The point between the breath

The following is a short excerpt from the excellent and extensive Art of Giving series, presented by Great River Institute's Scott Walter, Sensei. The second degree black belt at Great River Jiu Jitsu focuses on the four principles of The Art of Giving: Respect, Appreciation, Gratitude and Value. There is a cyclical nature to these four principles, a 'loop' that continues to circle round and round, exponentially increasing value. This short excerpt discusses the Art of Giving within the context of meditation and breathing. - MW


Giving and Its Principles
Scott Walter, Sensei

Most people who tithe are giving out of duty or kindness. But they are not realizing an improved connection to source each time they give. The same thing happens to most musicians – when they play and have a moment of connection, they don’t know how to build it into a further one, where it just keeps getting better and better. It is the master musician who knows how to do that, and it is the master in life who knows how to do that. Mastering life should be certainly about doing that, otherwise we’re not even in tune with our reason for being. How can we master something, including our reason for being, if we are not even in tune with it. It is almost unbelievably embarrassing.
__________

Giving and its Principles

Giving is a universal principle. Everyone is a giver in their life. Some people focus on the value of their giving more than others. Of those people, some focus on the value of what they give, while others focus on the value of giving itself. We want to put our attention and study on the value of giving and how to improve our connection to our reason for being through our acts of giving.

This is important to understand so there is no confusion as to what aspect of giving we are discussing. The understandings we are exploring are aspects of giving that will help us be more purposeful, supportive and conductive to our reasons for being.

There are many forms of giving and just breathing is an ongoing example of how we give and take on a constant never ending basis. If we are to improve how we connect to the Divine in life, and if we want to make that improvement a constant, we have to think and act in ways that support it.

Breathing is a good example. If we are to become more consciously aware of our reason for living, through the process of breathing, we have to have some way of recognizing what the incoming value is and compare it to the outgoing. In other words, our in-breath has a reason and purpose behind it, which is something we have to know and realize if we expect to extend that purpose and reason through ourselves and into our world as we breathe out. 

We are the factor that distorts or enhances that reason as it moves through us to enter into our world. Our giving, in the sense of our study, is about becoming more aware of this process.

In order to become more aware, we have to become more cognizant of what lies upstream and compare it to what we are breathing out. The difference between the in and the out is our gift. As we become more understanding in realized ways, our outward giving, or out-breath becomes more conductive to the purpose we inhaled. The inhale is our way of connecting to source through breathing and our exhale is an example of how we value that connection as it runs through us into our world.

The principles which I am describing are principles that can help us build a stronger connection to that source value. This occurs as we act in ways that help the source value, and our relationship to it, grow. This growth has to be continuous, if we want a continuous relationship, and it has to be more and more apparent if we want it to become more apparent.

There is a dynamic process at work in every form of giving. Just as in breathing, something comes in and something goes out. In that process there is an extraction of value to run the body (heart, physical functions, etc,) and an introduction of value from the body as a result, such as a physical action, a thought, a feeling, a sense or some form of expression. The incoming, or in breath, is the factor which impresses us. But, all too often, we are so busy expressing ourselves, we hardly take notice of the incoming value.

This is why meditation is important. It is through meditation that we train ourselves to focus on the incoming value and the impression that value is making on us. Prayer is our outward expression. We are the point in between and it is through the process of what we call meditation and prayer that we begin to take time to reflect on our relationship to the incoming and outgoing values. We are the point in between the breath; we are what makes the difference.

The journey of the monastic

Some monastics prefer a course of study. Others prefer a nap. It's all good.

OVERVIEW
In the monastery or convent, we enter a series of rooms. Each room has someone sitting in the room. Upon entering the room, they hand us a small slip of paper. On the paper is written a single word, a universal principle for us to practice while we sit in the room. We practice the single word, that particular principle, until we can apply it in any situation or circumstance. Arising, we open the door to the next room.

THE SEVEN ROOMS
1. Sage - the man or woman of wisdom or inexperience who, upon arriving at a certain moment in their life, realizes they are coming up short. This realization is a root of wisdom. The principle in this room is Balance.
2. Supplicant - a state of mind suggestive of wishing or hoping there to be a better way of living. The principle in this room is Adaptability.
3. Beggar - upon arriving at a state of humility, the man or woman of wisdom or inexperience, is willing to do whatever they need to do to find their answers. The principle in this room is Interaction.
4. Scribe - writing, music, art and nature are often turned to by the Scribe, to find inspiration and to find a deeper form of an inexplicable 'something' within him or her self. The principle in this room is Movement.
5. Hermit - a time comes when the monastic needs a retreat, to go into a cave or solitude, to reconsider and perhaps re-map their life and goals. The principle in this room is Mechanics.
6. Wanderer - emerging from solitude, the monastic embarks on a journey to give expression to that which they cannot explain. The principle in this room is Energy.
7. Simpleton - the simpleton begins to realize that the state of 'not knowing' is only the beginning of a boundless journey. The principle in this room is Harmony.

The principles shown in each 'room' are based on the Seven Fundamental Principles for Standing int the Face of the Truth, as taught by Great River Jiu Jitsu.

 -- [a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5Wu2nDStgwqR0VVczR5NWxfczA/edit?usp=sharing"]INTRODUCTION TO THE SEVEN FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES[/a]

Harmony: birth of the roadmap

The Seven Fundamental Principles for Standing in the Face of the Truth
An Introduction

When we don't have harmony in our lives and our world, we are suffering from some kind of imbalance. As we strive to improve our relationship to the world and within ourselves, we reach out to family and friendship, exercise and nutrition, and religion and meditation for solace. 'Balance and Harmony' is an often-used phrase that sounds good on paper but isn't always so easy to achieve.

Interestingly, quietly residing between those two seven letter words lays a simple three letter word - 'and.' As we shall see, it's all in the 'and,' because hiding in that modest conjunction are five secrets to improved balance and harmony.

Years ago my teacher (Sensei) related he had been thinking a great deal about the term balance and harmony, noting that the phrase is tossed about quite a bit. He had been observing how people often have a hard time finding balance in their lives, and that they have an equally hard time transitioning to harmony. He emphasized that while the two words are often used as synonyms they are actually two completely different principles.

Pondering what was preventing people from finding balance and then making the transition to harmony, his questions became a serious study. He found himself wondering what it was that resided between balance and harmony. In a succinct moment of realization, he began to focus on the three letter word ‘and’.

In time he came to understand that a seemingly insignificant word actually represented five principles, and that the word ‘and’ was a transitional word in a much larger sense then had ever been imagined. For within that word resided five naturally flowing universal principles that reliably transition us from balance to harmony. If we are not in harmony, it is because we are stuck on one or more of the other principles.

With an understanding of how the principles work, including their interrelationships, there now existed, perhaps for the first time, a roadmap to achieving better harmony in our lives. Eventually, these principles became known as The Seven Fundamental Principles for Standing in the Face of the Truth. [1]

Brilliantly ordered and crafted, together these principles teach us how to stand in the face of the Truth, including how to face our inner demons and outer critics. Each principle successively reveals that we can not only be successful navigating the unknown, but that we have a universal, principle-based 'GPS guidance system' to take along anytime we go there.

Read Article