Seven times down, eight times up!
Energy practice (kung fu) means deliberately embodying unremitting attention, continuously lending energy to one’s pursuit. Energy practice is calm and steady. It is the practice of relaxed relentlessness.
Embodying relentless intent is like praying without ceasing – a constant connection with the universe. In aikido terms, it is extending positive energy in all directions. Relentless intent means total involvement, while simultaneously letting go. It means acting from the depths of one’s being with no clinging.
Isshinryu (the name of the karate discipline I first learned) means “to throw oneself wholly into the action without any other thought at all.”(29) Hokusai (30) has an energetic drawing of a warrior on horseback leaping from a cliff into a roaring mountain stream. The warrior and the horse are as one. The warrior is still and relaxed while the horse is moving with vibrant openness. Total commitment, nothing held in reserve. With such a state of being, the mission has already been accomplished while it is being accomplished.
A Native American woman I know spoke with some of us about the custom of men of the tribe during hunting season. The family/community needs meat. The hunters condense their focus, withdrawing from verbal and sensual contact with their mates and others, concentrating deeply on the specific animal they invite to give its life. A relationship is formed. By the time the hunter physically leaves for the hunt, the animal’s sacrifice is a done deal. The mission is accomplished before it is accomplished.
Relentless Intent and Co-Creation
We are co-creators with the universe. God has been defined as a circle with no circumference whose center is everywhere. You are one of those centers where universal creation abides. Without our relentless intent, the wellspring of creativity is clogged with the debris of our fragmentation. When we keep willing it, it will be done.
To some extent, we will to be the way we are. Personality concretions (sometimes called disorders), being “set” in our ways, are partly due to choices we made and continue to make in our lives. Personality concretions are based in closure – out of fear, anger, and/or confusion. We must have relentless intent to stay in the shape we are in. (“I am the way I have defined myself to be, and don’t tell me any different. My mind is made up like a bed in the morning, and I don’t want any strange ideas trying to slide beneath my covers.”)
We limit ourselves through relentless story telling. I am this way. The world is that way. I must always be this way. The world must always be the way I perceive it to be.
Without relentless intent, we will remain confined in our mental cubicles. With only vaporous intent, we will use any perceived obstacle as justification for remaining in our prison. We may rebel but we will not revolt.
Without relentless intent, we will yield to the pressures of others who have strong interest in our remaining the same. We will follow the will of humans rather than the will of spirit and co-creation with the universe.
With relentless intent, we ruthlessly vanquish all inner obstacles to openness and presence. With relentless intent, we do not cling to any element of secondary reality. With relentless intent, we continue opening to primary reality. We are truly warriors of spirit – of the primary lifeforce. We know no bounds.
Mind and Body as One
When our mind and body are moving in the same direction, we are strong. If the mind is thinking of something separately from what the body is doing, we lose strength. “When the two become one, we can say to the mountain to move and it will move.” (31) People demonstrate this to themselves quite readily in my workshops.
I invite folk to think of something they truly want; it doesn’t matter what it is as long as they have a strong urge to attain it. The group moves to the other side of the room from me. Each person walks toward me twice: once with the desired something behind them so that they are walking away from it; once with it ahead of them so they are walking toward it. I extend my arm horizontally so that I catch each person across the chest at shoulder level. They cannot be stopped when their mind and body are moving as one. (32)
Hauling the Meat: Just Take the One More Next Step
On those days of relative lifelessness and fatigue, of no internal music and no external rhythm, often all one can do is “haul the meat.” Hauling the meat means to keep putting one step in front of another, to allow one breath to follow another. Even with no music or rhythm, maintain movement. Eventually, rhythm and music will appear. [Caution: two or more meat-hauling days in a row are a sign that something in your life needs contemplative attention.]
Diamond Sharp
A diamond in its clarity and brilliance cuts right through. No effort. The very nature of its being allows slicing through. Relentless intent is diamond like. With relentless intent no obstacles appear. Everything is in the Way, so no thing is in the way.
Diamond sharp does not mean harsh engaging. Diamond sharp intent responds appropriately with each moment’s circumstances. Diamond sharp can be very soft and quiet. Diamond sharp means appropriate engaging.
For example, gentle laughter often cuts right through imagined obstacles. This does not mean that gentle laughter is used as a deliberate ploy. Appropriate responses arise concurrently with imagined obstacles (person, thought, and situation). Such responses include gentle laughter, calm silence, or even a sudden shout! Diamond sharp refers to the deep intent. The manifestation of diamond sharp may take many forms.
The Silver Cord
This practice is especially useful for walking up an incline, whether mountain or stairs, though it’s also wonderful when walking or running on a more level plane. While walking or running, visualize a slender strong filament, a silver cord, extending from your one-point to a winch or reel attached to a tree, boulder, or building several hundred feet in front of you. Allow yourself to be “reeled in” by this silver cord. Relax all muscles not essential to your movement. When you do so, you are moving from your one-point, from your physical center of balance.
Your Practice of Intent
The practices of centering and of mindfulness can be a strong basis for your developing of your intent. Pure intent comes from your mindful core or center, uncontaminated by any form of cognitive-emotional affliction (fear, anger, regret, desire, and stupor). Pure intent aligns with primary reality and may be at odds with “world” reality.
Your practice of pure intent comes along with your practice of centering and mindful presence. After settling and centering and relaxing into the Now, reflect upon your intent for this day, for this moment, for this life. In what arenas of action will your intent express itself?
