"To master others is
to be strong;
To master yourself is to be
fearless"
-Lao Tzu
"There is nothing to
fear, but fear itself"
-Winston Churchill
"Be not afraid"
-Pope John Paul II
If you ask a person why they
began the study of martial
arts, you will get many different
answers. They wanted to lose
weight, they wanted to be
able to defend themselves,
they wanted to improve themselves,
or maybe they just wanted
to be a tough guy. The reasons
are as varied as the people
themselves. What these answers
have in common is their underlying
motivation, which most people
don't recognize. That motivation
is that they want power over
their own lives; they wish
to find courage, strength
and grace. And whether they
realized they were seeking
these things or not, the martial
arts offer a well traveled
path to finding them.
The study of Sanchin is a
unique teaching vehicle. It
is incredibly simple, yet
mystifyingly complex. It juxtaposes
elements which most people
see as separate and unifies
them. The practice of Sanchin
clears the mind, calms the
spirit and focuses the body.
It seems to be just what many
people crave in an increasingly
chaotic world. Much of the
study of the martial arts
and Sanchin is focused on
the body. The body is a physical
being and most easily recognized
as a vehicle for training.
In terms of Sanchin, or the
Three Battles, the battles
the physical body must engage
in are against disease, old
age and death. These are universal
battles, shared by every living
organism. It is a blunt recognition
by the human intellect that
all things are one. These
are battles which we are ultimately
destined to lose. For that
reason, they are all the more
worth fighting, even though
all we can wage is a delaying
action.
This moves us on to the three
battles of the mind. Humans
are, arguably, the only beings
on the planet with knowledge
of our own mortality. Therefore,
we wish to make the most of
our time here. This is where
the most familiar concept
(at least to martial artists)
comes in. By unifying the
mind, body and spirit, we
seek to come to harmony with
our selves and fight that
delaying action for as long
as possible. The mind is the
key here. We are striving
to be mindful creatures, and
the mind controls the body.
But how does one try to train
the ineffable quality of the
spirit? The spirit can be
said to be that questing,
sentient part of us which
asks, "Isn't there something
more?" The battles of
the spirit are really epic
quests. The spirit seeks grace,
honor and courage. Many people
seek these qualities outside
themselves, believing that
they do not possess them.
They seek in vain, for the
most part. The three battles
of the spirit are fought within.
To achieve mastery in these
battles, courage is essential.
It is the wellspring from
which grace and honor flow.
But what is courage?
Courage is certainly not
the absence of fear. The absence
of fear is just foolishness.
All living creatures experience
fear. It lets us know that
we are in danger. But that
is not the type of fear that
we humans know. As sentient
beings, we also possess the
ability to create our own
demons. A child is afraid
of the dark. A man is afraid
to fly. A woman is afraid
to leave an abusive relationship.
All these fears spring from
"What if..." or
the unknown. Simply put, we
are afraid of what we imagine
might happen. Many people
build cages out of their own
fears, most of which have
no basis except in our own
minds (anyone seen Pink Floyd's
"The Wall"?).
A child imagines monsters
in the dark when in reality;
there is nothing there that
is not there in the light.
A man fears the newscasts
of plane crashes despite the
reality that thousands of
airplanes safely transport
millions of people every day.
The woman fears to leave a
situation that while extremely
unpleasant and even dangerous,
is at least familiar. These
people are not cowards. They
suffer from no huge moral
defect. They need to master
themselves, their minds and
their fears. Courage, then,
is not to be without fear,
but to face and confront those
fears and put them in their
proper perspective in relationship
to one's life. It is not letting
fear control one's life and
actions. Courage requires
looking at the unknown with
a sense of adventure rather
than trepidation. It is the
thought that the "what
if..." may just as well
be pleasant as unpleasant.
It is accepting what one cannot
change and also forgiving
one's self for being human
and making mistakes. Courage
has now given way to grace,
which then gives rise to honor
or nobility.
Humans of all cultures have
aspired to this ideal of nobility
of spirit since we could ask
"Isn't there something
more?", and that ideal
remains remarkable (or perhaps
not so remarkably) the same
down through the cultures
and ages. Every human has
the potential for great courage,
grace and nobility. But these
are not innate human conditions.
They need to be encouraged,
nurtured, tended and grown.
The natural human condition
is to go with the flow, stay
with the familiar and not
break from the herd. It takes
courage to grow and become
something better. It takes
courage to change. But with
encouragement and support,
everyone is capable of it.
Examine yourself and ask some
tough questions, then go out
and encourage someone else
to be courageous, to be honorable,
and to act nobly. We are guides
on this road that others are
trying to walk after us. We
can look to others who walked
it before, and we must look
to others who are behind us.
Don't give up on someone just
because they've fallen down.
Everyone falls from time to
time. It isn't how bad the
fall is, but whether you get
back up and keep going. And
most importantly, don't give
up on yourself.
Thanks for letting me wax
philosophical for a while.
Yours in the dao;
Susan Owen
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