Last Wednesday, I was honored to be a guest on the Aeon Byte podcast.
If you’d like to hear that episode, please click this link: Aeon Byte.
There’s also a video up on Youtube (link) - if you’d like to see how excessively I talk with my hands and never seem to look in the right spot / at the webcam.
(Man, “webcam” is such an insidious word if you stop to consider the insectile connotation.)
Aeon Byte’s host (and self-described pompatus of Gnosis), Miguel Connor, facilitates deep exploratory discussions into how ancient wisdom traditions can offer insights into the complexities of the modern world.
Aikido fits this criteria perfectly, as it’s clearly evident that the roots can be traced back to archaic spiritual practices (by archaic, I don’t mean obsolete; I mean primary) and it’s been my go-to coping mechanism for dealing with the “complexities” of the modern world—AKA cybernetic dystopia.
The physical practice of Aikido puts me into a more harmonious relationship with the universe. For real, the cosmos—great nature—whatever you want to call it, it clicks. After class I feel more in tune. My body’s kind of humming, vibrating. I barely even bump into the hypnotized androids walking down the subway steps watching videos on their phones.
Unfortunately, like any other tradition addiction, the buzz inevitably wears off, and I have to go back to the dojo and practice again because, you know how life is.
Life right now in “the first world” is physically very boring and simultaneously psychologically terrifying. Faced with screens all day, every day—most of us, at least—one way or another—the phone, the laptop, the tablet, the TV—all screens—nonstop nudging propaganda—reducing consciousness to two dimensions.
I’m a little jealous of the people who don’t seem to be fazed by this, those who welcome the technocracy with open palms as progress. But anyway…
May peace prevail on Earth.
Aikido is a four-dimensional exercise that reconciles tangible existence with spacetime. We’re moving, coordinating, and harmonizing with other living human beings. At least that’s how I try to train—treating the techniques as kasutori, misogi—massaging out the toxicity, in my own puerile, pedestrian way—purifying what’s left of my body and soul.
May peace prevail on Earth.
Speaking of ancient traditions, I'm thrilled to announce that I'm going to have Reverend Koichi Barrish back on the show very soon to talk more about the connection between Shinto and Aikido. Since our last conversation, I've attended two of Reverend Barrish's Saturday morning Chouhai group prayer ceremonies (online, of course), and I feel invigorated by participating in such an activity expressly geared towards divine interaction—you know, theurgy.
I've also been reading a lot about Sarutahito Okami, the deity claimed by O Sensei as his tutelary spirit and god of Aiki. But alas, (I love saying “alas”) I still don't feel like I know enough about Shinto to really write about it. I can only clumsily express how it feels to be drawn towards a religiocultural phenomenon that's been a mystery to me for so long and is now starting to become a little bit more clear, as I’m fortunate enough to have the ear of an actual Shinto priest.
It could be construed cynically that I'm just crafting a crudely constructed emotional echo chamber to hide away in because what's going on in “the world" right now is just too monstrous to tackle intellectually, but I prefer to think of it more as sticking to my path.
May peace prevail on Earth.
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