Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

These two paragraph's hit me and made me think I can do the same with shakuhachi.

Kyudo is a perfect union of the archer and the bow and cannot exist without this union. Therefore, in order to shoot the bow according to the demands of the Shaho, your body must also conform to the natural principles inherent in it. This is the principle of shizentai, or the "natural body". Most people interpret "natural" as that which is free of any rules or restraints. However, kyudo philosophy posits that nature has its own rules and guiding principles, that kyudo is founded upon these rules and principles, and that humans must train diligently in order to discover them and put them into practice.

To grasp the essence of any art, the practitioner must be able to intuitively understand the essential, unified principle that underlies and animates all aspects of that art. In kyudo, this principle is discovered through the unification of the mind, the body, and the bow. This requires a clear mind that can see things as they really are. As a human being, you consist of body, mind, and spirit. Since your body is governed by your mind and spirit, for your body to work correctly your mind and spirit must be clear and unpolluted. Your body then becomes a "living body" which can respond according to the principles of shizentai and thus execute the Shaho Hassetsu correctly. When your mind is clear and your spirit calm, you can understand the nature of the bow rather than try to impose your will upon it. You must open the eyes of your mind to the nature of the bow, and once having understood that nature, not resist it but shoot in perfect harmony with it.

Last edited by purehappiness (2010-04-08 09:27:22)

No, nothing profound per se but interesting in itself.

edosan wrote:

Nothing terribly new or unique about that. Those ideas go clear back to flint-napping...

I have been reading a lot about zen and other ways(kyudo,sado,chudo etc..) and they all have the same basic foundations to them.You can learn a lot about the shakuhachi way by applying their ideas to shakuhachi. That is all. I get excited easily I guess. It interesting.