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It is almost the Winter Solstice ... the time to pause, reflect and to gather our intent for future growth (otherwise known today as New Year's resolutions). It is a time to be still and experience the stillness ... at time to see where I am going when the time for movement returns once more.

With that in mind, I offer the commentary below, written by Dave Lowery in Sword & Brush, ... it reminds me of Sanchin kata.


... The gaze of the bugeisha in the midst of confrontation is as cold as snow, while penetrating with a heated intensity. It is the a manisfestation of his zanchin. ... Zanchin, "the spirit that lingers on," is an inevitable charcteristic of the more experienced bugeisha. He exhibits it in the most chaotic moments of battle as well as in the periods of his life that are perfectly peaceful.

... The beginner is apt to mistake a fierce grimace and a stance of rigid aggression for zanchin. But such artifice is only a caricature that cannot be maintained for very long. It is too exhausting an effort, and misses the point. True zanchin dveloped over a lengthy period of rigorous training is never so concentrated a force. It is not a tsunnami, a single wave expended at one place in one moment and then gone.

Zanchin is like a great ocean, bottomless and alive with latent, surging energy. Like rhythmic pounding of its surf, which echoes beyond the rance of its actual sound, the force of zanchin lingers on....

Anthony -- Some Phoenix crash every weekend. Good luch with bearing it. -- Allen

Anthony...

The Phoenix is a catalyst and knows how to dance with void energy. An ally and companion to the great Thunderbeings, the Phoenix knows hows to use fire to separate the subtle from the gross. It burns away all that is not necessary, so that the spirit may be liberated and dance free once more.

Take with you in to your cave its mineral totem, the lava rock. Aligning with the lava rock can help you learn about depth, intensity, change and the fire that is at the very core of your own being. Lava rock can awaken self by gaining insight on how to burn away any of the spiritual/emotional garbage that stands in the way of your soul's growth. So, that when you do become the Phoenix, you can fly freely to the Sun and Stars without fear of too much light.

From one Cosmic Surfer to another ... Surf's up! Jackie

[This message has been edited by Jackie Olsen (edited 12-20-98).]

Hello Jackie,

I have heard similar rumors about molten lava.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you.

Allen

[This message has been edited by moulton (edited 12-20-98).]

Jackie:
What a beautiful passage! You're right. . . it's Sanchin!

Peace and happy holidays

George

"Zanchin, 'the spirit that lingers on.'"

Lowry gives a very poetic description. Zanchin has also been described as an acute state of alertness, awareness of all that is around us...

The phenomena around us are, however, are not constant. While many get caught with linear thinking -- believing that things must "progress" straight up or down, the reality is often comprised of cycles. There are moments of contraction and expansion, be it in sanchin, battle, life or the seasons. Zanchin allows us to perceive those cycles and flow more effectively with them.

We are approaching the nadir of the season, the darkest and longest of night. With Zanchin, we perceive it. With the right mind and spirit, we accept it.

Next week, I shall retire with my family to the cabin in the woods of Maine. I shall slow down and try to accept the beauty even in the harsh and stark environment. Somewhere beneath the browns, greys and whites of the land, as the Bette Middler song goes, "lies the seed that in the Spring becomes the rose..."

Happy holidays and best wishes for the new year.

david

Anthony,

Your Obsidian Stone sounds beautiful. I have one, too, that is an egg-shape with an almost amber color swirl in the center. The stone is most appropriate for taking into your cave. It is associated with earth energy and teaches one how to be grounded and clarifies your inner state. I call it my looks-within stone, because it teaches me how to go deep within.

David:

What a beautiful cermemonial ritual for you and your family to retreat to the woods. It sounds nurturing and cozy.

I also appreciate your comments on zanchin... especially " Zanchin allows us to perceive those cycles and flow more effectively with them." One of my biggest challenges in life is learning how to go with the flow. The Native Americans have a saying that is similar in that when the Great Spirit moves, we must know when to jump.

I am not a huge Star Trek Next Gen fan... but in the new movie that is just out, I loved the idea of timelessness, staying in the moment that the Bailuks (sp)embodied. In Sanchin, there is that same opportunity of experiencing timelessness ... if only for a moment.

Happy Holidays to you and yours, too!

Jackie

Ahh yes, that sense of "timelessness" found in sanchin - found also in love - even if only for a moment out of time!

The longest night - many moments in our life seem timeless in the endurance of the pain, suffering or other apparent absence or distance of light/love - yet like David quotes from the song - somewhere within that darkness lies the seed...

"The faith waiting in the heart of a seed promises a miracle of life which it cannot prove at once." <Tagore>

Everything being temporal - from sanchin to our existence on this earth - learning from a butterfly in the knowing that each stage in our life is but a moment in time - much as we cling to what we think we must...we must release the light to gain it back again.

"Light accepts darkness for his spouse for the sake of creation."<Tagore>

Sitting on a board a few months back I heard a great response to the oft repeated question "why do you study karate?"

The response was: "It is how I create my universe." <Tony "the man" Licalzi>

Peace and renewal as you create your universe,
Lori

Lori-san ... ever since you posted your thoughts on this subject, I have found that the words really resonate within me like a clear bell saying "wake up, Jackie, wake up and remember."

Thank you for sharing your insights, your peace and abundant spirit. In honor of "creating my universe," I will do a Sanchin at midnight tonite.

Happy New Year to all ...