Essays From The Master

Komuso Nin Do is composed of methods and esoterica aimed at allowing the individual to endure through stealth and thus prevail. Nin is usually read as stealth but can also be read as “patience in the face of adversity” being composed of the Kanji for blade over heart. As a conjoined term or Nindo means “to create harmony by perseverance” which shows how the way extends to all areas of existence. The Komuso is the “Monk of the Void”, beggar ascetic or vagabond whose focus is Zen and his aim is harmony through the means of “patience in the face of adversity.” The question usually arises for the student of the path why harmony rather than peace and what is the difference between the two. Peace is a state of contentment, an ideal that is hard to attain or maintain and is very easy for the powers that be to abuse and manipulate the masses through. Harmony can be defined, obtained and sustained by the individual whereas peace in a transpersonal sense demands conformity. In simple terms peace versus harmony is the question of the ideal and conformity or the possible and the individual. For peace all must agree as to the terms but for harmony the individual must be and find a way to be with others who are also being in their own way; this does not mean that all will agree but there are ways for each and all to coexist without conformity. One can be content with one’s self and if one is it is easier to be in harmony with others, if one focuses on one leading to the other one will not find peace but one will be able to understand what that ideal is striving for without having to submit outside one’s self.

One must understand the ideal and why it is important to so many before one can find a personal and pragmatic answer to it. By understanding and finding a pragmatic answer to any ideal one achieves a sustainable reality rather than an ever more distant goal. The balance point between the ideal and the pragmatic is reality where harmony with others and the world is possible, the world in this sense is both nature and society. Harmony with nature, via its cycles, is easier than with society and its constant flux, not all in society will seek harmony with the one seeking harmony with nature. If one is seeking harmony then the methods, Jitsu, and esoterica, Kuji Kiri, of Nin Do allow the Komuso to maintain his balance and negate the contention of others. The same means that would allow a Komuso to kill, cripple or maim can be used to promote life, heal and comfort others. The balance between these two approaches gives rise to the understanding, benevolence, courage and wisdom that define the Shidoshi or “the teacher of the warrior ways of enlightenment” as a master in some ryu of the Silent Way, Nin Do, is called. It is ironic that if harmony is sought rather than an idealistic peace then many of the things that the masses call peace become options if one has the will to see them manifest through one’s actions. A vital detail in this is being able to defend and thus sustain one’s inner harmony and extend it into one’s outer life, by which one is able to influence the world. The training in both hemispheres of the way are meant to be means by which one can come and go freely on the stage of the world in spite of the contention in life.

One that is strong in mind and body can direct one’s energy and thus be in harmony which allows one to perceive danger, know the intent of others as well as restore one’s self or others if need be. If one can do all these things, or not, at will then one is also able to hold one’s own sense of harmony and the contention in life does not matter. If nothing matters then what matters is up to the individual and thus it is up to the individual to hold to the standards that one deems important. It is equally important to keep clear as to the fact that what is important to one individual may be important to no one else which gives rise to the dance between persons that is harmony or the seeking of it.