Chinkon Kishin method

1. Stand facing forward with both feet a shoulders width apart. Look down with hands in a prayer form with the fingers pointing down. While breathing in deeply and looking up, slowly raise the hands above the head so that the fingertips are pointing at Heaven. When looking down, feel that you are breathing in the Ki of the entire Earth, and as the hands begin to point upward, feel that you are breathing in the Ki of the Great Universe. As you breathe in the Ki of the Earth, feel it being drawn in through the nose and the mouth. For the upward breath, you must concentrate and imagine that you are breathing in the Ki of the Great Universe, taking it in through the medulla and passing it down the center of the backbone. Do this slowly twice.

2. SHINKOKYU: At the end of part 1, with the hands still over the head, slide the palm of the right hand down so that the fingertips are level with the first knuckles of the left, and clap the hands 4 times. Then slowly bring them down to a point just below the navel, with the fingers and palm of the left over the right, with the tips of the thumbs touching (as in zazen). Silently concentrate on the syllables I-KU-MU-SU-BI. Breathing out on I, in on KU, out on MU, in on SU and out on BI, letting the BI change naturally to I and continue the same pattern. When breathing out, imagine that your breath is extending out and becoming One with the Entire Universe. When breathing in, imagine that your breath is being drawn in to you from the Entire Universe. The eyes should be almost closed.

3. AME NO TORIFUNE: After clapping the hands 4 times, as in 2., step forward into a left hanmi and extend both arms, fists clenched as though clasping a pair of oars. With the KI-AI of E, rapidly draw the hands back, only as far as the hipbone. DO NOT LET THE HANDS GO BEHIND THE HIPBONE. Then with the KI-AI of HO, shoot the hands forward again. When drawing in the hands, imagine that you are grasping and drawing in the entire Earth to your Center, and when extending, you should feel that you are moving the entire Earth forward. The whole movement should be done rapidly as a unit as though it was a yari or bo tsuki.

4. FURUTAMA NO GYO: Return feet to a position a shoulder width apart. Raise hands in a prayer form over the head, and bring straight down, or bring them down inscribing a circle to the point below the navel, hands clasped left over the right. When you are drawing them down, imagine that you are taking in the KI of the Great Universe and forming it into a ball between the clasped hands. Begin shaking them rapidly so that the entire body draws in and is filled with the KI of the Universe, which should collect in the abdomen and pour through the body, just as the blood streams through it. This exercise is done with the eyes closed and during this time, one should attempt to see a white crystal in the center of the forehead. Once fully seen, this crystal should naturally turn to red. Repeat the name of the Sun Goddess AMETERASU-O-MI-KAMI over and over rapidly.

5. Repeat AME NO TORIFUNE, from right hanmi.

6. Repeat FURUTAMA NO GYO, this time repeating the name OHARAIDO-NO-OKAMI (the Kami charged with the Purification of the Earth).

7. Repeat AME NO TORIFUNE, from left hanmi.

8. Repeat FURUTAMA NO GYO, this time repeating the name AME-NO-MINAKA-NUSHI-NO-OKAMI. This is the first Kami whose KOTOTAMA brought the entire universe into being. It means "The Divine August Being Who Stands At the Center of the Universe." This Kami is Pure Consciousness, Pure Act, and Pure Energy and has no form. One of the central aims of Aikido is to unite with this Kami. O’Sensei said that it is the SU point of Creation. In personal terms it is your spiritual and physical center located in the area just below the navel. This is the "golden cauldron where the red blood boils" and where the KOTOTAMA spiral forth. You should always be centered there during the practice of Aikido. (In view of recent discoveries in multfields that we live in muti- omnicentric Universes, each of us may indeed be this Kami. Now realize it.)

9. Repeat #1 and clap 4 times as in #2.

10. (Optional) Again standing with both feet at shoulders width apart, put your thumbs in your belt or obi and raising up on the bass of the feet, come down on the heels solidly, calling out loudly from the Hara:

• IKUMUSUBI

• TARUMUSUBI

• TAMA TSUME MUSUBI

• IKUTAMA

• TARUTAMA

• TARUTOMARI TAMA

• (your own name) followed by TOKOTACHI NO MIKOTO

This is to create the fact and the consciousness that your form and posture have become One with God, and you now take responsibility for being an active participant in Creation. Aikido is Kami Waza. It is a Divine practice transmitted to O’Sensei by the Kami. It’s central purpose is for the person to achieve a state of "KANNAGARA NO MICHI" where you unite with the Kami and act in perfect accord with the Will of the Universe at all times. KANNAGARA NO MICHI is the Divine Blood of the Universe spontaneously welling forth out of the Sacred Heart of the Cosmos. MICHI (which is discussed in the notes) is the Cosmic vitalizing continuum. It is the present biological link between individual man and the Cosmos, including the Kami. The first six chants are related to The Three Fundamental Principles of Aikido in a repeating 1,2,3 pattern and represent the Triangle, the Circle and the Square. (These will be discussed in future notes.) In the final chant above, you are elevating yourself to the level of a Kami. It activates the forces that will allow you to reach your goal. It was this final chant which so totally upset the Japanese students at the time that O’Sensei was forced to make it optional. I know of only two Shihon today who still teach it, even though it is central to this whole practice. It should also be remembered that the very word Kami is KOTOTAMA code for the Union of Fire and Water.

11. Again standing with both feet at shoulders width apart, raising up on the balls of the feet, clasp the hands over the head with the fingers interlocked, come down on the heels solidly, and bring the hands down to the point below the navel with a KI-AI using the KOTOTAMA "OOOOOOOO" (as in boot). This should come out like "OOOOOOUHT!" When the hands reach the point below the navel, the index fingers should point upwards from the clasped hands and the energy of the final portion of the KI-AI should shoot the hands above the head.

12. With the hands still over the head, slide the palm of the right hand down so that the fingertips are level with the first knuckles of the left, and clap the hands 4 times.

13. Bring the hands down with the left clasped over the right to the level of your heart forming a ball of energy, in which you place all of the Ki generated in this practice. Begin to move the hands in a circular motion first in one direction, then in the opposite direction. Gradually send the energy out in the four directions, increasing it to eventually encompass all directions.

SHINJI CHINDONKISHIN NO HO ideally should be practiced at sunrise (outdoors weather permitting). Ideally it would be performed after morning prayers and a breathing/KOTOTAMA practice of the 75 Aikido KOTOTAMA sounds. Each of the sections from Part 2 through and including Part 8 should be practiced until there is a sense of completion and a natural flow into the next section. This is then followed by the practice O’Sensei describes in the next paragraph. The total practice time for all of the sections would encompass an hour or more. This may be shortened to fifteen minutes or more for use before Aikido Keiko.

"Sit quietly in either seiza or zazen. Close your eyes and place your hands in the cosmic mudra. First contemplate the manifest realm for twenty minutes, i.e., how the world looks and feels. As you settle down, immerse yourself in the hidden and return to the Source of things, i.e. the Void, formless Center of Creation, Pure Consciousness etc. Remain at the Center as long as you can, working to increase the duration with each practice."

Chinkon Kishin

"A practice intended to aid one in joining with the universal spirit and to help one understand the devine mission that is one's life goal to fulfill."

Chinkon is defined as... to settle down and calm the spirit ; Kishin is defined as... returning to the divine or kami, which refers to achieving a profound contemplative state where one is grounded to the divine universe.  Chinkon and kishin are generally practiced together where the first part, chinkon, involves revitalization of the senses and the gathering of spirit, while the second part, kishin, involves an alert meditative state.  It's been said that chinkon and kishin together form a method of achieving unity with the divine, although each has it's own function.  Chinkon is said, by some, to gather the spirits or souls wandering the ether into ones tanden (abdominal center) while kishin activates those spirits.
Chinkon-kishin has ancient roots that are referenced in the old Shinto texts such as the Kojiki.  The shamanistic practice of mystical breathing and meditation of uniting the divine and human spirits was often used in old times in the preparation of waterfall misogi, an ascetic practice of standing under a freezing waterfall for long periods of meditation with the objective of cleansing the mind, body, and spirit.  O-Sensei often practiced this kind of misogi (spiritual cleansing), but to O-Sensei, aikido was his daily misogi practice.  For this reason the founder would prepare for the misogi of his aikido training by performing chinkon-kishin techniques in his warm-ups..
The ancient tradition of chinkon-kishin , historically, had largely fallen out of practice in the Shinto tradition until Onisaburo Deguchi revived the practice, within the Omoto-kyo Shinto religious sect, in the early 1900's.  When O-Sensei met Deguchi and embraced the Omoto religion he also embraced the practice of chinkon-kishin as taught and practiced by the shaman priest.  O-Sensei had embraced the rich traditional Shinto culture and mythology since his childhood.  Omoto-kyo, as a new form of an ancient religion and its charismatic leader, Onisaburo, had a profound impact on O-Sensei's spiritual path.  The founder and another Omoto believer are show here practicing kishin meditation with their hands folded into esoteric mudra or kuji-in; meditative hand postures.
According to Yasuaki Deguchi, grandson of the Omoto leader Onisaburo Deguchi, Onisaburo received his knowledge of chinkon-kishin from a revelation he had while engaging in ascetic practices on Mt. Takakuma.  He also referred to a method of kishin mentioned in the section of the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) regarding Emporor Chuai, and in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicle of Japan) in the record of Empress Jinko .  Chinkon-kishin was practiced for many years in Omoto-kyo which attracted large numbers of new followers who had heard of the reported benefits of chinkon-kishin to cultivate and channel power.  However, in later years the practice of chinkon-kishin was abandoned by the Omoto-kyo because of the profound and often surprising effects it had on its practitioners.  The practice was never abandoned by O-Sensei and is found blended into aikido warm-ups in dojo everywhere today.
There are several forms of chinkon-kishin that O-Sensei integrated into the warm-ups of aikido training.  These exercises, although generally not well understood (even by many of O-Sensei's uchideshi) are still practiced in many aikido dojo around the world.  They are practiced for their obvious physical benefits as well as for their historical significance.  But generally the exercises are practiced because they are considered integral and inseparable from aikido.  The founder's students who retained the practice often differed significantly in the details as well as the level of importance they placed on this practice, and many professed not to understand it.  One student of O-Sensei said... "We practice it because it is very important... Sensei said that we would discover the meaning of these techniques for ourselves."

O'Sensei's Lectures On the Philosophy Of Aikido

Aikido is the realization of Love.
If you think that ``martial art'' means to have opponents and enemies and to be strong and defeat them, you are mistaken. The true spirit of the martial arts is to be one with the universe and have no enemies. The essence of the martial arts is the spirit of loving protection of all beings in the universe.
Never defeated means never fighting. This is not mere theory. You practice it. Then you will accept the great power of Oneness with Nature.
As the words for ``harmony'' and ``love'' can be pronounced ai, I decided to name my unique budo (martial art) Aikido, although the word aiki is an old one. The word which was used by the warriors in the past is fundamentally different from that of mine.
Aiki is not a technique to fight or defeat an enemy. It is the way to reconcile the world and make human beings one family.
The secret of Aikido is to harmonize ourselves with the movement of the universe and bring ourselves into accord with the universe itself.
Aikido is non-resistance. As it is non-resistant, it is always victorious. Those who have a warped mind, a mind of discord, have been defeated from the beginning.
There is no conflict in love. A mind of conflict, thinking of the existence of an enemy, is not consistent with the spirit of the universe. Those who do not agree with this cannot be in harmony with the universe.
Don't look in the opponent's eyes, or your mind will be drawn into his eyes. Don't look at his sword, or you will be slain with his sword. Don't look at him, or your spirit will be distracted. True budo is the cultivation of attraction with which to draw the whole opponent to you.
A mind to serve for the peace of all human beings in the world is needed in Aikido, and not the mind of one who wishes to be strong or who practices only to defeat an opponent.
When anybody asks if my Aiki budo principles are taken from religion, I say, ``No.'' My true budo principles enlighten religions and lead them to completion.
I am calm however and whenever I am attacked. I have no attachment to life or death. I leave everything as it is to the spirit of the universe. Be apart from attachment to life and death and have a mind which leaves everything to that spirit, not only when you are being attacked but also in your daily lives.
The source of Bu is divine love. It is the spirit of love and protection for all things. The training of Budo is the forging in our minds and bodies the power of divine love, which produces, protects, and nurtures all things in the Universe. The techniques of budo are signposts pointing the way which leads to this.
Aikido is love. You make this great love of the universe your heart, and then you must make your own mission the protection and love of all things. To accomplish this mission must be the true budo.
Even though our Path is completely different from warrior arts of the past, it is not necessary to abandon the old ways totally. Absorb venerable traditions in Aikido by clothing them with fresh garments, and build on the classic styles to create better forms.
Our techniques employ four qualities that reflect the nature of our world. Depending on the circumstance, you should be: hard as a diamond, flexible as a willow, smooth-flowing like water, or as empty as space.
The body should be triangular, the mind circular. The triangular represents the generation of energy and is the most stable physical posture, The circle symbolizes serenity and perfection, the source of unlimited techniques. The square stands for solidity, the basis for applied control.
A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind. The key to good technique is to keep your hands, feet, and hips straight and centered. If you are centered, you can move freely. The physical center is your belly; if your mind is set there as well, you are assured of victory in any endeavor.
Do not stare into the eyes of your opponent: he may mesmerize you. Do not fix your gaze on his sword: he may intimidate you. Do not focus on your opponent at all: he may absorb your energy. The essence of technique is to bring your opponent completely into your sphere. Then you can stand just where you like, in a safe and unassaiable position.
When an opponent comes forward, move in and greet him; if he wants to pull back, send him on his way.

The Fundamental Principle of the Circle

Aikido technique is structured on circular movement, for harmony is brought about and all conflict resolved through the spirit of the circle. The response of the body, mind and spirit to the principle of the circle is vital to the creation of technique. A circle encloses space, and it is from the perfect freedom of this emptiness that ki is born. From the center of this birthplace, the creative processes of life are joined with the infinite, immeasurable universe by the spirit. The spirit is the Creator, the eternal parent giving birth to all things.
The Budo of Aikido springs from the mastery of the spirit of the circle. The essence if this Budo is to embrace the complementary action of cause and effect and to draw into yourself all things as if they were held within the palm of your hand. You have a spirit, therefore you must realize that each person has a spirit. When the life processes are connected with the spirit and the fundamental principle of the circle is given birth in Aiki, all things are led to completion through the circle. All things are freely created by the circle. The secret of the circle is to create technique by piercing the very center of Space.