Essays From The Master

The master of death is the custodian of life

The fourth verse of the Komuso Ryu mantra is “I have no body; I make self awareness my body” which corresponds to the fourth of the Nine Levels of Power which is “Healing of self and others.” The ninja incants this verse of the mantra as a statement of power over one’s own body and sense of identity as a part of preparing for his mission as well as usually a part of nightly practice. By asserting that he has no body his sense of self and ego are distanced from his body and appearance making the kinds of alterations to the body that are called for on a mission at times easier. This also allows the ninja to be unmoved by attacks on his reputation as it is he and no one else who defines who and what he is. Making his body self awareness asserts that the individual is not his body rather the individual is the awareness, the “I” inside the body which acts as a vehicle for that awareness allowing the individual through this verse of the mantra to disassociate himself from harm to his body.

The individual who defines his body as self awareness can develop control of his bodily “awareness” to the point that the individual can heal his body by casting out those things that are not a part of his sense of self such as illness. The body being a matter of self awareness alludes to a legend of the ninja being able to assume other forms. By willfully altering his awareness of himself the aura that he puts out changes thus the ninja can “feel” or seem older or younger than he is rather than appearing to change and human perceptions via there senses are deeply affected by what they feel. For example if a person feels an individual is in some way “bad” or not part of the group the senses of the person will often focus on bodily features and distort them so that there sensory input matches what they feel. This insight is seen at work in such feats as the placing of curses in a negative sense or the laying on of hands. The fourth level of power “healing of self and others” is invoked with a mudra that when made looks like a boat or ship. It is a vessel or vehicle symbolic of the body and the ninja’s control of it. By invoking this level of power with this verse the ninja is inwardly taking a journey in his vessel back to his source to be renewed. Healing one’s self or others is bringing the self in question into balance in terms of life force known as Chi which is also the name of the Earth element; the fourth of the nine elements of the Komuso Ryu.

Chi is both the life-force composed of yin and yang energies and the Earth which is composed of the same energies. The humanoid form has energy structures that conduct the Chi and Ki throughout the envelope and the Earth is much the same which is the logic behind “holy” ground in a positive sense and “haunted” houses in a negative sense. It is because of the resonance between individual Chi and that of the Earth that the arts of geomancy or Feng-Shui evolved in both the east and the west; though not as well known in the west.

Self awareness perceived as the body is the key to the discipline of disguise which is the root of the ninja’s power of legend to become animals and so on. The bat that symbolizes this level of power is a mammal that flies like a bird; it is seemingly of one element and yet partakes of others. As one harnesses life one also harnesses the power to cause death and so the power to sustain life is also the power to end it.