Thanksgiving and the Budo Heart

It has been a LONG while since I wrote on my blog, but my weekly email to my students and friends touched on something very personal for me. So, I thought it would be good to post it here. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving and the Budo Heart (Kokoro no Budo)

During this holiday, it is important for one to ponder all the blessings and good aspects in his/her life and to be thankful for them. Sometimes, this may involve recognizing and being thankful for some painful things or negative people - because often they unlock blessings that otherwise would not have happened. This is a very valuable mindset for a warrior, that even in perceived defeat, a victory can be born. At the root of "nin" (perseverance) is this concept of the will to survive, to keep going ("gambatte") no matter how bad things seem.

I think the fall season is appropriate for this type of holiday. The harvests are done and historically people prepared to ride out the winter with their harvested stock (blessings). They know that nothing will grow in the harsh winter and animals either migrate to warmer climates, hibernate in hiding, or simply die off. Thus, they planned smartly and were thankful to have such bounty to feed their families through this difficult time of year.

In this age of commercialism and instant gratification, it is normal for people to not look at their life in this type of ebb and flow. They have high debt, lower income, higher food bills - yet get up at 4am to crowd the stores to buy things that, in honest retrospect, they (and those they plan to give the gifts to) really don't need. You have houses being foreclosed because the overzealous homeowner failed to plan for a downturn in the market and bought what they otherwise really couldn't afford ("interest only" loans, etc). You have credit card companies now, without notice, jacking up interest rates to milk more out of their "customers", yet credit companies report usage at an all time high. More and more people are filing for unemployment, welfare, etc, yet consumer purchases of entertainment (XBox 360, Iphones, PS3, Blue Ray, etc) are holding steady at their high rate.

These are prime examples of those who really aren't "thankful" for the blessings, the harvest, of what they actually have - instead they seek more when they really should be rationing/enjoying what they have and wait out the "winter" in their lives. Not everybody is like this, but it is becoming more and more normal for people to violate this natural "law" of living.

As warriors, we need to train well and train often. We don't face combat every day (thankfully) . We are, as a society, relatively safe compared to other parts of the world. Yet, we train to develop skills, awareness and the "warrior heart" so that if we are faced with danger, we have the awareness to prevent/avoid and the abilities to adapt and overcome when necessary. What good are these "budo blessings" when we lack awareness and make negative choices that cause pain in not only our lives, but also those around us? The heart of a warrior is a thankful one - thankful to be alive, thankful for peace, and thankful for the lives saved. It makes the pain of war bearable. The "blessing", the "harvest", of being alive (and saving life) and the thankfulness allows the heart to survive the ugly reality that is pain and death.

In this time of the "harvest", I encourage you all to look at your own budo path and your life. Consider where you are now and how many "blessings" were involved - experiences, choices, people. Be thankful for all that is good - and all that is not-so-good (I hate to say "bad") and recognize those areas in your life that maybe you need to rest on your harvest and wait out the "winter", being thankful for what you have instead of what you don't have (or where you are not, how much you don't make, etc). It's a time to focus on the half-full part of your glass.

When "winter" is over and the first signs of the rebirth of "spring" comes, then we can look at putting forth our seeds/investments of time, resources, etc. For now, lets just enjoy our bounty!

I'm not writing this to try and be some "spiritual advisor", trying to lecture you on what you should be doing or how you should feel. In fact, I really don't write this much about these things. But, I think the "warrior heart" is something that needs to be explored, talked about and developed. So, at a minimum, let my writing be a catalyst to motivate this introspective, personal approach to your budo path and apply it to your life - not tomorrow - but today. Right now.

In conclusion, I want to thank each and every one of you for your friendship and all the good times we've had over the many, many years of training together. I am thankful for every one of you - even those who are no longer training with us - as vital in making me the budoka I am today. I could not have done it without you!

Happy Thanksgiving!