Sw Bavala: The Head, The Heart and The Hara
In 1974, Veeresh was planning to go to Okinawa to study Karate, when on his way to Japan, he stopped by Osho's Ashram in Pune and became a sannyasin.
In the early eighties, when sannyasins in most capitals of Europe went to demonstrate for Osho's right to stay in the United States, Veeresh organised his staff as security team.
In 1974, Veeresh was planning to go to Okinawa to study Karate, when on his way to Japan, he stopped by Osho's Ashram in Pune and became a sannyasin.
In the early eighties, when sannyasins in most capitals of Europe went to demonstrate for Osho's right to stay in the United States, Veeresh organised his staff as security team.
Veeresh also introduced martial arts to his community for self-protection. Out of this Osho-Do was born.
Osho-Do is a new direction in martial arts. It combines various techniques and styles and in its essence teaches friendship. It uses the most effective techniques for self-defence and self-protection. SAP, the Street Awareness Program, teaches defence techniques for men and women in limited space situations with the goal of preventing physical abuse.
Veeresh, talking to his students, remembers one powerful learning experience:
"Once, after a martial arts class, when we came out of the Dojang, the training hall, a stack of tiles had been taken off the roof. The teacher, Master Park, took one of these tiles and put it on the steps. He looked at me and said, "Break it!" I said to myself, "He is mad. I don't want to break my fist." It was a challenge. I had never done such a thing in my entire life. And he said again, "Do it!" And because he insisted, I did it with all my power.
If I had hesitated, I would have broken my fist. If you hesitate, then you don't have the power. But if you do it with all your power, the tile breaks. It was very exciting to find out that I could do that!
Here, Chandrika, a Humaniversity Therapist, explains to the Tan-Jus, the teenager school, about her experience of the Hara:
"In martial arts people learn how to concentrate their energy and to go beyond what they know about themselves. They learn to connect with the Hara and to discover that they have a powerful body. When you don't focus that power or when you don't know how to use it, you become heavy and you experience a feeling of tiredness. But once people know how to center, they can really make it work for themselves.
When I began martial arts, I would feel exhausted easily. Then Veeresh said to me in the class at some point, "You just don't have the spirit!"
I remember saying to myself, "Oh, just wait - I am going to prove that I can do it, too." And I went for it. It took about six weeks until I went through my resistance.
In the beginning, I simply did not believe that I had the power in my body. But once Veeresh got me stirred up, I had enough. My anger made me move and take my power into my hands. I discovered that I was actually very strong.
Now I know that I can use this at any time. For example, when we have to do a project, I can simply concentrate my energy and direct it into everyday life activities.
I love that feeling when you involve yourself totally. Then suddenly, you feel your whole body streaming, you focus, and then you can fly with that energy. That is my experience with Hara power."
Veeresh:
"When I think of Hara and personal power, I have to think about my grandfather, General Sanchez. He was everything I wanted in a grandfather. I saw him as a great guy because of his history and what he had done. During the war, he didn't want to surrender in the fort, so he decided to eat the donkeys so his people could survive and they
survived. He went down in history in the Dominican Republic as the "General Who Ate Donkeys". My grandfather.
I've got an uncle - he's a boxer. He's twice my size and I remember when I was a little kid, I punched his fists, huge fists and he'd say, "Punch, punch" and I'd be punching" He was "Kid Santo Domingo" - he was a champion. He'd tell me about all his fights and I would be so enthusiastic. I wanted to be like my uncle and like my grandfather.
At the age of fourteen I got busted with an overdose of dope, and I ended up in hospital. I remember in the cafeteria I grabbed a tray, but
I didn't realise that I had walked into a line of black guys. I was standing in line, too scared to look around. That night one of the guys came over, a black guy, and said, "Come into the recreation room." He sounded really authoritative. I wondered what was going on.
There were about seven or eight big black guys in the recreation room. I walked in and then they put a locker against the door. I looked around. I was the same size I am now. I haven't changed. I looked around and I felt this, "Oh shit! Something is going to happen. There's something wrong here." One of the guys said, "Young Blood, who the fuck do you think you are cutting in our line?" He called me "Young Blood", which meant that I was sexually desirable and marked for rape. I said, "What line? What are you talking about?" "In the cafeteria, man! Nobody cuts into our fucking line!" I said, "What line?" I was so out of it. The guy said, "I want you to get on your knees and beg to get out of here."
Because they were resident patients they could wear civilian clothes; I was detoxifying; I still had pyjamas on. They took off their belts. It was a nightmare. All these guys with their belts wanted me to get on my knees and beg to get out of here. My knees turned to water and for the first time in my life I felt myself die. I knew if I would kneel down, that would be the sign for them to beat me and rape me. Somewhere deep down, I had the courage and I said, "No." I heard the word, but it sounded like it was coming from somewhere else. Then I waited. The guy in charge looked at me and he laughed. He said, "Young Blood, you've got a lot of heart." Shaking, I turned around, and slowly walked to the door. The guys moved the locker cabinet and I left the room. I kept to the spirit of my grandfather, General Sanchez.
When I was in jail, I went into martial arts. I remember I had to pay a pack of cigarettes for each lesson. First I had to figure out who the person was and approach him. He said, "Okay, come down to the gym and I'll teach you." A pack of cigarettes a class is a lot of money in jail.
There were all these guys in there. They all had boots on and double sweaters. I came walking in, with my grey prison uniform on and the teacher said, "You want to learn?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Get in the center and show me what you got." I turned around and then everybody just started to punch me. I became a punching bag. I couldn't believe it. They were punching me and kicking me and I was falling, standing up and falling down. They were really starting to hurt me and then it was that feeling again, this "No". I didn't know what to do. I just started swinging - I was fucking swinging! And then the guys stopped. The teacher said, "You're in the class." I didn't know that if I hadn't fought back, I wouldn't have gotten in the class. The teacher said, "A lot of guys tried to get in here but they got no heart." In jail heart is what it's about, you know. You have to have a personal position. No personal position, no Hara power and you get in trouble."
Pran, Osho-Do and Aikido Master at the Humaniversity, explains:
"The head, the heart and the Hara are three levels to take action from. The head is for thinking, the heart is for connecting and the Hara is the centre of your total being. In the East, the Hara is seen as the conscious center of your body. In the West we mainly focus on the head, and the belly stays the most unconscious area of the body.
When you begin to learn martial arts, you think about each movement and how you are supposed to do it - and then you stop moving, because all the energy goes into the thinking process. But when you are centered in your Hara, there is no thinking, there is no judgement - there is no doubt.
When you are centered in the Hara, you are in balance. Oriental philosophy talks about two opposite energies, Yin and Yang - giving and taking. In the Hara you connect these two energies.
To be in the Hara means waiting for the right moment. Then you are in the present. When you come from your center, you are never late. You are there in the right moment at the right time."
Veeresh:
"Osho once told a beautiful story about the Mongolians attacking the emperor of China. There was a stand-off, and the emperor of China being wise, said to the Mongolians, "I'll give you my best martial artist and you give me your best martial artist and we will settle the war based on whoever wins, rather than slaughtering thousands of people."
The way the story goes, the Mongolians presented their famous martial artist and the emperor presented a Sufi dancer. It was like a tiger and
water. All the Sufi would do was dance and whirl, and instead of hitting his opponent, he would caress him, and every time the martial artist
would try to strike him he would be out of the way. The martial artist could not hurt or kill someone so beautiful, because there was so much love coming out of this man. At the end of three days the martial artist said, "I can't go on. I surrender. I can't hurt this beautiful human
being." At that moment the Sufi dancer dropped dead. He saved China and that was Osho's beautiful story about what mastery and total commitment
means.
Martial arts have to include the peaceful, loving aspect. I see that many people who practice martial arts get uptight when they hug. Hugging is one of the special elements in our school. We are professional huggers. If you can hug the person instead of fighting them, I would prefer that. If you have done wrong, it is better that you say, "Forget it. I'm sorry. I apologize."
Hugging is one of our major techniques. We kill people with love first, and then if that doesn't work, we use every method we have learned to protect ourselves. Instead of teaching the dance of death, we prefer to teach the dance of the lovers.
If you are guided by the heart and you live from your Hara, you can become the master of your life."
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amano: | Oct 26, 2001 |
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amano: | Oct 26, 2001 |
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amano: | Oct 26, 2001 |
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