Essays From The Master

The shadow has always been an icon of the “other” in human consciousness and often has a sinister attachment when it is used in language. The Ninja is a shadow thus rather than being the “other” the shadow of the Ninja is his true self and that on the stage of the world is but an illusion. The Ninja being a shadow is trained to manipulate the shadows of others. In psychological terms the shadow is the unconscious. To understand one’s own shadow is the path way to being able to penetrate the shadows of others and manipulate them or to render one’s self invisible through the withdrawing of one’s energy into one’s self and the blending of one’s shadow with the shadows of the given environment. To use either function of the technique the ninja must first discern first the details of his own inner Tengu or ninja self and then discover what energy patterns in others cause them to resonate with the Wa of the ninja in a receptive mode.

This is done by analyzing the subject of the technique along the lines of the cycle of the nine elements as the members of the Komuso Ryu define them. These elements correspond to particular behaviors and cues that the black tiger method makes clear. Each user of the technique will find the pattern or patterns that will form their personal pathway into the shadow and through it the energy of others. This technique opens the thoughts of others to the user in a form of empathy which the user can employ to control the energy of other by controlling their own. The first stage of the technique is to learn to conceal one’s self via one’s own shadow.

To do this the user must first call forth his own inner shadow or Tengu and allow it to act as a channel for the energy of the Kokoro. Then the user must withdraw the energy of his visible self into the centre of his being and next allow the energy of his shadow to connect with the energy in the environment that the shadow is resonate with. In one’s mind the ninja must see the environment as well as him. Next the ninja must perceive his shadow detaching from his body and becoming a cloud which surrounds the ninja, the cloud dissipates blending into the shadows. In one’s mind’s eye when the cloud is gone the ninja’s image of himself should be gone from the environment. At this point the ninja if he sees to the mundane requirements should be unseen in the given space. This type of invisibility works best when one is unseen from the subject or when one can employ some sort of distraction. This is why powders and explosives are a part of the training in most Ninja Ryu. The user must understand that a bulk of visibility is in others perceiving the energy of others and others perceptions of one’s own energy.

Once the user is able to become unseen at will the user will become able to discern the intention of others. This growing awareness can be used to cloak the darkness in a darkened room and thus the light in the space will stand out allowing the user to move in darkness as if one were able to see in the dark as if it were fully lit. Just as the user can withdraw his mundane energy he can also send out his senses. Once one can conceal one’s visible energy other energies will become apparent to the user, these are the other aspects of reality that the masses normally do not perceive.

The second stage involves the reception of and the manipulation of the thoughts of others. To perform this stage of the technique first the user must call forth his inner Tengu as before. Using the Kokoro’s energy to inflame his own, the user must then open his third eye and connect with the subject or in some cases the environment the ninja is in. Once the ninja has established the proper connection, the ninja must in his mind create the reality the ninja wants others to perceive. This is done by linking the intended reality construct with poetic verses whose rhythms are projected toward the Kokoro. When the energy of the Kokoro responds to the rhythms the ninja is sending the energy of the Kokoro must be directed toward the subject and in one’s mind perceive one’s construct overlaying that of normal reality. The user must understand that he will not view the images he is sending outward.

To perceive the thoughts of others the ninja must link his Wa with that of his subject, and then he must feel the output of the subject’s energy and allow those rhythms to become audible speech. If one is of a more visual bent these rhythms will become visions of a sort. To manipulate thought the ninja must envelop the energy of the subject in the energy of his inner Tengu. Next using the thought reading phase the ninja must project the force of his will into the thoughts of his subject using his will like a funnel to implant the thoughts the ninja intends. Given the connection between thought, sensory input and reality with practice the ninja with practice can give an opponent the impression of sensory input that exists solely within the mind. In this way the ninja can kill with the force of his will, the trick being to convince the mind of the subject that it is dead. To die in the mind is to die in reality. In the same manner the technique can be used to heal or to guide one who is “out of touch” back to reality. In the same manner one can project such things as fear or lust or love and peace. This technique is intended to create in the ninja the ear, the voice and eye of the Tengu.

The voice is in part taught in the manipulation of thought portion of the Tengu Method. The true voice of the Tengu is found by channeling the energy of the Kokoro through the Ritual Action path found at the throat charka and mentally charging each phrase with the force of one’s will. The user will discover phrases that will resonate with one’s intentions. These are often cues that arise in relationships or are products of social rituals. The voice technique is known in some schools as Kiai Jitsu. This is also the secret if the silent kiai in that the kiai can be sent into the mind of an opponent.

The threefold technique of the ear, eye and voice of the inner Tengu coupled the invisibility technique, called the cloud passing over the moon, form the basis of many of the myths of the Ninja. It must be stated again that many of the effects of these techniques are perceived only by the subject. The user must judge by the results of the technique on the subject as to whether or not said user has said technique down. To find the thought/energy pattern that open people to the ninja is also to learn about the Ninja himself as the pattern usually is the opposite of the type of the ninja or the element of the ninja feeds its receptive type. This is one form of the Mi Lu Chan or invisible fist taught by the Komuso Ryu of the Koga Clan.

Above are the kanji for Yin Ko or the Shadow which was a western icon of the lore embodied in the archetype of the Tengu. The kanji serve as glyphs to be used to bring these techniques to mind and the appropriate energies from the Kokoro into his own Wa and body. These two compose a specific amulet for this technique; however this amulet is not made on paper but crafted solely in the mind and manifested in the Wa. Tengu No Jitsu is a technique of Maho which is to say composed of both Jaho and Kobudera aspects. Maho’s techniques usually combined many other skills and techniques of both Kuji Kiri and Ninjitsu making Maho a genuine path to Nin Do.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 19th, 2006 at 5:34 am and is filed under Technique. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.