APPLIED SAMURAI WISDOM
By, Dr. Grant Kruhly, Sensei and Founder
7th and LAST OF THE VITAL KEYS
FOR YOUR EMPOWERMENT
2012
Last but not least, Vital Key 7 - Speaking. Speaking comes last in my list because I think this one is the hardest of them all. On December 26th, I will be 54 years old with 39 years of formal martial training and only now, on rare days do I approach this skill. I know a great deal about it, but doing it is another matter. So we all begin from where we are. I write this first to myself, then to my readers.
Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Samurai and author of the Hagakure states, “One should think well and then speak. This is clear and firm and one should learn it with no doubts.” I can’t speak for others but no one ever emphasized this skill as I grew up. It was not taught at school as I recall, and so I grew up anxious to speak and be noticed. In fact, it wasn’t until 2000 when I began to formally train in Japan that I witnessed this skill every day.
The contrast between Japan and the US regarding communication skills and styles is dramatic. Interestingly, I have also noticed something similar with my European friends, more pauses in their speech and more reflection. Much is said with few words. The great thinker Baltasar Gracian in his work The Art of Worldly Wisdom said, “In one word, be a saint. So is all said at once. With men of this kind sentences are orations and acts are deeds.” In my life I have met 3 people like that, they would impart a whole lesson in one sentence. Amazing.
So to begin this quest of deeper conscious living, my suggestion is to try and interject pauses into your conversations. Resist the temptation of answering immediately. Pause, reflect, and then answer. Even if you know the answer immediately, pause anyway, just to cultivate that skill. If possible, as you are pausing, check into your heart and your gut feeling to see what you feel. There is no rush to answer, nor any negative consequence to taking your time to answer. Checking into your feelings ties you into the power of now so that the exchange is very satisfying and real.
Isn’t that what we all want? Of course it is. So begin today, right now, to add pauses and reflection into the mix of your daily conversation. As you gain greater degrees of control over your own rhythms, add the dual reflections of mind and heart so that intuition is informing your words. Most of all, have fun with this and all the other 6 Vital Keys. That is very important. You cannot fail or do something wrong here; this is life and your evolving your consciousness. Our lives should be rich in experience and filled with wonder and joy, not misery, or working only to survive. Certainly,never fear mistakes. One of my seniors in Aikido, Robert Mustard once told me, “Mistakes are fine, it’s the effort that matters.” Although the powers that be would tell you differently, life is a process. As the brilliant William Tiller says, “We are all products of the process.” My mission and message is all about mastery of process, about how you live and work, not what you do.
In case you missed it, look at the video at the bottom of my post called The Challenge. Reflect on that excellent information; it clarifies the system quite nicely. I chose it because it really helps emphasize how important it is to do this kind of inner work.
From here on, I will begin to expand my information for you, going deeper in the same areas from new angles and opening other areas yet unmentioned.
My vision for Applied Samurai Wisdom is the development of proud, noble men and women with The POWER of STILLNESS within them. Just as great majestic mountains are untouched by weather, so the outside world cannot disturb them.
This is a culture of people, committed to being aware of and superior to mass media programming. They identify with life, not living only to work for another. These are progressive warriors of change and lifestyle and automatically rise as leaders wherever they are.
My new book will be out soon. It will be the first of a series that really imparts deep and interesting information on a whole other level, and answers the questions you’ve been asking.
Please send in your comments or questions, and let me know how I may be of service. By all means, please share my blog with others.
Dr. Grant Kruhly, Sensei & Founder
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