We can understand communication better by looking at three levels of it. We have to understand the three levels, but also how they relate to one another. I find this easiest to explain through a construction metaphor - especially for the third level.

The first level of communication is vocabulary. To communicate, you need words to form sentences and paragraphs. Your communication could be limited if the words you know aren't sophisticated enough to tell your story. On the other hand, you communication could also be limited if you choose words that are too sophisticated - you could make the reader work too hard to get the meaning.

How sophisticated should your words be? It depends on how specialized your application is.

In construction, everything is built out of materials. In fact, there is a whole field of study for developing new materials. At the high-end today, that field is producing exotic materials like carbon nanotubes and aerogel for NASA. The key to remember is that at some point in the last couple of centuries, that field produced things like aluminum refining for use in everything from airplanes to soda cans. In the last several centuries, that field produced things we now consider basic, like steel. So, for a long time, materials held up construction in every area.

Nowadays, if you want to build a house, you probably won't use anything uncommon. The scientific study of materials is only needed for really special applications, like nuclear warheads or spaceships. The study of the field still exists, but it's for increasingly specialized use.

Vocabulary is like that. As a young person, your primary task was building up vocabulary. As an adult, you continue to acquire new vocabulary, because it's interesting and possibly useful for communication in special fields, but for the most part, you have all the vocabulary you need. You are working toward how to put the vocabulary together in the most effective way.

That leads us to the second level of communication, narrative, which I'll explore in the next post.

I devote some of my morning meditations to the thought, "If an enlightened being woke up to the life that I have, how would they engage with it?" The thought is that I can't do anything about the life I have this very second - that's past karma. To deny my current reality would be counter-productive. Charting the course forward is what I can do - and I would like to do it in a way that is as close to an enlightened path as possible. So, how would the Buddha do my dishes, talk to my friends, attend my meetings, and so forth?

Buddhism proposes two primary aspects of the spiritual path, wisdom and compassion. What is the activity manifestation of wisdom and compassion? As I meditated, aware of my chores and tasks for the days, I realized that compassion manifests as service. What tasks I do, I should do for the greater good.

But what of those activities which are not clearly for the greater good, such as snowboarding? I could justify it... I could say that it makes me happy or refreshed and therefore is for the greater good... but while that strategic view is valid, is doesn't clarify exactly how much or when to engage in snowboarding.

Practical instinct tells me that snowboarding, and other recreational activities, are appropriate when I am not needed for service elsewhere. I have to be able to tell the difference - I have to be clear on whether the world calls me to make a contribution at this minute or this hour... or not.

There are all kinds of reasons to get that backwards. I could want meaning and purpose, I could want to be validated as important, and so I could create moments where I think I am needed, when actually I am not. Or, of course, I could become lazy, self-indulgent, or disconnected from others' needs and fail to provide what is needed. I could also do both - grandstanding in meetings and coffee shops, yet failing to put away the dishes for my wife.

So, wisdom protects me from that. As I develop deeper wisdom about the true nature of things - and people, situations, all forms - I can more accurately tell the moments and ways in which I am called to service, and the times when the world does not require my energies.

When I am not required for service, the first pure activity, I can engage in the second pure activity - enjoyment. Enjoyment is the connection to and appreciation for the experiences of the moment. It happens naturally in some moments, and I struggle with it in others, but all enjoyment is the activity-reflection of wisdom. When I see the characteristics of the moment, I am able to enjoy it. (There's a sidebar argument here about attachment and aversion... I need to see the characteristics of the moment with appropriate equanimity in order to enjoy it... but that's about purification of perspective - the four pure activities presume purification).

The wisdom-compassion pairing is complete, and I could stop at with the model of the two pure activities. I could even unify the two activities - always aware e of how each moment serves, and always aware of and enjoying each moment's qualities. That's beautiful, but the truth is, I'm not ready to live that way minute to minute. I need a more diversified model still to provide a framework for my daily experience.

The two pure activities almost work, but we also have a four-element (or Buddha-family) model we could work with, expanding the two views into four views. In such a case, "enjoyment" would be associated with the Treasure (ratna) realm, or the Earth element. "Service" would be associated with the Activity (karma) realm, or the Wind element. That leaves us with the Truth (vajra) realm, or Water element - the energy of intelligence and awareness - and the Connection (padma/lotus) realm, or Fire element.

The manifest activity of the intelligence of the Water realm is design, construction, engineering and production. It could be constructing ideas or documents, or putting together architecture or furniture. This realm considers and understands truth, and uses understanding to create conceptual models and organization. The manifest activity of the Fire realm is inspiring, connecting with people, building friendships, coalitions, and alliances. Essentially, the Fire realm is the energy which uses resonance (similarities) between beings to form bonds of the spirit, whereas the Water realm is the energy which uses characteristics of form to create harmonious interactions of objects.

The four pure activities then are Enjoying, Constructing, Inspiring, and Serving. There is of course a fifth subtle center activity, Judging, which allows my awareness of which of the four pure activities is most appropriate at a given moment. If I can properly Judge, and always be engaged in one of the four pure activities, then I can live this life under these circumstances in an enlightened fashion.

Many bloggers maintain a list of links of blogs/websites we like plus we have a variety of social networking sites that we check and update. With cool features like www.pingpress.fm (which is a cool service that updates your status at all of your social networking sites), we are starting to see the overabundance of links that we saw in the 90s. You might be too young to remember the days when there were pages on a website just dedicated to links. Then there were web pages just dedicated to links, like poorly designed yellow pages. And they were cool when they began just like blog logs are cool today.

Back in the day, I always wished I knew more about why something was posted. Is it a reciprocal link? Is it another project by the same person? Is it something this person likes or is it totally tubular? Now that I have my own blogs, I thought I'd create a blog catalog that let's you know why I choose to follow these blogs.

Body Wealth: This is my other blog: Wellness for Body, Mind, & Wallet. I explore issues of nutrition, business building, ADHD, social capital, etc. This post was originally posted there so join today!

Stephen K. Hayes Densho: Stephen K. Hayes is my martial arts teacher and one of the wisest people I know. If you are not already subscribed to the Densho, what are you waiting for? Consider this your engraved invitation.

Daily Cross-Swords: Jenn is one of my students and is a fabulous instructor of martial arts and stage combat.

Boulder and the Beautiful: A witty blog by Boulder's very own fashionista: Aimee Heckel.

Life Force International: This is not a blog but a link to nutritional products I sell. This link will take you to an offer for a free bottle. This product has literally changed my life after decades of health challenges. Try a free bottle and see if it helps you. (If you don't like it, no hard feelings. It is not for everyone).

New blogs I've discovered:

Become A Blogging Maniac: The blog from a class I am taking. If blogging scares you, this is a great place to start.

Blueleaf Creative: Leah is awesome and she's one of my fellow Sam Walton Emerging Entrepreneur award winners. She has so many reources, you just have to check her out.

Ah, good--I feel so much better communicating the importance of the links I choose to list in my blogroll. I hope you'll take the time to check out these links as they are all stimulating.

Labels: blogging, catalog, social capital

The summer before sixth grade, my family rented a house in Atlantic City, NJ. My friends and I would walk the boardwalk every day (wearing fringe shirts with iron-on unicorns, I might add). I found the crowds a little overwhelming and I got really tired of dodging people, so I stopped. If you weren't watching where you were going, you'd run right into me. I wouldn't try to run into you but it still happened. It was like Empowerment Chicken for pedestrians. My friend got really embarassed when it happened but I felt like I was finally taking a stand for myself. After a few weeks I realized that if I walked a certain way, people naturally dodged me instead. Now I had choice, I could get small and sneaky and navigate through a crowd and no one even knew I was there. Or I could project energy and saunter through the crowd and people would flow around me. Having those options serves me well to this day so here's some other games I play that improved my feelings of worth.

1. The smile game: Next time you have a surly or disaffected cashier, see if you can get that person to smile. Bonus points if they smile because they've connected with you and don't think you're escaped from the funny farm.

2. Call an old friend: It takes courage to call someone you've neglected but just making the effort helps improve your inner landscape.

3. Use the Find Friends tool on Facebook: Nothing like 300+ friends to help you feel great about yourself.

4. Say No: This is a classic technique for connecting with your power. It's so basic that every toddler on the planet discovers it. Embrace the Power of No! For bonus points, don't qualify your no with "I'm sorry but" or "I hope you don't mind". Double bonus points for only saying it 1x.

5. Pedestrain Chicken: As in the story above, try walking down a crowded sidewalk in a straight line without varying your pace or trajectory. It's good, clean fun.

Post a comment and let me know how it went. Keep score and we'll see who wins!

Labels: empowerment, games, self improvement

Normally I write about economics over on my other blog, but this is more of a spiritual topic that is on my mind with the pressure that everyone is feeling from the economy.

It's about the higher purpose of money - what I think is actually the original purpose of money. It's hard to remember that there was a time before money, and when we think of that, we usually think of some awkward agricultural barter economy, trading chickens for hogs. But go back even further than that - humans have had culture for thousands of years. For all that time, there have been artists and shamans. I would submit, although we have less proof, that there were also helpers for the elderly, coordinated child-care systems, and even therapists. Those roles are needed in all societies, in all times.

How did those people get compensated before there was money? I mean, how did they live if their time was spent helping the community with education or support tasks instead of producing directly consumable goods? Did people just bring them tons of chickens? Maybe the occasional chicken was donated, but the real method in small communities, families, and tribes is that the person is socially and emotionally supported for their work. They are allowed to share in the wealth (the food, the clothes, the shelter) of the communal social unit because everyone sees that their efforts are important to the integration and well-being of the community.

Think about it in your own extended family. Who is the family peacemaker, negotiator, or counselor? And does that person need to barter for a slice of the turkey at Thanksgiving, offering in exchange 10 minutes of emotional bonding? Of course not. Their contribution is important and non-quantifiable. They earn their place in the family, whether or not their paycheck supports the food or housing. In fact, that person is often not the highest-earner in the family, despite their importance.

Once society got big, we couldn't all sit at the same table, so we created a symbolic exchange unit called money. The idea was to acknowledge and reward efforts that help. I don't think the intent was for it to be counted so precisely - the idea that therapists, teachers, and yes, martial arts and meditation instructors, need to have an hourly rate is inherently flawed.

We have to do that, however, because the buildings we use for our efforts also have an hourly rate (paid monthly). So we live with that reality, and we have conventional business models in place.

But behind that... what if we remembered that money is a means of expressing support? What if it were normal, not greedy or creepy, to slide a friend a few dollars when they make you laugh? We can't do it with dollar bills, although we can buy them a beer, help them move, or maybe even give them a chicken. But what if there were an abstraction layer that allowed it in spite of our socially-induced schizophrenia about money?

I think it would be spiritually profound. A new economics, focused on encouragement and inspiration for those we love and those we admire, would be immune to breakdown due to policies in Washington, Ponzi schemes from billionaires, and complex investment instruments which wipe out life-savings from cascading credit failures. Ultimately, we are a bunch of humans trying to help and inspire each other to create great things. We can do that. We just need to remember that this is what we are trying to do.

This kind of transcendence of ordinary thinking is the essence of the spiritual warrior's path. We are stuck with the thinking that got us here - we are trapped in a desperation cycle of pursuit and defense. We can do better. It will take bravery, skill, intelligence, spirit and vision, but we can re-frame our experience and remember the original purpose of human living. And in doing so, we can re-invent and change the world.

In 2006 and 2007, we mailed our New Year's letter. This year we are using Constant Contact and our blog to share our reflections on the past and our vision for the future. If you haven't checked out our newly revamped website, what are you waiting for? It's awesome.

In 2008, our core programs grew about 40% across the board, despite the supposed collapse of the US economy. Our Belly Dance program continues to thrive. Cardio Sword debuted and continues to grow. Our first 2 black belts, Thomas Luce and Chris Blum, are steadily training towards ni-dan second-degree black belts. Our meditation program gained new members and new juzu continue to be awarded. And we aren't the only ones succeeding--our students continue to surprise and impress us. When you have a chance, ask Angelique Espinoza about her work on City Council, Jane Bright about her skiing sponsorship, Zipporah Abraham-Paiss about her gymnastics goals, Chris Blum about his thriving veterinary practice, Thomas Luce about his new company Propits, Amanda Mahan about her Life Force business, and many more. Your friends on the mat have great stories--find out about them!

We've found that the recession tends to encourage people to focus on their core values and personal development. We are seeing more people at the dojo because we provide an experience that rivals the educational power of graduate school for a tenth of the price, and an entertainment that rivals the best action movies and outdoor adventure programs.

We were able to make our work here at the dojo much more visible in 2008. It started with Mary Aitoshi making the cover of Women's Magazine in January. Then in May the Boulder Quest Hospitality Team led the private security for His Holiness the 17th Karmapa's public talks at Macky Auditorium. We drew media attention for our martial arts programs several times during the year. Mary Aitoshi won the Sam Walton Emerging Entrepeneur award from a national pool of female business owners. Then, two weeks ago, ABC and the Daily Camera both filmed a women's self-defense segment here.

We continued our personal growth, diving in to the multi-year curriculum for 4th degree black belt as well as the esoteric Ju-Hachi Do ritual from the secret Mikkyo teachings. We also earned formal teaching licenses in bo staff (Aitoshi) and classical taijutsu (Keitoshi).

The dojo at large echoed back our efforts. Thomas Luce and Chris Blum became the first students to achieve a shodan 1st degree black belt at the Boulder Quest Center, during a fabulous weekend presided over by Stephen K. Hayes and 45 seminar participants. Several of our students also earned kihon licenses in various classical disciplines, and we established strong, effective relationships with long-distance students who commute hundreds of miles to train with us.

What will 2009 hold? First and foremost, more people need to know about our incredible and proven programs. Our students know that our programs transform lives and bring clarity, inner strength, and a powerful compassion to our community. We want to see at least 40% growth in 2009, but we have put into action a plan to double our size. This growth will enable the expansion of programs, the vitalization of existing small classes (like meditation and classical weapons), and the dignified support of the few who assist us to run the school.

We would also like to offer a mind-exploration weekend experience with Stephen K. Hayes, so that we can invite in members of the spiritual-explorer community of Boulder. It is our assertion that spiritual training requires physical training and community interaction to anchor, validate, and fuse spiritual truth into one's identity. We have something very rare and very valuable to offer in this regard through the most spiritual and intelligent martial art that we have ever encountered in our 11 years of training.

As always, we will uphold the quality of the training, the sacred trust of our community, and the empowering encouragement that carries us all forward to new realms of growth and development.

To discovery, proserity, and delight in the New Year!
To-Shin!

Kevin Ji-Keitoshi & Mary Ji-Aitoshi Casey