success that moments before
had seemed assured.  Naturally, this was a disconcerting turn of events.
 What came next was what was shared with me.  Rather than give up, place
blame, or make excuses, and/or quit, he chose the path less traveled.  He
realized that the only power he had over any and all individuals involved was
the power to change himself.  With that realization came the epiphany that
both related to Aikido practice and Life.  So, that is how he approached
the situation.  He found equilibrium within himself and brought that to
the table.

Here there is a parallel between several of Ueshiba Morihei’s teachings.
 Our physical strength ends at the farthest physical extension of our
body.  Specifically, the outermost layer of one’s body is the skin, and
the skin reaches only as the circumference described by our arms, legs and
torso.  The same can be said of others.  Yet, we often make the
mistake of thinking, and therefore acting, as though we had physical control
outside our bodies (telekinesis).  We do not.  Therefore, sort of
thinking and acting is sub-optimal.   Rather, it is optimal to align one’s
thinking with the reality that one’s physical control resides within the sphere
of one’s physical domain, and therefore it is best to concentrate one’s efforts
on learning how to best control what actually is in one’s control.  This
understanding is captured in the saying, “Masakatsu Akatsu.”  

Of course, all that one’s physical being comes into contact with is in turn
influenced by the actions of one’s physical being.  Therefore, if one
wishes to have control over that influence one must necessarily learn to
control one’s own physical action.  Naturally this involves the mind, one
controls one’s physical body via the mind (and vice versa).  Therefore, if
one wishes to control the body one must necessarily learn to firs control one’s
mind.  Anyone that has made an effort to finely control one’s own bodily
functions will readily attest to the fact that doing so can be more challenging
than one imagined it to be.  Often the difficulty lies not in lack of
physical control but in lack of development of mental control.  Similarly,
those that have bothered to take the time to observe and perhaps influence
one’s own cognition have found that one’s mind is equally as challenging to
control as one’s body, if not more so.  

Considering this, one can begin to see the irony of seeking to control
another’s body/mind when one has little experience of controlling one’s own
body/mind.  This leads to another consideration.

In many schools of Aikido there is the idea of Mind/Body unification.
 What I like to point out is that the notion mind and body as separate
entities is a false dichotomy.  Where living people are concerned, there
is no (empirically provable) mind separate from body and no body separate from
mind.  Such a dichotomy is actually a delusory narrative that has no basis
in observable fact.  So, when we talk about mind/body unification, in
actuality we are pointing to an already present condition.  The act of
unifying mind and body is really the process overcoming the delusion of
mind/body dichotomy and discovering the state that already exists.  The
reason that this is so powerful is because it better reflects reality.

The same can be said for Unification of self and the Universe.  This
too is a common claim of an outcome of Aikido and other forms of training, Yoga
for example.  Self and Universe too is a false dichotomy.  To assert
this dichotomy, one must necessarily assert that there is a self (usually one’s
“own” self) that is separate and distinct from the Universe.  Of
course, this is a contradiction even at the semantic level.  If the
Universe is all of space and all of the matter and energy there-in, how can
there be a “self” separate from that?  If the definition of a whole is
“the sum of all parts,” how can there be a “part” separate from the whole that
needs to be unified with it?  Either the whole isn’t, because it is missing
a part. Or the part isn’t because it is not separate from the whole.  

Once again, the process of “becoming one with the Universe” is actually the
process of realizing that “one” was never, and could never, truly be separate
from the whole, but much like a rebellious teenager strongly asserted one’s
“own” independence and autonomy all the while relying upon the presence and
benevolence of the source of one’s being.

In the end, the idea is simple.  It is best to align one’s self with
reality, even though it isn’t necessarily easy or safe because doing so
necessarily transforms or transcends one’s idea of one’s own self.  

Nevertheless, this is the Aikido that Ueshiba described.  

There is one more bit to add, but I will save that for a new post!

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