by Jim Giorgi

I want to share with you my story of The Gift of the Katana as a way to demonstrate what I am teaching you about the Power of Intention.

I held an aikido seminar at my dojo in Ft. Lauderdale over the weekend.  My teacher came down from NY and a lot of visitors were there from other Nihon Goshin Aikido dojos, including Dave, a black belt from the NGA dojo in Georgia, whom I have taught whenever I was there for seminars over the past 9 years.  On Monday I taught my usual aikido class and Dave, who was still in the area, attended.  After class he came over to me.

"I have something for you," he said.

by Jim Giorgi

I have been very busy this last month making videos for "Power of Intention" and "Taste of Enlightenment" videos.  My old PC- an IBM ThinkPad R40 that I bought used over 5 years ago-is just too small and slow for what I want to be doing now…I am nearly out of storage.

From time to time it would cross my mind that I really need a faster computer with more storage and more “bells and whistles”.  The idea would rise out of nothingness and then... letting go of it... would fall into nothingness again.  I can't say it ever became a desire, or a concrete thought, certainly not a plan.  It was just a thought, like any other.

by Jim Giorgi

At the last Zen retreat that I went to at our temple here, in my interview with the Zen master, he said, “Zen is simply accepting this moment as it is."  That’s it.  Being able to accept it.  It doesn’t mean you have to like it.  It doesn’t mean you want to try to change it, at least in that moment.  You can do something to change it but you don’t resist it.  You don’t inwardly put up barriers to it and say, “I don’t like this,” or, “I don’t like that.”  It is essentially what Jesus said when he said, “Turn the other cheek.”

by Jim Giorgi

A series of co-incidences led me to revisit an article I read “by chance” 37 years ago - "Aikido and the Mind of the West" by George Leonard - and the powerful impact that article has had on my life.  This is another story about the Power of Intention, and what Carl Jung termed “synchronicity.”

by Jim Giorgi

I am not a big fan of any spectator sports.  I would much rather do than watch.  However, I always have had, and always will have a place in my heart for the New York Yankees.  Since I first understood what baseball was, I have been a Yankee fan.  I was born after Joe DiMaggio retired, but watched the Yankee greats of the late 50s and early 60s...the likes of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Bobby Richardson, Joe Pepitone, and many more ex-Yankee greats.  Whenever the Yankees win, and especially when they are in the World Series, I am insanely happy.  Whether you consider them the greatest team in baseball, the "evil empire", are a Boston fan, or really don't care about it one way or the other, it is one attachment I have not yet transcended.

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How I got a Varsity Pin as a Freshman:
A Reminiscence of Cardinal Spellman High School

by Jim Giorgi

I recently reminisced about the unusual tale of how I was awarded one of the most coveted symbols of advanced athletic prowess at Spellman-the varsity pin.  My homeroom during freshman year was 1F, in room 108, and Brother Brian (Kelly) was our homeroom teacher (and also our Biology and Religion teacher as well).  Those of you who remember me will recall that I was about as far from the athletic type as one could get.  My elementary school, St. Benedict's, had no athletic program at all, and so for the first 8 years of my education, physical education of any kind was nonexistent.  My parents were not "sports-minded" and did not encourage me to join local sports teams of any kind.  So I had no experience with competitive sports.  One activity I did enjoy through my youth, though, was swimming.  When I got to Spellman in the Fall of 1967, I figured that it would be a good thing to "round out" my program by including some athletic activity, and since swimming was something that I had at least some familiarity with, I decided to join the Swimming Team.

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How the Continuum Concept is Applied Therapeutically

by Jim Giorgi

I have worked with very young children since 1982, as a psychological consultant to preschool programs.  My job was to evaluate preschool-age children (between the ages of two and a half to 5 years) who were suspected by their parents, or pediatricians, or other early childhood intervention organizations, of having significant developmental delays. 

Based upon the results of my evaluations, I would determine if the child was sufficiently delayed or disrupted in his or her intellectual, emotional or behavioral development to warrant placement in a special education preschool program.  When my evaluation was complete, I wrote a report, shared the results with the child’s parents or guardians, and made recommendations as to what types of remedial interventions the child required. 

During my years working for public school systems, I also provided psychotherapeutic interventions to those children who required such treatment once they were placed in those preschool programs.  In the years since 1997, when I read the book The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff, the advice I have given to parents of children with significant emotional and behavioral disorders has derived from that theoretical premise.

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by Jim Giorgi

An analogy can be made between meditative practice and a whitewater rafting excursion.  Most people are familiar with scenes of the Grand Canyon.  The Colorado River, which flows at its bottom, is as turbulent and dangerous a watercourse to navigate as any in the world. The river comprises stretches of incredibly dangerous, chaotic rapids punctuated at intervals by stretches of placid, pond-like areas on which one may lazily drift among awe-inspiring scenery.

Wilderness adventure outfits conduct rafting trips down the river, and “shooting the rapids” of the Colorado is one of those excursions eagerly sought by “city folks” who feel they need more challenge and excitement out of life.  Let’s say you are one of these modern-day adventurers, and in while you are in the midst of the rapids, the raft bumps and lurches and you are thrown out of the raft and into the river.  This is not only disastrous, it is potentially fatal.  You are being tossed by the rapids and pummeled by the rocks in the river, and your life is in serious peril.  Your goal is clear and urgent.  You must get out of the river fast in order to survive.

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Planet of the Chatty Apes: How I made a talking chimpanzee jealous

by Jim Giorgi

In 2002, when I was working with a previous incarnation of the soap company in which I am now a partner, my business partner, Kaylin, mentioned to me that one of the customers of our nontoxic soap was the laboratory of the Language Research Center at Georgia State University in Atlanta.  They were using our soap to clean the lab and living quarters of the Bonobo Chimpanzees with whom they were doing anthropological research in the development of language and speech in primates.  One of the researchers, Holly, had heard of our soap and because it was so effective and yet still totally nontoxic, she wanted the safest product possible to use with the chimps in their living and working quarters.  Kaylin told me that Holly had called to say that they were about to run out of soap and needed to order more.  It happened that I was going to be driving to New York via Atlanta in a couple of days, and Kaylin suggested that I could drop off the soap directly to Holly instead of having it shipped up to her.  I readily agreed.

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The Rise and Fall of the Dysfunctional Ego: How the Continuum Concept nipped a Childhood Neurosis in the Bud:

by Jim Giorgi

I have a very dear friend who is a Kiwi.  No, I don’t mean he’s a small, odd-looking flightless bird or a fuzzy, juicy green-fleshed fruit.  Richard was born and raised in New Zealand.  I met Richard during an extended trip to Maui in 1996, where he was studying to become a Feldenkrais (a form of bodywork) practitioner, and we have been friends since.  At the time he was a professional musician, a tympanist (kettledrum player) in the Auckland Philharmonia. In 1998, the Philharmonia hired a new concertmaster, a French-Canadian violinist (and what a marvelous musician she is) from Montreal named Marcelle.  Richard’s and Marcelle’s professional relationship in the orchestra grew into a friendship and very quickly from there they realized they were meant for each other.

The Perfect Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer: An Interpretation for Modern Times

by Jim Giorgi

The Lord’s Prayer is the perfect, complete statement of existence, of how the universe and all creation “is” and “works”.  It may be understood in the following manner:

“Our” means Universal, of everyone and everything, of “All That Is”, and not just of an individual or isolated group.

“Father” means Creator or Source.  “Mother” or “Parent” could also have been used, but remember that in Jesus’ time it was a patriarchal society.  “Father” means the conscious, loving source energy that is the matrix out of which the entire universe, material and nonmaterial, is created.

“Who art in Heaven” means that this creative source energy exists as the pure spirit of potential creation.  In other spiritual traditions it is termed “emptiness” or “the “void”.

About a year and a half ago, during the early months of my giving dharma talks at the Buddha Center on Second Life (the online virtual world in which you may create a whole other “life” for yourself in cyberspace), one of the frequent participants at my talks was a Second Life avatar named “India Susa”.  In conversations we had both during and after the dharma talks, I found her to be a very great-hearted, insightful, and compassionate lady, and always enjoyed our exchanges.  After several months, she notified all of her Second Life friends that real-life responsibilities were requiring more time than they had previously, and decided that she needed to reduce drastically the amount of time she was spending online in her virtual identity.  I missed her attendance at my talks and also our conversations, but feeling as I did that real-life is always the priority, I understood and endorsed her decision.

The Meaning of Gratitude:
A Buddhist Meditation on Saint Francis

by Jim Giorgi

(Christo-Buddhist dialogues)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon:

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope

where there is darkness, light

and where there is sadness, joy

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

 

St. Francis of Assisi (1182 - 1226)

I was asked to comment on the prayer of that great Buddhist teacher St. Francis, and this prayer which I say every morning.  I would add this line in this prayer :  "and it is in gratefulness that we are gifted in every moment."

And where he says "hope," Hope should be replaced with Truth.  Hope implies that something from the outside will come to save you.  Truth is that you already are the salvation that you seek from somewhere else.

Why gratitude?  Why do thanks need to be expressed when we receive something?

The true power of intention, the idea of manifesting some good in your life, is not about controlling, it’s about letting go.  The dysfunctional ego wants to hold on to its manipulative plans and tactics in order to reinforce the illusion that is has gained and is maintaining control over a situation.  And if that’s the vibration that we create, then the conscious loving source energy of the Kosmos will bend itself to our will against its true nature to flow freely and abundantly.

One of my students has been upset for months about things the Dalai Lama said back in August:

Dalai Lama says there is no gender bias in Buddhism

August, 2010

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama said in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul district on Friday, there is no gender bias in Buddhism and nothing prevents a woman from becoming his successor.

"So the purpose of the incarnation is to serve people about dharma (faith). If the circumstances are such, female form is more useful, then why not," said Dalai Lama.

He also added that that the female Dalai Lama should be attractive.

"And I also mentioned in case Dalai Lama's incarnation one female comes then must be very attractive female. So the very reason, you see more influence to others, an ugly female then may not much effective," added Dalai Lama.

I have no use for organized religion or hierarchies of any kind.  I don't teach Buddhism.  I teach what the Buddha taught, that is, waking up.  Both men and women are equal in their ability to wake up. 

Ryan Litchfield is a student of Nihon Goshin Aikido (NGA) and one of the Black Belt instructors in the NGA dojo (school) in the state of Washington holding the rank of Sho-dan (First Degree Black Belt).  I have had the pleasure of teaching him many times over the past several years when I want to Washington to conduct aikido seminars in at the dojo where he teaches.  He recently called me to tell me of a recent incident that occurred in one of his classes that left a deep impression upon him and which strengthened his appreciation for NGA as compared to other systems of aikido.  I was both amused and gratified upon hearing the story and felt that it should be shared with a wider audience.  I will let Ryan’s words speak for themselves.   -Jim Giorgi

NGA Aikido - A Day In The Life

As a Shodan (First Degree Black Belt), I came to personally understand the anecdote that states that when you become a black belt you are ready to truly begin to learn Aikido .  My training has been enhanced greatly with the addition of principles from the Daito Ryu Aikijujitsu system.  Sensei Todd González introduced me to the principles of small circle leading and recently Sensei Jim Giorgi who legitimized these principles as having a valid home in Nihon Goshin Aikido. 

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A Family Affair:  Eclipse Watching Now and Then.

As I was perusing Facebook this morning I saw that several of my friends there had stayed up late last night to observe the lunar eclipse that occurred between 1:00 and 3:00AM Eastern time.  The eclipse coincided with the winter solstice, a rare event which I'm sure had some special significance to astrologers and the neo-pagan community.  One of my friends, John Begue, wrote that he stayed up with his daughter Jackie (who I believe is in sixth grade this year) to watch the eclipse.  John is a student in the Nihon Goshin Aikido school in Port Allen, LA.  His posting reminded me of a similar experience I had with my dad, and I sent him a message recounting that experience. 

by Jim Giorgi

Referring to both the development of the human individual and the evolution of consciousness in humanity as a species, Carl Jung once stated, “We move from unconscious perfection to conscious imperfection to conscious perfection.”  Unconscious perfection is the state into which we are born.  Conscious imperfection is the state in which most of us find ourselves right now.  Concurrently, we desire to attain that state of conscious perfection that we dimly sense is there but can’t quite figure out how to reach. Nowhere is this process more succinctly epitomized than in the Four Noble Truths uttered by the Buddha in the first sermon he delivered after attaining enlightenment.  The first noble truth is “Life is Suffering”; the second is “Suffering is caused by separation which leads to attachment and desire”; the third is “Suffering can be transcended”; and the fourth is “The way to transcend suffering is by following the Noble Eightfold Path”.  The Noble Eightfold Path consists of Right Understanding and Right Intention (the province of Wisdom); Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood and Right Effort (the province of ethical conduct); and Right Mindfulness and Right Meditation (the province of mental and spiritual development).

by Jim Giorgi

I recently sent a copy of Between Yesterday and Tomorrow to a dear friend who is a wonderful spiritual teacher in the Siddha Yoga lineage.  He agreed to review the book and sent me the following comment referring to a sentence I had written in one of the chapters of the book (dealing with the Continuum Concept). The sentence he commented on reads as follows:

"Life is suffering, the cause of which is the dysfunctional ego." (Which I stated was a paraphrase of the Buddha's first and second Noble Truths).

My friend commented as follows:

by Jim Giorgi

At a recent meeting of the Integral Spirituality group that I host, I read the chapter on "Love, Relationships, Sex and Compassion from my book Between Yesterday and Tomorrow.  In one paragraph, I referred to a quote from a spiritual teacher that was related to me by Stewart Emery (creator of the Actualizations workshop) in 1983.  Although Stewart gave the source of the quote at the time, my memory is vague about the source.  I have an intuition that it was Swami Muktananda, but I am not completely sure.

 In any case, the quote read, "You cannot achieve enlightenment except in the context of a committed relationship."

 A few days later, Steve, a regular attendee at our meetings, wrote the following to me:

by Jim Giorgi

My student, Kate, had something to share with me recently.  She wanted to discuss a passage she read in a novel that resonanted with her and she wanted to get my perspective on it.  We also talked briefly about her personal experiences and I agreed with her that it was not only a powerful passage in the novel but that her vantage point after personal experience was sound. 

The passage involves gaining a sense of accomplishment in life.  Kate wrote an article to share regarding not only the passage she read, but how she felt about it and our discussion as well.

by Jim Giorgi

“The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary; he will come only on the day after his arrival; he will come, not on the last day, but on the very last.” ~ Franz Kafka, Parables and Paradoxes

I have paraphrased Kafka’s gloomy observation to read: “The problem with the Second Coming is that it will occur one day after the end of the world.  It will occur only after all hope has died.”

We are in the midst of Holy Week, the most solemn time period in the entire Christian liturgical calendar.  Holy Thursday is the evening of the Last Supper and the evening on which Jesus was betrayed into the hands of his enemies for crucifixion.  Many believe that Good Friday, the day upon which Jesus was tortured and condemned, was crucified and died, is the darkest of all days.  I believe instead that Holy Saturday is the darkest day, and yet, the most important day to experience consciously and fully if there is to be any possibility of “salvation.”

by Jim Giorgi

My student Kate has been working with me not only on the mat in Integral Aikido but with EFT.  She's been working on building her own Integral Transformative Path before we met through some intellectual and spiritual pursuits.  One of the things that she's finding on her personal path is happiness through writing and she often shares pieces with me that involve our work together.

Before she went on a trip to visit family and friends, she shared with me some concerns she had with my wife and me.  Over lunch, we worked on some EFT to help her put her emotions in perspective.  When my wife and I picked her up from the airport, we could see that she had deeply enjoyed her trip.  She shared the story with me and I encouraged her to write about it.

Here follows Kate's story about her trip:

by Jim Giorgi

A few days ago I was experimenting on CreateSpace (Self-Publishing service), putting together the cover of my forthcoming book Between Yesterday and Tomorrow.  Not completely satisfied with the stock artwork on their cover creator program, I started looking through my collection of photos through the years to see if I had one that would fit the bill.  When I mentioned my quest to Sveta, she said that she had an online friend (Max) who lives in Russia who is an amateur photographer and has a site with many photos that might be appropriate.  She went to the site and found several promising candidates, and showed them to me.  I chose a beautiful shot of a lake with a mountainous background, a setting sun and a circle of ripples in the foreground of the lake.  Sveta asked Max if he would consent to my using his photo as my book cover and he gladly consented.  Here’s the photo.

By Jim Giorgi and James Williams, Sensei

John Begue, one of the students at the Port Allen NGA dojo who studies under Sensei Troy Maranto, saw this question on the System of Strategy Facebook page of James Williams, Sensei.  From reading my books, John knew that I had some knowledge in this area of interest and referred the question to me for my opinion.  Below I have reproduced the exchange as it took place on the System of Strategy page on Facebook over the past few days.

by Jim Giorgi

One of my students posed some questions to me recently regarding moving on from toxic relationships.  Moving out of the relationship to a place of healing is challenging, often dishearteningly so in the beginning stages.  Working through the emotional pain is an individual path but there are some powerful tools to be found in mindfulness, meditation and EFT.  Moving on from any negative, emotionally charged situation takes time and work to heal.  The important point to remember is to be mindful of triggers that bring unnecessarily negative emotions so that you can continue your path to break the attachment and the hold over your daily life.  What follows here is our email conversation addressing the challenges presented after the dissolution of a relationship: