The Dojo is in the Mind

"Jiki shin kore dojo” (”This very mind is the dojo [monastery]"). -Yamada Koun Roshi


Once upon a time I stumbled upon a pdf on a martial arts website that talked about the concept of your dojo being in your mind. This was more for the notion that wherever you went, you should be able to enter the state of mind to bring your focus and intent together and to be able to practice wherever you found yourself. So there was never any excuse for you not to work out because you didn't find yourself in the optimal surroundings.

I was traveling this weekend to see my former master and his slave, and there wasn't much downtime, nor quiet space to specifically meditate. Many people feel like they need absolute quiet and a specific space to meditate or it's just not possible for them to quiet their mind. I am often reminded in these cases of the fact that the temple is not the marketplace. If you live in the temple, of course it's easier to have an uninterrupted focus. Or at least, less outside interruptions.

I have found that some of my best meditations have been in a busy coffee shop. Sure, I may look crazy, but no crazier than the bum who is pouring all of the sugar into his small cup of drip coffee.

What I found this weekend was that any uninterrupted "mind-work" had to happen after the lights had been turned out and I was lying in bed. I have started to call what I do "mind-work" to show the difference between the sort of 'clearing of the mind' that many people imagine is the purpose of meditation and what it actually is that I do, which may or may not include a clearing of the mind. In this case, the mind-work that I felt called to do was on behalf of my former master.

The rest of the weekend there was some of what I would call metaphysical "heavy lifting," or things that needed to be accomplished through the application of specific types of energy. But those sorts of things are more akin to what some experience during a walking meditation. You are moving and you are active, but your mind is so deeply focused on the activity to make your mind enter a meditative state.

There are times when you don't necessarily need great focus on what you are doing. You can flit through your day with your focus going where it will. But there are some moments that you need to be fully focused not only on the NOW, but on particular elements of the now to bring your full energy to bear. Your focus, plus intention, plus energy equals energetic transformation.

In the BDSM sense, a submissive/bottom/slave is taking their desire to serve as their intention, making the master their focus, and pouring their energy into whatever action or state has been requested or that they see is necessary for fulfilling a desire (stated or unstated) that the master has. The circle becomes a completed conduit when the master has an intention for the slave (meaning the slaves well-being and growth), develops a clarity of focus, and puts energy toward making that intention come to fruition.

If one views the services we do for one another as energy conduits, we understand that we become the transformative energy for one another through our actions/feelings/intentions. Sometimes in the more general world, the intention/energy we put out is not returned directly from the source/focus that we apply ourselves toward. However, when we do service from this very meditative state, we are doing what I consider to be universal service. And therefore the universe becomes the thing which completes our energetic circle through other beings/experiences.

When we are going about our daily activities, by being mindful of all we do and bringing our entire selves to our work/play, we are in fact making our lives a moving devotional to the universe.

This means that in a larger sense, making love is as divine as prayer as planting a garden as drinking a lovely cup of pinon coffee made by a pretty girl as... you get the idea. Your entire life is sacred.

So as I tried to carve out a moment here and there to sit in quiet contemplation, I also tried to remember that it really was more important what was going on in my mind as opposed to what was going on in the outer reality.

I'm back at my daily grind, but I have several nice bruises and many happy memories to think about from my visit. I have new mind-work to do. I also have to refocus on my physical body more in the coming weeks (one's conduit/vehicle needs to be maintained). But I am extremely thankful to my former master and his slave for the time and love they have given me, for being part of my energetic circle, and for being the wonderful people that they are.