Aikido Stick Figure Photo

The stick figure in the photo is something Robert Nadeau sensei put on the black board at Aikido of San Jose's original location in Japan town. At the time Nadeau sensei was doing a lot of workshops at Esalen. This was put on the board and left there, indicating perhaps that it had some lasting significance. So much so that I took a camera and preserved it as a photo.

Energy flows and fields talk. In the aikido universe everything is alive. And communicates. That means if you want to find out how to improve your ikkyo, ask the flow that supports the form. Or dialogue with the form itself which is also energy and alive. And the dialogue is often times not in words. A sound, a word, an image or picture may be what the flow uses to talk about itself.

The picture itself gives an intriguing map. Daydream. Think. Feel. Sense Feel. Often times the spaces and flows come through in sense/feel images. And these can appear a lot like daydreams. Often times a more advanced dimension can appear like a dream. So what clues one in on whether it is a daydream or a sensing image?

A sense/feel image is something that is talking to you. It may be in response to something you asked. Or it may be something trying to get your attention. Dreams also can contain images and symbols that are trying to get our attention. A senseing image is something that most often occurs in a waking state. Hence the possible confusion about whether or not it is a daydream or a deeper experience nudging you.

Einstein did a lot of his work through thought experiments. Which means he created a waking daydream and placed himself in it, asked questions, and felt this was a vital part of his solving relativity and other physics puzzles. If he were running at the speed of light, shaving, and holding a mirror, could he see himself shaving? After all, light must be reflected off an object for us to see it, and if we are moving at light speed......Einstein's lineage was brilliant theoretical scientist. Most people do not think. Their "I" thinks for them and in place of their mind.

I once had a very vivid dream where I was on a basketball court. I realized quickly in the dream when I jumped booster rockets fired in both feet shooting me much higher than I can normally go. To quote Robert Downey Jr in Iron Man I,"okay, I can fly......" I realized I had conscious control of myself in the dream state, so I did some spinning 360 overhead 2 hand dunks I had always wanted to do in material reality. I woke up the next day with my back out. So in a conscious dream the state included my sense of myself through the body. The energies formed the image of a basketball court. And I had a functioning sense during what appeared to be a dream. I could consciously and experientially do whatever dunk I wanted. And these were powerful energies as I woke up with my back out.

A key phrase in the picture is that senseing images appear a lot like daydreams or think you must become it. Even though it may appear like a dream, learn about it by being it. This means the body is important here. I recently showed Nadeau sensei the photo and gave him a copy. He looked at it, thought about his current work, and said,"I was on the right track."


It's been awhile since I did a freeform staff video. I just put a new one on youtube: