Extending the Body

I was watching hockey today, and realized, that the hockey stick becomes an extension of the player’s body. In order to master the skill of using the stick, the player must put aside the place where the stick ends and where he or she begins. That way the actions of the stick act in accordance with your will.

If a player thinks of the stick as a separate object, he is giving the stick too much thought, and will most likely be clumsy and awkward. He will not be able to play hockey very well at all.

In Aikido it is much of the same. If you think of your partner as an extension of yourself, rather then an opponent, then your technique will indeed flow to a much greater level. The moment you think of that person as an extension of yourself, your truly feel the other person’s body, and your technique is not only more effective, but reaches a powerful level of non-violence, that Morihei Ueshiba (the founder of Aikido) originally intended.

In Buddhism it is often said, that we should treat all beings as if they were our mother. The belief in Buddhism is that with the myriad of lifetimes we experience, at some point it was likely that all living beings were our mother.

But I do not think this teaching goes far enough. We still think of our mother as separate from us. If we consider each living thing as an extension of our life, then, this seems to me a powerful teaching of respect.

When you think of another as an extension of yourself, compassion will naturally arise. After all, why would we wish to injure ourselves? Why would we withhold from some, and share with others? In equality would virtually disappear, because in viewing others as an extension of ourselves, we naturally desire equality.

So why should we consider beings as an extension of ourselves?

All life on this planet is interconnected in an intricate web of ecological harmony. It is when we dismiss this harmony that destruction begins. Every time an animal goes extinct as a result of human interference the eco system suffers. It cannot adapt to so many quick changes so easily.

We must remember that other human beings are equally as valuable. We all have something to contribute, or at least something to teach. There is so much ignorance and intolerance in this world, but if not for that ignorance and intolerance we could not learn from it and begin to improve ourselves.