Monthly Archives: November 2014

I’m thinking…

…about my intention

QUESTION YOUR INTENTION

“Men are more accountable for their motives, than for anything else ….”
— Archibald Alexander

Why are you doing what you are doing?

Throughout the day, continually ask yourself about your underlying motivation. Are you doing what you are doing for selfish, manipulative or fearful reasons, or in honest service? Maybe you will see that much of your activity lacks purpose. This is a great way to become more conscious.

Your intention and motives are fundamental to the results you receive. Set high intentions and your life will blossom.

“A good intention clothes itself with power.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Copyright © 1999 – 2014 Higher Awareness Inc.
Edmonton, AB, Canada T5K 0L5

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What Is Love?

“When mystics use the word love, they use it very carefully — in the deeply spiritual sense, where to love is to know; to love is to act. If you really love, from the depths of your Consciousness, that love gives you a native wisdom. You perceive the needs of others intuitively and clearly, with detachment from any personal desires; and you know how to act creatively to meet those needs, dexterously surmounting any obstacle that comes in the way. Such is the immense, driving power of love.”

— Eknath Easwaran

“Therefore, when I say that ‘I love,’ it is not I who love, but in reality Love who acts through me. Love is not so much something I do as something that I am. Love is not a doing but a state of being – a relatedness, a connectedness to another mortal, an identification with her or him that simply flows within me and through me, independent of my intentions or my efforts.”
— Robert A. Johnson

“When you are aware that you are the force that is Life, anything is possible. Miracles happen all the time, because those miracles are performed by the heart. The heart is in direct communion with the human soul, and when the heart speaks, even with the resistance of the head, something inside you changes; your heart opens another heart, and true love is possible.”
— Don Miguel Ruiz

Copyright © 1999 – 2014 Higher Awareness Inc.
Edmonton, AB, Canada T5K 0L5

I’m thinking…

…about Tao

 

My teachings are very easy to understand and very easy to practice

Yet so few in this world understand and so few are able to practice

My words arise from that ancient source

My actions are those of the universe itself

If people do not know these how can they know me?

Those who follow my ways are rare and so I treasure them

Even if they wear the clothes of a beggar they carry a priceless gem within

 

 

…Verse 70 from “Tao Te Ching”

Lao-Tzu, translated by Jonathan Star
ISBN: 978-158542-618-8

A Letter from Japan, Part 2

Having just completed a 5-day class taught by Sadaki Kato where we learned more about the history of Jin Shin Jyutsu, I thought it appropriate to share a letter written in 1998 from Dr. Haruki Kato translated into English by Kyoko Saegusa.

This is part 2:

Both the subtle misinterpretation of the Art’s true concepts as well as the partial, unauthorized use of the name Jin Shin Jyutsu have served to confuse the public and distort the wisdom that is Jin Shin Jyutsu.

It is my wish as well as that of David Burmeister that we continue to work together and support one another’s efforts to disseminate this Art in its purest form, and that the teachings of Jiro Murai will be preserved for generations to come. When I studied with Master Murai, I was his youngest student. I apprenticed with him with the intention of devoting my life to Jin Shn Jyutsu. Master Murai encouraged me to go to an acupuncture school. I continued to study with master Murai both while I attended the school and after I graduated.

Currently, I am teaching the principles and characteristics of the medical aspects of Jin Shin Jyutsu to medical specialists in japan who are interested in oriental medicine. I sometimes use the terminology of oriental medicine to better explain Jin Shin Jyutsu.

It is my intention to eventually have Jin Shin Jyutsu become a recognized and accepted modality of the Japanese medical community. This work consumes the majority of my time, along with writing and working with my patients.

For these reasons I kindly ask that individuals refrain from contacting me directly. I do not have the time to meet with all the Jin Shin Jyutsu students who vacation in Japan and wish to meet me, nor do I wish to be called by individual students whose inquiries, due to the time differences, sometimes come in the middle of the night.

I have chosen to work directly with the Jin Shin Jyutsu instructors, who will in turn share what they have learned with all of you. In addition, I am working with Jin Shin Jyutsu, Inc. on a joint writing project that will bring greater clarity to my work here in Japan.

Respectfully yours,

Haruki Kato

This letter can be found in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter Number 20, Spring 1998 and ordered at http://www.jsjinc.net.

Thank you, Master Murai.

Thank you, Kato-san.

Thank you, Mary.

Thank you, David.

I’m thinking…

…about Tao

 

The great warriors have a saying,

“I dare not act as host but would rather be a guest

I dare not advance an inch but would rather retreat a foot”

So advance but do not use your feet

Seize but do not use your arms

Cut but do not use your sword

Fight but do not use your own power

There is no greater misfortune than feeling “I have an enemy”

For when “I” and “enemy” exist together there is no room left for my treasure

Thus, when two opponents meet

the one without an enemy will surely triumph

 

 

…Verse 69 from “Tao Te Ching”

Lao-Tzu, translated by Jonathan Star
ISBN: 978-158542-618-8

A Letter from Japan

Having just completed a 5-day class taught by Sadaki Kato where we learned more about the history of Jin Shin Jyutsu, I thought it appropriate to share a letter written in 1998 from Dr. Haruki Kato translated into English by Kyoko Saegusa:

Dear Jin Shin Jyutsu Students,

I would like to formally introduce myself to the students of Jin Shin Jyutsu, Inc. My name is Dr. Haruki Kato, and along with Mary Burmeister am one of Master Jiro Murai’s two remaining students. Although many people would come to listen to Jiro Murai’s lectures and experience his healing touch, Mary, myself and Mary’s father, Uhachi Iino represent his three serious students.

I first visited Scottsdale in May of 1992 to re-establish my relationship with Mary Burmeister and her organization, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Inc., after having been out of touch for many years. I was first contacted by David Burmeister in the fall of 1991, through my cousin and our mutual friend Hisako Suginomori. This was a timely communication considering I had been planning to contact Mary very soon myself.

Since my first visit, I have returned to Scottsdale on 2 separate occasions and have met with several of Jin Shin Jyutsu, Inc.’s instructors. The immediate purpose of our meetings is to support one another’s work and to better understand one another’s approach and application of the Art of Jin Shin Jyutsu.

Although Mary and myself are both direct students of Jiro Murai, we did not attend his lectures during the same time period. Mary was first Jiro’s student and then came her father, Uhachi Iino. It was Uhachi who brought me to Master Murai after Mary had returned to the United States to be married. Mary honored Master Murai’s wish to bring the “gift” of Jin Shin Jyutsu to America and continued her studies by correspondence. I became Master Murai’s full-time student, and before Master Murai passed away he asked me to “look after” Jin Shin Jyutsu in Japan.

The long term reason for coming together with Mary Burmeister, David Burmeister and the Jin Shin Jyutsu teaching staff invovles the nurturing and protection of Jin Shin Jyutsu. David Burmeister shares my concern about the various offshoots of Jin Shin Jyutsu being popularized by people with a very limited understanding of this precious Art. I feel that as Master Murai’s remaining students we represent the only legitimate sources of this training available today.

To be continued…

This letter can be found in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter Number 20, Spring 1998 and order at http://www.jsjinc.net.

Gassho, Namaste, Blessings

CALM THE MIND

“All man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone.”
— Blaise Pascal

Meditation calms our minds and makes it easier for us to pay attention to the reality around and within us. Meditation breaks through the masks that have built up as our identity. It helps us see through our defenses and connect with unacknowledged and unloved aspects of ourselves. It opens us to higher mind and the voice of intuition.

We can consciously choose meditation as a way to become more aware of who we truly are. If we don’t take the initiative to open to our authentic selves, we can be certain that deep challenge and pain from life experience will push us to awaken.

“Meditation helps me feel the shape, the texture of my inner life. Here, in the quiet, I can begin to taste what Buddhists would call my true nature, what Jews call the still, small voice, what Christians call the holy spirit.”
— Wayne Muller

“In a world filled with noise, we need to quiet ourselves to hear God’s voice.”
–Paul Borthwick

Copyright © 1999 – 2014 Higher Awareness Inc.
Edmonton, AB, Canada T5K 0L5

What is Jin Shin Jyutsu?

…for our new readers…

Translated from Japanese, Jin Shin Jyutsu means: The Creator’s Art through Compassionate Man. The teachings of Jin Shin Jyutsu embody all aspects of being ~ Spirit, Mind, and Body.

Similar to acupressure, Jin Shin Jyutsu is a healing Art that can be applied to ourselves and others. By using our hands as “jumper cables” and placing them on the body, we reawaken our innate state of balance and harmony. Jin Shin Jyutsu harmonizes the body’s potential to overcome stress, fatigue, injury and illness.

With a history spanning over 3,000 years, Jin Shin Jyutsu was passed from one generation to the next orally. As with many ancient healing practices taught in this way, Jin Shin Jyutsu became a lost Art. In the early 1900s, Jiro Murai, a Japanese man from a long line of medical professionals, rediscovered the Art. His curiosity, aptitude, and desire for learning inspired him to decode these ancient mysteries of healing.

In the 1940’s, Jiro Murai encountered a like-minded soul by the name of Mary Burmeister, who, along with her father, became Jiro’s first formal student of Jin Shin Jyutsu. Due to Mary’s dedication, integrity, and generosity, combined with her embodiment of the principles of Jin Shin Jyutsu in her daily living, Jiro Murai chose her as the one to bring the Art to the United States. Since then, the study, practice, and teaching of Jin Shin Jyutsu has grown throughout the world.

…from The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, Volume 1, Number 3, Autumn 1991

Thank you, Master Murai.

Thank you, Mary.

Thank you, David.

The Seasons, Part 2

From The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, Volume 1, Number 3,,,

Wayne Hackett Explores Fourth Depth & Winter with Kim Lathrop, contninued:

Kim: Will you please speak to us about Fourth Depth and Winter?

Wayne: So we’ve moved from the life force, Key (Third Depth), through the desire to be (Fifth Depth), to be what? To be reasonable, to be common sense, to have the ability to attain and fulfill and complete ourselves (Number 9). Then we move into the Water element, Fourth Depth, having the ability to blend or balance, which is wintertime. Also, seasonally, we progress through Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Now at the Fourth Depth we go into balance. Let’s keep these two states of being, physical and nonphysical, in balance. When it comes time again, after we move through the First Depth, which is the spleen’s ability to bring sunshine to all the seasons, we move into springtime again.

Third Depth. We’re simply moving in that circle through the seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, bringing sunshine into life in all of its seasons, so that we can continue, and that happens with every breath.

So there’s that clockwise motion of the circle and within the circle the star as the order of creation: Third Depth, Second Depth, First Depth, Fifth Depth, Fourth Depth, Sixth Depth, Third Depth. All of those relationships are lying on top of each other. They interface between the various orders and principles at play, moving in and out of each other. Sometimes it’s the order of the elements, sometimes it’s the order of the seasons, sometimes it’s the creative process, sometimes it’s the process by which the jumper cable simply moves through the First Depth, Second Depth, Third Depth, Fourth Depth, Fifth Depth, in and out of the body. To know all of these relationships simultaneously is a lot of fun. We’re moving through the seasons of life.

Kim: On a practical level, what happens if our Fourth Depth is not in harmony during the Winter? What might we feel or have going on in our bodies or lives?

Wayne: If we put seasons on the lumbar circle, then we have Spring energizing Fall, Fall energizing Summer, Summer energizing Winter, Winter energizing the hottest part of all the seasons. If we get out of seasonal balance, we may have Winter, Fourth Depth, moving back up into Summer, Fifth Depth. What we get is an imbalance of hot and cold. The way the body expresses that is to have a cold. So at the level of energizers, we’re not allowing the Summer to energize the Winter, or Fifth Depth to come into Fourth Depth, or warmth into cold.

On the other side, maybe we overdid ourselves, too much First Depth worry and preoccupation about life so that the spleen becomes a disharmonizer and doesn’t have that sunshine, that solar energy available for the Winter. On both sides of wintertime, we have warmth when we stay in balance. Thus we don’t get a cold. So we can give ourselves a First and/or Fifth Depth Flow.

Thank you, Wayne.

Thank you, Kim.

FREE TO CHOOSE

“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.”

— Sigmund Freud

In his book Nobody’s Victim, Christopher J. McCullough explains, “In order to live your freedom, you must first accept reality. ‘These are the choices, and given those choices, which do I choose?’ Whether the option you select is pleasant or painful does not alter the fact that, given reality, this is your preference.

“To live your freedom, it is helpful to stop and ask yourself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ and then notice whether, given the options, you are choosing what you really want, or whether you want to choose something else…. Sometimes the exercise of freedom involves naming your poison — all choices may lead to outcomes that are in some way painful. But the real pain is that of feeling powerless — denying your freedom.”

“Freedom is man’s capacity to take a hand in his own development. It is our capacity to mold ourselves.”
— Dr. Rollo May

Copyright © 1999 – 2014 Higher Awareness Inc.
Edmonton, AB, Canada T5K 0L5