Inner Warrior

Naiteki Bushi [内的武士] 

Field of battle in one’s own mind, self-psych … training the psych to deal with the triune or three brains, with emphasis on the monkey, followed closely by the lizard 🦎 and human brains 🧠. How one must train the mind to deal with itself for self is our most dangerous challenge.

Here follows a list of suggested subjects necessary to prepare and be vigilant in self-protection.

It is impossible to achieve proficiency in conflict and violence if you are unable to achieve emotional maturity of oneself. 

Subjects:

• triune brains
• cognitive dissonance 
• emotional maturity
• mind chatter
• Know your inner critic.
• Explore your own feelings.
• Talk to your inner critic.
• self-talk
• self-reflection 
• self, situational and environmental awareness 
• active listening 
• knowing others, in their shoes walks you
• patience in balance with character & personality 
• proper self programming of the subconscious 
• dealing with insecurities 
• beliefs vs. reality 
• moving meditation 
• beware biases 
• deep diaphragmatic breathing 😮‍💨 
• accept mistakes, especially your own
• gut instincts 
• proper attitudes
• permission 
• seiza mokuso meditation 🧘 
• chemical dump
• the freeze 🥶 
• self-esteem 
• survival guilt
• the unexpected 
• its not personal 
• fear, anger, confusion, doubt and despair 😩 within …
• egoism, arrogance and conceit; selfishness and intolerance 
• responding to others
• reality
• change how you see, hear and feel to change.

Examples:

Discursive thinking — going around in circles with our thoughts — does not get us far. We often haphazardly stray from one thought to another; the chain of association may keep us spinning our wheels without gaining traction.

Self-critical thoughts are also common ways that we stray from the present moment. We may be operating from core beliefs that we’re not good enough, smart enough, or attractive enough. We may notice self-talk such as, “What’s wrong with me?” or “That comment was dumb,” or “When will I ever find a good relationship?”

Self-criticism has many faces. It might be a subtle push toward producing better work, or it might be an aggressive or abusive assertion that you’re wrong, bad or seriously flawed.

Self-critical thoughts have two things in common, they’re very painful, and they’re founded on the belief that you’re not good enough.

ukiyo [浮世] living in the moment, detached from the bothers of life (the floating world).

One method to train the psych-self is to perform an analysis of your thoughts and then question those thoughts. 

Another method is to write down the thoughts that are in your head so they make you become more self-aware, and so you can see the conflicts in your thoughts as you go back to the entries in your notebook.

Writing in a notebook or other private, contemplative writing is a valuable tool for investigating and settling those conflicting thoughts and delivering a feeling of mental clarity and ease. 

Example: 

• notice your surroundings 
• avoid multitasking, focus on one thing at a time
• be grateful for what you are each moment
• accept things as they are, not how you think they should be
• practice mindful meditation 🧘 
• be mindful of all you do
• breathe, deep diaphragmatic breathing 😮‍💨 
• take equal time to rest and relax from doing what you do
• movement, keep moving 
• Make A Commitment to Remain Present. Remaining in the present moment is going to require a degree of effort and commitment.
• enjoy being where you are
• learn to recognize when your mind strays to past or future, breathe and return to the present 
• eat, enjoy the senses in the process
• slow down when you sense your moving to fast
• resist the influence of others and stay steady with what you are doing in the moment.

Another method is to associate with a person(s) who are narcissistic and use gaslighting, but you really do have to understand and remain aware of that personality type so you don’t spiral down into depression, etc.; research both ND and gaslighting for they give you the particulars and concepts that must remain foremost in your mind because it is so insidious you could find yourself trapped - not good.

Remember, it is this that will be encountered in one form or another in conflicts be they simple disagreement or full on attacks of the physical kind.

—— another training method

Zen, in the studies the term provides a key to opening the door to one’s mind as to self awareness to such levels as described.

Kenshō (見性) is a Japanese term from the Zen tradition. Ken means "seeing", shō means "nature, essence". It is usually translated as "seeing one's (true) nature", that is, the Buddha-nature or nature of mind. Kenshō is an initial insight or awakening, not full Buddhahood.

Key here is, “Ken sho can only be attained by yourself through your own self-awakening in your mind and body.” You cannot attain this state of being from others.

“Since the meaning is ‘seeing one's own true nature,’ kenshō is usually translated ‘self-realization.’ Like all words that try to reduce the conceptually ungraspable experience of enlightenment to a concept, this one is also not entirely accurate and is even misleading, since the experience contains no duality of ‘seer’ and ‘seen’ because there is no "nature of self' as an object that is seen by a subject separate from it.” - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenshō

In short, Kensho (or enlightenment) “described here as an insight into the identity of one's own naturewith all of reality in an eternal now (in the now or the act of being present in the moment), as a vision that removes all distinctions.”

In karate, one does mokuso before and after training and as an introduction to a meditative practice that is turning one’s scrutiny from outside to the inner self. This is critical in surviving conflict and/or violence regardless of levels of severity. The benefits of meditative practices reaches far above and beyond karate, martial practices and fense.

Also:

“Kensho is insight, an understanding of our essential nature or the nature of mind, the perceiving subject itself.”

Another matter to focus on is the nature of the mind as it pertains to cognitive dissonance, or “the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.”

This topic must be scrutinized closely as its influence is often what places obstacles in our effort especially as it pertains to fense, conflict and violence of one’s survival or self-protection. Note: “Cognitive dissonance can be problematic if you start to justify or rationalize destructive behaviors.”

As a start, research this phenomenon then look to your inner self for:

Signs you might be experiencing cognitive dissonance include:

• General discomfort that has no obvious or clear source
• Confusion
• Feeling conflicted over a disputed subject matter
• People saying you're being a hypocrite
• Being aware of conflicting views and/or desired but not know what to do with them

“The key is identifying it, assessing it, and figuring out how to resolve it,” research states. “You have to identify which values are yours and which values are someone else's. And if you're taking on someone else's values, then you have to ask yourself why?”

All this is to reflect and reveal kensho in your mokuso and as you gain kensho you reveal concepts that make training and practice a positive way, a wholehearted way, and the “one” way.

Bibliography:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/what-it-really-means-to-be-in-the-present-moment#1

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenshō