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The Ultimate Wisdom
As we've seen, martial arts entails complete control
over the mind and body. Throughout this book I have
touched on the mental and spiritual aspects of Ninjutsu. As mentioned, another
important part of the discipline is meditation.
Meditation is rest for the mind. While it encompasses many things, basically it is the practice of breathing in a calm and controlled manner. The purpose is to calm the mind by controlling, or removing oneself, from emotion and ego. The ultimate goal is to focus on Tae Kwon Do, which is to unify the mind and body on a higher plane.
One way to think of the higher plane is as enlightenment, or basing one's life on universal understanding. Finding the higher plane brings patience, tolerance toward other's faults, and a lack of judging others Think of the mind as a lake on a still day. It's glassy and serene. On a windy day the lake is a churn and rough. Think of the pursuit of material things, ego or emotional turmoil as the wind that disturbs the peacefulness of the lake. The slightest wind shatters the glassy serenity. In life, the slightest mental agitation can destroy the calm. Meditation is learning to keep the lake calm during windy times.
If your mind is trained in Tae Kwon Do, it is sturdy and will not betray you. The untrained mind works solely to achieve the goals of ego and the need of the body. Meditation is looking inward. If you do not look inward, you cannot see outward. If you do not learn to control your own mind and spirit you will not do well in martial arts because you will have little or no control over your own actions.
Meditation is one more stone in the path to a better mind and body, personal power, self-perseverance and self-preservation.
He who knows he has enough is rich.
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