Tuesday, December 9, 2008

An Article by Japanese Yoga Expert Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei

Autosuggestion in Japanese Yoga & Daily Life
By Sawai Atsuhiro

My teacher Nakamura Tempu Sensei was the founder of the Shin-shin-toitsu-do system of Japanese yoga and meditation. One of his central teachings was the use of autosuggestion to alter the subconscious mind and thus change negative habits. I learned various forms of autosuggestion directly from Nakamura Sensei, and I’d like to explain how they can help you to become more effective and cheerful in your daily lives. But first, you’ll need to know a bit about the nature of the mind.

The Conscious Mind and the Subconscious
When we think in everyday life, this thinking takes place in our surface waking consciousness. We can call this surface awareness the conscious mind.

Elements in surface consciousness are influenced by elements that are kept in the subconscious mind. The subconscious lies deep beneath the covering of the conscious mind, and we’re not typically aware of the workings of the subconscious during our waking hours.
During our sleep, however, the subconscious rises to the surface and the conscious mind is moves into the background. This is why a number of authorities claim that dreams are a manifestation of the subconscious.

More than just the motivator for our dreams, the subconscious is a kind of storeroom for most of the elements in the mind. If the elements stored in the subconscious are negative in nature, the conscious mind cannot think positively. If elements stored in the subconscious are positive, the conscious mind thinks positively. In short, the subconscious records past experiences, events, and especially feelings. The elements stored in the subconscious constantly influence our conscious thoughts, emotions, and actions.

Even if we consciously try to be positive, we cannot easily do so if negative elements are in the subconscious. Elements in the subconscious minds of many people are negative, and this influences their conscious minds. As the result, they tend to think pessimistically. They are inclined to take a negative attitude toward anything. They are easily angered, complain often, and are fearful of even small matters.

Suggestions
“Suggestions” are sometimes defined in psychology as something that enters the mind and has an impact on it. Such suggestions are received by the conscious mind and recorded by the subconscious mind.

When we see, hear, or say something repeatedly, these suggestions have a large impact on the subconscious. A happening that is dramatic or traumatic also has a great impact on the subconscious. Whatever is stored in the subconscious tends to have an unconscious influence on all of our conscious actions.

There are many sources for these suggestions such as spoken words, letters in books we read, our behaviors and that other people. Any phenomena around us produce some suggestions that are recorded by the subconscious.

We should be aware of what kind of suggestions we receive in everyday life. Such awareness is necessary, because both positive and negative suggestions exist. A positive suggestion influences the subconscious to be bright, cheerful, energetic, and brave. Negative suggestions do the opposite.

Those who are weak in mind are inclined to accept negative suggestions and reject positive ones. Those who are strong in mind are not negatively swayed by discouraging events. The purpose of the various forms of autosuggestion, or jiko anji, is to create a positive, vigorous, and powerful mind.

Many people do not understand the nature of the mind. They may have accumulated numerous negative elements in their subconscious minds. These negative materials in the subconscious produce many negative habits like smoking, pessimism, insomnia, and others.

Fortunately, you can readily grasp the relationship between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind if you receive clear instruction and information about this topic. So it is important to realize that we can easily change negative habits into positive ones. And this will allow you to quickly adopt a more positive mental attitude, which is also extremely important for success, health, and happiness.

I’d like to offer you four simple methods of autosuggestion:

1. Renso Anji
2. Meirei Anji
3. Dantei Anji
4. Hanpuku Anji


Renso Anji
Renso means “to think of things one after another.” Anji means “suggestion.”

In Renso Anji we simply think of positive things one after another as we’re about to fall asleep. From the time we get into bed, until we are asleep, we must not imagine anything negative. In other words, avoid thinking of something that makes you angry, fearful, or sad.
The surface consciousness blurs and the subconscious arises and becomes more active, when you are sleepy. So autosuggestion is easiest and most effective at this time. (Any suggestions we receive right as we’re about to fall asleep penetrate the subconscious more directly, in that they don’t need to filter through layers of waking consciousness.)

When you are sleeping, the conscious mind is resting and the subconscious is active. So, as previously noted, dreams are reflection of the workings of the subconscious, which is why some psychiatrists analyze dreams to understand the subconscious motivations of their patients.

When we are falling asleep, we easily accept any suggestion into the many depths of the subconscious, because right before sleep, the conscious mind and the subconscious are in a process of transition. The most ideal time to positively influence the subconscious is, therefore, the moment before we fall asleep.

If we think of positive matters one after another, they will enter the subconscious easily. And the content of our subconscious will gradually become more and more positive. In a few days or months, many people find themselves changed. One example of such a change can be found in the nature of their dreams. Why not have happy dreams instead of unhappy dreams?

Although they are more highly educated than in the past, many people in modern times hold on to negative feelings like anger, fear, and sorrow. As the result, they weaken the mind’s power. Even rich people, who eat gourmet dinners, are often plagued by insomnia stemming from their fears and sorrows. Simply being well-educated and wealthy isn’t enough to guarantee happiness.

For such people, the situation will not change until they change the nature of their minds. One way to do this is to change the nature of what they think about before falling asleep. Then they will sleep well. Deep sleep is very important. Sleeping lets us receive a great amount of ki, or “life energy,” from the universe. The time when we sleep is the time when we relax completely, and in a state of deep relaxation, the universe and the individual are closely united.

Meirei Anji
We can create a stronger form of autosuggestion by using a mirror just before falling asleep. It’s called Meirei Anji.

Meirei means “ordering or commanding.” Anji means “suggestion.”

In Meirei Anji, we utter a single simple sentence, which serves as a positive suggestion. Shortly before we speak this command to the subconscious, we watch our face in the mirror, or more exactly, we look at our reflected face between the eyebrows. Then, we speak to our reflected image and strongly order ourselves to become what we want to be.

Examples of positive suggestions for Meirei Anji are:

· “Your confidence will become strong!”
· “You will not be worried about your illness!”

You need not speak loudly, but you should be very serious at the moment you make this suggestion to your subconscious. Just one suggestion is good and effective. If you use many suggestions, they may confuse the subconscious.

Quality is more important than quantity. Say it just once, then immediately go to sleep. Intensity is important.

I hope you will soon feel the effects of Meirei Anji, but even if you don’t notice sudden results, I advise you to continue to practice it every night. Just as it took time to develop negative habits, it may be some days before you feel the effects of Meirei Anji.

We have acquired bad habits over many years. It is unrealistic to expect these harmful habits to be gone instantly by using Meirei Anji.

A French psychologist taught Nakamura Tempu Sensei this form of autosuggestion using the mirror. But he suggested we do it as often as possible during the daytime. Nakamura Sensei modified it and advised us to do it before falling asleep, because it is psychologically the most effective.

Furthermore, Nakamura Sensei was skilled in shodo, Japanese brush calligraphy. Students, who want to improve in shodo, can use a sentence like this:

“You will become fond of shodo.”

This is more effective than “You will be good at shodo.” If we come to like something, we study it harder and naturally become good at it.
Children that wet the bed during sleep can use a sentence like this:

“You will wake up when you want to urinate.”

People who want to correct their stuttering should not say, “Your stuttering will be gone.” Rather they should say, “You will not care about stuttering.” A person’s psychological state and ability to speak are closely connected. If we stop worrying about stuttering, we often stop stuttering.

The same can be said of many problems in life. We create problems by worrying about them.
People who are ill should not say, “You will recover from the illness.” They should say, “You will not worry about your illness.” This is not to indicate that you shouldn’t get medical treatment, it is more an indicator of the psychosomatic effect of the mind. The mind controls the body; positive mental states have a very real impact on our health.

The sentence we use for this autosuggestion should be an imperative form, not a prayer or a request. For example, “Your confidence will be strong” is an imperative sentence. “Please make my confidence strong” is more like a prayer or request.

In addition, we must order ourselves (the face in the mirror) to change. We should use the word “you” instead of “I” in Meirei Anji for this reason.

Don’t be impatient in practicing this method. Be diligent and keep going. I promise that the time will come soon when you can recognize the effectiveness of this method for changing your personality and habits.

Dantei Anji
Dantei means “affirm.” Dantei Anji compliments Meirei Anji.

When we get up in the morning, we can respond to the previous night’s order that we gave our subconscious. We can, in short, affirm the previous night’s command we spoke to our face in the mirror.

We need not use a mirror in Dantei Anji. Your sleepy face isn’t perhaps the best image of yourself or the first thing you want to see in the morning.

If your suggestion the previous night was “Your confidence will become strong,” then upon waking say aloud, “My confidence has become strong.” In this way, we affirm the previous night’s suggestion.

Hanpuku Anji
You can repeat the same suggestion even during the daytime. Frequent repetition of a single suggestion is very effective, and you can do this mentally or out loud, with or without a mirror. Hanpuku means “repetition.” Again, work on only one suggestion at a time. Once you’ve boosted your confidence or stopped smoking, go onto a different suggestion.

Since the early 1900s, thousands of people in Japan have learned and benefited from these four forms of autosuggestion. I’m one of those people.

Now that my colleague H. E. Davey Sensei is writing books about these methods and teaching them across the USA, I’m hoping many of you will achieve the same happy results.

About the Author: Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei is a direct student of Nakamura Tempu Sensei, founder of the Shin-shin-toitsu-do system of Japanese yoga and meditation. He holds the highest teaching credentials issued by the Tempu Society. He is also Professor Emeritus of English for Kyoto Sangyo University, and a Senior Advisor for the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts. To learn more about autosuggestion and Japanese yoga, visit http://www.senninfoundation.com/.

Discover Japanese Yoga & Meditation


Shin-shin-toitsu-do is the form of Japanese yoga and meditation offered at the Sennin Foundation Center. Shin-shin-toitsu-do, “The Way of Mind and Body Unification,” was founded in the early 1900s by Nakamura Tempu Sensei. Nakamura Sensei lived in India, where he studied the art of Raja yoga, the yoga of meditation. After studying medicine at Columbia University, he blended Indian meditation and health improvement with his background in medicine, psychology, Japanese healing arts and meditation, and Japanese martial arts. He taught for many years in Japan, authored best-selling books, and counted among his students a large number of Japan’s top executives, politicians, fine artists, athletes, martial artists, and people from every walk of life. But few Westerners have yet been exposed to these extraordinary teachings.


H. E. Davey Sensei, Director of the Sennin Foundation Center, has studied with several of Nakamura Sensei’s top students, including Hashimoto Tetsuichi Sensei and Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei. Both teachers are Senior Advisors to the Sennin Foundation Center, and Davey Sensei began studying Shin-shin-toitsu-do as a child. He is the award-winning author of the book Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation (Stone Bridge Press), which was featured in Yoga Journal in the U.S. and Tempu magazine in Japan. He’s also a member of Tempu-Kai, the Japanese association that preserves the legacy of Nakamura Sensei.


Our Shin-shin-toitsu-do class offers you practical forms of seated and moving meditation, breathing methods for health, stretching exercises, autosuggestion for altering negative habits, stress management, and self-healing techniques that are little-known in the West. Emphasis is also placed on the development of ki (chi in Chinese). Ki amounts to life energy, and its cultivation has a profound effect on mental and physical health. You, like many of our students, may experience greatly enhanced concentration, willpower, calmness, relaxation, and physical fitness. Make a positive and life-altering decision. Consider adding Shin-shin-toitsu-do to your life, and discover a way of living rooted in health, happiness, and harmony.
You can get more information about classes at the Sennin Foundation Center by visiting http://www.senninfoundation.com/ and by calling 510-526-7518.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Sennin Foundation 27th Anniversary

“Serving Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Kensington, Oakland, Richmond, Martinez, San Pablo, Hercules, Pinole, El Sobrante, Emeryville, San Francisco, San Rafael, Piedmont, and the Bay Area since 1981.”

In November, the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts celebrated its 27th anniversary with separate workshops in Japanese yoga/meditation and martial arts. Practice kicked off with martial arts training that focused on Saigo Ryu aiki-jujutsu, a traditional Japanese martial discipline. This was followed by Shin-shin-toitsu-do (Japanese yoga) practice, which began with 30 minutes of meditation, followed by mind and body unification training.

A special lunch took place at the nearby Ruen Pair Thai restaurant. To learn more about the Sennin Foundation Center, visit
www.senninfoundation.com.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Free Introductory Classes!


On Tuesday, December 2 the Sennin Foundation Center will be offering free introductions to Japanese yoga and meditation as well as Japanese martial arts. The classes will be taught by Kevin Heard Sensei, a Sennin Foundation instructor with over 20 years of experience. These classes are for age 14 and up, and we hope you'll participate. Please let your friends and family know about this special event, too. It's open to the public.

Our free introduction to Japanese yoga and meditation (Shin-shin-toitsu-do) will start at 7 PM, but if you aren't a Sennin Foundation member, you should arrive at 6:45 PM to fill out a registration form. Loose clothing and a notebook is recommended.

Following this class will be an introduction to Japanese martial arts (Saigo Ryu aiki-jujutsu). Since principles covered in the previous class will be referenced in our martial arts training, participation in Japanese yoga is required. However, the introductory martial arts class is optional.

You and your friends will need to reserve a place for this limited attendance event. To do so, just call 510-526-7518. Leave your name, and let us know that you want to participate on December 2. We hope to see you there!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

More Images of Sawai Sensei's Sennin Foundation Visit



These are more photos that were taken during Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei's visit to the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts in 2007. They were taken during a lecture and lunch. The topic of the lecture was changing the content of the subconscious mind as a way of modifying negative habits. To learn more about these methods of autosuggestion, pick up a copy of Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation at www.senninfoundation.com.

Sawai Sensei Visits the Sennin Foundation






On September 8, 2007, Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei visited the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts (www.senninfoundation.com.) in California. He presented a special class in Nakamura Tempu Sensei's methods for changing the content of the subconscious mind. He learned these methods for altering negative habits directly from Nakamura Sensei; and in fact, Mr. Sawai is widely considered to be one of the top students of Nakamura Sensei, founder of the Shin-shin-toitsu-do system of Japanese yoga and meditation.

Sawai Sensei, who lives in Kyoto, is a Senior Advisor for the Sennin Foundation Center. His class took place in a private room at a restaurant next door to the Center. It was the first time Mr. Sawai taught Shin-shin-toitsu-do to the general public in English, his second language, and his instruction was very well received.

Following his class, he was given with a special plaque honoring his 50 years of training in Shin-shin-toitsu-do. The award was presented by H. E. Davey Sensei, author of Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation, Director of the Sennin Foundation Center, and organizer of the event.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

"Japanese Yoga" Blog



Want to read more about Nakamura Tempu Sensei, Japanese yoga, and the book Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation? Just drop by our sister blog at http://japaneseyoga.blogspot.com/. You can also learn more about these subjects at the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts website: www.senninfoundation.com.



Hashimoto Tetsuichi, Japanese Yoga Expert

Hashimoto Tetsuichi Sensei is a resident of Tokyo, and he is one of the most senior disciples of Nakamura Tempu Sensei, founder of the Shin-shin-toitsu-do system of Japanese yoga. He started his study of Shin-shin-toitsu-do directly under Nakamura Sensei in 1950. Nakamura Tempu Sensei continued to be Hashimoto Sensei's primary teacher until he passed away in 1968 at the age of 92.

Hashimoto Sensei holds the highest lectureship position in the Tempu-Kai ("Tempu Society"), and he has taught Shin-shin-toitsu-do in Japan and the Philippines, where he was the Director of the Japanese Studies Program at Ateneo de Manila University.

Hashimoto Sensei is a retired professor of political science for International Christian University in Japan. He attended Duke University from 1954 to 1958 for graduate studies, and he was a visiting professor for the Japanese Studies Program at De La Salle University in 1985.


In addition to his position on the Sennin Foundation, Inc. Board of Advisors, he is the Senior Advisor to the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts (www.senninfoundation.com) and the teacher of H. E. Davey Sensei. While Hashimoto Sensei does occasionally instruct classes at Tempu-Kai in Tokyo, aside from his personal instruction of Mr. Davey, he is largely retired from active teaching.

Sawai Atsuhiro, Japanese Yoga Expert


Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei was born in 1939 in Japan. At the age of 18, he entered one of Kyoto's top universities.

Like many college students, Sawai Sensei was filled with dreams, aspirations, and ambitions, only to fall seriously ill. Despite the efforts of many doctors, he could not find a cure for his sickness. Filled with despair, he stopped going to university classes.

Thinking that his illness might eventually result in his death, Sawai Sensei read books on Buddhism and Christianity to attempt to discover what will become of a human being after he or she dies. He thought constantly about the purpose of life, and he reached a conclusion that amounted to nihilism. In short, Sawai Sensei felt that there was no such purpose of life, in that we are born without the knowledge of where we came from, where we are going, and why we are here. He felt completely lost.

Sawai Sensei's aunt advised him to attend the lectures of Nakamura Tempu Sensei, the founder of Shin-shin-toitsu-do. Sawai Sensei listened to one of his lectures, and he was fortunate enough to meet him. He began to study with Nakamura Sensei at that time, and he felt awakened by the universal truths that he taught. More than this, he felt revived. It was in the spring of 1958.

In a short time, after beginning to practice Japanese yoga, Sawai Sensei's health completely recovered. Sawai Sensei continued learning the philosophy of mind and body unification from Nakamura Tempu Sensei for 11 years until he passed away in 1968.

In addition to regular training sessions in Japanese yoga, every summer for 11 years Sawai Sensei participated in a special multiple-day intensive summer training session, where he received Nakamura Sensei's teachings. Three years after joining Tempu-Kai ("The Tempu Society"), he was chosen as an Assistant Teacher, or Hodo, to Nakamura Sensei. He still considered himself to be just a student of Japanese yoga, but he was also asked to contribute to the Tempu-Kai magazine, Shirube.

Eventually, Sawai Sensei began to write poems inspired by Nakamura Sensei's teachings, teachings that acted as a catalyst for a wide variety of artistic expressions by his students. His first collection of poetry, Seishun no Ma (Devils of Adolescence), was published in 1967. In it, he reflected on the insights he experienced when he overcame the "devilish" sufferings of his adolescence.

The collection was highly praised in various newspapers in Japan by Kuroda Saburo, the chairman of Japanese Modern Poets Association (Nihon Gendai Shijin Kai), and Sawai Sensei received a letter from Nakamura Sensei, who praised his poems and tried to encourage him: "...Something beautiful from the poet's mind seems to stream into my mind. I will read your poems again and again."

The next year his teacher Nakamura Tempu Sensei passed away. Even after his death, Sawai Sensei continued to practice Japanese yoga (Shin-shin-toitsu-do). He presently practices every day as Nakamura Sensei personally taught him.

Sawai Sensei eventually became a full Lecturer for the Tempu-Kai, which is the highest teaching credential issued by this group. He became a Councilor for Tempu-Kai and Tempu-Kai Branch Manager of Kyoto in 1998. In 1999, he became Director of Publishing for Tempu-Kai and Editor of their magazine, Tempu. He also wrote regular articles for this publication.

Professionally, Sawai Sensei was a full professor of English at Kyoto Sangyo University for 23 years, and he taught at the university for 33 years. He entered semi-retirement and became Professor Emeritus of English in March 2004. He has also had the following books published:

Devils of Adolescence (poetry collection), 1967
The Mirror (poetry collection), 1973
The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke (translation), 1984
British Colonization of New Zealand (collected research essays), 2003

In the summer of 2004, Sawai Sensei accepted a position as a special Senior Advisor to the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts (http://www.senninfoundation.com/), which is a dojo lead by H. E. Davey Sensei, a fellow Tempu-Kai member as well as Sawai Sensei's friend and colleague in Shin-shin-toitsu-do. Since the beginning of 2004, Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei has been contributing short articles to the Sennin Foundation Newsletter, visiting the Sennin Foundation Center, and helping Davey Sensei with his work on a new book tentatively titled The Teachings of Tempu: Practical Meditation for Daily Life. We hope to be able to post Sawai Sensei's articles about Nakamura Tempu Sensei and Japanese yoga to this blog.

Where can I Study Nakamura Sensei's Japanese Yoga?

Shin-shin-toitsu-do, commonly known as Japanese yoga in the West, is rarely taught outside of Japan. At this time, the only school outside of Asia offering full time professional instruction in the original methods of Shin-shin-toitsu-do, as created by Nakamura Tempu Sensei, is the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Sennin Foundation Center was established in 1981 by H. E. Davey Sensei.

We’re located in Albany, just across the bay from San Francisco and right next to Berkeley. Our dojo, or training hall, can easily be found at 1053 San Pablo Avenue, in a safe, well-lit neighborhood only 1 1/2 miles from both the El Cerrito Plaza and North Berkeley BART stations. AC Transit's 72 bus stops right in front of our dojo. To see a map of our location, click here.Visits are by appointment, and appointments can be scheduled by visiting http://www.senninfoundation.com/ or by calling 510-526-7518 in the evenings. Be sure to ask about our free introductory classes.

For individuals living outside Northern California, seminar instruction is a possibility. Davey Sensei has presented seminars in Japanese yoga and meditation throughout the USA, and depending on his schedule, he may be willing to conduct a seminar in your location. Contact the Sennin Foundation Center to discuss the details of bringing him to your town to teach Japanese yoga.Along the same lines, we've offered “crash courses” in Japanese yoga and meditation for out of town guests in the past. Such courses are a combination of group and private instruction. Plan on being in Albany for at least one week, and be sure to contact us to discuss the cost and details of your short term course well in advance of your arrival.

For interested parties that are unable to visit California or sponsor a seminar in their area, we offer Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation. This is the first and only book in English on the original Shin-shin-toitsu-do of Nakamura Sensei. It’s out of print, but you can still order new, signed copies by going here: http://www.senninfoundation.com/davey_yoga.html.Davey Sensei regularly corresponds with readers of his many books via e-mail. He’s willing to answer questions, making the use of his book Japanese Yoga even more effective for people that are unable to practice at the Sennin Foundation Center.

If you live in Japan, and you're able to speak Japanese fluently, we can put you in touch with teachers of Shin-shin-toitsu-do in that country. Just contact us at http://www.senninfoundation.com/.

More about Nakamura Tempu


THE CHRONOLOGICAL BIOGRAPHY OF NAKAMURA TEMPU
By Sawai Atsuhiro and H. E. Davey
Photos Courtesy of Sawai Atsuhiro
1876
Nakamura Tempu Sensei was born on July 30 at Oji Mura, Toyoshima Gun, Tokyo Fu (presently known as Oji, Kitaku, Tokyo To). His father was Sukeoki, and his mother was Chou. He was born Nakamura Saburo, their third son.

Nakamura Sukeoki was from the Yanagawa Clan (1) in Kyushu and a high-ranking central government official, Director of the Department of the Mint in the Finance Ministry. Nakamura Saburo's mother is said to have been a bright and cheerful woman from the Capital of Edo (now Tokyo) (2).

A British engineer, who specialized in printing, was working for the Mint. He lived near the Nakamura family house in Oji, and his wife was fond of Saburo, so she taught him conversational English on a daily basis.

1889
He finished his elementary school education at Honjo, Tokyo. Nakamura Saburo entered Shuyu Kan High School
(3) in Fukuoka, Kyushu.
1892

At 16 years old, he withdrew from the high school and stayed at the Genyo Sha (4), managed by Toyama Mitsuru (5). This was through the introduction of Baron Maeda Masana (Saburo's uncle), who was Undersecretary of the Agriculture and Commerce Ministry.

Nicknamed the "Panther of Genyo Sha" because of his fierce and quick temperament, Saburo became an errand boy for Kono Kinkichi, an intelligent officer in the Imperial Army, who held the rank of Captain. Saburo engaged in secret service activities in Manchuria and the Ryoto Peninsula in China a few months before the Japan /China War broke out. He studied Chinese language intensely for one year.

1894
He entered Gakushuin High School
(6), but he withdrew soon after beginning. He became good friends with Iwasaki Hisaya (7).

1902
At 26 years old, he was hired as an intelligence agent belonging to the General Staff Office. He received special training, which prepared him to enter Manchuria. He collected intelligence and engaged in military operations a few months before the Japan-Russia War began.

1904
The Japan-Russia War broke out when Nakamura Sensei was 28 years old. He played a significant role in this conflict as a military agent involved in espionage and intelligence gathering. He was captured by a Russian squadron and given a death sentence. A few seconds before his execution by firing squad, he narrowly escaped death, when a hand grenade was thrown by his subordinate.

On another occasion, he was shot by a sniper during his patrol on the Great Wall of China. He jumped from the wall, and he was seriously injured, falling into a coma for about a month. For most of his life, he felt occasional acute dizziness as an aftereffect of this incident. He also had problems with his vision in both eyes.

Due to yet another wartime injury, a nerve was cut in his right hand, making it impossible for him to fully bend his right middle finger.

1905
At 29 years old, he returned from war to his parents' house in Hongo, Tokyo. Nakamura Sensei was one of only nine people that returned home alive out of his group of 113 military personnel.

Around this time, Chairman Nezu Kaichiro asked him to join the management of the Dai Nippon Flour Mill (now the Nisshin Flour Mill) as an executive.

1906
At 30 years old, Nakamura Sensei was diagnosed with a rapidly advancing case of tuberculosis, a disease that was often fatal. He was treated by a Dr. Kitazato, the top tuberculosis specialist in Japan, but he did not recover. To find a cure for his disease and to arrive at peace of mind, he began reading about medicine, religion, philosophy, and psychology.

1909
At 33 years old, Nakamura Sensei traveled to the USA to seek advice and medical treatment, rather than waiting to die. Travel to other countries (back then) was difficult even for healthy people. He met
Orison Swett Marden, reputed to be a great young philosopher and the author of How to Get What You Want, but Marden's method provided no psychosomatic cure for his disease.

1911
At 35 years old, Nakamura Sensei's illness went into remission due to the medical treatments he received in the USA. Impressed by these treatments, he entered Columbia University, where he studied medicine.

His illness returned, prompting him to look for a psychosomatic cure in London, where he attended a psychology seminar titled "Mental Activities and the Nervous System," which was presented by H. Addington Bruce. He went to Paris, and he met a Dr. Lindler at Lyon University. This was through an introduction from the actress Sarah Bernhardt, and he studied with Lindler, who taught him an effective method of autosuggestion using a mirror.

His illness continued to worsen, but he still visited Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch, a famed biologist and philosopher living in Germany. His tuberculosis remained, however, and he found no answers to his questions concerning life, death, and the human mind.

In May of 1911, Nakamura Sensei decided to return to Japan by ship. On the way home, at a hotel in Cairo, Egypt, he came across a yoga and meditation teacher named Kaliapa. He followed Kaliapa to the village of Gorkhe, which lies between China and India at the foot of the third peak of Mt. Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas.

Via the practice of yogic meditation, Nakamura Sensei experienced spiritual realization and awakened his higher mind after two years and several months of practice. His tuberculosis disappeared. He would later become the first Japanese to introduce yoga style philosophy and meditation to Japan.

1913
At 37 years old, while returning from India to Japan, Nakamura Sensei stopped in Shanghai. There he met his old friend Yamaza Enjiro, then Japanese Ambassador to China. By his request, Nakamura Sensei joined the second Xinhai Geming Revolution. He assisted Sun Wen, and he became one of his highest political advisers. However, the revolution failed, and he came home to Japan. In a few years, he became President of the Tokyo Bank of Business & Savings. He also successfully managed several companies and played an active role in the Japanese business community.

1919
At 43 years old, Nakamura Sensei was suddenly inspired to abandon his social position and wealth to found the Toitsu-Kai ("Association for Unification"). This was later renamed the Toitsu Tetsui Gakkai, the "Unification Philosophy and Medical Research Institute," and it was dedicated to helping people to improve their mental and physical health.

He began offering free classes in Shin-shin-toitsu-do, "The Way of Mind and Body Unification," which took place daily at Ueno Park and Hibiya Park in Tokyo. In September of this year, Mukai Iwao, Chief Prosecutor, noticed him and introduced him to Prime Minister Hara Takashi (8). Prime Minister Hara said, "This is a man to speak in a proper place, not in the streets."

As the result, many well-known people in political and financial circles came to attend his public lectures. Admiral Togo Heihachiro (9); Sugiura Jugo (10), a famed educator; and Ishikawa Sodo, a renowned Zen Buddhist priest of Sojiji Temple in Tsurumi, Yokohama are just a few of his early famous students.

1923
At the age of 47, at the request of Justice Minister Yokota Sennosuke, Nakamura Sensei was asked to intervene in a dispute involving the Korean Keinan Railway. During the process of successfully resolving this dispute, he met Saito Makoto, Korean Governor, and Nakamura Sensei established a Korean branch of his association.

1924
When Nakamura Sensei was 48, famed Navy Admiral Yamamoto Eisuke (then President of the Japanese Naval Academy) advised
Marquis Komatsu to become one of his students. Yamamoto was, at that time, President of the Japanese Naval Academy. By the recommendation of Komatsu (former Prince Kitashirakawa Teruhisa), he lectured several times to three Imperial princes (Higashi Kuni, Kita Shirakawa, and Takeda).

Many prominent people such as Ozaki Yukio (Justice Minister of Japan), Goto Shinpei (Interior Minister of Japan and President of Manchuria Railway), and Asano Soichiro (founder of Asano Cement Company) came to attend his lectures on Shin-shin-toitsu-do (a.k.a. Japanese yoga).

In December of 1924, the Kansai Headquarters of the Toitsu Tetsui Gakkai was established in Osaka.

1925
When Nakamura Sensei was 49 his lecture entitled "Yamai and Byoki" ("Illness and Worrying about It") was put on air throughout Japan by the Osaka Broadcast Station. Taking place on June 8, his program was broadcast just eight days after the radio station was established. (Nakamura Sensei was one of Japan's first on-air featured speakers. History's inaugural radio broadcast in Japan took place on March 22, 1925 from Tokyo's Atago Mountain.)

1925 to 1947
From 1925 on, many district branches of the Toitsu Tetsui Gakkai were established in Kyoto, Nagoya, Kobe, Otaru (Hokkaido). In January 1940, the Toitsu Tetsui Gakkai was renamed the Tempu-Kai (the "Tempu Society"). Many seminars and activities were held nationwide until the start of World War II.

In March 1945 (the last year of WWII), Japan's wartime military government ordered the demolition of Tempu-Kai's headquarters in Tokyo. This was due to Nakamura Sensei's pacifist philosophy and public denouncements of the war.

In October 1946, the first Shin-shin-toitsu-do lectures after the war took place in the hall of the Toranomon Building in Shibaku, Tokyo. From that date, every month public lectures were held at various places in the war-ruined metropolis.

1947
In October 1947, at the age of 71, Nakamura Sensei taught Japanese yoga (Shin-shin-toitsu-do) for three days to an audience of about 250 officials of the U.S. Army General Headquarters at the request of Commander Eikelburger. This seminar took place in the basement hall of the Mainichi Press Building. The millionaire John D. Rockefeller III happened to be in the audience. Impressed by the teachings of Japanese yoga, he offered to bring Nakamura Sensei to the USA to teach. Nakamura Sensei declined and stated that his first priority was to reestablish the health of the citizens of war torn Japan.
Tempu-Kai activities began to take place throughout Japan.

1962
In April 1962, when Nakamura Sensei was 86 years old, the Japanese government officially recognized Tempu-Kai as a nonprofit educational foundation, or zaidan hojin.
This was in acknowledgement of the work the association had been doing for many years to help Japanese citizens to improve their health.

1968
In April, the Tempu Kaikan ("Tempu Society Hall") was completed on the grounds of Gokokuji Temple in Tokyo. Nakamura Sensei passed away on December 1, 1968 at the age of 92.

1968 to the present

The students directly taught by Nakamura Tempu Sensei numbered more than a 100,000. He taught people from all walks of life and from every part of Japan.

Among the past and present students of Shin-shin-toitsu-do are members of the Japanese Imperial Family, government officials, business leaders, famous scholars, Japanese Order of Culture recipients, Olympic gold medalists, well-known actors, and celebrated novelists.

Tempu-Kai does not advertise for students. New students join the association through the introduction of senior members. In 1988, Tempu-Kai's 70th anniversary was celebrated, and the total number of members at that time was over one million (11).

Notes
1. The Yanagawa Clan was famous for cultivating many strong warriors.
2. A person born in Edo was called Edokko. In Japan, just mentioning that a person was Edokko implied that he/she was vigorous and quick to respond.
3. Even today, Shuyu Kan is a famous private high school in Kyushu.
4. The Genyo Sha was a well-known political group, considered to be right wing, which advocated and led a national movement to realize their version of democracy in Japan.
5. Toyama Mitsuru was an influential political activist and the leader of the Genyo Sha. He not only influenced politics in Japan, but he was involved in the Chinese Revolution lead by Sun Wen and the national independence movement in India. Nakamura Sensei was assisted by Toyama in many ways during his life. Toyama helped him get a visa to travel to the USA and helped to put him in a position to teach Japanese yoga to princes and princesses of the Imperial Family.
6. Gakushuin is a special high school to educate the members of the Imperial Family and the sons of the Japanese aristocracy. Later, Gakushuin University was also established. All of Japan's Emperors were educated there.
7. Iwasaki Hisaya was a son of the famed founder of the Mitsubishi Cartel, but this statement seems wrong to Sawai, because Hisaya was 11 years older than Nakamura Sensei. It might have been his younger brother Koyata, who was three years older than Nakamura Sensei. Koyata studied at Cambridge and became president of the Mitsubishi Company.
8. Hara Takashi was one of the most famous Prime Ministers in Japan. He was well-known for creating the Seiyu-Kai, Japan's first political party, and he contributed to the introduction of democracy in Japan.
9. Togo Heihachiro was a famous Admiral, often compared to Nelson of Britain; he is known as the "Nelson of the East." He led the Japanese fleet to defeat the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Empire during the Japan-Russia War.
10. Sugiura Jugo was a great educator and thinker. He studied chemistry in England, and he became President of Tokyo University (Division of Juniors).
11. This number seems to Mr. Sawai to be exaggerated.

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But don't wait too long as this book is out of print. For a limited time only, the Sennin Foundation Center is offering autographed copies of H. E. Davey Sensei's landmark book Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation for just $18.95. These are BRAND NEW copies of an out of print book, which is becoming increasingly hard to find and going up in price.

Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation




Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation


By H. E. Davey




Stone Bridge Press
ISBN 1-880656-60-4
224 pages
$18.95


Emphasizing gentle stretching and meditation exercises, the ultimate goal of Japanese yoga (Shin-shin-toitsu-do) is enhanced mind/body integration, calmness, and willpower for a healthier and fuller life. Developed by Nakamura Tempu Sensei in the early 1900s from Indian Raja yoga, Japanese martial arts and meditation practices, as well as Western medicine and psychotherapy, Japanese yoga offers a new approach to experienced yoga students and a natural methodology that newcomers will find easy to learn.


In Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation, after a brief history of Shin-shin-toitsu-do, H. E. Davey Sensei presents Mr. Nakamura's Four Basic Principles to Unify Mind and Body. These principles relate the meditative experience to the movement of everyday living and thus make it a "dynamic meditation." Each of the Four Basic Principles is illustrated with step-by-step explanations of practical experiments.Readers are then introduced to different forms of seated and moving meditation, health exercises, and self-healing arts. All these are linked back to the Four Basic Principles and can enhance performance in art, music, business, sports, and other activities. Readers learn to use Japanese yoga techniques throughout the day, without having to sit on the floor or seek out a quiet space.


Included at the end of the book are simple but effective stretching exercises, information about ongoing practice, and a glossary and reference section. Amply illustrated and cogently presented, Japanese Yoga belongs on every mind/body/spirit reading list.


For a limited time only, the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts is offering autographed copies of H. E. Davey Sensei's landmark book Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation for just $18.95. These are BRAND NEW copies of an out of print book, which is becoming increasingly hard to find and going up in price. To order your copy, go here: http://www.senninfoundation.com/davey_yoga.html

The Life of Nakamura Tempu (4)


AWAKING FROM THE WANDERING DREAM—
THE LIFE OF NAKAMURA TEMPU

(Part Four)

By H. E. Davey
Photos courtesy of Sawai Atsuhiro




Western and Eastern Influences
Nakamura Sensei’s stress on experimentation and comprehension through direct insight echoes his background in science and medicine. He supervised experiments to study the effects of Shin-shin-toitsu-do; to this day, prominent Western-style doctors in Japan are well-known practitioners of this art. His processes of autosuggestion, which you can read about in Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation, are borrowed from his study of psychology in Europe.

Practices like autosuggestion were in vogue during Nakamura Sensei’s time in the USA and Europe, where they were popularized via the New Thought philosophy. Some New Thought groups emphasized 19th century semi-scientific theories such as mesmerism, while others promoted the autosuggestion, affirmations, and self-help methods of Emile Coue. Some advocated meditation, while others taught positive thinking as a jumping off point for teaching the "law of attraction," or how to attract personal/financial success by visualizing these conditions. Some stressed vegetarianism, others taught the significance of willpower and directed thoughts, and still others focused on psychophysical healing and affirmative prayer.

Despite “New Thought” being an umbrella term for various occasionally diverging movements and philosophies, it has certain universally accepted principles. A primary tenet is that thinking itself creates one's experience of the world. A philosophy of idealism and optimism, New Thought professes the central role of the mind in relation to experiencing the physical world and emphasizes positive thinking, affirmations, and meditation. These methods are commonly taught using books and courses.

New Thought's proponents birthed various self-development, self-empowerment, and self-help offshoot philosophies, such as those advocated by writers Napolean Hill and Charles F. Haanel, with their focus on training willpower for success. One prominent New Thought influenced author was Orison Swett Marden, who Nakamura Sensei met, and some of whose teachings are clearly echoed in Shin-shin-toitsu-do. In researching this article, it became clear that the New Thought movement had a profound effect on Shin-shin-toitsu-do, much more than is sometimes acknowledged in Japan.

And unquestionably, Japanese influences can be discerned in Nakamura Sensei’s teachings. Shinto, the native Japanese faith, underscores purity and union with nature; it impregnated every aspect of Japanese civilization. Similarly, Zen Buddhism made an impression on Japan with its appearance from China myriad years ago. Since Nakamura Sensei grew up in Japan, which has been tinged for hundred years by Zen and Shinto, ambient factors and aesthetics of these doctrines are detected in what and how he taught.


He enjoyed the books of Dogen, a famous Zen monk. While he dismissed most of the religious trappings, rituals, and regulations Dogen mentioned, he found a kindred spirit in Dogen’s spiritual insight and concept of meditation. When Nakamura Sensei’s students indicated that the wording of these texts was different from his (and for loads of people incomprehensible as well), he was unabashed. He explained he identified not with the writing as much as the spirit behind it, adding that yoga and Zen sprang from the same Indian soil. He felt the yogic meditation of Kaliapa and the Zen of Dogen lead to the same place, but he was also clear about his desire to create new explanations for both Indian meditation and Japanese Zen that modern people could more easily relate to.

In addition, “Japanized” Chinese influences can be discovered in Shin-shin-toitsu-do. Nakamura Sensei spoke Chinese and lived in China at several points in his life.

Chinese Taoism originally stressed existing in friendship with nature and the cosmos. Over time it evolved meditations and health practices aiming at not just wisdom, but also long life, and in some sects even outright deathlessness. Hundreds of years ago, like copious aspects of Chinese civilization, these teachings shifted to Japan, where Taoism was proclaimed Dokyo. Advanced Taoist mystics, who’d accomplished elevated spirituality and physical health, and according to ancient legends eternal life as well, were called Hsien in China and Sennin in Japan. Although modern Japanese often mistakenly fail to distinguish between man and myth when they think of the Sennin, real life Sennin mystics practiced Sennin-do, the Japanese version of Taoist yoga, which underscores developing life energy via chi-kung exercises (kiko in Japanese). The Sennin have been characterized as Japanese equivalents to the yogi, and several of their techniques are comparable to methods found in Shin-shin-toitsu-do, which some believe is also a form of Sennin-do. Nakamura Sensei mentioned the Sennin and Sennin-do (a.k.a. Senjutsu) in his books, and his methods of self-healing and some of his breathing practices are too close to esoteric Taoist disciplines to be mere coincidence.

Although Shin-shin-toitsu-do isn’t a martial art, Japanese budo (“martial Ways”) also made an impression on Shin-shin-toitsu-do. Nakamura Sensei was exceptional at Zuihen Ryu swordsmanship, and the power of the martial arts can be felt in forms of dynamic meditation taught in Shin-shin-toitsu-do. It can likewise be witnessed in the vigorous and disciplined atmosphere in Shin-shin-toitsu-do classes.

During the Russo-Japanese War, he utilized his sword in combat, earning the somewhat dubious handle “Man-Cutting Tempu.” However after returning from India, he stressed compassion for all living things and during World War II earned the ire of Japan’s government by speaking against war of any kind. While he drilled solo sword exercises throughout his life, he imagined no adversary when using a sword for mobile meditation. His ability, nonetheless, remained so immense that he could easily slice through fat sections of bamboo. And he could do it using a wooden sword.

Inspiring? Certainly, but more inspiring still was the fact that the bamboo was suspended from hollows incised in two ribbons of paper, which in turn hung from two upturned knives clutched by two assistants. The bamboo would be split without ripping the suspending top and bottom holes in these paper ribbons. (When bamboo is carved in half with enormous speed, the middle part drops, permitting the outer ends to slide from the holes without disturbing the paper.) And Nakamura Sensei, using mind and body coordination principles, taught average folks with no swordsmanship training, to accomplish the same feat. He even taught students to slice through a pair of chopsticks with a business card or postcard, by visualizing ki energy passing through the utensils. Such is the power of mind and body unification.

Moving from the shita hara, a natural abdominal center, and concentration in the same region, has a heritage in both Zen and martial arts. In some of his dynamic meditation drills we can notice imprints of judo as well. Because Nakamura Sensei was friends with the originator of aikido and had important aikido instructors as students, we can notice aikido influences in Shin-shin-toitsu-do, especially in the art’s contemporary spin-offs.

All of these disciplines relate to Shin-shin-toitsu-do, but they aren’t Shin-shin-toitsu-do. A respected exponent of this art once criticized part of my history of Nakamura Sensei in Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation by saying Shin-shin-toitsu-do was the creation of Nakamura Sensei and that it shouldn’t be related to other disciplines. I agree . . . up to a point.

Shin-shin-toitsu-do is undoubtedly an outgrowth of the creativity of Nakamura Sensei. Nonetheless, everything comes from something. Nothing just spontaneously appears, and to imply that Shin-shin-toitsu-do evolved solely from the mind of its founder—with no historical ties to other cultures and meditative disciplines—won’t go over with readers versed in Asian culture and spirituality. For people like myself, who’ve spent their lives researching Asian religion, culture, art, and meditation, it isn’t difficult to see that yoga, Zen, Shinto, Taoism, martial arts, and Western sciences relate to Shin-shin-toitsu-do.

But make no mistake; I’m not stating that blending the disparate subjects above culminates in Shin-shin-toitsu-do. We could repeat everything Nakamura Sensei did and still not attain realization or even arrive at identical practices. He studied a glut of methods before traveling to India. It didn’t help him much. In truth, it was only when he stopped shopping for a fresh remedy or discipline that he could behold the Way of the universe.

Teaching the Way of the Universe
Nakamura Sensei taught for about 50 years. He gradually evolved exercises and mind-body unification principles that encapsulated his realization in India, and his teachings transformed countless people. The students directly taught by Nakamura Sensei numbered more than 100,000.

One of his favorite pupils, Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei, remembers him having the vigor of a twenty-something in his late eighties. Sawai Sensei often comments on how even as he aged his extraordinary intelligence and acutely heightened senses never dimmed.

Shortly before his death, he noticeably weakened. He counted among his students leading doctors. They were consulted, and they indicated that something unusual was happening—each of his organs and bodily systems were slowly declining. No cause could be determined. But his clarity of consciousness never paled.

At 92 years of age, on December 1, 1968, he called his family and students together. Sensing the end was near, or perhaps consciously deciding to leave, he said in a clear and calm voice, “Thank you. I’ll see you all again.” With that, like the fading note of an immense and ancient bell, he closed his eyes and merged with the universe.

Shin-shin-toitsu-do Today
It’s Nakamura Sensei’s unadorned perception of existence that made him beneficial to others. To reveal his insight, he employed different practices with which he was well-versed; but this is nearly incidental, as everything he communicated and every individual he moved with his statements, was inspired more by the strength of his link with ultimate reality than by anything else. It’s futile to only mimic the original methods he studied, to accumulate a compilation of such arts ourselves, or to blindly copy what he developed. Instead, we should personally perceive the truth as he did.

After his death, Tempu-Kai attempted to preserve and consolidate his teachings, creating official versions of exercises and methods. Easier said than done, as Nakamura Sensei taught “according to the person,” meaning different students sometimes learned different things, with exercises performed in different ways. Because he wasn’t promoting a dogma or religious tradition, when he was alive his teaching was not fixed and “official versions” were in flux. He continued learning and growing, which caused the way he taught and practiced various exercises to change and grow as well.

Thus, early students learned different approaches than people joining Tempu-Kai later in Nakamura Sensei’s life. Likewise, people in Kyoto didn’t always get identical instruction as individuals in Osaka or Tokyo. Over time, especially after his death, certain teachers made discoveries of their own concerning mind and body unification, discoveries that caused them to teach and practice in new ways. A case in point, Tohei Koichi Sensei, a top proponent of aikido, Zen, and misogi breathing exercises as well as one of Nakamura Sensei’s senior students, gave birth to a new group called Ki no Kenkyukai. He created his own style of Shin-shin-toitsu-do, modified by his experiences with other arts, and he created a new martial art called Shin-shin-toitsu aikido.

Like Tohei Sensei in aikido, other students mixed the principles of mind and body unification with their particular interests or jobs. This isn’t surprising as Nakamura Sensei encouraged pupils to apply his teachings to their daily lives. For instance, in addition to being a practitioner of Shin-shin-toitsu-do, my teacher Hirata Yoshihiko Sensei was a musician. Even after retiring from teaching Shin-shin-toitsu-do, he made his living offering music lessons based on coordination of mind and body principles.

Nakamura Sensei attracted leaders from various fields including fine arts, sports, healing arts, and other disciplines. A number of these teachers integrated mind and body unification exercises and concepts into their particular subject. (They haven’t, unfortunately, inevitably acknowledged their debt to Shin-shin-toitsu-do.) This represents another direction taken by some of Nakamura Sensei’s pupils after he passed away.

Tempu-Kai has published a multitude of books and audio tapes of his ideas; they’re generally accepted by the average Japanese as the “public face” of his teachings. Many talented people at Tempu-Kai devoted many hours, for many years, to preserving Shin-shin-toitsu-do. And in many ways, they’ve succeeded. Nevertheless, there isn’t now, nor has there ever been, a single, concrete, and universally practiced standard for this art.

Moreover, during Nakamura Sensei’s life, and to a greater degree after he passed away, some folks deified him as a god-like being, whose words cannot be altered and whose methods shouldn’t be allowed to evolve. This quasi-religious approach to Shin-shin-toitsu-do would have dismayed their sensei, who stated that organized religions frequently divide people, where he wanted to bring them together. Nakamura Sensei further emphasized that Shin-shin-toitsu-do seeks the source from which all spirituality emerges—before it’s organized and altered by institutions. Hashimoto Tetsuichi Sensei, one of his close students, writes:

First, Nakamura Tempu Sensei was really broadminded enough to accept all persons as his students, including Buddhists, Christians, non-religious people, agnostics, and atheists, if they sincerely wanted to learn and practice his Shin-shin-toitsu-do (Japanese yoga). This is the reason why the Tempu Society is a zaidan hojin (nonprofit educational organization) for promoting our mental and physical human condition. It is not a religious foundation of any sort, and this organizational direction is based upon the generous intention of its original founder Tempu Sensei.

Secondly, Tempu Sensei used to call himself “a finger pointing at the truth” and not the truth itself. Therefore, he strictly instructed us not to worship him.

Thirdly, Tempu Sensei also used to encourage us by saying, “You can and must start from the point I have reached.” Therefore, he would be most happy if his disciples, thankfully believing in his words, try to go beyond limitations of any kind, regionally, racially, culturally, etc. In other words, you do not have to enter the Himalayas as he did or become Japanese. You can make use of Shin-shin-toitsu-do in your own way, but you must not forget that you are encouraged to surpass the achievements of our teacher. (4)

Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei also quotes Nakamura Sensei as saying:

Each of us was born with a unique mission and role in life, which we must personally discover. I don’t desire to tell you what to do in your lives. I teach methods to help you find the strength and creativity to be able to do anything you decide you’re meant to do. There’s no need to copy me. (5)

According to Sawai Sensei, his teacher hoped Shin-shin-toitsu-do would spread outside of Japan, which is also a long cherished dream of Mr. Sawai’s. Yet Shin-shin-toitsu-do cannot be understood by Westerners who merely read articles like this one. We need to actually practice mind and body unification to discover our connection to the universe as Nakamura Tempu Sensei did. (6)



About the Author: H. E. Davey Sensei is the Director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts, located in the San Francisco Bay Area (http://www.senninfoundation.com/). In 2001, he wrote the first and only book in English about Nakamura Tempu Sensei and his system of Japanese yoga and meditation. The book is out of print, but autographed BRAND NEW copies can be purchased exclusively from the Sennin Foundation Center. Supplies are limited, and if you’d like to read more about how Japanese yoga can help you improve your health and realize your full potential, order a copy of Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation here:
http://www.senninfoundation.com/davey_yoga.html

Notes
1. Nakamura Tempu, Shokushu—Shuren Kaiin Yo (Tokyo: Tempu-Kai, 1957), p. 46.
2. A yogi is a practitioner of yoga.
3. Changing names to commemorate key moments in one’s life has a long tradition in Japan. While less common today, it is still practiced by some traditionally minded Japanese.
4. Hashimoto Tetsuichi, The Sennin Foundation 25th Anniversary Commemorative Booklet (Albany, Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts, 2006), page 6.
5. Sawai Atsuhiro, personal conversation, 2006.
6. Much of the biographical material and quotes in this article comes from The Life of Nakamura Tempu, an unpublished manuscript written by Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei. It is used with the kind permission of the author.


The Life of Nakamura Tempu (3)








AWAKING FROM THE WANDERING DREAM—
THE LIFE OF NAKAMURA TEMPU
(Part Three)

By H. E. Davey
Photos courtesy of Sawai Atsuhiro





Returning to Japan
After approximately three years in India and Nepal, he left in 1913. Before he got back to Japan, he landed in Shanghai to exchange ships. There he met an old friend, Yamaza Enjiro, Japanese Ambassador to China. The diplomat asked him to be a bodyguard to Sun Yat Sen, who was engaged in the Xinhai Geming Revolution to liberate the Chinese people from the reign of the Chinese Emperor. Saburo agreed and eventually became a top consultant to Sun Yat Sen. As a reward for his service, Saburo was given a hefty amount of silver when he left China for Japan.


With this capital, he became a success in the world of business. In a few years, he was President of the Tokyo Bank of Business & Savings and served on the Board of Directors of the Dai Nihon Seifun Milling Company. He also profitably managed several companies, becoming quite wealthy.

After several years of playing a leading role in the Japanese business community, he had a powerful vision that he was to teach what he’d realized in India. He abandoned his social status, businesses, and fortune. At 43, he began teaching the public. It was June 8th, 1919.

The Wind of Heaven
Saburo renamed himself Tempu, “The Wind of Heaven.”(3) He derived this name from the characters ten and pu, substitute pronunciations of the characters for amatsukaze. The amatsukaze is a formal technique, or kata, in Zuihen Ryu swordsmanship, which Nakamura Sensei was exceptionally proficient at. This name likewise appealed to his spiritual nature.


He taught a combination of the different arts and forms of meditation he’d learned, but exclusively in private lessons. Gradually, he taught more openly. Every morning he presented free training in Shin-shin-toitsu-do in Tokyo at Hibiya and Ueno parks. Nakamura Sensei stressed the union of mind and body, which he christened Shin (“mind”)-shin (“body”)-toitsu (“unification”)-do (“Way”). At times the names Shin-shin-toitsu (“Mind and Body Unification”), Shin-shin-toitsu-ho (“The Art of Mind and Body Unification”), and Toitsu-do (“the Way of Unification”) were, and occasionally still are, used by practitioners. The authentic spirit of the teaching cannot be limited by a name.

He founded the Toitsu-Kai (“Association for Unification”), with the word “toitsu” being an approximation of the term “yoga,” meaning union and harmony in Sanskrit. In September of 1919, Mukai Iwao, Chief Prosecutor, noticed him and introduced him to Hara Takashi, Prime Minster of Japan. Hara said, “This is a man to speak in a proper place, not in the streets.”

He helped some of Nakamura Sensei’s students create a society to support his work. It was called Toitsu Tetsui Gakkai, the “Unification Philosophy and Medical Research Society,” and dedicated to improving mental and physical health. It was a nonprofit educational organization as opposed to a church or temple. Nakamura Sensei insisted that Shin-shin-toitsu-do is an inquiry into the core of spirituality, not an organized religion.

Well-known people in political and financial circles attended his lectures. General Togo Heihachiro; Sugiura Jugo, a famed educator; and Ishikawa Sodo, the renowned Zen master of Sojiji Temple are just a few of his early students. Later, other prominent people such as Ozaki Yukio (Justice Minister of Japan), Goto Shinpei (Interior Minister of Japan and President of Manchuria Railway), and Asano Soichiro (founder of the massive Asano Cement Company) began participating in his seminars. By 1923, his fame had grown to the point that Justice Minister Yokota Sennosuke asked Nakamura Sensei to intervene in a workers’ dispute involving the Korean Keinan Railway.

In 1924, eminent Navy Admiral Yamamoto Eisuke (President of the Japanese Naval Academy) advised Marquis Komatsu to study Shin-shin-toitsu-do. Through the recommendation of Komatsu (former Prince Kitashirakawa Teruhisa), Nakamura Sensei taught three Imperial princes (Higashikuni, Kitashirakawa, and Takeda).

When Nakamura Sensei was 49 his lecture “Yamai and Byoki” (“Illness and Worrying about It”) was put on radio throughout Japan by the Osaka Broadcast Station. On June 8, 1925 it was broadcast just eight days after the radio station was established. (He was one of Japan’s first on-air featured speakers. His initial lecture took place just a few months after Japan’s inaugural radio broadcast on March 22, 1925.)

From 1925 on, numerous branches of the Toitsu Tetsui Gakkai were established in Kyoto, Nagoya, Kobe, and Otaru, Hokkaido. In January 1940, the Toitsu Tetsui Gakkai was renamed Tempu-Kai (the “Tempu Society”). Seminars and activities were held nationwide until the start of World War II.

In March 1945 (the last year of WWII), Japan’s wartime military government ordered the demolition of Tempu-Kai’s headquarters in Tokyo. This was due to Nakamura Sensei’s pacifist philosophy and fearless public denouncements of the war. In October 1946, the first Shin-shin-toitsu-do lectures after the war took place in the hall of the Toranomon Building in Tokyo. From that date, monthly public lectures were held at various places in the war-ruined metropolis.

In October 1947, at the age of 71, Nakamura Sensei taught Shin-shin-toitsu-do for three days to an audience of about 250 officials of the U.S. Army General Headquarters. This seminar took place in the basement hall of the Mainichi Press Building. The millionaire John D. Rockefeller III happened to be in the audience. Impressed by the teachings of Japanese yoga, he offered to bring Nakamura Sensei to the USA to teach. Nakamura Sensei declined, stating that his first priority was reestablishing the health of war torn Japan.

Tempu-Kai activities began taking place again with much greater frequency at the dawn of the 1950s. In 1962, when he was 82, the Japanese government officially recognized Tempu-Kai as a nonprofit educational foundation, or zaidan hojin. This important and difficult to obtain status was acknowledgement of the work Nakamura Sensei had done for years to help people improve their health.

In 1968, the Tempu Kaikan (“Tempu Society Hall”) was completed in Tokyo. Among the past and present students of Shin-shin-toitsu-do are members of the Japanese Imperial Family, government officials, business leaders, famous scholars, Japanese Order of Culture recipients, Olympic gold medalists, well-known actors, and celebrated novelists. Students included Emperor Hirohito, Matsushita Konosuku—Chairman of Matsushita/Panasonic, Kurata Shuzei—President of Hitachi Manufacturing, and Sano Jin—President of Kawasaki Industries. Yet Nakamura Sensei never directly advertised for students. He preferred to share the Way of the universe with people who found him through the natural course of their spiritual evolution. New students joined Tempu-Kai via the introduction of senior members of the group.

While Nakamura Sensei did teach specific methods of mind-body coordination, meditation, and health improvement, they merely served as techniques for living well. These techniques, while useful, cannot mysteriously produce enlightenment. No technique can. Correct techniques can, nonetheless, greatly improve our health, and under the right circumstances, aid in giving birth to an environment within which meditation can occur. It’s within meditation, not within a copied method, that the opportunity for spiritual realization exists. Various historical influences can be seen in Shin-shin-toitsu-do.


Indian Influences
Nakamura Sensei practiced unique versions of Raja yoga and Karma yoga with Kaliapa, with an emphasis on Raja yoga. These yoga forms had a major influence on Nakamura Sensei’s teachings.

Karma yoga is the yoga of action, cultivating awareness of our actions and their aftereffects. Karma yoga is also the yoga of selfless service (seva, Sanskrit), recognizing that since we’re all one with the universe, to help others is to help ourselves. Nakamura Sensei’s writings, indeed every one of his actions after returning from India, were examples of his Karma yoga path.

Raja yoga is often thought of as “classical yoga,” the yoga of meditation outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the two-thousand-year-old seminal work on this subject. In the Yoga Sutras, a course of meditation, involving both mind and body, is explained as a way to spiritual liberation through union with the universe. Patanjali taught an eight-limbed path, one of the oldest and most respected interpretations of yoga in India. While several types of yoga evolved since the Yoga Sutras were written, the eight-aspect form that follows is considered by many to be most representative of ancient and traditional yoga:

1. Yama—The five outward characteristics of spirituality:
a. Aparigraha—Contentedness and not being materialistic
b. Asteya—To respect other’s property and boundaries; to not steal
c. Ahimsa—Nonviolence
d. Brahmacharya—To transcend lust
e. Satya—Sincerity and integrity

2. Niyama—The five internal characteristics of self-mastery:
a. Samtosa—Satisfaction in the present moment
b. Tapas—A burning determination
c. Saucha—Purity of mind and body
d. Svadhyaya—Self-awareness and introspection
e. Ishvara Pranidhana—Surrendering to the universe

3. Asana—Posture, which refers more to correct postures for seated meditation than to the postures of physical training practiced today in Hatha yoga


4. Pranayama—Breathing practices to balance, purify, and strengthen the mind and body

5. Pratiyahara—Nonattachment to the fleeting aspects of life; transcending the senses

6. Dharana—Methods of concentration that fix the mind on a single point

7. Dhyana—Meditation that progresses from dharana

8. Samadhi—An ecstatic state of union with the universe that is the essence of meditation

Nakamura Sensei’s teachings parallel the eight aspects of classical Raja yoga. His worldview embodied yama and niyama. The lotus posture he advocated for meditation is similar to one of the postures (asana) espoused in the Yoga Sutras. He also promoted pranayama breathing for health.


In his book Anjo Daza Kosho, Nakamura Sensei explained the advantages of not being attached to the relative world of fleeting phenomena (pratiyahara). He likewise indicated that in meditation, we transcend our five senses to “hear” a “soundless sound” that’s the quintessence of the universe, also an expression of pratiyahara. Nakamura Sensei further indicated his methods of meditation stem from dharana (concentration) that leads to meditation (dhyana). All of this culminates in what he called zanmai, the Japanese rendering of samadhi. His Shin-shin-toitsu-do shows the clear influence of classical yoga. True, it isn’t aligned with the Hatha yoga often popularized in the West, with its emphasis on physical training and body sculpting. It is, however, very much in line with the ancient Raja yoga outlined in the Yoga Sutras.

While Nakamura Sensei’s teachings don’t represent Hatha yoga, or even traditional Indian yoga, it’s wrong to think they’re only slightly related to genuine Indian yogic traditions. They are deeply connected to the time-honored meditative practices of Raja yoga.

Nonetheless, his teachings aren’t a mere copy of what he learned in India. They are, rather, a new way of explaining ancient truths . . . truths which transcend cultures and divisions. Drawing on medicine, psychology, and science, he sought a different, easier way of presenting these teachings to modern people. It is, therefore, mistaken to think that Shin-shin-toitsu-do no longer has an association with Indian meditation. Nevertheless, assuming that it’s simply a Japanese translation of the original Raja yoga is also erroneous.

Both Anjo Daza Ho and Muga Ichi-nen Ho meditations, which Nakamura Sensei created, were shaped by yogic meditation. Since Nakamura Sensei had limited training in Hatha yoga, the more physical style of yoga, it was natural for him to evolve stretching exercises and physical education based on the philosophy of Kaliapa, Japanese martial arts, and his own insights. Still, he sporadically taught a handful of asana, or Hatha yoga “postures.” And while he created new breathing techniques, some traditional pranayama exercises were also covered. I made a point, however, in Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation to avoid offering material readily available in scores of books on Indian yoga.


About the Author: H. E. Davey Sensei is the Director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts, located in the San Francisco Bay Area (http://www.senninfoundation.com/). In 2001, he wrote the first and only book in English about Nakamura Tempu Sensei and his system of Japanese yoga and meditation. The book is out of print, but autographed BRAND NEW copies can be purchased exclusively from the Sennin Foundation Center. Supplies are limited, and if you’d like to read more about how Japanese yoga can help you improve your health and realize your full potential, order a copy of Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation here:
http://www.senninfoundation.com/davey_yoga.html