By Paulo Coelho
The art of peace
Continuing the theme in Warrior of the Light #35, I’d like to say some more about Aikido, one of the few martial arts I have ever practiced. Created by the Japanese master Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969), the word means "The art (or way) of peace." I remember spending endless nights with my companions, learning to fight in such a way that the adversary’s negative energy is directed against himself.
Ueshiba, who is known by those who practice Aikido as "The Grand Master", left behind a series of philosophical practices, during his conferences, in his poetry and conversations with disciples. Here are a few of his main teachings.
Where to begin the art of peace
The art of peace begins inside you; work to manage to keep it at your side. Everyone has a spirit which can be perfected, a body which can be trained, and a path to follow.
You are here to fulfill these three tasks, and to do so two things will be necessary: maintain calm, and practice the Art in everything you do. None of us needs money, power or status in order to practice the Art; at this precise moment you are one step away from Paradise, and should train now.
The universe and man
The whole universe comes from the same source. This source, which we call life, contains our past, the present, and the future. As man moves forward, he can either dissolve or harmonize his vital energy. Evil is born the moment we start to believe that that which belongs to all, belongs only to ourselves; this causes pride, useless desires, and anger. But anyone not possessed by things, eventually becomes lord of all.
Man and the eight forces
In order to practice the Art of Peace, one must at some point delve alternately into the eight opposing forces which make up the Universe:
Movement and inertia
Solidity and adaptation,
Contraction and distention,
Unification and division.
These are present in everything, from the vast space to the smallest plants; each thing carries a gigantic reserve of universal energy, which can be used for the benefit of all.
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I don’t know if there is such a word in English, but in my native language we talk about an Artist of Life, meaning a person able to feel happy in life. What makes us happy? Is Michael Phelps happy now that he got eight Gold medals in the Olympics? Studies show, first of all it’s our social connections, family and friends, to feel loved, that will determine how happy we are. Norway has been decided the best country in the world to live in several times, because people there get free education, free health care and other benefits like long vacations and as many sick days as needed, so on. In my opinion my dad was an Artist of Life. First of all he though us humor, should I say the Art of Humor. Smile to the world and the world will smile back.
For some reason this text reminded me of the teaching that my spiritual Teacher gave few years ago. In his teaching he encouraged his students to view themselves as a part of body of life. The body of life is made of all living beings and we ourselves are just a part of it. In the same way the hand would remove the thorn from the the foot, we want to remove suffering of other living beings. We tend to think that we are the most important person in the universe but regarding ourselves as just the part of the whole opens our mind and heart for others. Furthermore we should think that we are actually least important part of the body of life like fingernail or flaky skin. This is a step leading eventually to accepting even more profound view that others are more important then ourselves. When we fully realize that, the door of freedom will open for us.
How do you know so much, do you have directly contact with God…?
Just wondering
Belong to your own part, yourself…and share it with all.
Love
All Ways
Hildegarde
The best way of fighting is not to react, not to fight in fact! :-)Just remain calm, positive and negativity cannot win because good is infinitely more important than evil, but is is more discreet and that’s why we have to look for its manifestations as we don’t find them on a silver plate. We are part and parcel of the whole, everyone has equal rights in the eyes of God, but it depends on us what we are and do. We can have direct contact with God by being ourselves, having trust and becoming the Light of the Spirit, of Love!
Affectionately,
Carmen Larisa