Visiting My Sacred Space
I made the local park my main dojo/kwoon (martial arts training area) over five years ago. This is where I practise and also where I teach my most loyal student of eleven years. I usually train in a wooded area, where the trees and bushes protect me from the wind and rain. Sometimes, I go to the top of the park’s main feature, the hill it is named after. Either way, I don’t start training without passing through the forest.
Whether alone or with students, I stick to a ritual:
- Bowing into the park
- Connecting with the land (touching the tree)
- Selecting the training area
- Bowing before training
- Training session
- Bowing after training
- Meditation
- Bidding farewell to the land (touching the tree)
- Bowing out of the park
As a young student of Goju Ryu Karate in my teens, I found peace in the Japanese rituals. Karate helped me to develop humility, courage, resilience, determination, respect, and discipline. Ritual contributed to my growth just as much as the study of technique. Adhering strictly to ritual brought order and peace into my life.
Ritual
Every aspect of my daily ritual has significance.
- Bowing in and out of the park: Bowing in acknowledges the site’s significance as a place for serious training. It sets intentions. Ego is left at the entrance. When leaving, bowing is a sign of gratitude for the peace, harmony and teachings I have received. It is also a reminder to carry that stillness with me in everyday life.
- Connecting with the land: This is performed physically by touching a tree. I place my hands on the bark, still the body and the mind, and soften. Connecting is about sensing — listening, feeling, watching — with an unfettered mind. Striving for an unfettered mind means trying not to allow our attention to be taken by any one thing. To focus on the birdsong means to miss the sound of the wind. Touching the tree is the first thing I do after bowing into the park. It is also the last thing I do before bowing out.
- Bowing before and after training: Bowing before training is about focusing the mind on what I am about to do. It takes me to a deeper state of focused intention and alertness. I avoid distractions. Practise sincerely or not at all. Bowing after training is just as important. The line mustn’t be blurred. By marking the end of training with a bow, I allow myself to park that mindset. The session is over. What’s done is done. I put it down.
- Meditation: Immediately after training, I find a space to sit or stand for meditation. This is about being mindful of the mind. I try to be as sensitive and aware of my inner world as I am of the outer world. Watching, not judging. Sensing, not processing.
Raising Consciousness
These activities raise consciousness when performed sincerely and mindfully. When I meet my student, I often fall into the trap of chatting with him as we enter the park. We stop talking for the bowing in and tree greeting, but it can be a distraction. If the bowing is an afterthought, it’s a waste of time.
The Spiritual Superhighway
Wherever humans lay down roots, we interfere with nature and bring disharmony. We see nature trying to restore that balance wherever we look. The planet was not supposed to look like a concrete jungle.
The park, especially the small area of forest where I train, is a sacred space. It is perfectly balanced as it is, and it can help us find our balance within ourselves.
The Problem with Being Human
Despite our high opinion of ourselves as the pinnacle of evolution, we are still mammals—ordinary, fragile organisms. Our beautiful homes, flash cars, and designer labels don’t change who we are. If anything, the world we have built around us separates us from our true nature. That is the cause of our suffering.
I go to the forest to reconnect with its wisdom. When I touch the tree with my palms, my identity dissolves. My mammalian self is all that’s left, just another creature of the forest, living on borrowed time. I forfeit my ego privileges. I am just as simple as every other species.
Tapping Into Higher Wisdom
Dropping the trappings of ego and the mind is like tapping into the spiritual superhighway. I tune into the present, noticing every small detail. The rustling of the leaves in the trees, the flapping of wings, and the bird song. I see small movements in the undergrowth and glimpse tiny birds minding their own business.
The more I settle into the rhythm of the forest, the more I become the forest. I become the tree. Our consciousnesses merge. I come home to the truth of universal consciousness. The forest’s wisdom is readily available for any creature that stays present enough to tap into it.
Maintaining Connection
The forest is a sacred space for me to visit for silent reflection, meditation, and healing. It is a natural temple, but the most important temple is the one I carry in my soul. I don’t connect with the land simply to break that connection on exit.
By connecting to the consciousness superhighway, I want to awaken my piece of the universe’s wisdom. I want my higher self to come to the fore. You could say I want to take the peace and wisdom of the forest with me.
Find Peace and Take It with You
If I can maintain that connection with the forest in daily life, everywhere I go becomes sacred. So, I protect my peace at all costs. I avoid the distractions that will separate me from my higher self, or God if you prefer.
Daily training and meditation is not about quick fixes. It isn’t a replacement for a stint in the jacuzzi. Yes, it is a stress buster. Sure, meditation is a great way to wind down. But sincere practice is deeper than that.
It is about finding your holiness and making every space sacred.
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