Backgrounds

Compiled by Hans Geissberger

These are some translations into Japanese with the meanings:

of Taisen Deshimaru Roshi

The attitude when standing and running is very important. They are called Kinhin.

The attitude is the following:

by Shibata Kanjuro XX, Sendai
 
(The following talk was given by Shibata, Sensei in May 1985 at the Kyoto Dharma Study Group on the occasion of a Hama-yumi being presented by him to the group).

A Hama-yumi is a special bow used in rituals of purification.

Good afternoon. It is now the nicest season in Kyoto. How is your mind? Is everybody happy? Today my talk is about kyudo and Hama-yumi. These ideas have been transmitted from the past, but I will also talk about some of my own ideas.

Western archery is based on the idea of hitting the target. There is no other reason for doing it. Western bows are made very scientically for that purpose. However, Japanese bows are made from bamboo, which is cut by people. Since they are made in a natural way no two are the same, each one is different. To make a yumi is very difficult and drawing a yumi is also difficult. In western archery there are also steps to drawing the bow, but the goal is completely different.


Kyudo is very difficult, but it makes no difference whether you hit the target or not. In ancient Japankyudowas the highest form of etiquette A samurai also needed to know the proper etiquette associated with horsemanship, swordsmanship, and spear. During the time of Nobunaga guns were introduced in Japan. They were more accurate, but made a big noise when fired. The yumi was silent and one never knew where the arrow came from so the Tokugawa Shogun prohibited the use of yumi in battle. The yumi then became a means of spiritual discipline and learning etiquette It is also during this time that the Hama-yumi came into being. The Hama-yumi or Evil-Destroying yumi is used as a means of purification. To purify the environment and your own spirit. The Buddhist image of Amitabha is sometimes shown holding a yumi and ya. Why is the Buddhist ideal of peace and compassion connected with violent weapons? Because they are not weapons of violence. They are weapons of purification. 
About 700 years ago, a demon had appeared at the Imperial palace. It came out at night and made the emperor ill. A skilled archer named Yorimasu

Minamoto was sent to the palace and he killed the demon with the first arrow. The emperor regained his health and Yorimasu was promoted. This was the beginning ofHama-yumi.What can we learn romHama-yumi?They are for cleaning the mind. The Shihobarai was originally performed with Hama-yumi. Everyone is surrounded by "hungry ghosts" - temptations, desires, negative thoughts and so on. The haya, first arrow, is to exorsize these hungry ghosts. The otoya, second arrow, symbolizes welcoming happiness since one has been purified. How is all this connected to kyudo? Kyudo is based on strict rules of etiquette It is competition with oneself. In sports one tries to be a champion, but kyudo is not like that. The target is not a target. It is a mirror of your own mind. People have seven basic emotions or defilements. Happiness, anger, greed, expectation, sadness, fear, and surprise. The aim of kyudo is to cut through these defilements in order to experience mu, emptiness. Many people practice meditation, but after fifteen or twenty minutes one becomes restless and wants to be finished. Kyudo is standing Zen.All of these hopes and desires and thinking while you are drawing the yumi, such as "I want to hit the target, I want to have beautiful style," will cause the ya fly of somewhere else.

Know yourself. Know your mind first and then you can practice kyudo. If your mind is right you will hit the target naturally. It is the same in your whole life, not only in kyudo. If you are always wondering about the target or the result, nothing good can be accomplished. If you always look at yourself first - your own feet, your own basis, then things will naturally go right. The word "do" in kyudo means "way". This concept of "do" is difficult to talk about. To practice the way of kyudo is very difficult, although people think it is easy. This is also true for the way of flowers, tea and so on. The practice of "do" has no concept of a goal. The kind of kyudo I would like you to understand is not based on becoming better and better. This discipline is a means of cleaning or polishing your own mind through self-reflection. 

Life seems very long, but it is very short. It is over in a flash. Hansei is the process of looking back over your life. You reflect on your own deeds. America and Europe are highly industrialised. Traditionally, eastern nations have been more concerned with development of the inner life, of mind. Do you think we are living in a happy age? Computers, televisions - we have many such things. Our food and coffee is instant, but does it taste good? Although we have scientific gadgets all around us, something is missing. Aren't people forgetting their own mental and spiritual development? I think human society has forgotten heart and mind. Wonderful mountains are destroyed. The trees and soil taken away and large buildings put in their place. The mountains cry, I think. The mountains say, "Why are the people cutting off my head and my arms?" Sometimes the mountains become angry. When rain falls the water rushes down causing landslides. For the sake of future generations shouldn't we be paying more attention to mind? In the old days people walked everywhere. Now we drive our cars even a short distance to go shopping. Is this really convenient? Shouldn't we think a little more about these things that are happening in the modern world? I am very happy that on such a beautiful May afternoon you have come to listen to my somewhat comical talk. I hope from the bottom of my heart that you all attain happiness. Thank you very much. I am used to speaking at universities where people don't listen to me quite so sincerely.

from a conversation with Kobun Chino Roshi (He was a Kyudo student of Shibata Kanjuro XX)

It is about the essence of "shahin" - 射品. What are the characteristics of shahin? How do the practitioners achieve this shahin? "Sha" means shot, "hin" means something like dignity or the noble essence that is polished out by the practice.

It refers to the goal. The target becomes a mirror, and my understanding is that this "target mirror" is an accurate reflection of one's own self, one's own form called "shakei" - 射形 "Kei" means form.

Our body, limbs, bow, sinew and arrow should all be in a balanced harmony like a healthy family. The father is the strength of the bow pressed from the left side; the mother is the tension of the tendon pulled from the right side; the arrow is the child, released to grow. You shoot to release the arrow so it unfolds in space and time. You shoot so that the spirit of archery receives a visible manifestation and in addition to that to develop the invisible quality in your life: "Shashin" - 射心: "Shin" means spirit centre and soul life, and the meanings developing from it.

Shibata Sensei has said that one does not attain shahin. It is polished out from within. It unfolds naturally by itself as a feature of your own life, as the archer's own life itself. This quality can be seen not only during shooting, but also in everyday life.

By Taisez Deshimaru Roshi


Zazen is difficult, I know that. But if you practice it every day, it is very effective for expanding your consciousness and developing your intuition. Not only does zazen release great energies, but it is also and especially the attitude of awakening. While one is practicing, one must not want to achieve anything, whatever it may be. Without purposefulness, it is solely concentration on the posture of body, mind and breathing.

by Shibata Kanjuro XX, Sendai
 
assigned to the organs according to Chinese medicine. In Kyudo practice - as in normal life - we encounter the listed emotions again and again. In practice, we practice to perceive these emotions without letting them direct us. This leads to calmness. Even if this does not always succeed, it still makes sense to work on it again and again.
(Calligraphy by Shibata Kanjuro XX, Sendai "Patience, Tolerate, Endure" NIN 忍)

The following is a short speech given by Shibata Sensei at the end of a Sunday morning Kyudo class in Boulder on 2 April 1989.
It was written down by Don Symanski and edited jointly by Don Symanski and Ellen Mains.

"What does zazen mean? Does it mean to be high? Sometimes you sleep, sometimes you're high ... an hour goes by, two hours. Kyudo is almost the same. When you shoot at the target, sometimes there is too much hope. Your style of shooting is full of hope, hope, hope. It's like businessmen who hope, hope, hope to make a lot of money. My only hope is that you can become more relaxed. You are hoping, hoping too much.
Meditation is non-thinking, all non-thinking. I say the heart alone should be strong. You should work alone to make your heart beautiful. Do you understand? Kyudo is the same. Everybody practices the Seven Coordinations and the Five 'Taste Qualities' ('Gomi'). Gomi is very, very difficult to understand. First we work on the style, the Seven Coordinations. Everyone starts to look good: Ashibumi, Dozokuri... Uchi-okoshi, Hikitori... good.
But you can't see the Five Flavours. The Five Taste Qualities are inside you. They are feeling. You can taste sugar and salt. If sugar rots your teeth, it is not so good. Too much salt is not so good either. But you cannot see the five qualities of taste. They are different for everyone. Everybody has a different style. When you practise the Seven Coordinations, you can observe them and correct or adjust them. Now, practising the Seven Coordinations is still difficult for everyone. Later, the five qualities of taste will emerge. But for now, practise the Seven Coordinations.
At the moment, everyone is like the inside of an egg. In the beginning, the inside of an egg is white and yellow. At this moment, everyone is like this white and yellow. Later, when the yolk develops inside, you can pick up the egg and hear a "beep-beep-beep" sound inside. This is the moment when the egg cracks and a chick comes out. To say "five flavours" sounds a bit strange. In Japanese, "gomi" means taste. But it is difficult to explain the meaning. In meditation and kyudo, you have the chance to have a beautiful heart. Everyone can have a beautiful face. Sometimes women use make-up, or a man puts on a suit and shows an elegant style. But inside, there is a question mark. I hope you will let a good mind and a good heart emerge through meditation and kyudo. Thank you very much."

By Kanjuro Shibata Sensei XX

Katja and Christopher Triplett (edited and completed by Hans Geissberger)


Nowadays Kyudo is practiced by thousands of people all over the world for mental training and spiritual development. The simple elegance of the movements, the beauty of the yumi - 弓 (bow), the ya - 矢 (arrows) and the atmosphere of peace and dignity that prevails in the dojo - 道場 (practice site) exert a great fascination on those who want to walk the path of self-knowledge. Because the beginning of the walk on the path of Kyudo - 弓道 (path of the bow) is at the same time the beginning of the journey of knowledge, where one learns to see with new eyes and hear with new ears. Seen from the outside, Kyudo seems to be archery. Drawing the bow and then shooting at the target is like a test of skill, but Kyudo is not a sport. To discover the true essence of Kyudo, one must look inward and cut through and transcend any preoccupation, be it worries, hopes, doubts or fears, by hitting the target. Though the Kyudo form has been changed and refined over the centuries, it has been divided into different Ryu - 流 (teachings) and these in turn into Ha -派 (subgroups) according to the Kata - 形 (style) and specifics of Waza - 技 (technique). The essence of the true Kyudo practice, however, always remains the same: it is Ritsu Zen - 立禅 (Zen standing).