Daily Yamabushi

What to do with the random thoughts

Those thoughts in your head, the random thoughts that come and go, what if they weren’t just isolated pieces of information? What if they had value?

I’m willing to bet they do.

Sure, they may not be in the perfect form as soon as they come out, but with a bit of work around the edges, a bit of tinkering here and there, those raw thoughts can become thoughts that motivate, invigorate, and change people.

And in that ability to change people, we find value.

Is that you don’t need to do anything

The best part about meditation is that you don’t need to do anything. You can just sit there, let thoughts come into your head, and let them pass through.

That’s it. That’s all you need to do. You don’t even need to be sitting either.

Meditation is one of those things where we do it, and then we wonder why we didn’t do it more. It’s one of those things that you know is good for you, but can’t always find the time.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything.

Past or present?

It’s very un-yamabushi to reflect deeply on the past. It’s very un-yamabushi to even reflect on the past. Yamabushi are supposed to live in the now. We are supposed to only think about what we are currently thinking about, and to do only what is directly in front of us.

However we are of course human. And more to the point, we live hansei hanzoku. We aren’t forever bound by these at times ridiculous concepts.

So it’s not unusual for us, or myself at least, to look back on what was. To reminisce about the past, and to think ‘those were simpler times’. There are many times where at the time I thought nothing of it, but now I think ‘what would I give to get back in that moment?’. To know what I know now, and to be in that moment one more time…

Which is all to say, if we think about the past so fondly, what does that mean we should be doing now?

Habits and Systems

Building things is hard. It takes focus and dedication on rinse and repeat for a long period of time, and even then you don’t know if it will ‘work’.

Habits are systems, and systems have to be built. Systems may come online overnight, but they certainly aren’t built that way.

To get your habit started, to get your system in order, requires a level of effort and patience that you may not have yet. It requires something special, but that something special can, and indeed does, help you build something special.

You can guarantee ‘a’ result. But can you guarantee ‘the’ result?

Are you doing everything you can to give the greatest chance of success? Are you doing everything you can to make the most of it?

Chances are you’re not. Chances are there is yet another string you could pull, or switch you could turn on that could potentially turn the game on its head.

If something fits that description, don’t you think it’s worth having a go?

Follow through with your instinct

I recently had the urge to get audible. I found I didn’t have the time to read as much as I’d like, and that audible could help bridge the gap.

So I went for it.

In all honesty, I hesitated at the price. But then I decided, no, if I feel like I want to try something, I should probably try it.

And try I did.

Unfortunately, I found that Japanese audible doesn’t have many of the titles (like, 95%) I wanted to ‘read’, but now I can say that I’ve given it a solid go. Now I know that my instinct was wrong, and I now I have the freedom to explore other options.

If I hadn’t followed through with that instinct, I’d still be wondering whether it was worth it or not. A simple example, yes, but it illustrates that until we try something, we just don’t know!

What aspects of your life are you in limbo about? What parts of your life could be better if you only followed through with your instinct? Why don’t you follow through with that instinct?

That way you’d be able to say ‘Now I know’.

When others make their business yours

If someone’s angry at you for what seems like minuscule reasons, it says more about them than about you.

Leave it at that.

For now at least. If there is some truth behind their argument, then sure, take it on board. But if there isn’t, forgive them, then politely back away and let them get on with their thing.

Or, if you can do anything to alleviate their problem, try that.

It’s more about them, after all.

Until Over and Done With

Some threads truly have no end. You just keep pulling and pulling and pulling to no avail. Those are threads you shouldn’t be too worried about. Those threads take care of themselves.

Then you have threads that last for a long time but do have an end. Threads that get shorter and shorter until eventually, you reach the knot at the end.

Keep that knot in mind when pulling. Be mindful of its existence. Know that, near or far, you will eventually reach that knot. And then, it will be over and done with.

A matter of perspective

Comedians and philosophers are one in the same. They both comment on life’s trivialities and put their own spin on it for the entertainment of themselves and others. The difference is, one group thinks its funny. But funny is just a matter of perspective.

Try and find the funny in life. Try to find the irony, and the sheer impossibility of situations and see it as a quirk of life, not a final decision. Life’s there to be enjoyed, see it through the eyes of a philosopher. And if that doesn’t work, there’s always another perspective you can take.

The Real Aim

That’s what you’re doing. That’s what all this work is for.

Financial independence. A flexible and healthy body. A big family and support network. All the result of putting your life in easy mode.

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in busyness. Sometimes it’s easy to forget your priorities, or to miss important events. During those times, remember that you’re only trying to put your life into easy mode.

Think about what that means to you, and go ahead and make it a reality.

There’s basically just one step

The Dewa Sanzan mountains in Yamagata are famous as mountains of rebirth. Metaphysically, mind you. And to be reborn, can you guess what you need to do first?

Die.

Metaphysically, mind you.

So when it comes to finding yourself. Can you guess what you need to do first?

Try this on for size

Things you can’t control are things you shouldn’t worry about. Things that aren’t ideal you can do something about, are things you should do something about.

How’s that for a New Year’s resolution?

Misaligned Principles

Feeling out of sorts? Feeling not quite yourself? Noticing yourself not being yourself? You may have a case of misaligned principles.

You find yourself doing things just because. Going through the motions. Doing things just because they need to be done, not for the sake of doing them.

Intention, here, is key. When your intuition and intention are misaligned, you don’t do what you should be doing. What you feel like you should be doing.

Try flip the equation on its head. Try doing things that you feel compelled to do. Things that without doing, you don’t feel right.

Then see where you stand.

Is doing

The treadmill is sitting there, unused. The pool is open, ready to be swum in. The sun is shining. The path is made. The race is on.

The difference between now and doing, is doing.

How to let the talent shine through

’They’re super talented’.

Anyone looking for an excuse not to try.

Talent can only get you so far.

If you take that talent, and build on it with effort, with putting in the reps, you’re going to go pretty far.

The thing is, the people who put in all the effort would be the first to say they aren’t that talented, or they weren’t that talented when they started.

The key difference is effort. Talent can only get you so far. But if you put in the effort over an extended period of time, if you put in the reps, and if you build something under your belt, that’s when whatever talent you had to start with shines through.

Give it a flex

I have comically tight hips. If I’m sitting on the ground cross-legged and you push on one of my knees, you better bet the other will rise up.

You may not think this is a problem. However, for a Yamabushi who spends hours on end sitting on the ground, it very much is. Bad seated posture is a recipe for all manner of back problems, and it’s something I’ve worked hard over the years to rectify by doing regular yoga classes.

If you don’t stretch your muscles regularly, they get extremely tight and almost impossible to maneuver or manipulate, exactly what they’re there for in the first place.

And one of the most important muscles for us humans is the creativity muscle. It’s our ability to create, our ability to combine ideas and bring new ones out into the world that makes us unique. It gives us our identity and makes us who we are.

To not practice the creativity muscle on the regular is nothing short of sacrilegious. To not take the muscles out of the garage and give them a flex every once in a while is nothing short of neglect. We need our creativity muscle just like we need muscles to chew and swallow. We need to fine tune it so that it works as it should, when it should.

Like regular exercise, make regular creativity a priority. Flex your creativity muscle. Show us what you’re made of.

Both passable and impassable until we get there

There’s one particular spot in yamabushi training you have to ford a river to get to. Over the past decade or so, that river has only been crossable once or twice. It got to the point that only yamabushi who had done the training years back had ever been there. Every year we eagerly wait until we get to the river. Will we be able to cross? Will it be another year?

Like a Schrödinger’s cat, that river is both passable and impassable until we get there. Of course, if it’s been raining, or if we expect rain, we have more of an idea, but it’s really no use thinking too much into it. If you go there, you go there. If you don’t, well, you don’t.

You can get your hopes up for sure, but there’s always something in the back of your head that holds you back. But then again, you may be able to get there! Either way, it is a good lesson in not simply acceptance, but acceptance at the right time.

If you accept things as a foregone conclusion before even getting to the river, and give up on it, you’ll be bitterly disappointed if you find out you were wrong. Best to wait until you get to the river and see for yourself.

Start at one end, and go to the other.

Start at one end, and go to the other. Be relentless as you do so too. Anything unwanted, chuck it. Anything you have to think twice about, chuck it in the ‘for later’ pile. Put that pile out of sight. If you really need it, you’ll go back and get it later.

For now, just make getting through the sweep your first and only aim.

Until its logical conclusion

Before you embark on your journey, stop and tell yourself that you are seeing it through. You are going to give it your best, no matter what, and see things to their logical conclusion.

Especially when your journey involves others, you have to take responsibility for the decisions you have made.

If things don’t work out, that’s fine as long as you can say you honestly tried your best.

See it through to its logical conclusion. Until then, you know what to do.

Enjoy it.

What’s the meaning of life? I have no idea. But I do know that if you aren’t having fun with it, you’re doing it wrong.

Roll with the punches. Take it on the chin.

Enjoy it. Put the joy into it and get what you can out of it. Do stuff for the sake of doing it. And for the life of you, have fun with it.

A Lesson From a Yamabushi Master

Sit down in meditation. See how long it takes for a thought to come into your head.

You need to be quicker than that.

You need to already be acting on your impulse before that thought pops up.

Our minds are very good at talking ourselves out of doing things. It’s what they try to do when we put our minds at rest (or when we try to).

But our souls come first. Our souls that tell us the truth, what we really want to be doing for the simple reason that they tell us from the heart. The heart is where these impulses come from, and the heart is what we should be following.

As much as possible, the moment an impulse comes, act on it. Take at least the first step to seeing this impulse come to fruition. Try and get in there before your thoughts even have a chance.

Sure, your thoughts may catch up, but by then you should already have the ball rolling. By then you should already know whether it was the right decision or not. And even if it was the wrong decision, acting before your thoughts gives you that all important raw data. That raw data from which further insights and impulses come.

Let them, and let your soul shine through.

This post is heavily influenced by the words of Master Hoshino. Learn more at yamabushido.jp.

And your role in it

This is your chance. This is your time to make an impact on the world. Everything you have done until now has been building towards this moment.

So do something about it.

Use this chance to switch things up a level. Show the world what you’ve got, and then some. Let the world see you for the person you are. Lord knows there’s enough bad stuff going on right now. This is your chance to right the wrongs and put us all on the path to better.

Put Your Experience to Use

Give everything you try its greatest chance to succeed. Put your best foot forward in all that you do.

How do you know what things give you the best chance to succeed?

Experience. Doing it. Walking the walk.

Sure, not everything will work out for the best. Sure, you may (will) come across ’failure’ here and there. But what’s the best thing to do with ’failure’?

Take what you’ve learned from it, and put it to use.

Experience is everything.

But don’t feel bad if you find you no longer want to

Stay the course. Keep the status quo. If it’s serving you well, you have no need to change.

Until change happens that is.

Until circumstances dictate that it’s time to move on. Until something tells you it’s time to change tack.

Stay the course for as long as it feels right. But feel free the change the course. Nothing’s set in stone, and just as your feelings change, so should your course.

Is the best

The best in the situation. The best you can do. The best alternative. The best substitute. The best there is.

The Discipline is the Practice.

The Practice is all about discipline. Keeping true to your self, and keeping true to your schedule.

No matter what.

But it’s also a practice. A practice is something to be played with. Something to be toyed with. Something to be pushed and shoved, and put back in its place.

The practice is the thing that you do.

That’s it. That’s all there is to it.

There is no do, or do not.

There is just the Practice.

Don’t think too much about it. Just do it.

Inspired by this post that I just couldn’t get out of my head.

Perspective is everything.

It won’t start.

It won’t get off the ground.

It won’t work.

It will fail.

It will be a failure.

If you only let it.