Tonight at aikido my sensei read to us a newspaper article about serendipity. He related what was in the article to what we do as part of our practice. Laughing, he told us that he sees in aikido in everything he reads. Now I laughed too as I thought about how I felt reading Wisdom Sits in Places. There were many points while reading that chapter where I found myself thinking, “Hey, that’s what sensei talks about!”
The Western Apache notions of wisdom as having a smooth, steady, and resilient mind struck me as being relevant to my training. There are many parallels between Dudley’s explanation of wisdom and my sensei’s explanation of our aikido practice. Dudley’s story about his grandmother begins with her telling him “life is like a trail.” The concept that in our lives we walk a trail or path, sometimes called a way, is a theme found in martial arts. You walk this path, physically and metaphorically, to develop yourself in body and mind. Dudley’s story starts with “the trail of wisdom.” My sensei too usually starts with an explanation of the word aikido. The last character, do or tao, means “the way,” or even “the way that it is.” Aikido is a practice of walking this path the way Dudley walks his trail.
Then Dudley explains briefly what it means to have a smooth, steady, and resilient mind. A smooth mind requires one to be present and aware of surroundings. This parallels the precept in martial arts that “the eye must see all sides.” A surface level meaning of this precept is that one should be aware of physical surroundings in order to avoid danger. On a deeper level, the precept refers to seeing from someone else’s perspective; seeing all sides to the situation.
Dudley goes on to say that to have a resilient mind you must not block your own path, and that only you stand in your way. The founder of aikido used to say that to have victory over others is a relative victory, while to have victory over yourself is an absolute victory. In our practice today we emphasize that our biggest obstacle is ourselves and our perceptions. If I can change my mind and have control over myself then I need not worry about trying to have power over others.
A steady mind, according to Dudley, is demonstrated by the ability to control your emotions and treat others well. Tonight my sensei reminded us how the founder developed aikido so that we could develop ourselves and help one another. Part of mastering yourself means behaving compassionately and respectfully towards others.
It seems that both the attainment of wisdom in Apache culture and proficiency in aikido require having your center; both physically and mentally. With all the stories Dudley shares of places he says to Basso to think on it, that to develop wisdom he must keep on thinking about it. To achieve wisdom it is a continual practice that must be worked on over time. Those who have attained wisdom help to guide those still on the trail of wisdom. This role parallels perfectly with that of the sensei. The sensei doesn’t tell you exactly what to do or how to be, but they have gone down the path and now turn back to point you in the right direction so you may discover for yourself the way to be.
The way Dudley explained wisdom as a continuous practice to develop oneself resonated with our practice at the dojo. Perhaps, like my sensei, I see aikido everywhere and make connections that others outside our practice wouldn’t immediately see. However, like the cowboys who knew the story of Old Man Owl without needing further explanation, so too in our dojo community do we have an understanding of these precepts and explanations of our practice. We share these stories with new students and point them down the path. Some people stop on the way, and some continue to “keep on thinking about it” (Basso, p. 127).