Essays From The Master

In Komuso Nin Do the idea of Kokoro is a complex and central to a student of its path. As a feature of cosmology the Kokoro is the sum total of all the Chi of all possible flows of the Tao and the anti-Tao and the Ki energy that they produce in all the ways they manifest. The Kokoro is composed of the Ku or the mind-body continuum symbolized by a black tiger with red stripes and the Wu or power-image continuum symbolized by a silver cobra with violet eyes and under scales. The Ku tiger and the Wu cobra join to create the dragon that symbolizes the Kokoro which moves in the sea of eternity and sets the current on which all things move balanced by the response of all things. The dragon has five toes one for the fox, one for the viper, one for the raven, one for the bat and one for the scorpion. The fox of philosophy and the bat of the body create the Ku which is the tiger of war including that of the mind, armed and unarmed; the viper of the tools of the art and the raven of ritual create the Wu which is the cobra of stealth including gathering information, disguise and social control. The tiger and scorpion are joined through the scorpion which symbolizes Wu Shing or the awareness of and application of Ki and Chi energies creating the dragon. The poison of the scorpion becomes the golden flame of the dragon as the same energies that can disrupt life can preserve, prolong and distil life. The fox, viper, raven, bat, scorpion, tiger, cobra and dragon are arts that define and enforce the path of the Komuso Ryu symbolized by the eclipsed moon.

As a traditional ideogram Kokoro can be read as essence, spirit, center and heart. Read as heart Kokoro includes the actual heart organ and the sound of its dual beat. The first sound of the heart is the sound of the Tao linked to the Om while the second sound of the heart is the sound of the anti-Tao linked to the Mo. Some also call Kokoro “mind” but it is better understood as “consciousness” and includes both personal and transpersonal consciousness as a third totality. In Komuso Nin Do one way Kokoro is expressed is as a sphere composed of a circle with one half being knowledge and the other being power; the top hemisphere is made of mind and body while the bottom is power and image. We can link five of the aspects of this diagram with the five senses of sight, scent, sound, touch and taste and the final aspect being linked to the sixth sense known as Haragei. The six parts of the Shuken or sphere can be synced with air, water, fire, earth, wood and metal. The sphere its self can be linked to the element of jewel making all within the sphere as being matter and all outside as energy. We can also divide the Shuken as the mind, emotions, will, body, the Hara, the Kia Point, the Kagejin Me or third eye and the Wa or personal harmony also known as the aura. All occurs between Heaven and Earth in the visible realm syncing all with the eight trigrams of the I Ching detailing the forms of Chi which the individual distills as Ki energy. Using the understanding of the Shuken and the eight trigrams we can sync the Shuken with the Black Lotus Mandala in which all ground and motion can be found.

Shuken can be read as sphere but also as dominion showing that to grasp the sphere as so mapped out is to grant one dominion over one’s self which leads to mastery over all that is not one’s self. If we accept that the Shuken is both within and without reflected in the Black Lotus Mandala we can point to it as the ultimate source of all knowledge and power transforming the circle of the path into the sphere of reality. In grasping the truth of Kokoro the primal concept of Komuso Nin Do the adept harnesses all knowledge of this path and all power that can be distilled from it.

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