True strenght

Photo designed by Valeria Aksakova / Freepik

 

Today we publish the second part of the written test, the free subject, for the 5th Dan exam, of Sensei José António Araújo who shared the test with us together with the desire that: “If I can be useful to you I will be very happy.”
As a free subject the Sensei decided to write about the true strength.

“It is not an easy subject for a western culture accustomed, through the centuries, to believe in cults and deities that are the drivers of our earthly passage, and who believe in life beyond death.
Perhaps due to this fact, of delegating to the deities all our successes or failures and surrendering our destiny in these same deities, we forget our own potentialities a little. I now recall one of the facts that was part of the day-to-day life of the ancient egyptian civilization. When someone was caught by a crocodile on the banks of the river Nile and disappeared it was the will of the God Ra who determined it, if by any chance the person escaped, it had also been Ra’s wish. In both cases no one helped the person in danger, because it was the will of the Gods that this happens.
How often is humanity confronted with situations of injustice of the most varied kind and has no recourse to alter this state of affairs or passes by on the side whistling feeling that it has no responsibility whatsoever about what is happening, or because it has no courage or strength to make themselves heard or demonstrate to others how wrong they are.”

What is true strength?

The most varied answers may be given to this question, but possibly few people will connect the true strength with themselves, with something that exists within them, and cannot be measured, weighed, or seen. We are talking about something much deeper, something that well applied can change much, or at least help that it happens, in the present state in which the world is.
Many of us have been confronted with situations of injustice, either directly or because we have heard comments related to someone who has suffered such injustice or physical or moral maltreatment. Of all these times, that we have seen or heard something, how often we would have liked to have reacted, and not for a manifest lack of courage, because we thought that no one would listen to what we had to say, or in the last case we did not feel strong enough to do it.
In any of the circumstances presented for us not to intervene, a fundamental aspect stands out, “We do not respect ourselves.” There is a thought that says, “For others to respect you, you must first respect yourself.”
But how can a person respect himself?
Begin by having the courage to say directly what you think is wrong, or what you see as wrong or dislike. All this requires on the part of the individual self-confidence, a sense of justice, a power to live and this is the “true strength”.
True strength does not refer to muscular strength, or strength to defend or defeat an opponent. It is rather related to something that comes from the deep inside of each person, something that makes us overcome obstacles as different as they are, something that has a lot to do with what is usually called “inner strength” the true strength.
We can have a lot of will and a great desire to help the people around us, but if we are weak, we can hardly do it. In order for a person to become strong, he does not have nor should he concentrate his attention solely on strengthening the body, but he also has to develop his spirit at the same time, creating conditions so that at the first setback he does not get discouraged and his attitude falters.
The Shorinji Kempo, through its practice, enables us to gain the confidence and happiness that we can spread to others, thus creating a chain of mutual aid with sufficient capacity to confront injustices in society.
The purpose of Shorinji Kempo’s practice is to make people strong both physically and mentally, yet when we practice we should not forget that our attention or goals cannot be just centered on the spirit of competition, nor should we become obsessed with learning every time more techniques to more easily defeat opponents. If we have as sole objective to defeat opponents, then why train so intensely combat without arms, when we know there are countless hypotheses certainly much easier to do, using any kind of weapon.
The great aim of Shorinji Kempo’s technical education is to gain confidence through our self-knowledge, trust that will provide us with protection without having to use any kind of weapon to neutralize an opponent. In this chapter it is important to take into account that the part of physical practice was a means encountered by Kaiso So Doshin to arouse people’s attention, and thus more easily to communicate with these same people and to transmit it.
At certain times in our lives we are led to think that we will not be able to fulfill or follow a project or objective for reasons that are absolutely foreign to us. At other times we may tend to become apathetic and see things unfolding around us without any kind of reaction that takes us beyond this marasmus of actions or attitudes, this is, however, a wrong way not only to face the life, how to live it. Any human being is not only responsible for his happiness, he also has a share in the well-being and happiness of others around him, family, friends, neighbors, in short, the society where he is inserted and of which he is an integral part. Thus, being cannot and should not be feelings defeatist. Let us suppose that in some way we have been defeated by an adversary, this will not be the case to think that we are useless or useless. We must draw the consequences of our act or defeat, and never feel like true defeats, because only then will this defeat be a real defeat.
During our life we will certainly make mistakes or not, but our quality as human beings is not determined by these factors. Of course, there would be no good-hearted or good-natured people if that were the determining factor for the evaluation of the human being, or whether one could rise up after that or not. How one can conclude the mental attitude of the person in the face of adversity is fundamental so that it can continue its way. If you think about yourself being useless, then this will be your true defeat. To live a balanced and intense life, it is important that our mental state acquires a realistic self-confidence (not to confuse self-confidence with presumption), and not forget that only the mind is not enough to carry out our goals.

The body also has to follow this development, recalling a very old proverb that says “Body sound in sound mind” and which is perfectly applicable in the practice of Shorinji Kempo.
As I said at the beginning of this text, it is very common in western societies to hold different deities accountable for the good or bad things that happen to us. In a way we are undervaluing the person and what good or bad he has. Sometimes the barrier between the real and the mystic creates some confusion and we are led to forget that the attitudes of the people, in general, are the fruit of their formation and character.
Each person has only one life to live and must enjoy it well and with a sense of dignity. This sense of dignity arises, or is born, when the person has the courage to call himself the responsibility of saying that he disagrees with anything when he sees that the same thing is wrong and has the necessary courage to restore the truth or justice of the facts. All this requires a strong initiative and a great faith in its own potentiality, all this requires trust.
To possess true strength means to have confidence and courage, to possess something that cannot be bought with money or controlled by any authority, and which once acquired by the individual are able to respond effectively and always in time when requested for it. More than the previously enumerated, it means interacting not only in what concerns you directly but also acting for the happiness and well-being of the community that surrounds you, family, friends, society in general.
As a final caption I would like to highlight the following phrase, which I think brings together all the thinking described in this text:

“In me I find the strength.”