The Life Force Is Boundless : Quote 6 — Reflections on The Art of Peace

A weekly contemplation on the codes of Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba from the book, The Art of Peace, translated and composed by John Stevens.

Quote 6:

The Art of Peace functions everywhere on earth, in realms ranging from the vastness of space down to the tiniest plants and animals. The life force is all-pervasive and its strength boundless. The Art of Peace allows us to perceive and tap into that tremendous reserve of universal energy.

Dorian: This speaks directly to something I’ve talked about before — that life itself is the organization against entropy. Entropy being the natural phenomenon that creates the arrow of time, where things begin to get more spread out, less orderly, more homogenous. Life forms aren’t like that. You seem to be a separate being from me. This is talking about that power.

The Art of Peace functions everywhere because it’s based on universal truth. It functions just like gravity is pervasive throughout our universe. It’s a practice that works no matter where you are. Plants, animals, people, places — anything can connect to that all-encompassing energy, that source we actually come from. But it’s only through practice that we can attenuate and tune our senses into those influences, and then connect to it.

Nature as Teacher

Kenan: What came to me in this contemplation was that there is what I understand now when I look at this code, and there is the ideal — a destination of fulfillment I can intuit off the saying itself. I understand that I don’t fully understand this right now, but there are certain allusions.

In the first part — the Art of Peace functions everywhere on earth, in realms ranging from space to the tiniest plants and animals — it makes me question: what is the Art of Peace? What I seem to understand is that perhaps he’s pointing to something akin to nature. And that nature is operating in a human, in a plant, in an insect, in space and sky, at various levels — perhaps like a fractal.

When we train in Aikido, it trains us to become impersonal. When I’m practicing with my partner as a martial art, it’s more about dealing with forces of nature than an individual personified as my opponent or enemy. As I’ve been studying Aikido, the word I just used — study — feels right. It can easily be taken out into the world. From nature I can learn principles that can then be applied on the mat.

I also just remembered that Morihei Ueshiba thought agriculture was a very important component of Aikido. Go figure — but he thought it had to go hand in hand.

Dorian: The dojo and agriculture are affirming. They’re both growth. They both require cultivation. And ultimately you don’t get a say about what comes out of the ground. You have to nurture it, water it, tend to it — but what comes up and sprouts is not your decision. You have to relinquish control of the plant. That’s one of the reasons he chose agriculture as such an important metaphor for this type of growth.

Kenan: To practice life that way — because we do have all the seasons and stages. Even in humans they’re very visible. But in our adult life, when we get into our psychological mind, we forget that we were once an embryo and that at one time we will be a corpse. We also have seeds and all the things that are present in plants and insects.

Inter-breathing

Kenan: The second part — the life force is all-pervasive and its strength boundless — we’ve talked about this in previous codes. They all inform each other. My breath is not my breath — it’s an inter-breathing that’s happening. And I think that’s another tragedy of life, that we box even our breath as our possession.

And then the last part — the Art of Peace allows us to perceive and tap into the tremendous reserve of universal energy. It reminded me that the Art of Peace has an element of technology or technique, where that all-pervasiveness of the life force can be read gradually. When there is no inside and outside, when there is no mine versus yours, then the energy really is boundless. There shouldn’t be fatigue or depletion — because depletion just means I feel I have lost energy, that my energy has gone out and I have to recharge through the sun or food. But if my perception of inside and outside is gone and it’s all one, then the energy becomes boundless.

Blending at Every Scale

Dorian: There’s a lot there, and it’s immediately applicable in practice. The idea that the Art of Peace functions everywhere on earth — I think it can also be connected to the way we don’t just use this as a martial art. The components of blending, of moving with the flow of something to influence it from being connected to it — that is at the heart of the Art of Peace. And that functions everywhere.

Moving with the flow of gravity or solar wind in space — using currents to move through them. On the smallest level, not blocking the bloodstream but letting it run its course. The Art of Peace is not just a martial art, not just a philosophy. He’s trying to boil it down to truths about the way the universe functions. And by practicing those functions — kata, ukemi, meditations, even these conversations — all of these practices help remind us and get us to that place where we can connect.

It works on the largest scale and on the smallest — from the way nations work together all the way down to the way ants build a colony. By learning those lessons of how to work with each other, how to work with what’s handed to us, how to work with nature instead of against it — that’s how we tap into limitless power. Because we’re no longer taking. We’re moving with.

Pattern Recognition on the Mat

Kenan: I’ve practiced a few martial arts, and one thing I noticed in Aikido is that the metaphors and analogies are very much from nature — and they’re impersonal. For those who don’t practice this martial art, it’s about blending with the so-called opponent or partner as different forces come to you, identifying spirals and other patterns. All the analogies in Aikido are beautiful because they are pattern recognition, not personal human constructs. A punch coming at you, a force — they allow the perception to become wider rather than contracted. More inclusive. I can not just include the movements of my partner, which is already a great step, but also the weather and the texture of the floor.

Dorian: Especially if it’s slippery — then you will definitely have to include it in the equation. As we mentioned in class recently, I was in a class with mostly black belts, and it was said out loud: we start practicing the connection long before we actually touch our partner. We start feeling their energy from the moment we step on the mat. At the highest levels, we feel everyone — everyone in the room, everyone on the mat. We feel where they are, their presence.

It’s not about focusing on everybody. It’s about allowing all of that information in. And when done right, an entire group of people can be throwing and pinning and doing all this physical activity, but nobody’s getting hurt. Nobody’s stepping on anybody. Everyone is moving and helping everybody else out. That is what we want to take off the mat.

Solitude and Connection

Dorian: It takes that removal of self — because you have to be a part of that entire class as your being. Everyone around you at all times. That’s a practice I can suggest: go to a square and just accept everyone around you. Sit there for a moment. Listen to every conversation you can hear — all the words, all the emotions, all the people walking by. Put yourself in the state that they are all me. This is all me. Everything happening here is the same being. What is my part in it?

When you do that, it’s not necessarily like the sky opens up. But it gives you new insight into the way people work, the way the universe works. It helps to minimize the “I am” part of us — the ego — and helps to connect with that greater, fundamental, universal energy.

Kenan: That kind of approach will lead to more spontaneity and creativity. It actually reminded me of a quote from a spiritual teacher: the only way to be really alone is to include everyone as yourself.

Dorian: That is beautiful. And here’s an important thing we can all do: what’s the difference between loneliness and solitude? In my opinion, the difference is desire. If you wish for solitude, you are content — your intent is to have that time for yourself. Loneliness is the same thing from the outside — nobody else is around. But what’s happening on the inside is you’re seeking, you want something. So in times of loneliness, can you convert it to solitude? And in times of solitude, remember that this could be loneliness.

Kenan: I really appreciate that distinction. I’ll have to contemplate that more.

Closing

Kenan: That was a wonderful discussion and contemplation. I look forward to doing this again soon.

Dorian: Episode eight. Week eight — the infinity symbol.

Kenan: Please join us for this contemplation.

Reflections on the Art of Peace is a weekly contemplation series by Kenan (Potential Paradigms) and Dorian, a black belt Aikidoka. If a code speaks to you, share your reflections in the comments.