Essays From The Master

To put these insights into use both martial and healing i.e. to use both prongs of the Sha Mudra; one must first balance the Chi in one’s self and use it to develop both Ki and a strong Wa that one can control. One should sit and perform the Kuji No In or “the nine levels of power” while raising what Ki one has through the spine up into the skull. The spine is the divine pillar, it is the axis mundi in microcosm and the skull is the palace of jade that houses the means to immortality and the powers of the Kami. With each of the nine mudra used in performing the nine levels of power or Kuji No In the Ki is raised up the spine from the Hara through the nine gates of the spine. With the energy of Ki in flow the energy must be used to open the seven frontal chakras through which one takes in Chi; the seven frontal chakras are those normally taught in the sevenfold configuration. These two sets of chakras, Ki and Chi, as a whole are represented usually by the eight chakras known in many systems though the Komuso recognize 16 chakras having two sets. One takes in Chi through the seven frontal chakras which correspond to the seven paths of the Kokoro: the path of the mind, the path of the soul, the path of the body, the path of the life force, the path of meditative thought and the path of ritual action. Whether one sees them as 7, 8 or 16 it is clear that in the body one can discern a network for the ebb and flow of energies both internal and external.

It is a teaching of the Komuso Ryu that inside the body below the belly button behind the base frontal chakra is the Hara or “golden stove” which is the base of the divine pillar it is here that Chi gathers once drawn into the body. Halfway up the spine just below the heart chakra is the Kia Point which with the Hara shows two thirds of the divine pillar, the top of which is the third eye or pineal gland known in the Komuso Ryu as the Kagejin Me or “the eye of the shadow self.” Moving from the left ascending from the Hara up the pillar is a flow of Yang energy forming one half of a figure eight. Moving from the right descending from the Kagejin Me is a flow of Ying energy forming the other half of a figure eight. The lower wheel of Ying Chi and Yang Chi energy represents the flow of Ku (Mind-Body continuum) energy in the body. The upper wheel of Ying and Yang energy represents the flow of Wu (Power-Image continuum) in the body. The two poles of the inner pillar vibrate with the movement of the Kia Point when the will is used creating the tones that compose the personal harmony or Wa that manifests as the individual aura, an energic sphere around the individual. The Ku and Wu wheels turn sending a threefold flow of Ying, Yang and Ki into the hands, feet and head. The hands, feet and head are exchange points for energy in the body between internal and external energy that form a pentagram shaped flow in the body of Ku energy. The eyes, genitals and breasts are likewise exchange points in the body of Ying, Yang and Ki in the body between internal and external energies of Wu energy. Chi is taken in as air and sent into the Hara which is used to fuel the generation of Ki which is circulated around and projected from the body.

It is important to keep in mind that one has both a personal Chi, a life force that comes from outside the self and a Ki which is to say personal power that comes from within. Chi is divided into Ying and Yang energy while Ki energy is singular in nature. The dual flows of Ku and Wu are composed of Ying, Yang and Ki energies equally creating a microcosmic form of the energies of the Kokoro. Knowing the six pulses created by these energies in one ’s self and then in others is one of the practices of Haragei; one can also see this in the I Ching.
In the I Ching one has a system of eight trigrams and sixty four hexagrams which point to the 8 elemental types of Chi in the self and the world along with the 64 combinations of how they influence a life. On the earth one finds a grid of power dealing with Ying lines flowing east to west on the earth and Yang lines flowing north to south. The grid of Chi on earth is balanced by Ku energy from above and Wu energy from below showing how the 6 pulses of the body can also be found in the external world. Understanding the internal and external pulses show moving with the Tao is a matter of syncing the internal and external pulses. In both the inner and outer worlds all Chi can be influenced by Ki energy showing how no matter the external forces the individual remains the deciding factor in all matters. The eight types of outer Chi correspond to the eight octaves of sound and thus to the Om-Mo of the Kokoro echoing the symbolism of the flute staff in the Komuso Ryu. The Chi-sound linkage evokes the use of sound; mantras and mantrams used in ritual action and meditative thought and the Kiai or spirit shout i.e. the voice, heard and silent, used in martial actions or manipulation. The interplay of the inner and outer forms of Chi and the Ki of the individual reduces the powers of the world to the dual flows of Chi and Ki, the outer and inner forms of the Kokoro. Using Chi Kung or breath control one can manipulate inner and outer Chi to harness the body’s strength or speed, or to heal one’s self or others.

Circulation of the energies of Chi and Ki through the channels of the humanoid form is known as building the body of light. Once the body of light is built the Komuso must send a shaft of energy from the base chakra into the earth, rooting the Komuso to the earth and grounding the energies of the Komuso. Once the self is grounded the flow of Chi in the body is fed by the flow of Chi from the earth adding more fuel to the Ki of the individual. In this state the senses of the body open and are synced through the Wa so that smell, sight, sound, touch and taste along with the senses of energies, Kami and the Kokoro are understood via an awareness of the inner and outer forms of the six pulses. The eight total senses can be related to the eight outer forms of Chi so that awareness and control of one grants the same of the other. Once the Body of light is forged the Chi must be taken in again and gathered in the Hara and there cooked into Ki which is raised to the Kia Point and sent to the hands and feet. Once the hands and feet have their proper Ki energies it must be understood that the vibration of the Ki will attract a balance of Chi energies based on how one moves and breathes. The diagram for the flow of Ki and Chi is a union of the Black Lotus Mandala and the body chart of the Komuso Ryu. The Black Lotus is in essence a diagram of both the world and the aura of the individual. The same diagram can be found in all other beings with the understanding that the individual is the center point of his own aura and his heaven is his head and his earth is his feet if one is standing. If one is sitting the earth would be understood as the base chakra of the humanoid form showing how the chakras shift with the position of the body.

If all have the same dual energic body map then by understanding the cycles of ebb and flow in one’s self one can come to understand that flow in others. By applying a balance of Ki and Chi energies to the body of another one can stimulate the energies, creating life, or disrupt the ebb and flow, causing harm or death, as one would will. To become aware of the ebb and flow of the Ki and Chi in others is a part of the discipline of Haragei linked to the sixth of the nine levels of power in Kuji Kiri known as Jin. Understand the ebb and flow in one’s self and the world and the tools that one has to manipulate that ebb and flow and the entire world opens to the adept of the Komuso Ryu.