Essays From The Master

The nine elements relate to nine general paths thought to exist in the Kokoro air relates to the path of the mind, water to the path of emotion, fire to the path o the will, earth to the path of the flesh, wood to the path of the individual life force, metal to the path of ritual action, jewel to the path of meditative thought with matter symbolizing Yo-Nin or sunlight secrets and energy relating to In-Nin or shadow secrets. If one sees the self as a tower with nine levels the paths of the Kokoro are the seven fold maze and dual gates that surrounds that tower. This is why the Kokoro is often said to only have seven paths as some do not see the gates as paths. One raises Ki through the levels of the tower of self and one channels Chi through the gates and paths of the maze. The nine levels of the tower are resonant with the nine chakras up the back while the seven paths of the maze are resonant with the seven chakras up the front of the body. The two gates of Yo-Nin and In-Nin are two bodies of knowledge through which the adept can apply his power.

The knowledge symbolized by the term Yo-Nin would be such things as Chi-Kung, Tai-Chi and even a means of self defense that the adept can easily explain. The knowledge symbolized by the term In-Nin would be such things as would be classically linked with the ninja in operation such as silent movement, traceless attacks and mind control as well as specialized weapons. Both the Yo-Nin and In-Nin aspects of the art are linked to the nine mudra of the Kuji Kiri as a memory device. By use of the proper mudra the proper knowledge is brought to mind and the proper energies are gathered from the Kokoro. The adept is not bound to use his hands rather the adept can do the same by focus of his mind and will on the proper symbols and lore in keeping with what one is doing or intending to do. It should be noted that use of the hands is an example of ritual action while mental focus is a form of meditative thought. The adept can by using the memory function of the nine mudra one can practice one’s martial sciences merely by performing the mudra or by making the paper amulets also linked to the nine mudra.

The total lore that is linked to the nine mudra in the Komuso Ryu can be applied seven ways along the paths of the Kokoro for a total of 63 permutations and the adept’s personal mudra bringing the total to 64 evoking the lore of the hexagrams of the I-Ching. The lore of the I-Ching takes us back to the symbolism of the black lotus and the interrelation and yet the distinction between Chi and Ki as microcosms of the Ku and Wu. The particular harmony produced by an individual’s Chi and Ki manifests as the aura of that individual. One of the disciplines of the Komuso Ryu, Haragei, is devoted to becoming aware of the harmony produced by individuals showing a demonstration of Kokoro energy being applied. The nine mudra and I-Ching are but two examples of using the Kokoro as is Reiki though Reiki is much removed from the roots of the body of knowledge the Kokoro is a part of.
The role of sound and vibration in manipulation of the Kokoro make the use of words, chanting and litanies clear and obvious tools. Silent use of these tools would be invoking the path of meditative thought while vocal use of the same tools would be an invocation of the path of ritual action. When understood the Kokoro has limitless applications showing the limitless nature of the individual because the individual is a microcosm of the cosmos.