Looking back, the first fifty years of my life were like a spiritual odyssey which had finally brought me to the country of the Bluebird [heaven-country]. With my understanding of the Kototama, my view of life turned around 180 degrees. What I had grasped up to this time, that which had seems so meaningful to me, I now saw as very small and insignificant. I saw that what I valued was also the cause of my confusion because because I was operating in a world that was only relative. From that moment, my Budo under went great changes. The practice of overcoming physical and spiritual obstacles changed to one of acceptance toward all kinds of difficulties.

This is no easier than the other way; in fact, it is a much more difficult practice. To accept, one must stand outside of this finite world or there can be no acceptance of it. With the Kototama as a mirror, one can see where spiritual and physical difficulties are being created. Why would one wish to conquer these difficulties? The relationship of one’s lower dimensions to a “fighting mind” can be seen at those times. If the origin of difficulties and the source of this “fighting mind” can be seen, and we can accept these things as natural, then we can stand away from them with a perfectly peaceful mind.

My Past Way of Budo -M.M. Nakazono