Body Therapy as an aspect of Contemporary Buddhist Philosophy.
An aspect of non-contemporary Buddhism sive Buddhism sive Omni centrism sive not omni centrism via and by avoiding the way of the deepest wisdom for the sake of becoming a "real person", demon, god, Buddha and thereby not existing.

I don't suppose that the above follows the convention of a thesis statement so I prefer to restate the above in a more pragmatic and risky way. I hope to write a paper that to some extent documents my experiences to date with body therapy, thinking, experiencing, and what changes I think have manifested within me. The second half of the above thesis speaks of the overall philosophy of this paper. I hope to draw connections for the reader between my (or human / animal) mind/body, the doctrine or expressions of truth found in Buddhism, and the possible result of this collision as the crystallizing of a real person. This however is limited by culture and semantics and so I will begin this paper by giving a traditional and an alternative definition of a "real person"

By cutting and pasting a definition of the word "real" with a definition of the word "person" I was able to come up with the following definition of a "real person":
The composite of characteristics, having verifiable existence, that makes up an individual personality: Being or occurring in fact or actuality a self. I find this to be a surprisingly acceptable definition. From a non-Buddhist point of view, the above definition would be satisfactory as a dictionary definition but it is too illusory to give much comfort in their daily lives. Characteristics might be personality, memory, body, soul, and genes that manifest themselves as a real person; one who's self is seemingly unchanging despite whatever happens to any one of the building blocks.

From a Buddhist point of view I would say that the above definition is also surprisingly acceptable… especially in terms of local coherence. From a traditional Buddhist view the characteristics might include the five aggregates, chi, mind/heart, and so on. This definition also lends itself to the deconstruction of ego through mindfulness meditation and daily awareness. So, here is where the discrepancy between conventional and alternative definitions of "real person" may lie. Because once you are aware that the supposed self is actually just a temporary aspect of the collective "building-block" characteristics which are themselves impermanent as well due to the doctrines of dependent co-arising and quantum physics.

To be blunt and un tactful I will go ahead and say that an alternative definition for a real person would be a person who had awakened to cosmic reality. Now saying it like this opens me up to a lot of criticism so I will make some attempt to justify and explain this. First of all, I am aware of and will agree with the statement that an unenlightened human is as much of a real person as an enlightened one. At the same time it is equally true that the two do have physical and mental differences and that it would also be valid to say that neither nor or both of them are really humans in that neither the words nor their definitions do much in universal coherence to clarify the issue of what we are trying to point our fingers at. I could proceed along this line of thought using "the three truths" of Tientai Buddhism as my basis but there is really no end to the compounding or depth of inclusiveness that can be allowed, assumed, or imagined, and as to avoid an infinite regress I'll try to leave it at that. The more that I chant Maka Hanya Haramita Shingyo (Heart Sutra) I come to realize that these words, their definitions, and the supposed "things" that they represent are all devoid of form and thus ultimately they exist in a state (or do not exist) of omni centrism and emptiness.

I got the idea to refer to a "master" as a "real person" while reading Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. Early in the book, Musashi (one of Japan's most famous sword masters) was quite unruly. He got into all sorts of trouble and relied on brute strength and animal instinct. Having murdered many soldiers who were chasing him (an act that could have been avoided if he had used his head instead of his brawn) he was finally captured by the cunning of a Zen monk named Takuan. Takuan placed Musashi in a cell with no windows for 3 years. For 3 years Musashi never heard another human voice and had only the light of a lamp. He did have provided for him, however, many classic books in Chinese and Japanese such as The Art of War. At the end of 3 years time, Takuan came to relieve Musashi of his sentence and overwhelmed with the joy of hearing another human's voice, especially that of Takuan's, Musashi thanked him profusely. In his time in solitude he was able to contemplate his actions, face his inner demons, and get a glimpse of what it means to really be alive.

As Musashi progressed on a journey of both landscape and self-improvement he came upon masters who easily humbled Musashi who was fairly egotistical. Even though he could beat most opponents easily with his sword, these great men could easily beat him with their words, their eyes, their chi, their art. These men were real people and Musashi strove to one day better them. One way to express the purpose of Zen is so that one may "know thy self" (Zen Action Zen Person, T.P. Kasulis). A famous Zen koan asks "Show me your face before your parents were born, show me your original face." And it is also said that one must return to his inherent perfect wisdom, to rediscover their Buddha nature.

This is my alternative definition of a "real person". One who has transcended the dualistic mind of a worldly person and is able to see things unobstructed by delusions.

So, now that we are on the same semantic page, I would like to delve back into the non-thesis of this paper. So we have a paradigm of a "real person" which may be manifest as a bodhisattva or Buddha or some other kind of sentient being liberated from delusions of suffering and in accord with the universe has some sort of direct experience of wu wei, the great void. I must add that I cannot verify at this moment if this paradigm exists outside of my conceptual imagination or not or if this matters at all. But I can say that I've seen (to a small extent) and heard of (to a larger extent) people who have cultivated a way or The Way as it were and been pretty impressed by their presence. This too could just be an aspect of my own delusions but even if all of these impressions turn out to be empty of meaning and form in the end, I find such imagery to be fun and inspiring, or one might say pragmatically useful, at this time in my life.

As a real person, in the conventional sense of the word, I have been made aware of the possibility of becoming a Real Person by way of courses in university, books on Buddhism, Taoism, martial arts, poetry, and fantasy, great teachers, mentors, and friends, and last but not least my collective experiences that include the prior examples of influence but also involve a lifetime of experimenting with the (my) sensory organs and the data that they've collected. This linear history and probably, in addition, unknown (to me, for now) non linear karmas have gone into giving birth at this very moment the latest version of myself.

In this fashion, the current myself has come to a view that cultivation of the way is fun and interesting and, at this point, even compulsory. Sometimes people ask me "why do you meditate?" and I'm at a bit of a loss of words to answer them. A funny transformation has happened to me, especially over the past 6 years where I find it more and more difficult to talk to "normal" people without worrying that I sound like a geek or a new-age hippy. That is to say that, I think, my interests in computers, Japanese animation, eastern thought and tradition, and electronically produced music have been in depth enough that there does not exist enough common vocabulary to hold a meaningful conversation with those who's interests lie wholly outside and unrelated to mine.

The computer thing has become a lot more acceptable, as of late, but talking about subjects such as kendo which require talking about chi ( ? , ki, qi, life energy) as a matter of fact becomes difficult. What I mean by vocabulary, of course includes language or actual words but I'm also using it to convey cultural archetypes. In my circle of friends I can speak freely as we share the same subcultures but with an outsider I run the risk of sounding a bit odd. When posed with a question like "So, why do you meditate?" it is as if I were being posited with "so, why do you breath?" I usually give an answer that I find awkward and probably unsatisfactory or unintelligible like "I'm training to become a samurai" which tends to sound a bit ludicrous… but easier to swallow than "I am training to become the greatest Buddha ever". Statements like this are usually followed by the question "why do you want to be a Buddha?" and I'm once again faced with the same loss of common ground. "You know… hmm… to have a direct experience of cosmic reality… to realize that I do not exist". And my hole gets deeper and deeper unless I have a lot of time to bring the person up to speed. This being said I would like to talk about some things that I have been practicing in order to cultivate the way and some of my experiences along the way.

Taking inspiration from epic anime adventures such as Dragon Ball Z (loosely based on Journey to the West) and Rurouni Kenshin (a tale of a ronin who has sworn off killing and now uses his sword to protect the common people), I became (and still become) ever more determined to awaken my true potential through training both body and mind. Having a background in Shaolin and Shuai Chiao, I have for a long time had an interest in the martial arts. With the advent of my interest in Buddhism, I soon became aware of the important and intrinsic intertwining of Zen and martial arts after reading such books as The Complete Book of Zen and The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu by Wong Kiew Kit, and The Zen Way to the Martial Arts by Taisen Deshimaru. I suppose that I can say that I knew that kung fu (at least in a institutional / refining / research and development sort of way) had come from Shaolin Monastery but I don't think that I had realized that Kung Fu cultivation could be Buddhist cultivation and vise versa. That indeed, the seeds of Shaolin Kung Fu were, according to legend at least, planted by Bodhidharma as an important part of training the minds and bodies of the monks (in order to further their journey towards enlightenment).

The basis for the connection between Zen and martial arts is that martial arts utilize a unity of body, breath, and mind, just as in zazen (seated meditation). Both activities physically change the body in such a way that facilitates a greater tendency towards experiencing samadhi (great awareness or tranquility or perfect total concentration) and even satori (an enlightenment, cosmic realization).

Great Kung Fu styles like Shaolin and Taijiquan are much more than mere fighting arts. It is significant that the original aim of these arts as set by Bodhidharma and Zhang San Feng, the first patriarchs of Shaolin Kung Fu and Taijiquan respectively, was spiritual development. Shaolin Kung Fu at the highest level leads to Zen. (compiled from pages 5-9)

You may ask, "If Zen training or meditation is the path to enlightenment, why bother to practice Shaolin Kung Fu or Shaolin Chi Kung for spiritual fulfillment?" The answer is that if you are not ready, you will achieve little, even if you meditate for years. Shaolin Kung Fu and Shaolin Chi Kung are excellent ways of preparing yourself. Sometimes, even without formal Zen practice, a disciple training in Shaolin Kung Fu or Chi Kung may achieve a high degree of spiritual development, because Zen or meditation is already incorporated in the other two Shaolin arts. (page 197)
(The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu by Wong Kiew Kit)

The martial arts help to keep the body healthy (strong and limber), and their associated energy working systems like chi kung and hara training increase the body's flow of chi. Both activities also increase awareness of body and universe and also increase Shin ( ? , mind energy ). All of the above mentioned characteristics are mutually beneficial. That is to say that strengthening one helps the others to have an affinity towards also strengthening. A pragmatic example of this would be: if one's body is weak he will not have the physical ability to meditate. Likewise, if one's energy is low they will also not have the ability to be mindful. But as I mentioned, these are not 1 on 1 relationships... they are all interconnected aspects of the same mind/body/universe.

In our day and age, everybody wants to save energy and is only half alive. Always halfway, never complete. People are half alive, like a lukewarm bath. (this goes back to my Musashi ideal of the "real person")
You must learn to penetrate life.
The secret of the martial arts, thus, is to learn to direct the mind, ryu gi, to school it in right action. That is the basis of the physical techniques. The mind must become the substance. The mind is a substance without form, but sometimes it has a form.
"When the mind's activity fills the whole cosmos it can seize opportunities, avoid mishaps, attack all things in one." What that means is that in a contest our mind cannot be influenced by any move of the opponent, or by any action of his body or mind. One's own mind must move about freely, without any desire to attack the adversary, yet without ever removing one's attention from him. We must be completely attentive to him, always, at every instant. The same thing is true in our everyday lives.

The pine's shadow is dark
Exactly as the moonlight is bright.

Kodo Sawaki used to say this; it refers to the zanshin mind, the mind that stays put without attaching itself to anything, and remains vigilant, attentive to the present moment and then to the moment that comes after it.
Movement is guided by intuition.
Those who practice zazen can understand that easily. And all who have experience of both martial arts and zazen derive great wisdom and effectiveness from the combination.
(The Zen Way To The Martial Arts by Taisen Deshimaru)

This line of thinking came at just the right time for me as I was reaching an ever more heightened interest in Buddhism, and my urge to continue my martial training once again surfaced. In this way I became quite enthusiastic! "I can kill two birds with one stone! Or, more accurately, by killing two birds, become one stone! Clearly this can be a path that I can travel along in order to follow my inspirations!" And so, at the beginning of last summer (June 2000) I began to train myself by a daily regiment of Shaolin strength training, stretching, chi kung, and zazen. I also began to practice kendo at this time. However, having experience with the prior, kendo was more of an addition… my main aim was in kung fu, with a weapon focus of samurai sword instead of one of the few Chinese weapons with whom I already had some acquaintance.

As the summer progressed, so did my zazen and my kendo, and with the readings that I was now getting into (more Japanese based stuff as apposed to the primarily Chinese based texts of before) I began to make a paradigm shift. The Way of the Samurai has since become my archetype with the sword as my focus. Stylistically, and ideologically I found that this made sense. I guess you could say that The Way of the Samurai was already inclusive of the Confucian, Buddhist, Taoist, and Stylistic paradigms that I had been trying to blend on my own. The support of a co-worker, Richard Bresden, was also paramount this summer as he had been training in the Chicago area for twenty years, or so, and was able to point me in some very interesting directions. One of these directions was his frequent suggestion that I go see a man named Everett Ogawa. "I know this guy named Everett, he does this thing called Zen Body Therapy, I think that you'd really get a lot out of it, you should check it out, have you called Everett yet?" And after about 3 months of that I gave Everett a call. Following my introductory session Richard asked; "so, how was Dr. Pain?"

Body Therapy was developed by William "Dub" Leigh while studying under Ida Rolf, Moshe Feldenkrais, and Tonouye Tenshin Roshi. The combination of these three master body workers' techniques gave way to something very exciting; a system that improves the body through structural integration, functional integration, awareness through movement, and the circulation of vital energy. I can speak on the effects of body therapy first hand. As I write this, I have been through the first nine out of a ten-session program and am currently letting my body settle into its changes before finishing up with the tenth session. I still remember my naivety going into the introductory session. Richard had told me that the ten session program is equivalent to two years of sitting (meditation) and I, of course, jumped at the chance to get a boost in my training. This certainly has happened… but the manner in which it did and is affecting me was and is much different than I had anticipated. The largest disillusion that was broken was thinking that I would be able to passively lay on a table while kinks in my body and mind were worked out… effortless! In reality, a patient of a body therapy practitioner has to put out an equal amount of effort as the practitioner himself. The two have to work together. As a patient I had to (and still have to) learn to submit to Everett's hands and to face the pain. To relax the muscles, release the tension, and allow Everett to go deeper. Being ticklish, I tended to squirm a lot in the beginning but after a stern conversation with Everett I became aware that this is a serious process, and that I have to approach it seriously… and as I began to put more into it I accordingly began to get more out of it. The main goals, if I might be presumptuous to say, are to loosen the psoaz muscles and all of the abdominal area in general. Actually the whole body has to under go change for this to be possible, but the treatment definitely focuses on the abdomen, home of the Hara and the Dantien (Tanden).

As I progressed along through the ten sessions I would leave feeling ecstatic. Full of life as the energy that had been blocked up in my fascia tissue had been set free. In addition, I'm sure that my body was flooded with endorphins from the sometimes painful; massage. In the short term, these sessions could leave me feeling hung over by the end of the day if I hadn't taken the time to drink a lot of water and take a detoxifying salt bath. But in a larger sense (week to week, month to month) I began feeling my body's alignment shifting as my habitual musculature found new ways to balance and move my skeletal structure. Sometimes between sessions you are left a bit out of balance. Between sessions four and five, for instance, it recommend to wait no longer than 72 hours. It's also interesting to note the little aches that come to your attention (due to increased bodily awareness perhaps) that then fade from memory after you have progressed further in the treatments. On daily level I can say that the chronic pain in my shoulders is gone and my sitting, standing, and walking postures are better. I am more aware of my posture at all time… continually training my mind body in hopes of avoiding regression into my former body's state clunky-ness.

On a zazen and martial level the same things are true but there are some additions that come to forefront of my mind. When sitting in Zen meditation I am now rarely plagued with the fidgeting body and tormenting mind that would arise during a 45 minute sit or 8 hour zazenkai before. I sometimes feel a deep warmth coming from my hara, my center, and I will sometimes experience a bliss while sitting that before I might occasionally feel after sitting with subsequent chanting. Pain or discomfort that might arise is easier to deal with as well… I sometimes use a technique of my own, "form no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form, how absurd to be discouraged by a pain so formless!" and that can help. Everett says that when you have pain you can either run from it or confront it. If you go into the pain, through the pain, be one with the pain, and tell it to release, you have a chance of affecting change in your body and increasing your perceptions of what is possible. The same is true in body therapy, sitting, martial arts practice, and I suppose all things in life that are challenging to a sentient being.

I hope that by perusing this endless ideal I will approach being a Real Person… regardless of whether if it's a meaningless (empty?) effort or an actual attainment.