Internal Mindfulness Awareness

"You must let the mindfulness awareness fill you and reveal to you the truth in your own life. You must let them be laid bare, exposed for what they are, and confronted. they will be harsh, some of them. They will be difficult to face. We are creatures who constantly reinvent ourselves and our lives in order to survive the mistakes we have made and the failings we have exposed." - Terry Brooks

A person of good character, of morals, of balanced values, of integrity, and of honor is what we all aspire to as karate-ka. It is a brutal system of fighting that must be tempered with such qualities in order to use it for good, the benefit of self and others. So goes the underlying belief of martial systems. The holder of such knowledge stands upon the edge of a sharp sword, say a katana. On one side is the inherent good of humans and on the other the possible evil of man.

In order to achieve these aspirations one must first look to themselves, within, the true person within each of us. This may be the most difficult cultivation a karate-ka, a person, can accomplish for to do this means a person has to leave any comfort zones and open to both the good and the not so good of human nature.

As we can see in the quote, a person who practices mindfulness, the active awareness of the mind-body, must expose who and what they are and get past the facade we all build for survival sake. Survival in the world of man and the survival in the psychological emotional world.

Look at it as a mental training process that helps one to build upon the character they already posses, to take it to a level few can reach. It may be that the time for this practice has not been reached, it may mean years of practice and training to understand and know when you can actually "see" and "hear" all that resides within us.

Label them, remove the stories attached, let them be felt and know that the emotions triggered in the process are transient, they will go away, all things go away and the cycles are Yin-n-Yang, never ending and character building.

When I read, "We are creatures who constantly reinvent ourselves and our lives in order to survive the mistakes we have made and the failings we have exposed," I find that I too have my comfort zones and when they are exposed, directly or inadvertently, I am amazed at the emotional adrenaline dump crossing the monkey brain shuffle with anxieties, etc., they cause me even today.

Through this process I have identified those survival instincts I created as a youngster to survive that are no longer valid for today's world and my age now. You get caught in these habitual reactions to stimuli that if you are actively aware of them and their effects on the body you realize that this is something you can shed, be rid of, expose for what it is and make it go away. It works, its hard, but, it works!

We are all the same, fundamentally, and that reflects in nature so we can see it and then internalize it. The emotions cycle through our lives much the same as the Earth, Sun, and Moon cycle in and out of our immediate perceptions. Those laid bare habits and truths of ourselves can be either difficult or hard on us or they are easy or soft on our psyches.

If we ignore them they can unbalance our lives to where the negative effects turn our minds and bodies into hurtful, painful and sometimes disease infected. We must find these internal habits, traits, emotions, and such so that our lives, mind-body, achieve equilibrium, balance is the key, to control both sides of the emotional ride so it remains relatively smooth.

Our bodies have the great ability to change. The type of change be it beneficial or detrimental is up to us and we can take some semblance of control to achieve health and well being. We can achieve change of direction through the mind-body present moment mindfulness.

The time a karate-ka must seek this training of the mind-body in dependent on when the opportunity presents itself to each unique individual for it may not be now yet it may suddenly light the candle as they progress. We as Sensei can set the signpost but they must read and decide to follow it.

It is also a means to develop a personal ability to see and hear those things both obvious and those not easily perceived, hidden, waiting deep inside to rise and disrupt or benefit. To be totally aware of them is a way to allow them less control over our lives.

You may now be saying to yourself what the "*&^%" does this have to do with karate/karate-do. Application of any fighting system efficiently and correctly and proficiently requires the person have the correctness to use if for the benefit of self, others, and society. To know your inner self completely and with out shadows, curtains, and buried stuff allows for clarity of action with complete ability to apply it properly and within the expectations of our tribes, society.