The Power of The Way A Spiritual Journey by Nodan
c. 2011 Lighthouse Productions All rights reserved ISBN-13:978-1493541911 ISBN-10:1493541919 Revised March 2015
Warning ! The breaking demonstrations in this book can be dangerous and should not be attempted without the supervision of a qualified instructor!
CONTENTS Chapter 1 Who is Nodan? . . . 1 Chapter 2 Quan Li and Sensei . . . 10 Chapter 3 This is My Religion . . . 19 Chapter 4 Following The Way . . . 25 Chapter 5 The Purging Fire . . . 33 Chapter 6 Do You Love Me? . . . 45 Chapter 7 The True Way . . . 52 Appendix . . . 58
1 Chapter 1
Who is Nodan? It was early in 1974, and the horror film, The Exorcist, had just opened in a theatre near my downtown office. Intrigued by the sensational public and media reactions to the movie, I went with three colleagues to see what all the commotion was about. As a psychologist, I did not believe in a metaphysical spirit world. I assumed that the phenomenon of “demon possession” was an extreme form of mental illness. What traditional religions and primitive cultures had attributed to evil spirits, modern medicine was now treating with antipsychotic drugs. Even so, The Exorcist left me with an uneasy feeling. The terrifying array of supernatural manifestations portrayed in the film were shocking, and went beyond anything I had ever experienced working with paranoid schizophrenic patients in a psychiatric hospital. Some people in the audience giggled and laughed their way through the movie, too frightened to consider that any of it could be real. The movie was actually based on a well-documented exorcism, and William Peter Blatty, the author of the novel that inspired the film, had read the detailed diary of the Catholic priests who had conducted the exorcism in 1949. The exorcism had lasted for a grueling six weeks, during which time the child, a thirteen year old boy, blasphemed and displayed superhuman strength.1 We live within the context of our life experiences. I was 1. Thomas B. Allen, Possessed, iUniverse.com Inc., c. 1994, 2000 (Allen provides an excellent account of the1949 exorcism, which includes the 26 pages of “The Exorcist Diary.”)
2 raised in the church and was familiar with the stories about how Jesus had confronted and defeated demonic spirits. But, after studying modern biblical scholarship as an adult, I had concluded that Jesus may have been one of history’s great ethical teachers, but nothing more. For me, the Bible was a collection of legends and myths that had been inspired by man’s search for a higher meaning to life. While I enjoyed working as a psychologist, my true passion was karate. I first became aware of karate’s existence in the early 1960s when I saw an advertisement in a weight lifting magazine. I was familiar with Western style boxing and wrestling, but karate seemed to be especially well-suited for street self-defense. I was abused as a young child and had grown up with feelings of insecurity and intense rage. Adding to my sense of vulnerability was the fact that I was always one of the smallest boys in my class through the 8th grade. To compensate for these inadequacies, I became obsessed with heavy weight lifting during my high school years. My goal was to become so strong that no one could ever physically abuse me again. In the early 1960s there were no karate schools near my home town and, after high school, I attended a college near a large city. Soon I enrolled in a traditional Okinawan karate school. I became so captivated by the mysterious art that I traveled nearly an hour and a half each way by bus and subway to attend classes. These were rigidly structured with a strong emphasis on repetitions of the basic techniques. There was no free sparring or self-defense training. From the beginning, I did not believe that the free-style sparring practiced in the 1960s was realistic. For me, karate was an exercise in survival, not a competitive sport. My interest was in learning how to apply the techniques to real street situations, and I began to work out with Tex Barnes, a
3 college classmate, who had trained in a style of combat jujitsu. Tex showed me wrist locks and joint holds that were effective against close quarter knife and gun hold ups, and a sophisticated combat maneuver that used a head feint and angle stepping to disarm and counter attack a gunman from more than six feet away. We also practiced defending against knife and club attacks, and the kinds of grabs and holds street criminals were likely to use. Although karate continued to be my art of choice, this early jujitsu training was the most important influence in my future approach to the martial arts. Not surprisingly, Tex Barnes went on to become a high ranking jujitsu master. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, I trained hard and familiarized myself with a variety of martial arts. Along the way I taught self-defense and karate, and promoted seven students to black belt. By the end of the decade, after fifteen years of training and study, I felt I had reached the upper limits of my physical ability as a karateka. I had read stories about old masters who possessed superhuman strength and began to search for an “enlightenment” experience that could take me beyond my natural limitations. My ambition was to become a great martial arts master. In due time, I met my last two teachers, Quan Li and Sensei. Quan Li was a brilliant karate teacher who taught me five striking principles that enabled me to double my striking power. But Sensei possessed superhuman strength that went beyond form and technique. Training with him took me on a spiritual journey that led to the “dark side” and supernatural power. I experienced a profound kundalini awakening- an energy infusion and possession by the Martial Spirit, a demonic entity of enormous ferocity and power. Indeed, the breaking demonstrations seen in my videos are mere child’s play when compared to the strength that can be accessed from
4 the spirit realms. Sensei was the most powerful martial artist I had ever seen. Telling the Story I always knew I would tell this story one day as a warning to fellow martial artists against seeking “enlightenment” and supernatural strength through their martial arts. I also knew that the identities of the persons connected with the events chronicled in this book would have to be protected. Understandably, some of them would not want their names associated with the incredible things that are about to be described herein. To remain anonymous myself, I created the “Nodan” character as a disguise. As a make-believe karate master, “no dan” holds no black belt (dan) rank, and his buffoonish persona serves as a parody for my misguided quest to become a great master. Today, I take comfort that humility can find a refuge in anonymity. In 2004, I bought a video camera and began the process of staging and filming a series of board breaks to showcase the extraordinary power in Quan Li’s “one strike” techniques. My intentions were to use the demonstrations as a backdrop to warn fellow martial artists about the dangers of seeking supernatural power. As a disguise, I used a long beard and a mustache, and donned a pair of Harry Potter eye glasses. To change my voice I developed a soft, high pitched tone with a non-descript accent. Applying and removing the sticky spirit gum adhesive that attached the beard and mustache was always annoying, and the explosive nature of the karate techniques caused the beard and mustache to require constant readjusting.
5
The Nodan character was inspired by Chiun from the movie, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.
After the filming was completed, I purchased my first computer and signed up for a video editing class at the adult evening program at the high school. I was in my late fifties and soon discovered that I had no aptitude for it. After the ten week course ended, I had to pay the instructor to come to my house to finish my first dvd. The critics rightly savaged my film, calling it cheesy and pointing to the awful acting and poor production values. They recognized the power in the techniques but failed to see the intended parody. Adding further insult, Nodan’s anonymity generated speculation and false information about him on the internet. One website went so far as to post bogus photos of the “real” Nodan! Disheartened by my failure to communicate my warning, I concluded that Nodan and his message were dead. It wasn’t until 2009 that I finally discovered YouTube, which offered another venue for getting my message out. This time, I hired a professional videographer to help edit a series of karate videos for the nodankarate channel on YouTube.
6 The Five Principles Quan Li’s striking method is based on a set of precepts which I have quantified and named “The Five Principles.” These are physical techniques that have nothing to do with the supernatural power that I would later experience through the Martial Spirit. To provide visual evidence for the extraordinary strength in Master Li’s striking method, I performed a series of unspaced, suspended board breaks. I did this while in my late fifties, in order to show the advantages of good technique over sheer athletic prowess. The human body has 206 bones, 187 joints, and more than 640 skeletal muscles. Li’s striking method maximizes leverage through precision bone alignments and a highly refined firing sequence of all the major muscle groups in the body. I lifted heavy weights for seven years and practiced karate for fifteen years before training with Quan Li, but I could never have performed the breaking demonstrations seen in my videos without intensive makiwara practice, and a high level of proficiency in Li’s five striking principles. 5 Board Break with Reverse Punch
7 5 Board Break with Circular Palm Strike
Un-spaced, suspended breaking requires a significant body weight transfer and enough speed to overtake the movement of the bag.
5 Board Break with Elbow Strike
Five board stacks are 3¾ inches thick and can support a 650 lb (295 kg) barbell placed across the centerline running parallel with the grain.
8 4 Board Break with Bent Wrist Strike
This was my most difficult and dangerous breaking technique. Nerve damage can occur if the hands are not well-conditioned beforehand on the makiwara.
7 Board Left and Right Hand Downward Breaks
7 boards will support a 910 lb. (413.6 kg.) barbell.
9 For serious practitioners of karate, I have explained Li’s principles in my book, Karate Jutsu: The Five Principles, and in my dvd, “Nodan Karate: The Five Principles.” This book and DVD are a free pdf download with no registration or sign-in requirements at nodankarate.org.
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Chapter 2
Quan Li and Sensei Before continuing with this story, I want to make three important clarifications. First, although the names of the people described in this book have been changed to conceal their identities, I have not altered any of the facts. I have relied on the written notes that I recorded at the time of the events described, and on the recollections of my wife and others. I am not an accomplished writer, but I have tried hard to convey this story without exaggeration, prejudice, or guile. Second , my understanding of the events detailed herein do not necessarily represent the opinions held by the other persons who are portrayed in this book. After all, we each have our own perceptions of reality. Let each reader be convinced in his own mind. Third, I do not profit financially from the nodankarate channel on YouTube, or from my books and dvd, which are a free download at my website, nodankarate.org. Quan Li Quan Li was already an expert in karate when I first met him in 1980. He had heard that I knew the complete Shotokan kata system, and he came to me hoping to learn some of the more advanced forms. But, as we trained together it became apparent to both of us that his karate was far better to mine. I was baffled by the “heaviness” of his blocks, and by the unusual power in his strikes. For some curious reason, the superiority of Quan Li’s technique was not apparent to the other three karateka who were working out with us. I was the
11 only one who was impressed. Quan tried to explain to me how I was using muscle power while he was leveraging his strength through “proper bone alignment.” Although I did not understand his explanations at the time, the differences in our techniques was astonishing. Quan Li was the best karateka I had ever seen. By the end of our workout, I had concluded that I would have to relearn all the fundamentals of my art if I was to ever approach Li’s level of expertise. Quan graciously agreed to teach me his basics, and I exchanged my well-worn black belt for the white belt of a beginner. The teacher had become the student. Meeting Sensei After studying for awhile with Quan, I wanted to meet his former karate teacher, whom he always referred to as “Sensei.” Quan was in awe of this man’s exceptional abilities and had told me amazing stories about him. He arranged for us to meet with the master, who was now teaching classes in traditional Japanese weapons (kobudo), and in Morihei Ueshiba’s throwing art, aikido. Quan warned me, however, that Sensei no longer taught karate because he believed the ferocious striking art no longer fit in a civilized society. When I met Sensei I knew he was everything Quan had said about him. His presence was different from that of other men, and when he performed his techniques a powerful energy flowed through him. Quan Li had shown me the superiority of bone alignment over muscle strength, but Sensei had a power that transcended this physical realm. I had met a true master, and now I knew what kind of martial artist I wanted to become. I asked Sensei if he would give us private instruction in his karate-do, but he would only agree to meet with us occasionally to give us a few pointers.
12 Then he expressed his skepticism as to where it would lead and concluded by telling us, “You’d have to be a saint to find The Way through karate today.” Sensei’s skepticism did not stop us from going back to see him several months later. After his last class, he invited Quan and me onto the mat. As we kneeled before him, he looked at me and said, “Jay, everything you know is wrong.” I was a psychologist with several university degrees, but somehow I knew he was referring to more than just my knowledge of the martial arts. At one point during this first training session together, Sensei moved behind me and instructed me not to look back until I could “feel” his extended fist close to the back of my head. I waited until I could sense him almost touching me. When I turned to look, Sensei was standing ten feet away. I tried again. This time I was certain that he was some distance away because I could not sense anything close to me. As I turned to look, the side of my face lightly grazed his extended fist. Somehow, he was able to extend and withdraw his ki (vital energy) at will. Next, Sensei stood in front of me in a relaxed front stance with his arms hanging loosely at his sides. He said, “Attack me.” I remember pausing and wondering if he was serious, but Sensei just stood there with a strange stare emanating from his eyes. I shifted into a front fighting stance and cautiously looked for an opening. There was none. It was as if he was empty and had every possible attack covered. Quan later confessed that watching this episode unfold had “scared the hell out him,” because he didn’t know how I was going to react. Sensei had used the sword attitude known as Happo Biraki (open on all eight sides), and the twofold gaze of perception and sight to preemptively thwart any attack I may have been considering.
13 Finally, Sensei had each of us perform a beginner kata for him. Afterwards, he said to us, “It’s not that it’s wrong… it’s just not right.” It was not until after I experienced the Martial Spirit for myself that I understood what he meant by this. On our drive home from Sensei’s dojo, Quan revealed that Sensei had taken him aside and commented, “Jay’s a strong man but his karate’s not good.” After this first teaching session with Sensei, I was more motivated than ever to continue my training. I intensified my home workouts, and Quan and I continued to meet with Sensei every few months to have him critique our progress in karate. Quan proved to be as good a teacher as he was a martial artist. He taught proactively, performing every repetition, step for step, right along with me. For my part, I was a determined student, hanging on his every word and imitating his every move. I did not have Quan Li’s exceptional natural ability or his genius for understanding the techniques. I had to be shown each step of the way, and then practice, practice, practice until the movements became part of me. Master Quan Li
14 After training with Quan Li for nearly two years, I made a momentous decision. To better access Sensei’s spiritual wisdom, I joined his school and traveled an hour and a half each way to attend his classes. Quan and I continued to train together in karate, but studying with Sensei added a whole new perspective to my understanding of the martial arts. Over time, I began to grasp the deeper spiritual nature of Sensei’s art. For him, a true sensei was an “enlightened” teacher, and he scoffed at the casual use of the title by Western practitioners of the arts. The dojo (training hall) was the “way-room” where the departed spirits of the masters meet with the followers of The Way. Pictures of these past masters were displayed on the kamiza wall at the front of the dojo. The kamiza was a “wall of honor” and the “altar of god.” At the beginning and end of each workout, Sensei would lead the class through a ceremonial bow before it. The kneeling bow included sitting meditation (zazen), which was intended to empty the mind, making it more receptive to the spirits. Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) According to Quan Li, Sensei was a master of Miyamoto Musashi’s two swords style (Niten Ichi-ryu), in which the long and short swords are wielded simultaneously, one in each hand. Musashi’s classic guide to strategy, A Book of Five Rings, was the philosophical basis for Sensei’s teaching. During his lifetime Musashi killed most of his opponents in more than sixty duels. After concluding that he was invincible, he retired to a cave and began an earnest search for enlightenment, which culminated in his now famous treatise on strategy. Besides his swordsmanship, Musashi was known for being an accomplished artist, sculptor, and calligrapher.
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Musashi self portrait, circa 1640
Musashi’s ink drawings of Hotei and a cormorant
16 Gichen Funakoshi (1868-1957)
This famous Okinawan master introduced karate to Japan in the 1920s. His Shotokan style greatly influenced Sensei’s karate-do.
Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969)
Sensei stopped teaching his karate-do in the 1970s in favor of Ueshiba’s aikido, a throwing art designed to inflict as little damage as possible to the aggressor.
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Although a master of Musashi’s two swords style, in his classes Sensei taught a traditional style of kendo.
Quan Li’s Dojo
Quan Li’s kamiza displays samurai swords, sai and tonfa, certificates, and pictures of masters.
18 Zazen (sitting meditation)
Ceremonial bow before the kamiza
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Chapter 3
This is My Religion Today, few people are aware of the religious roots of the Asian martial arts. In the 1976 documentary film, “Way of The Sword,” the Japanese karate master, Gogen “The Cat” Yamaguchi, can be seen kneeling before his crystal ball summoning the martial spirits. Master Yamaguchi was a 10th degree black belt and a Shinto priest. The film’s commentator translates the Goju-ryu master’s words: “In my crystal ball, I conjure up spirits of past and future. I talk to the samurai warriors of old and to the fighters who are yet to come, and the secrets they tell me I pass on through my karate school.”2
Gogen Yamaguchi (1901-1969)
2. “Way of The Sword,” c. 1976, distributed by Coe Film Associates, #65 E 96th Street, New York, N.Y. 10128
20 Sensei and the Martial Spirit While the dojo served as the focal point for Sensei’s spiritual connection with his martial art, astrology and the I Ching (Book of Changes) were also important to his occult practice. I Ching is a Chinese divination system, and I once observed Sensei having a reading done by an expert in that esoteric art. Referring to his martial art, Sensei once commented to Quan Li, “This is my religion.” During his classes, Sensei often received a revelation about a technique, which he believed was a gift from the Martial Spirit. Once, I asked him how he had acquired his great martial arts ability and extraordinary physical prowess, and he told me about the life-changing visitation he received from the Martial Spirit in the late 1960s. During that time in his life he had become sick and believed he was about to die. He had been earnestly seeking the “truth” through his karatedo, and he made a commitment to continue training until he either reached enlightenment or died trying. Sensei’s breakthrough came as he was training alone in his dojo, practicing the Heian Godan kata. As he turned and started down the middle with the double arm block, a tremendous power entered into his body and he heard an audible voice asking, “Do you want it to stop?” He recalled that he had only a split second to decide or the miraculous power would be gone. He chose to accept it and became “Sensei,” the most powerful martial artist I have ever seen. After this profound spiritual experience, Sensei believed he had become invincible. He could now see beyond the kata and uncover any weaknesses in the techniques. Years later he acknowledged that it took him some time to learn what to do with the “entirely new energy” that he received from the Martial Spirit on “that fateful day.”
21 In his younger days, Sensei gave demonstrations where he bent steel bars and broke bricks and rocks with his bare hands. Quan told me that Sensei had once confided to him, “I love my strength.” On another occasion Quan recalls Sensei telling him, “Once you have the Martial Spirit no one will ever fight you,” and, “If I hit you, you should be dead before you hit the floor.” In the 1960s, Sensei trained with the legendary Mas Oyama, the founder of the Kyokushinkai style of karate. Oyama was considered by many to be the most powerful karateka of his generation, and he was renowned for his awesome physical abilities. Sensei once told me that Oyama also had the Martial Spirit, and that he and the famous karate master were about equal in strength. Masutatsu “Mas” Oyama (1923-1994)
Mas Oyama became famous for fighting bulls with his bare hands and for breaking a variety of objects, such as boards, bricks, and stones.
22 A Terrifying Incident Quan told me about a terrifying incident that happened years earlier when he was training at Sensei’s former karate dojo. During class one night, a fight broke out in front of the tavern down the road, and the loud commotion sent Sensei and his students running into the street to see what was happening. In front of the barroom they could see a gang of thugs beating a man who was lying on the ground. Immediately, Sensei went running toward them with his fist raised in the air and roaring like a lion. Not only did the gang scatter and run for their lives, but according to Quan, Sensei’s ferocious kiai yell terrified him and his fellow students as well! Sensei also had remarkable psychic abilities and could perceive things that others couldn’t see. For example, one evening during class he stopped abruptly and said he could feel the presence of Mike Dunn, a former student who had moved away from the area more than a year earlier. To our astonishment, in less than a minute, Mike Dunn came walking through the dojo door. Zen Master and Samurai Although Sensei never referred to himself as such, I saw him as a self-styled Zen master who blended Buddhist and Taoist philosophies into his martial arts. Sensei viewed himself as a modern day samurai, and his belief in reincarnation was an important part of his philosophical world view. Once he told me that he had been allowed to remember who he was in a previous life, and that this had caused him much sorrow. Another time he showed Quan Li a picture of a 19th century samurai warrior that he claimed was
23 a photograph of himself that had been taken during his former lifetime.
19th century samurai warriors
For Sensei, the ultimate goal of the martial arts was to destroy the ego so that the illusions of this physical world would disappear. One time, while discussing this subject, he stopped and said to us, “Let me see if I can think with ego.” He paused, as if trying to think of something to say, and then shook his head declaring, “No, I can’t do it.” To this day, I don’t know if he was serious or just challenging our conventional ways of thinking. Following in the Zen tradition, Sensei made many provocative statements, and Jesus and Christianity were the frequent targets of his sarcastic wit. When Pope John Paul II was nearly killed by an assassin in 1981, Sensei exclaimed, “He ought to be shot!” Another time, referring to the New
24 Testament’s account of Jesus feeding a multitude of people with only two fish and five loaves of bread, Sensei quipped, “That boy should have been a baker.” Then he added, “That boy screwed up and he’s out there running around looking for a way to come back and do it all over again.” His disdain for the Judeo-Christian tradition was frequently on display, and he made pronouncements like, “The Bible is all lies,” and, “There’s no such thing as the devil. You create your own demons.” But the most shocking thing I ever heard him say concerned his comparison of the power of Jesus Christ to the power of the martial arts at their highest level. On several occasions he told us, “Boys, if you think the power of the martial arts is something, grab a hold of Jesus Christ. There’s a power that’ll knock you right on your ass!” How startling it was to hear these words from Sensei, who spoke them with the authority of someone who had firsthand knowledge of the fact. Considering all the negative things he often said about Jesus, this statement made no sense to us at all. Years later I went back and visited Sensei to ask him why he told us such an amazing thing about Jesus. The question took him by surprise and he gave me a sheepish, somewhat embarrassed look. Then he claimed to have no memory of ever having said it. But after a moment of reflection, Sensei confessed that several other people had told him that he often said things that he later didn’t remember saying.
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Chapter 4
Following The Way For the traditional Asian martial arts, “The Way” signifies a path that embraces a way of life intended to lead its practitioners to cosmic consciousness, or enlightenment. The Japanese word used to designate The Way is “do,” and Sensei’s karate-do, aikido, and kobudo were each an expression of his budo (martial way). For traditional martial artists, meditation practice is fundamental to The Way, and I spent many hours practicing to focus and expand my mind. Following Quan’s example, I built a dojo in my home. On the wall of honor (kamiza), I mounted a portrait of the karate master, Gichen Funakoshi. The goal of training was to reach enlightenment, and to reach that level of higher consciousness, the ego must be completely destroyed. According to Quan, practicing Sensei’s karate-do workout would gradually burn away the ego. Each week, Quan and I trained together for three to four hours. At the heart of the workout ritual was the practice of the kata, and we performed many repetitions of the basic beginner forms. These we practiced at various tempos, from slow motion to full speed. Performing the kata in slow motion enables one to feel the essence of every movement. After a while we began to experience unusual phenomena during our training. While practicing full power three-step sparring, a strange dynamic prevented our arms from making hard physical contact, even as our punches were being powerfully blocked. One night the dojo was filled with such tremendous energy that the floor literally vibrated beneath us. On two separate occasions, we split the rigid 2x4 makiwara
26 striking post at its base, such was the power being generated during the karate-so workout. As we trained, the strength I was experiencing was exhilarating and steeled my determination to reach further and further beyond the physical limits of my power. During the week I often practiced the karate-do workout for three to four hours a day on my own. What I could not see at that time was that the training was actually inflating my ego with the pride of becoming more and more powerful. Ironically, what was intended to destroy the ego was, in fact, deceptively building it up.
Li leads his students through the kata portion of Sensei’s five part karate-do workout ritual.
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The Invisible Man One night as Quan and I were training, the energy in the dojo was exceptionally strong. After we finished our workout I asked my wife, Kay, to come into the room to see if she could sense anything unusual. She entered the dojo and could feel a strange energy emanating from the right side of the kamiza. Following the energy with her out-stretched arms, she moved slowly toward the corner of the room and stopped. Then, using both hands she traced the outline of an invisible “person” standing in the corner. When Kay realized what she had just done, she became spooked and hurried out the door. We had a black and white cat named Sylvester, and shortly after Kay’s encounter with the spirit he appeared in the doorway to make his nightly inspection of the dojo. Quan and I watched to see if the cat would be aware of the ghostly presence in the corner. Sylvester began his customary walk along the back wall of the dojo. Suddenly, he veered off and went straight to the spot where Kay had just encountered the spirit. He sat down and stared at the invisible figure. After a short time, he stood up and nonchalantly walked out of the room. Later that evening, Kay recalled that the spirit she encountered in the dojo was about five feet tall. Ironically, this just happened to coincide with the height of the diminutive karate master, Gichen Funakoshi, whose picture graced my kamiza wall. I do not know whether or not it was Funakoshi’s ghost in the dojo that night, but I believe it was associated with the martial spirits we would soon encounter during a remarkable Ouija Board séance.
28 The Séance One evening, a former student and his wife came to visit us. Gary and Deedee brought with them a Ouija Board, a device used to channel messages from the spirit world. The board displays the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, and the words “yes” and “no.” A wooden or plastic platform (planchette) is used to indicate the numbers and letters as they are being channeled from the spirits.
Before being marketed as a game, the ‘spirit board’ was used by Spiritualists in their religious practices.
Quan and I had just finished our evening workout, and we all decided to take the board into the dojo to ask it some questions. We lit several candles, turned off the lights, and placed the board on the floor. Then, with pen and paper in hand, we began. Deedee and Kay placed their fingers lightly on the planchette and we asked our first question, “Is Master Funakoshi’s spirit in this dojo?” The planchette began to move, pausing briefly over each
29 of ten letters on the board’s alphabet. I wrote down the letters and, to our amazement, the message spelled out the words, “Only for two.” We asked, “Which two is he here for?” The answer was, “For true believers.” Quan and I knew that the spirit was referring to us. Quan asked, “Is Master Ueshiba here?” “All are here if you learn the truth. The truth is in this room.” Someone asked, “Are we following the right path?” The spirit gave us an inconclusive answer; “Many have trained… few will develop the gift given by . . .” We persisted, “Given by whom? “It must start from within.” At this point, Kay became unnerved by the channeling experience and stopped using the planchette, but Deedee was able to continue on her own. One of us asked, “Who is speaking to us?” The spirit’s reply was poetic, but enigmatic; “Like the sky, all is open. The sword moves with wisdom.” Quan asked, “Does Master Funakoshi live in the flesh?” “I, you, he.” Kay gasped and exclaimed that Funakoshi’s picture on the kamiza wall had just become three-dimensional and had projected itself out towards her. Quan recalled that Sensei had once told him, “he does that sometimes.” Kay had seen enough and left the room declaring, “I’m out of here!” The four of us continued; “Will Jay and Quan become masters?” “All will be known when each level is attained.” Quan was eager to inquire about his own training and asked, “What kata level should Quan be training?” “Good-bye.” Quan pursued another line of questioning; “Was Quan a samurai in a previous life?
30 The spirit answered, “The tree bears fruit… only the beginning is looked upon… know not more than are given… seek only what is in the heart. All masters believe.” We each understood that something extraordinary was happening. Deedee knew almost nothing about the martial arts or the Zen-like answers she was channeling. At certain times I watched her eyes to see if she could be choosing the letters, but she wasn’t even looking down as the planchette glided effortlessly across the board. As we progressed further into the séance, the planchette’s movements became increasingly rapid, until I could barely record the letters as fast as Quan and Gary called them out. Quan wanted to know if he would ever teach classes again and asked, “Is Quan destined to teach in the future?” “Giving is receiving the ki.” This answer was puzzling to Deedee, and when she saw it written out she asked why “key” was spelled “ki?” Deedee had no knowledge of this Japanese word for energy. One of us asked, “What is the ki?” The reply was, “Look to yourself.” We asked, “Can we improve this dojo for you?” The spirit answered, “Falling leave.” I asked, “Will I ever teach again?” The spirit gave me a prophetic answer; “You will grow through giving to the teachings.” Quan then asked, “Will karate-do die with Sensei?” We received a vague and incomplete answer; “Like the seasons winter sleeps. Slowly spring comes. Have...” The planchette suddenly stopped moving. We persisted, “Can you finish this statement?” “Greed is given to all. I give to two with much to learn.” With that, the spirits stopped communicating and the séance was over.
31 For me, contacting these martial spirits reinforced my conviction that I was following the right path toward enlightenment, and the experience inspired me to search deeper into the mysteries of the spirit world.
Kay saw Funakoshi’s picture become threedimensional and project itself towards her.
The Medium After our Ouija board séance, Quan told me about an old Spiritualist minister named Bertha, who gave psychic readings. In practice, mediums summon up a spirit who takes over in a form of “benign” possession. An important role of the medium is to see into the future, and I went to Bertha a number of times hoping to gain additional insight into the spirit world. Bertha lived in an old house in a poor section of town. On my first visit, she led me through her house and into a gloomy kitchen. There, she informed me that a five hundred year old Native American spirit guide had been assigned to act as her psychic gatekeeper. We sat down opposite each other and Bertha reached across the table and took hold of both my hands. She closed her eyes and paused briefly… then she
32 began to speak in tongues. After this, she opened her eyes and said, “Now as I come into close contact with you…” Immediately, information began to be channeled through her Indian guide. Occasionally, Bertha would shake her head disapprovingly and speak out, “No, not you,” to spirits that she didn’t want coming through. I got the impression there were a number of departed souls, not all of them necessarily connected to me, who were trying to get messages through this gateway from the other side. Bertha was able to give details about my family that she could not have known beforehand, and I have no doubt that she was in contact with the spirit realm. Surprisingly, she never revealed any specific information that was particularly useful to me. She did, however, reinforce my belief that a spirit world separate from this material one did, in fact, exist. In hindsight, I realize that I had no way of knowing for certain who Bertha was communicating with, or whether all the information being channeled was accurate. People lie and deceive while living in this world, so what would prevent them from giving false information in the next? This also applies to Ouija Board messages, and helps to explain the Bible’s prohibition against using occult practices. At the end of my first visit with Bertha, I told her about our Ouija Board experience. She became irritated and explained that Spiritualists had invented the spirit board in the 1800s to be used in their religious practices. Then, she denounced Parker Brothers for trivializing its significance by marketing it as a parlor game, which she believed put an uninformed public at risk. Ironically, the case of demonic possession that inspired the movie, The Exorcist, began shortly after the 13 year old boy’s Aunt Harriet, herself a practicing Spiritualist, had introduced him to a Ouija Board!
33
Chapter 5 The Purging Fire After five years of training in Quan’s karate, and three years in Sensei’s kobudo and aikido, my martial arts had been transformed. Along the way I had immersed myself in Zen philosophy, practiced deep meditation, and used the occult in my pursuit of enlightenment. Sensei had told us that “power” could come from either the “dark side” or from the light, and that all we had to do was ask for it and expect to receive it. He claimed that his power came from “God,” although he never identified which “god.” Anyway, if it was that simple, why didn’t any of Sensei’s students possess his special kind of power? Why didn’t Quan Li, who was himself a master? Damien Wilson was a relative of one of our neighbors, and he heard that I practiced karate. He asked if he could train with me sometime. Damien had never studied a martial art, so I took him to Quan’s dojo one evening to try our karate. During the drive to Quan Li’s, Damien told me how he had grown up with the occult and that he was very psychic. He claimed that he experienced astral projection (soul travel) while sleeping, and that he could take thoughts out of people’s heads. Then he made the following astounding assertions: First, he claimed to know where Sensei’s power came from. Second, he confidently informed me, “Now that I’m going to be training with you, you’re going to see the real power of the martial arts.” By the end of the workout, however, Quan and I agreed that Damien was one of the weakest and most uncoordinated men we had ever seen attempt to learn a martial art. To us, his grandiose claims seemed delusional.
34 A Demonic Exchange After this Damien wanted to meet Sensei, and I arranged for him to accompany me to a class. Ordinarily, Sensei was quite friendly towards visitors and would sit with them and give explanations as a senior student took over the class. But with Damien, I doubt there was even one word exchanged between the two men during the entire evening. Remarkably, they sat on opposite sides of the visitor’s bench and completely ignored one another. After class, Sensei talked with Quan and me as Damien looked on. Sensei was telling us about the total commitment it would take to make the final breakthrough to enlightenment. He said that we had to want it more than anything in the world and expect it to happen. Then suddenly, Sensei pointed at me and declared, “Jay, you’re going to get this, and when you do you’re going to come back at me, ‘You ___ ___ son of a bitch!’” I was completely dumbfounded, but several weeks later these prophetic words would come true. On our drive home from class, Damien expressed his deep satisfaction with his visit with Sensei and smugly said, “Me and Sensei have an understanding.” Say what? Now I was totally baffled by the events of that evening. Damien went with me one more time to train at Quan’s dojo, and during the workout I witnessed a truly amazing thing. I watched as Damien walked over to Quan and stood face-to-face with him. In a flash, Quan pointed his finger directly in Damien’s face and told him sternly, “That’s not going to work!” Damien displayed no reaction and slowly moved away. At the first opportunity, I took Quan aside and asked him what that bizarre incident with Damien had been about. He
35 answered, “Oh, he was trying to go right down into my one point.” Remarkably, when I asked him about the incident again several weeks later, Quan had no memory of it ever happening! Next, I paired off with another karateka, John Bauer, to practice three-step sparring. As we bowed to each other before engaging, John suddenly sprang backwards as if he’d just seen a ghost. Several weeks later he admitted that he had been startled by my “piercing black eyes.” Later in the workout, Quan and I engaged in the same three-step exercise. But, after our first pass Quan stopped and exclaimed, “Jay, you’re killing my arms!” He rolled up his sleeves and exposed large swollen welts on both his forearms. This was shocking, because we had been practicing this same sparring exercise together with full power punches and blocks for nearly five years, and neither of us had ever suffered so much as a minor bruise. At this point, I could not imagine what could have caused these bizarre occurrences with John and Quan. That evening became even stranger after I returned home. As I lay in bed that night, I became aware of an eerie “presence” in my lower back. It was a cool energy about the size of a softball, and it moved slowly up and down my spine. I tried to convince myself this was only an illusion, but the weird sensation was too real to be imagined. By the next morning, the strange “presence” had disappeared, and I had repressed all memory of the incomprehensible events that had happened during the previous evening. I was unaware that the Martial Spirit had been transferred from Sensei to Damien to me, or that Kay and I were about to be engulfed in a storm of demonic activity.
36 Sanbon Kumite (Three-Step Sparring)
Each step features a strike and blocking technique.
Twenty years later, I must wear arm pads to protect against Yakov’s full powered blocks.
The Gathering Storm Two weeks passed, and I had to interrupt my training routine to visit out-of-state relatives. For me, the timing of this trip was especially inconvenient, because I had a growing
37 conviction that I was getting close to a major breakthrough in my pursuit of enlightenment. Sensei’s enigmatic words about my “getting it” had made a deep impression on me, and Quan had recently presented me with an honorary Godan rank (5th degree black belt). In Quan Li’s karate organization, the 5th degree signified that the karateka had reached the highest level of physical performance in his art. This also reinforced my belief that I was very close to reaching my goal. After five days of being away, I was relieved to have Kay pick me up at the airport. On the drive back to our house, Kay began to tell me about the frightening events that had happened to her during my absence. While channel surfing on the television she had come across a program, in which a televangelist was teaching about the Bible’s prohibitions against idolatry. She heard him say that whenever you bow down before an idol or insignificant picture, there will be a demonic spirit behind it. The preacher went on to describe the power that one can get from bowing down before images, and Kay couldn’t help thinking about the unusual strength that Quan and I experienced during our workouts. She wondered if she should remove the pictures that were hanging on the dojo wall upstairs. At the thought of taking the pictures down, Kay felt a negative energy begin to swirl around her head. Unnerved and afraid, she telephoned one of my former students and asked him to come to the house and take the pictures down. When Wayne entered the dojo, he could feel a strange energy in the room. He began to slowly step through a kata and Kay heard him exclaim, “Whoa… I can feel it!” He took the pictures down, placed them on the floor, and left. The next morning, Kay began to feel angry at being intimidated in her own home. She decided that it was not enough to take the pictures down- she wanted them out of her house. As
38 she mustered her courage and started up the stairs to remove them, the malevolent energy that had swirled around her head the day before returned with a fury. It buzzed around her like a swarm of angry bees. Kay had never been an outwardly religious person, but she had her own special relationship with God since she was a little girl. She prayed for protection and could feel a defensive shield surround her. She hurried up the stairs and into the dojo, grabbed the pictures up from the floor, and then took them out to the garage. After telling me these things, Kay said that she understood how important the dojo was to me, and that she hoped I wouldn’t be too upset that she had removed the pictures. But, I wasn’t upset at all. What was so obvious to her was still hidden from me. I was unaware of the strong spiritual attachment I had to my martial art. By the time we arrived home it was late, and I was tired from traveling. I insisted to Kay that the pictures were not so important to me, and that I would deal with that situation the next day. Kundalini Fire The next morning I woke up late. As I sat up in bed and peered into the dresser mirror across the room, an amazing thing happened. The eyes in the face reflected back at me were not my eyes! They were black and piercing, and had an alien intelligence of their own. Perplexed, I climbed out of bed and approached the dresser. Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I shook my head and said, “No, that’s not me.” I suspected that the answer to this unsettling situation might be found in my dojo across the hall. I went in and assumed a front fighting stance facing the mirror on the closet
39 door. Those same two piercing black eyes stared back at me. Without thinking, I found myself beckoning to them and demanding, “Okay, show me the kundalini fire.” At once, the strange bundle of cool energy that I had experienced several weeks earlier manifested itself again at the base of my spine. With a sudden rush, it rose up and began to radiate throughout my body, intensifying as it moved upwards toward my head. The strength I felt was both thrilling and terrifying, and an overwhelming sense of dread swept over me. In horror, I watched my reflection in the mirror change as Sensei’s face superimposed itself over my own, and then morphed into a demon of enormous ferocity and power. Because I was seeing its reflection in the mirror, the monstrous, holographic-like image appeared to leap out at me with a thunderous roar, as if from some otherworldly realm. It felt like being in a three-dimensional horror movie, except this was no fantasy. This was really happening. Panic stricken, I stepped back and emphatically declared, “If this is what it is, I don’t want it.” My eyes had been opened, and I saw for the first time that Sensei’s incredible physical power was demonic. With this stunning realization, the grotesque vision faded and the alien energy receded back into my lower spine, only to be followed by a seamless transition into a realm of indescribable emptiness; a blackness where the only reality was my conscious mind. I knew I was in the outer darkness of hell and separated from all that was good. In my blind pursuit of enlightenment, I had embraced Miyamoto Musashi’s void, where consciousness does not exist and spirit is nothingness.3 But now, to my shock and dismay, I did exist in a disembodied state, caught 3. Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings, The Overlook Press, c. 1974, p. 95
40 in an eternal “now” beyond time and space. With me was the complete record of everything I had done in my thirty-eight years on this earth. I could see with perfect clarity, as if a veil had been removed from my eyes, every self-centered word, thought, and deed I had ever committed. I saw how I had been living out of pride and self-interest. Mercifully, this ghastly out-of-body spectacle soon faded away. Stunned, I began to think about what I should do. I had no intentions of telling anyone, especially my wife, because who could ever believe it? I was a trained psychologist and had just experienced phenomena associated with paranoid schizophrenia, a psychotic form of severe mental illness. Indeed, if someone else had told me this story, I would have considered them to be certifiably insane. Kundalini Fire
Kundalini fire is an indwelling corporeal energy coiled at the base of the spine. When awakened, the energy spirals upward to the crown chakra.
41 The situation was too confusing to comprehend. Kay’s earlier experience of removing the portraits of the masters seemed to suggest that these freakish happenings were somehow related to my bowing down before the kamiza. In desperation, I went shopping in search of replacements for the pictures of the masters. I settled on a mirror for the centerpiece, unaware that I would now be bowing down before myself. On either side of the mirror, I decided to place my original black belt certificate and the honorary Godan rank I had recently received from Quan Li. I returned home and mounted the mirror and certificates. Then, I discovered another portrait of Master Funakoshi in the dojo closet, which I proceeded to tear into strips and discard into the bathroom trash basket. Satisfied I had taken positive action, I went downstairs to dinner, hoping that my world might now return to normal. Later that evening, Kay went upstairs to take a bath. Afterwards, as she was washing out the bathtub, a hateful male voice threatened her in a low-pitched growl saying, “I could get you.” Then the malevolent spirit described in graphic detail how it would violate her with the most heinous sexual abuses imaginable. Kay was shocked by the filth and vulgarity of the threats. Inexplicably, she reached into the bathroom trash basket and pulled out a strip of paper from Funakoshi’s torn and discarded picture. Two piercing black eyes glared back at her. Terrified, she dropped it back into the basket and hurried downstairs to tell me. At first, I was too confounded for words. Kay knew nothing about my earlier encounter with the Martial Spirit or of my tearing up Funakoshi’s picture into strips and discarding them into the bathroom trash. I now had confirmation from Kay that we had become the unwitting participants in a very different kind of reality.
42 I went up the stairs and stood outside the bathroom doorway. Peering into the room, I felt dead silence. Then it finally dawned on me and I saw the connection… the evil spirit that had just threatened Kay was from the same demonic realm as the monstrous Martial Spirit that had morphed out of me earlier that morning. My heart sank. This was something I did not know how to fight. Sensei had told us on a number of occasions, “The highest level of the martial arts is controlled insanity.” I felt like I was there. The Purging Fire As I continued staring through the bathroom doorway and pondering my predicament, the thought occurred to me that nothing purges like fire. I pulled out the torn strips of Funakoshi’s picture from the trash and hurried downstairs. I lit a fire in the living room fireplace and burned them. I went back upstairs to the dojo to look for other things that could be burned. I took down my two rank certificates hanging on the kamiza wall and began searching through the dojo closet. I found a prized personal letter from Sensei and two books written by Master Funakoshi. I took these items down to the living room and began feeding them to the fire. As Funakoshi’s paperback autobiography was consumed, it gave off a loud and angry hissing sound. The second book was Funakoshi’s master text, Karate-do Kyohan. On the front cover was the photograph of a 14th century wooden statue of Kongorikishi, a fierce Hindu warrior god and a guardian of the Buddha. Kongorikishi is the most powerful deity of the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon, and his ferocious “spirit released” visage was eerily reminiscent of the demonic face of the Martial Spirit that had appeared to me earlier that morning.
43
Kongorikishi on the cover of The Master Text.
The Master Text was too thick to burn all at once, so I separated its outer hard cover from the interior pages of text. It was only afterwards that I realized the amount of strength it took to tear the well-constructed book apart with such ease.
44 I placed the book cover over the fireplace logs and began tearing off segments of the text and feeding them to the flames. As I placed the last section into the fire, an incredible thing happened. The pages began to slowly turn, as if by some invisible hand. There was a pause, and a single page was presented before my eyes. It was the one page in the book that displayed a series of old photographs of Master Funakoshi in various kata poses.4 The pictures seemed to be calling out to me, “Do you really want to give up this beautiful art that has become such an important part of your life?” For the first time, I was confronted with the depth of my spiritual attachment to my karate. As the last few pages of the book were being consumed, Kay suddenly jumped up off the couch and pointed to an astonishing image inside the fireplace. It was the ferocious face of Kongorikishi, just as he appeared on the jacket cover of Funakoshi’s book. Somehow, the demon had seared its raging figure onto the fireplace brick! The uncanny likeness could have passed for the work of a skilled charcoal sketch artist. By now, I had come to the realization that getting free from these demonic spirits was going to cost me more than a few karate books, certificates, and portraits of the masters.
4. Gichen Funakoshi, Karate-do Kyohan, Kodansha America, Inc., c. 1973, p. 34
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Chapter 6 Do You Love Me? Although I was raised in the church, the message of God’s love, as revealed in Jesus, had never become a reality for me. As an adult, I had come to the conclusion that Jesus may have been one of history’s great ethical teachers, but nothing more. But, now faced with the inescapable fact that both kay and I had experienced the metaphysical “dark side,” I could not help but to wonder, “Could Jesus be more than just another enlightened teacher?” In my mind’s eye, I saw Jesus sitting in the chair across from me. In a non-judgmental way he was asking me, “Do you love me more than these?” My heart sank into my stomach. I had trained for twenty years and had developed tremendous power in my karate. Sensei’s karate-do workout had become my sacred rite, and now Jesus was asking me to give it all up for him? To live without the martial arts was unthinkable… but, could I keep my karate and live with Sensei’s “controlled insanity?” I wasn’t ready to give up my art, and I continued to burn items that had been associated with my past training. This included my original black belt, whose well-worn edges had turned white- a coveted sign of my many years of dedicated training. I cut the emblematic length of black cloth into small pieces and fed them to the fire. But, my mind kept going back to the time when Quan and I presented Sensei with a small token of our appreciation, a brass plaque with the kanji symbol for “hope.” I remembered how Sensei had taken the plaque in both hands and mournfully opined, “I have no hope.” At the time, I couldn’t under-
46 stand his melancholy response. After all, Sensei had a successful dojo, a live-in female disciple who attended to his every need, and a student following that acknowledged him as a great martial arts master. I could not help but ask myself, could Sensei have exchanged his soul for the power of the Martial Spirit? For me, training in the martial arts had become synonymous with practicing Sensei’s karate-do workout, and I knew that choosing Jesus would mean never practicing that sacred rite again. I was aware that Jesus had warned his followers, “Whoever does not take up his execution-stake and follow me is not worthy of me.”5 I understood that changing my allegiance from the martial way to Jesus would require a radical psychological adjustment on my part. This would be the hardest decision of my life. Finally, after much agonizing and soul searching, I made my choice. I chose Jesus. The soul of a samurai is in his hara, and ritual suicide is carried out through disembowelment with a dagger. As I said yes to Jesus, I could feel myself being “gutted” as my life force drained out onto the floor. In an instant, everything I had ever hoped to become was lost. I became an empty shell. A crushing despair overwhelmed me. But moments later, a truly miraculous thing happened. An incredibly warm and wonderful spirit of love poured into me from above. It filled the emptiness with a profound sense of peace- a rapturous, heavenly peace that cannot be expressed in words- a peace that passes all understanding. I realized that the peace I had previously experienced while practicing Sensei’s karate-do workout was, in reality, a “dead” peace, because it had come from my detachment from the anxieties of life. But now, I was infused with a “living” peace. Now, I 5. Matthew 10:38
47 understood what Jesus had meant when he told his followers, “Whosoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.”6 I don’t know how long I remained in that sublime state of bliss. At some point, I went into the kitchen to make a cup of hot tea as Kay watched the last embers of fire burn themselves out. Suddenly, she came running into the kitchen exclaiming, “Jay, you got to come see this!” I followed her back into the living room where she pointed to the fireplace. To my astonishment, the ferocious image of Kongorikishi on our fireplace brick had been transformed into a tortured, pathetic looking face. For Kay and me, this was a dramatic sign that the Martial Spirit had finally been defeated. Demonic Infestation The Martial Spirit that had entered into me had been expelled, but over the next ten days Kay and I would gain a new level of awareness of the “dark side” of the spirit realm. Unexplainable phenomena, such as our house lights flickering on and off and the toilets mysteriously flushing, caused us to realize that the demonic infestation in our home would need further purging. There were strange vibrations coming from our bedroom and from the dojo, which we had quickly converted back into a bedroom. We had a renter who lived on the third floor above the dojo, and he confirmed that strange vibrations were coming from the wall in his room located above the former kamiza wall. Kay kept feeling a negative energy whenever she was in our bedroom. After several days, I remembered that a wicker chair in a corner of the room had once been used in my karate 6. Matthew 10:39
48 school ten years earlier. We now more fully understood that demonic energy could infect physical objects, and I gathered up a number of items that had been associated with my past training and took them to the town dump. This included a substantial amount of furniture and equipment, dating back some twenty years. On one occasion, Kay felt her foot pulled out from under her as she started down the stairway. She took a frightening tumble, but landed softly and sustained no injuries. We believe a guardian angel cushioned her fall. As each day passed, more contaminated items and demonic manifestations continued to appear, often accompanied by the strong smell of urine and sulfur. These included several bizarre incidents involving our cat. Our home had been infested, and we were feeling unsettled and not sleeping well. I had a friend, a kung fu colleague, who had become the assistant pastor at a local church. He offered to remember us in his prayers. After a week, he called in the morning and asked how we had slept that previous night. Had anything changed? Yes, the atmosphere in our house had indeed changed. The malaise that we had been feeling for the past ten days was gone, and our home felt normal again. Then, Pastor Jerry informed us that he and the deacons at his church had prayed for our complete deliverance from all the demonic presence in our home. For us, this was a powerful testimony to the power of prayer. Kundalini Awakening For Sensei, “The Way” had been through kata training, which he often described as “moving Zen.” Kata was his “yoga path” to cosmic consciousness and truth. Ultimately,
49 all yoga styles are based on kundalini awakening.7 Although this term is not used in martial arts circles, Sensei had an intimate knowledge of it. A dominant characteristic of kundalini awakening is energy infusion or possession,8 and both Sensei and I experienced this phenomenon when we were filled with the Martial Spirit. The literature on the kundalini awakening reveals that the lives of many of its adepts are dominated by mental and physical illnesses, depression, and dysfunctional relationships. Sensei had told us that the highest level of the martial arts was “controlled insanity,” and Gopi Krishna, who wrote the first and one of the most influential kundalini autobiographies, described his own battle with insanity during his years of kundalini awakening: “It was variable for many years, painful, obsessive, even fantasmic. I have passed through almost all the stages of different mediumistic, psychotic, and other types of mind; for some time I was hovered between sanity and insanity.”9
Sensei’s possession by the Martial Spirit had tragic consequences for his life, which became plagued by physical illness, despair, and broken relationships with his family and friends. In spite of his awesome physical prowess and the adoration of his students, Sensei lived an unhappy life. By his own admission, he died without hope.
7. Hans Ulrich Rieker, The Yoga of Light: Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Seabury Press, c. 1971, p. 101 8. Tal Brooke, Riders of the Cosmic Circuit” Rajneesh, Sai Baba, Muktananda… Gods of the New Age, Lion, c. 1986, p. 610 9. Gopi Krishna, The Awakening of Kundalini, E.P. Dutton, c. 1975, p. 124
50 Why Me and Not Quan Li? During our last workout together, I watched as the Martial Spirit was prevented from entering into Quan Li. I was the demon’s second choice, because Quan’s dynamic personality and superior technique would have made him the ideal person to carry on Sensei’s karate-do. So, why was I the one who received the Martial Spirit? I believe the answer lies, at least in part, in our different motivations for training. I became obsessed with becoming a great master with paranormal powers like Sensei. But Quan never aspired to become like Sensei. Rather, he was motivated by his love for the art, and he trained to perfect his form and to gain a deeper understanding of the techniques. When people ask me if I am opposed to bowing down before the kamiza, I tell them this is a matter of personal conscience. I no longer do it, but neither do I have the wisdom to judge the motivations or intentions of others. I do not assume that any of the people or things described in this book were inherently evil. Many of the physical aspects of yoga practice are good for developing strength and flexibility, and karate is excellent for exercise and self-defense. My warning is to those who would use these disciplines as a spiritual path to enlightenment and supernatural powers. At the very least, practitioners should be aware of the potential dangers associated with these arts. Conclusion This concludes my self-imposed obligation to tell this story. The demonic can be given too little or too much attention, and I have left out a number of details because I do not want to give the “dark side” any more notoriety
51 than is necessary. Hopefully, I have given enough information to effectively communicate my message. Unfortunately, today’s proliferation of occult themes through books, movies, and video games is causing many young people to think that the spirit realms are only a fantasy. But this could not be further from the truth. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience, and our consciousness continues after death. Heaven and hell, angels and demons, and Jesus’ death and resurrection all have a metaphysical reality that transcends our world of time and space. The most profound part of my experience was the spiritual connection I made with Jesus. It was in those moments of sublime peace that the reality of his spirit of love penetrated my soul, and I knew that he was real.
In 2004, I wrote this poem describing my encounter with the Martial Spirit, the outer darkness, and Jesus (Jeshua)
52
Chapter 7
The True Way At the heart of the Messianic faith is the story of Jesus, who is portrayed throughout the New Testament as Israel’s promised Messiah. That Jesus was both human and divine is a paradox that cannot be resolved through logic and reason. It is a metaphysical truth that can only be apprehended through experience and faith. Shortly before leaving this world, Jesus gave one new commandment to his followers. It was a command that would enable them to overcome the harsh persecutions of the Roman Empire and spread the Gospel (Good News) to the world: “I am giving you a new command. Continue on loving each other in the same way that I have loved you. Everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”10
Jesus affirmed the centrality of love when he was tested by one of the experts in the Jewish law, a Pharisee, who asked him which was the greatest of all the commandments? Jesus replied: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest of the commandments. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”11
10. John 13:34 11. Matthew 22:37-40
53 The Apostle Paul, whose first century missionary journeys were a major factor in the spread of the early Messianic faith to the non-Jewish world, captures the essence of this love in a letter written to the church in Corinth: I may speak in the tongues of men, even angels; but if I lack love, I have become merely blaring brass or a cymbal clanging. I may have the gift of prophecy, I may fathom all mysteries, know all things, have all faith- enough to move mountains; but if I lack love, I am nothing. I may give away everything that I own, I may even hand over my body to be burned but if I lack love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, rude or selfish, not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not gloat over other people’s sins, but takes its delight in the truth. Love always bears up, always trusts, always hopes, always endures.12 For Jesus, actions and motives were more important than the abstractions of belief. He was not a systematic theologian, a dogmatist, or a moralist. He emphasized that we must trust God and practice loving our neighbors as ourselves, and he 12. 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (CJB)
54 warned that, “to whom much is given much is required.”13 In the Sermon on the Mount,14 he proclaims that the Law and the Prophets can be summed up in the saying, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” He teaches us to love our enemies and to be peace-makers, to be forgiving and merciful, and not to pass judgment on others. He advises that we keep a humble spirit and be generous and caring toward the poor and needy. At the close of his sermon, Jesus makes the stunning pronouncement that many of his followers who call him ‘Lord,’ and who prophesy, and cast out demons, and do great works in his name will be rejected by him in the end, because they did not live by his teachings. Motives mattered to Jesus, and he knew that a number of his so called “followers” would act out of self-interest, not out of love. Today, much of modern culture promotes a value system that is contrary to these ethical teachings of Jesus, and the Apostle Paul’s critique of life lived out of self-interest and worldly pursuit seems as timely today as it was in first century Rome: “It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue and envy; drunkenness, orgies and things like these… But, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self-control.”15
13. Luke 12:48 14. Mathew 5-7 15. Galatians 5:19b-22 (CJB)
55 The Arrow of Time Time is like a river, because it moves in one direction and never stands still. In physics, this is referred to as the “arrow of time.” Jesus tells us to be perfect, just as his Father in heaven is perfect.16 He understands that every mistake we make, whether unintentional or not, carries with it the irreversible consequences of cause and effect. But, none of us are perfect. We are all guilty, and the arrow of time makes it impossible for us to go back and undo our past mistakes. We can learn from them, but we will die with their consequences. Ultimately, only God can heal the damage that we do and bring good out of evil. This is why Jesus is portrayed in the scriptures as the sacrificial lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.17 God created us to love Him and to love one another. For this to have any real meaning, we were given the gift of free will. We may choose to love or not, and we were given this physical world of opposites so that we would have real choices. In the next life, the people who love God will continue moving toward Him. Those who reject God will journey into the darkness with like-minded souls. How we live in this life matters, and the choice is ours as to what kind of person we want to be. The True Way In spite of my rejection of him, Jesus loved me enough to deliver me from the Martial Spirit and spiritual darkness. Jesus loves all people at all times and calls every soul to him16. Matthew 5:48 17. John 1:29
56 self when he declares: “I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life. No one comes to the Father but through me.”17 Jesus is love, and love is The Way. Only love transcends all science, all philosophies, and all religious ideologies. Pursue love, because in the end, everything else becomes meaningless- a chasing after the wind. Peace be with you,
17. John 14:6
57 Epilogue My wife, Kay, wrote the following testimony concerning her relationship with Jesus: “As a child, I had always loved G-d. Even though my family was not religious, I prayed and was proud of being a Jew. But, until I asked the Messiah into my life, I never really knew G-d’s love for me. He had answered my prayer in such a clear way that there was no doubt. G-d worked such miracles in my life that he gave me no choice but to believe in him! I know so clearly now, that until you let Jesus come into your life, he can’t show you his love, and peace, and joy. G-d can’t work through us until we are open to his promises. Only then can he weave his miracles through our life through Jesus Christ.” The following prayer can be a first step in establishing a connection with God, through Jesus and his spirit of love. Dear God I admit I am a sinner and need your forgiveness; I trust that Jesus the Messiah died in my place paying the penalty for the consequences of my mistakes. I am willing to turn from my sin and invite Jesus and his spirit of love into my life. I commit myself to you and ask that you help me become the kind of person you want me to be. Thank you for loving me. In Jesus name, Amen
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Appendix Suggested Readings
Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, Crossway, c. 2004 Gerald L. Schroeder, God According to God, Harper Collins, c. 2009
George Ritchie, Return from Tomorrow, Revell Books, c. 1978 Howard Storm, My Descent into Death, Doubleday, c. 2005 Don Piper, 90 Minutes in Heaven, Revell, c. 2004 Mary C. Neal, To Heaven and Back, WaterBrook Press, c. 2010
59 I recommend I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist to believers and skeptics alike. It provides a wellreasoned non-biblical response to the new atheism which is based on “scientism,” a materialistic philosophy that denies metaphysical realities because they cannot be demonstrated empirically using the scientific method.
“Geisler and Turek present the crucial information needed to avoid being swept away by the onslaughts of secular ideologies that cast science, philosophy, and biblical studies as enemies of the Christian faith.” (William A. Dembski, author, The Design Revolution)
60 Gerald L. Schroeder’s books, Genesis and the Big Bang (1990), The Science of God (1997), The Hidden Face of God (2001), and God According to God (2009) provide insights into the interface between biblical wisdom, the natural sciences, and quantum physics.
“A remarkable book. The Science as well as the meaning of this universe and of life are discussed with insight, rigor, and depth.” (Charles H. Townes, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics)
61 I believe the following books describing the near death experience (NDE) are authentic accounts of people who “died” and traveled to spirit worlds. They offer profound insights into what can happen to us when we die.
Return from tomorrow
My Descent into Death
90 Minutes in Heaven
To Heaven and Back
