It's been a puzzling past few weeks.
Trying to figure out how to verbally and phonetically represent this most recent passage of time has presented quite a perplexing challenge.
I feel like almost a totally different person since becoming raw vegan again. This new regimen has seemingly positively shifted my already pendulous, pivot-prone perspective.
I promise I'm not trying to persuade anyone to follow me on this path: that's not my nature, that's not my style. Eat what you want. I'm hardly a life coach.
No hyperbole here - I feel 8 times better. Not quite 10 times better, but almost.
Physically, the benefits are clear: my joints are surely looser and less inflamed.
While my skin is still a work in progress, I vow to stay patient on that front.
I’m less lethargic, less languid. My motor's humming along.
I'm still confused about my place in “the world,” but, I mean, I can’t expect miracles. Not yet, at least.
Speaking of miracles, I’ve been diligently practicing the breathing exercises prescribed to me by Koichi Barrish Sensei in preparation for learning Chinkon Kishin. Really excited about that. Much more to come. Stay Tuned…
Rev. Barrish is such an amazing, inspiring teacher, and I implore anyone listening to / reading this to visit his website to learn more about the incredible work he’s doing.
I’ve also been engaging in some of the meditation practices that are detailed in Don Dickie Sensei’s book, “Right or Left? At Heaven’s floating bridge.”
If you remember, from my previous discussion with Dickie Sensei, he’s intensively studied both kinesiology and cognitive neuroscience. So, I unequivocally trust his understanding of the “mind-body” connection, and he’s the first person to ever convince me to actually start meditating.
The energy at Bond Street dojo has been really good overall lately.
Despite otherwise sparse attendance (blame it on the heatwave), enough people showed up to my class last Wednesday to allow me to guide the curriculum towards culminating in Jiyu-waza (freestyle).
Aikido practice, for me, still involves the execution of orthodox physical techniques. I like to build up from footwork, framework, and elements. Then by exploring various ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ options, ultimately blend ‘attack’ and ‘defend’ into one harmonious action.
I see freestyle as a sort of Aporia, akin to how, in the Platonic dialogues, Socrates would lead his interlocutors to a state of confusion—a transcending of dialectical comprehension: a state of acknowledging what you don’t know, a shedding of both personal and paradigmatic baggage.
In this way, I can’t help but view Aikido as a therapeutic dialectical exercise, with the added benefit of also strengthening the bond between body and soul. As a self-avowed “almost Platonist,” I consider the body and soul as disparate but connected - like heaven and earth by the floating bridge.
I know we don’t have time today to get too deep into anything “paranormal”, but let me just say, for now, as you may have noticed, I still believe in ‘the soul’.
My personal cosmology, which might disqualify me from orthodox Platonism, posits the soul prior to the intellect, ontologically, as a unified faculty of both emotion and intelligence. The soul, when functioning correctly, perceives whole impressions that aren't neatly divisible into ‘thoughts’ or ‘feelings’.
I shouldn't be saying "functioning correctly," as I don't believe the soul is ever at fault for dysfunction. Corruption (here’s why I’m almost a Platonist) starts with the body - within material existence.
I’m not saying that the body is “evil” - I just mean that corruption has its origin in material being.
All spirit is good.
Materiality is inherently imperfect, so there's bound to be all kinds of problems - manifesting in millions of ways. Circumnavigating these problems requires intelligence and compassion and in some cases dignity, honor… which is why I practice Aikido.
Why did I veer off into a vague description of my own muddled metaphysics? Was it the mention of Plato? I actually haven't given much thought to cosmology lately. I've been preoccupied with recipes.
If I'm being honest, now that I'm back eating raw, I feel like my soul is more properly in my body - like the connection isn’t so severely severed - so I'm not as engaged in pondering metaphysical quandaries as usual. This doesn't eliminate the fear of death (or worse, destitution) but it makes me feel more capable of facing whatever might come.
Really, ultimately, I just want to live as harmoniously as possible - practice Aikido, eat healthy, avoid excessive political entanglement, and pray for peace.
That’s all.
