Newsletter 969
What is an Immortal in the Martial Arts?
This is one heck of an interesting question,
knowing the answer can actually change your martial arts,
and your whole darned life.
In many ancient cultures humans could become Gods.
Probably started with some king pumping up his image.
In ancient China there were a couple of hundred Gods,
with a total of maybe 1000 lesser deities.
Interestingly enough,
in todays culture these immortals
are often depicted as knowing martial arts.
Well, duh.
wouldn‘t a God know everything?
But that brings us to an interesting question…
how do the martial arts make one into an immortal being?
The answer is simple,
yet the solution brought about by this answer
is incredible and daunting and more than most people can handle.
The answer is when you work out so hard
that you go out of your body.
I know,
sounds a bit crazy.
The first time I went out of my body doing martial arts
was my third lesson.
I was standing there,
listening to some fellow in cool, black pajamas
describe some technique,
suddenly the world glowed gold,
The clock was timeless,
the floor was an ocean forever,
I could see individual motes of gold
suspended in the air,
glowing.
I looked at the instructor,
my first thought was:
he doesn’t know what is happening (to me).
My second thought was:
I’m going to do this (karate) the rest of my life.
Then I became a meat body again,
and the lesson continued,
but with me paying profound attention.
Before that moment I was a stupid school kid,
with no direction in life.
After that moment I was possessed
as if by a devil…
knowing exactly what i wanted to do my whole life.
To a certain degree
I was immortal.
I had gone outside my body
and experienced the truth of myself.
I didn’t,
to be honest,
really understand what I had done,
what I had experienced.
It would take years for me to understand,
and I would have to study Zen,
and Taoism,
and certain other religions.
But at the time, for the next few years,
I studied the martial arts more and more,
and I experienced being out of body several times,
very interesting stuff.
But the real icing on the cake
came about the time I received my black belt.
I had been in the martial arts close to 7 years.
I was doing them 7 days a week.
Working out,
helping with teaching,
writing and shooting my first MA books.
One day I was in my back yard,
sitting on a cinder block
and tapping on the pavement with a piece of rebar (a type of metal bar).
I had just been working out
and I listened to the tink of the rebar on the cement.
Tink, tink, tink.
Tink, tink, tink.
Tink, tink, TO-O-O-ONG!
I listened to that last tap of the rebar
as if it was a golden bell echoing forever.
Music was playing,
but there was no source.
It was ‘The Horse with No Name,’
and it came from everywhere.
The world glowed golden,
and I had a thought:
‘For something to be true
the opposite must be true.’
I was enlightened.
It wasn’t just the world that had glowed,
it was me.
I understood all manner of things.
I understood myself as a spiritual being,
apart from my body.
I understood that I was responsible for my life,
all the good and all the bad,
I was responsible for creating my life.
I understood that every other person in the world
is also a golden being,
capable of the most amazing things.
They just didn’t know it.
They hadn’t worked out for seven years,
committed themselves so totally to the martial arts
that they had left their body.
So what is an immortal?
An immortal is somebody who knows who he is,
not just as a body,
but as the mote of awareness directing that body.
In knowing who he is
he knows who he was before he was born,
and who he is after he dies…
an immortal soul.
A mote of awareness that travels through this universe
being this and being that,
playing games with the idea that he doesn’t know who he is.
We’re all immortal.
Now,
to be honest,
in the ancient world
there were four specific paths to immortality.
Traces of these four paths still exist,
though in such watered down form,
that nobody understands them,
and usually doesn’t become immortal through their practice.
The martial arts were my path.
and I know they are not for everyone.
They are only for those who are willing to commit themselves.
And when it comes to the type of commitment I am talking about,
who is willing to do the martial arts
not because they are cool,
not because they make people look at you with awe,
not because you can use them to get in the movies
or become some sort of ‘icon’ to the world,
but simply because every time you do them
you experience a profound joy
as if emitting light from your very soul?
Who can change their mind about bruises,
until each bruise makes you shiver with delight and ecstasy
as you realize:
oh, that feels so good!
That bruise taught me so much!
That bruise is like a kiss from a beautiful woman!
Who can change their minds like that?
If you can,
you can become immortal.
Now,
one last thing…
what is the significance of an immortal?
To the immortal…not a lot.
He is still the same old schmuck,
making mistakes and living through them.
To others,
he is the same old schmuck,
making mistakes and living through them.
But doors have been unlocked,
he has more abilities,
unending abilities,
and he is now capable of bigger dreams,
of living a life unfettered,
of creating something that will have lasting benefit to his fellow man.
Am I a good immortal?
I don’t know.
But I do know that if the accomplishments of my life
are effecting mankind a thousand years from now,
then I did pretty good.
It doesn’t even matter if people
a thousand years from now
know who I am.
I know who I am,
and what matters is if,
in a thousand years,
people are using matrixing as a tool.
The thing to remember is this:
in a thousand years I will still know who I am.
The person who is not immortal
who travels through lifetimes as first one person,
then another,
and another…
doesn’t really know who he is.
He is still locked in the education of the day,
the careers chosen for him,
the mannerisms of his parents and friends,
doing the same old same old
again and again and again.
But martial arts can help that.
Matrixing returns the martial arts path
to a more true path to immortality.
The way it was when it made immortals,
the way it was meant to be.
Of course,
you’re still going to have to commit yourself.
People who aren’t willing to work out
until they are out of their body,
until they are no longer a body
will not make it.
Here is the first step on the path…
Have a super phenomenal work out!
Al
A WIN!
Hey Al
At the moment my body isn’t well (at first I was going to say I AM not well…which isn’t true). Both you and another one of my mentors talk about awareness and I am finally getting it. I’m becoming more aware of my body each day…posture, how my body moves and when my body isn’t functioning properly. It’s frightening and enlightening at the same time. What you aren’t aware of is outside of your control. That point has been driven home to me on a visceral level. I’m going to do some black belt yoga tomorrow. ~ Jerome
“The word ‘superstar’ is an illusion.”
– Bruce Lee
