🆃Week 2026-13: On Training

"Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort." (Epictetus, "Discourses", cca. 108)

"Other schools become theatrical, dressing up and showing off to make a living, commercializing martial arts. […] Do you think you have realized how to attain victory just by learning to wield a long sword and training your body and your hands? This is not a certain way in any case. […]" (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho" ["The Book of Five Rings"], 1645)

"[…] the power of knowledge of the art of the sword. This is something that requires thorough examination, with a thousand days of practice for training and ten thousand days of practice for refinement. […]" (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho" ["The Book of Five Rings"], 1645)

"You must contemplate the Way of the warrior's skill so you will be able to beat a man in combat by the use of your eye. With diligent training, you will be able to beat ten men in combat by using your spirit." (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho", 1645)

"The strength and its functioning vary greatly according to the depth or shallowness of insight, and the corresponding freedom of action. It is for this reason that now as in the past students with the same insight and training differ as to strength and virtue." (Torei Enji, "The Inexhaustible Lamp", cca. 1800)

"The more a man thinks the better adapted he becomes to thinking, and education is nothing if it is not the methodical creation of the habit of thinking. Precisely. Theoretically, education is a mental training aiming at greater intellectual elasticity, but the question is whether education does not often strain, instead of train, a mind." (Ernest Dimnet, "The Art of Thinking", 1928)

"True Budo is done for the sake of 'building peace'. Train every day so as to make peace between this spirit [Budo] and all things manifested on the face of the Earth." (Morihei Ueshiba, "Budo Training in Aikido", 1933)

"In training, do not expect good results in a short time. [...] train systematically, without becoming impatient or overexerting yourself, and develop gradually, advancing steadily, one stop at a time, with increased application of force and numbers of exercises practiced." (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"To stand still is to regress; those who think that they have learned everything and become conceited braggarts proclaiming their own merits after learning the movements of some kata and acquiring dexterity in their physical movements are not fit to be considered as serious trainees in the martial arts." (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"What is absolutely necessary in the beginning, however, is to follow the imagination. […] This use of imagination during initial study and practice will be difficult to trust and will not be susceptible to proof. Only after a long period of training will you be able to apply it in a natural manner […]" (Yearning K Chen, "T’ai Chi Ch’uan: Sword, Saber, Staff, and Dispersing-Hands Combined", 1943)

"When (someone) studies aikido with the intention of using it as a tool for fighting, they don’t last long. Budo is not like dancing or watching a movie. Rain or shine, you must practice at all times during your daily life in order to progress. In particular, aikido is like spiritual training practiced using a budo form. lt can never be cultivated as a tool by those who would use it for fighting. Also, individuals inclined towards violence cease to behave in that manner when they learn aikido." (Kisshomaru Ueshiba, [interview] 1957)

"The mind can go either direction under stress - toward positive or toward negative: on or off. Think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end. The way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influenced by training." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"Zen without the accompanying physical experience is nothing but empty discussion. Martial ways without truly realizing the 'Mind' is nothing but beastly behavior. We agree to undertake all of this as the essence of our training." (Omori Sogen, "Canon", 1979)

"As your training progresses, always remember that the key to gaining the ability for spontaneous and creative technique lies in good ukemi." (Mitsugi Saotome, "The Principles of Aikido", 1989)

"Generally speaking, building up Qi by using the mind alone without physical movement is much harder than using the mind and movement together. However, since the mind is so important in Qigong training, learning how to regulate your mind has become one of the major trainings." (Jwing-Ming Yang, "The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets for health, longevity" 2nd Ed., 1997)

"Many people think that Qigong is a difficult subject to understand. In some ways, this is true. However, regardless of how difficult the theory and practice of a particular style of Qigong might be, the basic Qi theory and principles are very simple and remain the same for all of the Qigong styles. Basic Qi theory and Qigong principles are the roots of all Qigong practice, and it is from these roots that the different styles of training blossomed. Naturally, the results and the depth achieved are different from style to style. If, however, you understand the root of what you are doing, it does not matter which style you are practicing, because you will be able to grasp the key to the practice and grow." (Jwing-Ming Yang, "The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets for health, longevity" 2nd Ed., 1997)

"One part of Qigong training is learning how to regulate your Fire Qi and Water Qi so that they are balanced. This involves learning to use your wisdom mind to dominate and direct your emotional mind."  (Jwing-Ming Yang, "The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets for health, longevity" 2nd Ed., 1997)

"The mind has power over the body and speech, and therefore any training of body and speech must begin with the mind." (Dalai Lama, "Stages Of Meditation", 2002)

"Train not by thought, but by practice. Learn a wide variety of arts and skills, and do not fix on only one. Know not only your own techniques but also those of many others. Find out rationally what is an advantage and what is a disadvantage. Foster an intuitive ability to judge all things. Feel an essence that you cannot see on the surface. Pay attention to the very smallest of phenomena. (Everything takes its own course, and sometimes we get unexpected results.) Do nothing in vain, for the energy and time we have is limited." (Kazumi Tabata, "Secret Tactics: Lessons From the Great Masters of Martial Arts", 2003)

"Patience, absolute self-control, learning the capabilities of those under you so you can make up for their deficits through training." (Orson Scott Card, "Ender in Exile", 2008)

"In terms of the martial arts, there are two training methods: one focuses on the rational aspect of training while the other emphasizes the technical aspect. The martial arts owe its origin to people’s attempts to rationally unify the mind, body, and skill. In the martial arts, truth will reveal itself once your mind gains insight into the empty nature of the world and your body masters and perfects physical techniques." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"The meaning of tanren (discipline, training) lies in the effort to burn out the energy of one’s mind and body with burning flames. Tanren requires mental integration and concentration that lead to the deep root." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"Through training, one reaches the state of mindlessness. Only then, will one be able to discard the thoughts of anxiety, the opponent’s technique and defenses. Being in the state of mindlessness means to entrust one’s mind and body to the universe."Through training, one reaches the state of mindlessness. Only then, will one be able to discard the thoughts of anxiety, the opponent’s technique and defenses. Being in the state of mindlessness means to entrust one’s mind and body to the universe." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

🆈Week 2026-12: On Yin & Yang

"Countless words count less 

than the silent balance between yin and yang" (Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching", cca 400 BC)

"The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things. [...] The complete whole is the complete whole. So also is any part the complete whole... But forget about understanding and harmonizing and making all things one. The universe is already a harmonious oneness; just realize it." (Lao Tzu, cca 400 BC)

"That is the truth. Not the hammer and sickle. Not the stars and stripes. Not the cross. Not the sun. Not gold. Not yin and yang. But the smile." (John Fowles, "The Magus", 1965)

"The heart of a human being is no different from the soul of heaven and earth. In your practice always keep in your thoughts the interaction of heaven and earth, water and fire, yin and yang." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"All of our punishment institutions, including jails, laws, church confessionals, and so forth, are systems of illusion. The order of the universe, the infinite justice of yin and yang, naturally takes care of all motion and compensation. We don't need to invent arbitrary ways to make balance with punishments." (Michio Kushi & Edward Esko, "Spiritual Journey: Michio Kushi's Guide to Endless Self-Realization and Freedom", 1994)

"In a universe animated by the interaction of yin (female) and yang (male) energies, the moon was literally yin visible. Indeed, it was the very germ or source of yin, and the sun was its yang counterpart." (Li Bai, "The Selected Poems of Li Po", 1996)

"The absolute universe is one. Then two opposing forces appeared, and the relative world was born. In the orient this dualism is called 'yin' and 'yang', in the west, 'plus' and 'minus'." (Koichi Tohei, "Shokushu" "Ki Sayings", 2003)

"Nature is dominated by yin and yang. There are positive and negative forces, and good and evil on this planet. Great achievements are always followed by failures of the similar magnitude. Do not let your guard down in times of happiness. Life requires mental strength that enables one to cope calmly with unfortunately events. Always be prepared for something bad to happen." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"Material force moves and flows in all directions and in all manners. Its two elements unite and give rise to the concrete. Thus the multiplicity of things and human beings is produced. In their ceaseless successions the two elements of yin and yang constitute the great principles of the universe." (Chang Tsai)

"The art of the sword consists of never being concerned with victory or defeat, with strength or weakness, of not moving one step forward, nor one step backward, or the enemy not seeing me and my not seeing the enemy. Penetrating to that which is fundamental before the separation of heaven and earth where even yin and yang cannot reach, one instantly attains proficiency in the art." (Takuan)

🆂Week 2026-11: On Satori

"The practice of Buddhism depends on whether your teacher is right or wrong. The potentiality of the pupil is like good material, and the teacher is like the master of art. Even if the material is good, good work will not be produced without a good artisan. On the other hand, even a crooked piece of wood will immediately reveal the skill of workmanship in the hands of a good worker. This will testify to the fact that true or false satori (enlightenment) depends on the adequacy of the teacher." (Dogen Zenji, "Gakudo Yojinshu" ["Points to Watch in Practicing the Way"], cca. 13th century)

"At the highest level of satori from which people return, the point of consciousness becomes a surface or a solid which extends throughout the whole known universe. This used to be called fusion with the Universal Mind or God. In more modern terms you have done a mathematical transformation in which your centre of consciousness has ceased to be a travelling point and has become a surface or solid of consciousness... It was in this state that I experienced 'myself' as melded and intertwined with hundreds of billions of other beings in a thin sheet of consciousness that was distributed around the galaxy. A 'membrane'." (John C Lilly, "Tanks for the Memories: Floatation Tank Talks" 1995)

"Thinking is not enough. Nothing is. There is no final enough of wisdom, experience--any fucking thing. No Holy Grail, No Final Satori, no final solution. Just conflict." (William S Burroughs, [journal entry] 1999)

"I believe from the bottom of my heart that what we call religion is the very most important matter for human beings. I cannot stress enough that the ultimate goal of religion, whether we call it satori or peace of mind, is for each individual to live in peace and tranquility, to live a full and satisfying life." (Soko Morinaga, "Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity" 2002)

"Satori is achieved when one’s mind connects to the mind of the universe. When one’s mind connects to the mind of the universe, one comes to be able to understand reason of nature without being taught. When one’s mind connects to the mind of the universe, one comes to bear supernatural power. Buddha described the supernatural world as ku (knowing the void)." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"If we achieve satori and the satori shows, like a bit of dogshit stuck to the top of our nose, that is not so good." (Taisen Deshimaru)

"They take trouble to create something called “emptiness” which they regard as separate from their own being. They aspire to this idea of emptiness, and in addition, they try to be empty of mental activity again and again. Thus, their deluded knowledge will keep on increasing so much that it will impede their becoming empty even if they wait for one hundred years. Even if they succeed in becoming empty in this way, it will be to no avail. It is mistaken to believe that to become empty is satori. If to become empty meant satori (enlightenment), human beings would be enlightened every time they wake up in the morning because they become empty every night during their sleep." (Kawajiri Hogin)

"Those who practice only in silence/tranquility, cannot establish their [internal] freedom when entering into activity. When they engage into worldy activities, their usual satori (enlightment) will eventually disappear without any trace." (Hakuin Ekaku)

🛸Week 2026-10: James G Ballard - Collected Quotes

"However selective the conscious mind may be, most biological memories are unpleasant ones, echoes of danger and terror. Nothing endures for so long as fear." (James G Ballard, "The Drowned World", 1962)

"Speculative fantasy, as I prefer to call the more serious fringe of science fiction, is an especially potent method of using one’s imagination to construct a paradoxical universe where dream and reality become fused together, each retaining its own distinctive quality and yet in some way assuming the role of its opposite, and where by an undeniable logic black simultaneously becomes white." (James G Ballard, "Time, Memory, and Inner Space’", 1963)

"It marked the beginning of the giant’s surrender to that all-demanding system of time in which the rest of humanity finds itself, and of which, like the million twisted ripples of a fragmented whirlpool, our finite lives are the concluding products." (James G Ballard, "The Drowned Giant", 1965)

"Our lives today are not conducted in linear terms. They are much more quantified; a stream of random events is taking place." (James G Ballard, [Conversation with George MacBeth on Third Programme - BBC], 1967)

"Everything is becoming science fiction. From the margins of an almost invisible literature has sprung the intact reality of the 20th century." (James G Ballard, "Fictions of Every Kind", 1971)

"The role of the writer today has totally changed - he is now merely one of a huge army of people filling the environment with fictions of every kind. To survive, he must become far more analytic, approaching his subject matter like a scientist or engineer. If he is to produce fiction at all, he must outimagine everyone else, scream louder, whisper more quietly. For the first time in the history of narrative fiction, it will require more than talent to become a writer." (James G Ballard, "Fictions of Every Kind", 1971)

"Even the vagal flushes that seized at my chest seemed extensions of that real world of violence calmed and tamed within our television programmes and the pages of news magazines." (James G Ballard, "Crash", 1973)

"The catastrophe story, whoever may tell it, represents a constructive and positive act by the imagination rather than a negative one, an attempt to confront the terrifying void of a patently meaningless universe by challenging it at its own game. [. . .] Each one of these fantasies represents an arraignment of the finite, an attempt to dismantle the formal structure of time and space which the universe wraps around us at the moment we first achieve consciousness." (James G Ballard, "Cataclysms and Dooms" 1977)

"I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that’s my one fear: that everything has happened; nothing exciting or new or interesting is ever going to happen again [...] the future is just going to be a vast, conforming suburb of the soul." (James G Ballard, Re/Search 8–9, [interview with Andrea Juno and V. Vale], 1984)

🅲Week 2026-09: On Contemplation (unsourced)

"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"Contemplation is to knowledge, what digestion is to food the way to get life out of it." (Tryon Edwards)

"Further, this power which conceives these ideas does at times gain from sense forms mental, imaginative, and innate in (instinctive to) itself; and in such a case it does this in that it lays before itself the forms that are in the conceiving power and in the remembering (preserving) power, by employing the imaginative and the conjecturing power, and then contemplates them, and finds them to have participated in some forms and to have differed in some other forms; and finds some amongst the forms that are in these powers to be essential and others to be accidental." (Avicenna Latinus [Ibn Sina])

"If you want to understand suffering you must look into the situation at hand. The teachings say that wherever a problem arises it must be settled right there. Where suffering lies is right where non-suffering will arise, it ceases at the place where it arises. If suffering arises you must contemplate right there, you don't have to run away. You should settle the issue right there. One who runs away from suffering out of fear is the most foolish person of all. He will simply increases his stupidity endlessly." (Ajahn Chah)

“In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate.” (Rene Descartes)

"In order to meditate, it is very important to first identify what we are meditating on. If we meditate without identifying that, there is the danger it will become idiot meditation or idiot Dharma. If we do not first fully comprehend through listening and contemplating the meaning of what we are meditating on, how can we practice?" (Gyalwa Karmapa)

"In the Martial Arts, introspection begets wisdom. Always see contemplation on your actions as an opportunity to improve." (Mas Oyama) [motto]

"In the same way, if we are confronted with koan, we have to contemplate it in the same way. Such a time is not the time for zazen, but for koan only, and we have nothing to do with zazen as suggested by the saying that the virtuous woman does not serve two husbands, nor does the loyal retainer serve two lords. Thus, when we are supposed to act, all we have to do is to act. We have to act for all our lives. When our whole bodies act, there is no dualistic self in us. When there is no self, there is nothing which is in opposition to us. I do not doubt that the universe is one with the whole active self." (Toin)

"Prayer can assume very different forms, from quiet, blessed contemplation of God, in which eye meets eye in restful meditation, to deep sighs or sudden exclamations of wonder, joy, gratitude or adoration." (Ole Hallesby)

"The unknown, our own true nature, has the capacity to wake itself up when you start to fall in love with letting go of all the mental structures you hold onto. Contemplate this: there is no such thing as a true belief." (Adyashanti)

"There's no wisdom from a man without harmony, and without harmony there is no contemplation. Without contemplation there cannot be peace, and without peace there can be no joy..." (Bhagavad Gita)

"When a garden is used as a place to pause for thought, that is when a Zen garden comes to life. When you contemplate a garden like this it will form as lasting impression on your heart." (Muso Soseki)

"When you are engaged in some work or other, you become one with it. In the intervals of your work, you immediately resume your contemplation on the koan. For instance, when you are smoking by the fireside or doing something like that, you are considered to be in the intervals of your work. At such a time you are absorbed in the contemplation on the koan free from dualistic thoughts and imaginations. This is one example of kufu in movement." (Kawajiri Hogin, "Zazen no Shokei" [The Warning/Observation on Zazen])