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"GO STRAIGHT TO THE HEART OF DANGER, THERE YOU WILL FIND SAFETY.”
 SIFU LARRY HARTSELL

 

INTRODUCTION   Written by Admin

DISCOVERY

 

“God has placed in each soul an apostle to lead us upon  the illuminated path. Yet many seek life from without, unaware that it is within them.” The Spiritual Sayings of Kahlil Gibran

I live in Malibu, California, a wondrous, stretching community cleansed by the Pacific Ocean on the one side, held at bay by the Santa Monica Mountains on the other. One can hear the waves break in the early morning on the shores to the west, sometimes sounding like a thunderous army landing on the beach head. 

Malibu has a charm Santa Monica wished it had and the certain upper class funk that was once Venice. Malibu people mill about along various tasks: working, surfing, tanning and a palpable penchant for not being Lemmings. 

There are certain hairstylists, people frequent, tanning salons, specialty stores, especially the right surf shop. It being such a microcosm, it sticks out. Treatment centers, at last count 23, have become somewhat of a joke around here. None are taken quite as seriously as their counterparts, because, unlike other places, Malibu’s spirituality is for real. It is not fake or set upon the lap of some guru who passes out pills to patients.  But Malibu is a place for discovery. Discovery of the whole of life..

Santa Monica will deliver the same boutiques, but with the herbalist no one dares to question and various snake oil salesmen who line Main Street and Venice. This all, of course spirals out to other communities, but the focus is on Malibu. The reason for, well explained above, this beautiful community 25 miles or so miles of the most beautiful sights one can find  

But the one thing I have noticed about Malibuites is their friendliness, their willingness to give birth to new concepts, new ideas. Sure, you can find this trait in other Southern California Beach Communities, but nowhere can the snobbishness of which we are so often accused of, be equated with our ability to discover new ways to live, to build, to dance, to eat. 

With the other cities you would literally have to peel off so many layers of onion skin to even find a sense of  self. A texture or depth. A soul.  

I view myself as a Spiritual Warrior  (forever in Training) I see this community, oh yes and many other like it, about the country, about the World, in these locales, transforming  even a bit a day to see what has become in the “chic” cities, We have an inherent desire to constantly be in battle with Fear. Fear is Dark. But it will not touch the lighting speed action, the giant ball of  light we Warriors of the Spirit practice and practice. Arespending the majority of our time, trying to understand the Universe. Did you know that the first character or drawing, of a Man (all through my essays, I use  the term man to be used interchangeably with female ) was an orb, yes a circle  Go see if you can find from where that postulate came from. Better yet, think (‘mind katas’) about the this truism.  Discuss such ideas with others warriors,like  your self. Yes through dialogue , that being the true battle. Yes, the discoverer the victor. 

Through the 40 + years of Martial Arts Training, I have discovered my life. I became to realize that there is truth in any Martial Art, the real Metaphysics starts when you begin to understand the undogmatized, guruless, concepts of the art. 

In this process of self-discovery I discovered metaphysics and how hand in hand that went with Martial Philosphy. I have also found that the process has also liberated me from my addiction to distraction. 

I had always chased youth, ignorant of the fact that youth was always sprinting right beside me, What was happening, unbeknownst to me, that I was being renewed, yes growing younger as I discovered me on the inside. 

But still the snake oil sales men harken from their pulpets: ‘I ill cure you; make you thin; coach your life. All you need to do is buy this video or listen to this very, very enlightened person.  The seminar, announces the flyer is being held a the Hilton Marriott and only will cost you $350.00 for a two day session, This person, who knows nothing about you is going to tell you how to improve your life. He is certainly being enriched to the tune of $350 times the number of people attending. We must heal ourselves from the inside. No person or dogma is going to heal whatever haunts your soul,

“yes the answer lies within, so why not take a look now.” Cat Stevens. 

Must we forget that we are the only ones who can truly know ourselves?

In exploring one’s self, it is important to realize that we all emanate from the Universe and to the Universe we all return. But in this material world I speak so much of, in that realm, man is an animal-governed,  “led, managed, persuaded and compelled as an anima, by appeal to his animal and brutal animal instincts.” Albert Pike Readings XXXII, The Templar Dogma. In material, we are beasts of prey as ravenous as a hawk, a vulture, a tiger or an ape. We can be treacherous and cruel- The man of the business world is “cold, artificial,  cruel, heartless and unsympathizing, greedy and exacting.” Id at 14.  So the Warriors and people of combat intuitively felt this.  They also intuitively knew of their Spiritual side. Without knowledge of their Spiritual side, they are given as marauding predators. Let’s take an example by looking at how many of the Martial Arts mimic the movements and actions of animals. 

Compelling illustrations of how animal actions were utilized can be found in one of Ed Parker’s first books, Secrets of Chinese Karate.” Parker calls his illustrations ‘natural weapons.’ , but by their formal and various names, the mimicking of animal movements is unmistakable. Some examples: ‘Eye of Phoenix;” Dragon’s head’; ‘Leopard Punch’; ‘Eagles Talon’; ‘Tigers claw’; ‘Twin Dragons fighting for the pearl’… Do you recognize not only the animals name, but the meaning of the type of animal, spiritual aspect or web being conveyed by reference to Phoenix: “ On the left, Fire and Air are under the out stretched wings of the Phoenix, a bird of myth and imagination that , rose from the ashes of fire to be reborn with dominion over the spheres of Fire and Air. (Hauck, The Emerald Tablet at 141) The clear reference to the spiritual part of man in the Dragon and the Tiger,a representation of our lower base self in constant battle with the spiritual dragon. There, I  hint of the sword and the stone, for those so inclined to further research that wonder of mysticism and Alchemy.  

Are these contradictions in the nature of man- Paradoxes which define our Universe ? The distinctions of the animal, representing our lower self, can be found in  the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas : 

          “Yeshua said: Fortunate is the lion eaten by a human , for lion becomes human. Unfortunate is the human eaten by the lion, for human becomes lion.” LeLoup Translation “The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas Logion 7 

In Gnostic traditions the lion is represented as the ego or cognitive activity which stalks us, feasting upon our true attention and our true identity- the self. Interestingly, the Order of the Knight Templar were only allow to slay a lion. Otherwise, they were forbidden to kill any other animal (Read, The Templars  at p 103.) More exploration and Discovery, my Brother Warriors. You see the lion was representative of the ego and therefore could be slain. As we warriors know, our greatest enemy is our own egos.

From the time man has roamed the earth, we have known a dual connection with humans and the animal kingdom: 

“Humans are the weakest of these animals. Our adaptability to survive was relatively poor because we had neither sharp teeth nor claws. However , man had higher intelligence. The ancient masters observed the movements of various birds and animals and from those creatures learned their basic and fighting postures.” Reid, The Way of he Warrior  P 91 

So,  if you are seeking yourself, seeking to become untethered from the masses who proclaim themselves gurus, I invite you to join us at Paradox Martial Arts and discover new paths, the new you.