The Visible and Invisible

Contributors offers insight into the non-physical side of the Martial Arts, often ignored when discussing self-defense.
maxwell ainley
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The Visible and Invisible

Post by maxwell ainley »

I have started this topic to illuminate if possible some of the ideas in the"All is in Sanchin "topic.
In my own practice I was always interested in experiencing more,not just in martial arts ,but everything I came into contact with .
My first point is: we will experience more ,gradually over the long term ,yet it can be in our patterned learning mode ,part of this patterned learning mode is we can at times be distracted ,or end up going from one distraction to another endlessly ,but some how we still learn or experience ,I get by ?.

The opposite of distraction is focus ,yet there are major pitfalls waiting for the experiencer of more by clinging to focus .
I pointed out that we go from focus to focus endlessly ,or we mix between focus and distraction ,I still experience something in these distractions ,but from a combat viewpoint death can be the close companion of distraction .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

I made lots of ref; to focus in the other thread , such as the focus on nothing but sanchin ,and whilst there is numbers of rewards ,the concept of this focus can be taken at face value and be mis -read .
I presented the idea that this type of focus is difficult to carry out ,any one attempting this would quickly find this fact out via experience ,but lets just go into this focus a bit ,to the casual observer it looks like a serious focus ,but thats on the surface ,really there is a massive struggle with incoming distractions taking place ,the methodology takes focus and distraction by the short and curlys ,the presentation of this is set out so clearly ,yet it lays brooding just like a invisible enemy ,largely unseen .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

I see apprehend distraction in this manner ;its taking place at a alarming rate ,yet the bulk of it is more or less invisible,the more aware we become the more we see this state of affairs ,so we would make the invisible to us [distraction] increasingly more visible .

As we become more focussed ,new distractions surface ,at this point it does not mean we are more aware ,awareness is really a expansion of conciousness ,distractions appear to halt or attempt to halt this expansion .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

We can learn a technique ,and be reasonably proficeint ,yet our attention span as not moved or evolved much ,within this learning, here again correct growth is absent .
A attention span that is evolving on a better parallel with the technique ,a keeping pace will apprehend more of these distractions that are at present totally invisible .

Its this moribund attention span that plauges man and thwarts growth of becoming more conscious [aware] attention span is a major key to this growth ,how its developed is a subject of serious study to any method, a major reason why I don't make deviations from the methodology presented ,is it deals with this issue in no uncertain terms .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

To experience more ,in all things requires making the invisible more visible .But to actually live this way we would have to first of all get to know more about our own unique pattern ,of which I touched upon tidbits of this in other topics .
once we have some idea of our pattern ,which is or can be difficult to see ,because here again certain aspects appear invisible to us ,yet not to others ?.

Its very interesting to me once a focus of a more sustained nature is introduced into a individuals specific pattern ,a few things i noted; are complete rejection ,or a steady coming to terms ,or a welcome ,a point I want to make is this type of study was more or less invisible to me ,yet nowadays its become very visible ,such as effects to various individual patterns .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
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Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

Our pattern is normally infested by various distractions ,the introduction of focus into this pattern ,will illuminate certain areas ,but do nothing to effect others .
A more sustainable type of focus will have a much deeper effect upon our pattern ,i am isolating distractions of the pattern ,as subject study .

Because our lives are under constant bombardment from distraction ,they become invisible ,or can become invisible ,a exercise that illuminates this problem is sanchin .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
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Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

I realised that at a certain point in training that the effects were spilling over into daily life ,in my own case it was from sanchin .now these effects became sort of helpfull in a directional way ,aspects of my daily life became more visible to me ,one of these effects was the endless mini distractions .
In lots of my posts I ref; focus ,but not its counterpart distraction ,which is a major" conflict" of mind body spirit .

Focus on anything ,of which folk do endlessly ,and i will guarantee distractions will follow rapid fire in all thats done .

The sanchin focus I have refered to can be termed a more penetrating focus ,yet there will be penetrating distractions also ,most people live and breath amidst mini focus, so they will invite endless minidistractions ,its these endless mini distractions that go unchecked and strangley enough unseen .
From the large focus ,the more penetrating focus we aquire meaning on this situation ,of how to break out of the endless mini distraction senario .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
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Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
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Post by maxwell ainley »

Endless mini distractions ,remain largly unseen ,same for mini focuses to a great extent .
A focus is a bit like a rudder ,but it only takes on that rudder like effect when mind body and spirit work as one ,a aim of sanchin ,but for now it must be realised we arn't working as one .
We need to apprehend if our focus ,mini type is issuing from one of the three, mind or body or spirit ,and if we truly study this data we would start to gather together our unique pattern .
The body requires something ,its the body that wants ,a mini focus follows ,but en route the mind distracts the body temporary ,by entering the area of yet a older more potent mini focus .

Old habitual deep ingrained patterns will always conflict ,we need to see these mostly invisible patterns that set up mini distractions between mind body and spirit ,a major aim is to make this more visible ,only then can we start to put this type of focus/distraction into the bin .
max ainley
Stryke

Post by Stryke »

A focus is a bit like a rudder ,but it only takes on that rudder like effect when mind body and spirit work as one ,a aim of sanchin
Sanchin is a physical rudder then Max ?, the physical alignment and balance , becoming a habit of the mind and spirit ?

if the mind and spirit dont get inline youll physically not be able to acheive the form ? .

Just some thoughts , I must admit much of your postings are beyond my understanding , but I appreciate the thoughts they inspire .

Good to see you back Max
maxwell ainley
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

Hi Markus,

I do attempt to simplify ,when i first started uechi-ryu I had my own thoughts ,but I was very very physical ,mind body spirit ,I knew of in some type of theory ,yet in retrospect maybe my predominant trait was the physical [body].and I am not saying new things here at all .The body as its own consciousness ,were as there is the tendancy to equate consciousness with the head /brain only ?.
Now if for example I function more via my body there will be more awareness there ,and the head/brain allthough at work will get more feedback from the body ,head / brain is really struggling to keep pace with the volume of experience the body is producing .
And the head /brain is not really expanding its capacity to think ,yet in the methodology I post this is on target ?why ,well a volume of words could or would be needed to explain , but very simply the mind/head /brain is focussed ,developing this focus ,yet the differance its going to be a more penetrating focus ,not a mini focus .
So at the moment the methodology could be termed or bracketed as a penetrating focus ,end result is the rudder of the mind /head brain .

Now in life most people just don't have this penetrating focus ,in turn they do not have this special rudder ?they live their entire lives out ,go to the grave in mini focus ,we can learn lots in mini focus ,yet the methodology I speak of see's all this in no uncertain terms ,its going to deal with it now today ,it does not want endless mini focus ,even though we have to start with it .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

I am attempting to make the methodology more visible ,allthough it mostly lays invisible to the trained eye ,the casual eye as no chance in hell of seeing it .
A major reason why we don't expand consciousness in the three areas is; we tend to live and breathe in mini focus/distraction ,our thoughts are not original they are tagged on ,our new thoughts mostly lay dormant in a invisible area .
Casual is useless ,penetrating is usefull a penetrating focus takes us gradually or instantaeneously away from mini focus and its opposite mini distraction ,the methododology as to eventually reject the casual in us to get at penetrating focus .

You could say ,initially my uechi-ryu started with a penetrating body focus ,no casual focus present in respect of the [body] it would appear to oneself to be ,sanchin a physical rudder .
my task was to get to know every feeling present in the methodology ,sort of making the invisible more visible ,a penetrating focus can acheive this ,taking things for granted will not .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

If this method produces a rudder ,makes special efforts to aquire it ,a major fault or attachment and deception ,would be to take it as the mind its self ,

Mini focusses are or can also be taken as the mind ,they steer for very short durations ,then we have a rudderless situation inbetween ,yet because the switch from one to the other can happen so frequently its hardly identified for what it is .
A rudder holds the mind on course ,it will not deviate so easy as the mini focus does .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

So a focus acts as a type of rudder ,it keeps the mind on course ,and again it follows that if the focus is of the mini variety a deviation or a distraction will come into existance ,and at the moment I make ref; to inner distractions coming from the individual ,surfacing then creating a deviation .
Then we have the more obvious the outer type ,my original focus on sanchin was met with distaste ,envy and total ignorance ,I struggled with these type of distractions ,i realised in my heart the need to re-inforce my focus .

So again a purpose of my posts is to point towards re-in forcing or converting to a slightly larger focus ,do you have a larger focus ?.
To retain a larger focus ,highlights lots of those mini focuses .
max ainley
maxwell ainley
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2001 6:01 am
Location: england

Post by maxwell ainley »

I mentioned on the other thread that we are limited ,well mini type focus and distraction ,help to keep the individual limited ,okay there is still learning ,but it is limited within that framework ,we become a product of that framework ,bring a larger focus to that framework ,make this focus more visible .
So now this focus ,can learn to not deviate from a task ,any task small or large ,it will get the job done ,the rudder like ability does not deviate too much ,this is training to keep on course .
We are gradually putting a a blanket over the monkey mind stopping its endless chatter,by a increase in focus .
max ainley
Stryke

Post by Stryke »

"To be aware is to watch your bodily activity, the way you walk, the way you sit, the movements of your hands; it is to hear the words you use, to observe all your thoughts, all your emotions, all your reactions. It includes awareness of the unconscious, with its traditions, its instinctual knowledge, and the immense sorrow it has accumulated – not only personal sorrow, but the sorrow of man. You have to be aware of all that; and you cannot be aware of it if you are merely judging, evaluating, saying, “This is good and that is bad, this I will keep and that I will reject,” all of which only makes the mind dull, insensitive.

From awareness comes attention. Attention flows from awareness when in that awareness there is no choice, no personal choosing, no experiencing … but merely observing. And to observe you must have in the mind a great deal of space. A mind that is caught in ambition, greed, envy, in the pursuit of pleasure and self-fulfillment, with its inevitable sorrow, pain, despair, anguish, such a mind has no space in which to observe, to attend. It is crowded with its own desires, going round and round in its own backwaters of reaction. You cannot attend if your mind is not highly sensitive, sharp, reasonable, logical, sane, healthy, without the slightest shadow of neuroticism. The mind has to explore every corner of itself, leaving no spot uncovered, because if there is a single dark corner of one’s mind which one is afraid to explore, from that springs illusion …

It is only in the state of attention that you can be a light unto yourself, and then every action of your daily life springs from that light – every action – whether you are doing your job, cooking, going for a walk, mending clothes, or what you will. This whole process is meditation …"

J. Krishnamurti
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