Self-Development - NinZine 3.0

From The Magick & The Mundane » Bujinkan by Shawn Gray

A couple of weeks ago I posted a few of observations about Kōfuku No Shiori on Facebook – posting a longer follow-up here at the suggestion of friends.

Kōfuku No Shiori (幸福の栞), which translates as “A Guide to Happiness“, is a short text by Takamatsu Sōke. In seeing the Japanese original again recently, a number of things came to mind and I thought it might be good to post an English translation that will perhaps breathe some new life into this well-known and meaningful piece. Here’s the Japanese original:

幸福の栞
皆さん、互いに憂を捨てて幸福を得ましょう。皆さん、幸福は人生最高の満足です。悲しみとか不満とかを捨て、思い直すのも幸福です。災害、病害を前知して覚り改めることも幸福です。皆さん、幸福は眼前に持って居ります。これを掴むと掴まぬにより、不幸とも幸福ともなるのです。何人もお聞きになり、お尋ね下されて、幸福の栞を拾おて下され。
Let’s break it down and see what we can find …

1) 皆さん、互いに憂を捨てて幸福を得ましょう。

The first thing that strikes me when I read the Japanese is the use of 皆さん (“Mina-san“), which means all or everyone. It begins the first sentence, and you can see that it appears at the beginning of two other sentences in this text as well. This is interesting because it indicates that Takamatsu Sōke was consciously addressing a group of people – all of the readers. The original context may have been such that it was intended for his own students, or for a specific group, such as a group of Hatsumi Sōke’s students at the time. Nevertheless, when we read it today, we can read it as if it’s addressed to us, the readers, as well. Why is it significant that the text is addressed to everyone? The rest of the first sentence sheds more light on that, beginning with the next phrase, 互いに (tagai-ni), which means together, mutually, or with each other. The opening sentence ends with the verb 得ましょう (emashou), meaning to obtain or to attain, with the verb ending (~shou) being used to further suggest togetherness in the same way that we use the word “let’s” in English (tabemashou = let’s eat; ikimashou = let’s go). So, in writing about Happiness (幸福, kōfuku), the author isn’t simply saying, “Be happy”, he’s saying “Everyone, let’s attain happiness together.” That’s quite a significant difference. There’s more here, too. He also refers to the throwing or casting away (捨てる) of sorrow (憂, urei – also translated as grief, etc) in this same context of togetherness. An accurate rendering of the first sentence in English would thus be, Everyone, let’s together cast away sorrow and attain happiness.

2) 皆さん、幸福は人生最高の満足です。

Once again, he begins with 皆さん, Everyone, and simply states that happiness is the most satisfying thing in life (a more direct, literal rendering would be, happiness is life’s ultimate satisfaction).

3) 悲しみとか不満とかを捨て、思い直すのも幸福です。

Ultimate satisfaction sounds great, right? Everybody wants that! The author recognizes that it’s not that simple – human beings struggle with feelings of sorrow and discontent. The author urges us to find Happiness by discarding those negative feelings and taking another look at our situation. Sorrow (悲しみ, kanashimi) and discontent (不満, fuman) are pretty straight-forward to translate, and although 捨てる (suteru, used above as well) has a wide range of possibilities (such as “throw away, “leave behind”, “discard”, “abandon”, “dispose of”, etc.), I thought “cast away” fit well in this context.

What I found interesting here was 思い直す (omoi-naosu). Omoi is from Omou (思う), “to think“. Naosu (直す) is interesting here because not only does it have the meaning of doing something again (repeating something), but also because it carries the sense of “fixing”, “correcting”, or “repairing” something in the process. For example, in addition to having the sense of repeating something, Naosu is also commonly used to say things like “I’ll fix the chair” or “I’ll correct the issue”.

I’ve rendered Omoi-naosu as “re-thinking” to convey the sense, which I think is implied in the original Japanese, that Happiness is achieved here not only by simply looking back upon sorrow and discontent in life, but by actively choosing to discard sorrow and discontent and re-think (re-frame or “correct”) our perspective on our life experiences. I think Takamatsu Sōke is observing that Happiness doesn’t come from our external circumstances but from the perspective that we choose to take on those circumstances: Casting sorrow and discontent away and re-thinking is also happiness.

4) 災害、病害を前知して覚り改めることも幸福です。

Like the previous sentence, this one is simple, direct, and to-the-point in the Japanese. The first two terms are 災害 (saigai – calamity, disaster, or misfortune) and 病害 (byogai – disease or blight). Saigai can perhaps be understood as the calamity itself, and Byogai as the bodily effects of the calamity. 前知 (zenchi) refers to foreknowledge or anticipation, 覚り(satori) means understanding (but also with the sense of enlightenment or spiritual awakening), and 改める (aratameru) refers to correcting, rectifying, or improving – similar to the idea expressed by Naosu above. Once again, Happiness isn’t a product of our circumstances, but a product of our perspective. Anticipating and correcting one’s understanding of the ravages of calamity and disease is also happiness.

5) 皆さん、幸福は眼前に持って居ります。

Again, 皆さん, Everyone. Again, short and to-the-point: Everyone, happiness is waiting there before your eyes.

6) これを掴むと掴まぬにより、不幸とも幸福ともなるのです。

There are a couple of interesting points here as well. The first is the use of これ (this) at the beginning. What does this refer to? Does it refer to happiness? It could, yes. It could also refer to the previous sentence as a whole, which gives a different sense to what follows: whether you grasp (掴む, tsukamu) this or don’t grasp (掴まぬ, tsukamanu) this. So the phrase could mean a) whether you grasp happiness or not, or b) whether you grasp the point of the previous statement (about happiness waiting there before your eyes) or not. Maybe they’re both the same thing. ;-)

Another interesting point here, I think, is the mention of 不幸 (fukou, unhappiness) as the alternative if you don’t grasp it: Whether you grasp it or not determines your unhappiness or happiness.

7) 何人もお聞きになり、お尋ね下されて、幸福の栞を拾おて下され。

I like the way that Takamatsu Sōke ends this piece. He doesn’t say, “There’s my advice, take it or leave it” or, “That’s the word on finding happiness, there you have it.” He encourages the reader to go out and find the guide for Happiness for themselves by asking (お聞き) and inquiring (お尋ね) of everyone (何人も). Ask others, get opinions, and find it for yourself: Ask everyone, inquire of them, and find the guide to Happiness.
I think these together form a pretty accurate translation of Kōfuku No Shiori:

Everyone, let’s together cast away sorrow and attain happiness.
Everyone, happiness is life’s ultimate satisfaction.
Casting sorrow and discontent away and re-thinking is also happiness.
Anticipating and correcting one’s understanding of the ravages of calamity and disease is also happiness.
Everyone, happiness is waiting there before your eyes.
Whether you grasp it or not determines your unhappiness or happiness.
Ask everyone, inquire of them, and find the guide to Happiness.

‘Kōfuku’, by Hatsumi Sōke

Takamatsu Sōke led an adventurous life, but in hearing and reading stories over the years, “happy” isn’t always the first word that comes to mind – at least not when one looks at the external circumstances of his life. But as the wise Ninjutsu master teaches us here, it’s our internal perspective that matters. Looking back over painful or unfortunate circumstances, re-considering, re-thinking, and re-orienting our perspectives can allow us to lead fuller, happier lives. In a recent message I received from Shiraishi Sensei, he referred to ‘the study of Ninjutsu, which creates happiness’. I’m willing to bet that he’s read Kōfuku No Shiori a couple of times.

I was asked today to write something about Kaname in advance of a seminar I’ll be giving at Bujinkan Manitoba on May 26/27. The following are some thoughts I put down based on my experience of feeling and hearing what Sensei has been teaching on this subject this year.

Kaname (要) is a word that means “essence,” or “essential point.” It refers to that which is necessary for a thing to be what it is. For example, each technique from our Nine Schools has something about it that makes it unique. For Ganseki Nage to be Ganseki Nage, and not Omote Gyaku, there are things about it that make it distinct. Those things are the “Kaname” of Ganseki Nage, the things that make it what it is, distinct from other techniques, the things that comprise its essential character.

Hatsumi Sensei used to talk a lot about Kyusho. Early on, he talked about how important it was to know the Kyusho points, and about how important it is to practice hitting them accurately and effectively. People were taught the names of fixed Kyusho points found in various Ryu Ha, and diagrams of the locations of these points on the body appeared in books. Later, Hatsumi Sensei emphasized that it is important not only to know where the fixed Kyusho are, but to realize that other people also know where they are, so they can be protected or used against you. Being fixed in place, they become common knowledge, something that is easily referenced by anyone with an interest in the human body. Later on, Sensei would emphasize that it’s important to be able to create your own Kyusho at will, rather than being tied into a fixed idea that a Kyusho is a fixed location on the body. The idea of Kyusho became more to do with taking advantage of openings that the opponent gives you, or that you create, regardless of whether or not the openings happen to coincide with a set “pressure point.”

Now we are talking about Kaname, and in this I think Sensei is taking the Kyusho idea one step further to apply to any factor in any situation rather than any point (fixed or not) on the body. So not only are there Kyusho on fixed points on the body, and not only can new ones be created on an as-needed basis, but any of the factors in a given situation, in a given moment, can be used to create the optimal outcome. In Budo techniques, these factors generally fall into what I call the Kihon No Goshin (基本の五心) – the 5 Essential Basics: Distance, Timing, Angling, Balance, and Force.

When working through a technique, at any given moment in that process, there is a key essential factor (which is likely one of the Kihon No Goshin, or a combination of two or more – but it could also be something else, like the placement of an elbow, or that a hand is in a certain position at a certain point in order to guard against a potential attack at that point) that must be employed in order to produce the optimal result. The more this does not happen, the less efficient and the less effective things become. It’s the same thing in life.

Shiraishi Sensei often says, “Constantly ask yourself, ‘What is the most important thing that I could be doing right now?‘” At any given moment in our lives, there is Something that we could be doing that is most in line with who we are and what we need to be doing at this moment (both at this moment in time and at this time in our lives) in order to accomplish that which we are here to do. That Something is the Kaname of that moment, and the less often we do that Something each moment, the further away we grow from being Who we are meant to be. In Taijutsu, the Kaname is the essential point that makes a movement work, its functional essence, and in life, the Kaname is the Essence of Who-You-Are – your true inner self, your ultimate identity.

In Taijutsu, the Kaname is dynamic, always changing, always flowing from one point to the next. It is not optimal to do the same Something each moment. It is not optimal that every technique be the same. It is important to be able to constantly adapt with the Kaname, to be able to recognize it when it appears, and follow it where it goes. In everyday Japanese, the word “Kaname” is often used with 2 other characters to read, “Kanjin Kaname” (肝心要), “the essential point.” When the characters are changed to 神心神眼 (normally read as “Shinshin Shingan”), they can also be pronounced “Kanjin Kaname,” but with the meaning of, “divine mind, divine eyes.” In other words, divine mind and insight reveal what the Essence is.

In training this year, we are looking at ways of recognizing the Kaname in Budo, at ways of seeing where it is going, and at ways of learning how to learn to ride with it as it constantly flows and changes. Taking the lesson beyond the walls of the dojo, there is always Something optimal that we can be doing to grow and evolve with the changes that Life presents us, the essential point of every moment.

Shikin Haramitsu Daikomyo – May each moment bring you Great Light!