"Seeing" and "Hearing" - Kenpo Gokui

Is not our "ego" the equivalent of the "Matrix" where our minds as influenced by dictates of the ego on our lives. Can we achieve reality in our minds with out the ego's influences? Is what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch reality or is it something that comes from the ego? Is the ego something that is influenced by what we see, hear, feel, touch, and/or taste and how do both influence the other to create the reality we perceive as individual minds held in the shell we call the body?

Such questions and the pursuit of the answers may be the key to unlocking the realty from the perceived reality. This is the "Way" and why the gokui makes vague references to both the mind and body. Remember that the body always follows the mind regardless of its perception of either the real or unreal.

We are what we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste as interpreted by the mind which is under the control of the "ego" so that if the ego is the "Matrix" then what we perceive as our true world my not be reality. We don't literally "see" but to achieve understanding we must first "know" and the knowing is influenced by the "seeing, hearing, etc" that is received in the brain and interpreted as influenced by the ego. We justify everything in our lives by what we "see", "hear", "touch", "smell", and "taste."

Our justification for our beliefs comes from all the experiences we have had and this remains true unless we have a reason to distrust those experiences. Who dictates this trust or non-trust? It starts with our ego's and sometimes we rely on our perceptions of others instead of our own "hearts" to tell us what is what.

Everything we feel is either normal or not normal, expected or not expected, or any other experiences is nothing more that a function or result of something else we have experienced or what we are used to.

The mind controls the body and what the mind senses determines what the body does in many ways. You can look at the senses as a type of interface or input/output device(s) that program the mind through the filter of the ego and tell us what we do both mentally and physically, i.e. the bodies reactions or actions. This is important. Is this the "Matrix" of our ego?

Our world extends as far as we can sense and tho this is minimalistic in truth it does form knowledge about the world although it is our limited world vs. the true world of which we live in on this planet.

One reason I understand when the gokui only refers to the two main senses of sight and hearing is that these senses are what is called the distance senses, for they function at a distance as far as the eye can see and the ear can hear. They do not require any physical contact to work and provide information. When we see or hear something is that sent directly to the mind as truth or is it filtered by our ego matrix first and then colored by that filter? If so, they we have to ask how to bypass that filter called the ego. We have to see how we can re-program that script of the ego so it does not send anything but the truth of reality.

Sometimes looks and sounds can be deceiving which is one goal of the gokui to teach us how to differentiate and act. A means of testing the sight and sound of something is to perceive it with physical contact. Once you make physical contact with something then it becomes more "real." As the I Ching says, "Seeing is believing, but touching is the truth. The body can not live without the mind, the mind makes it real." The mind is the focus then as to the Matrix of the Ego we are trying to take hold of because if the mind makes it all real then the addition of training and practice as well as the tactile ability to reach the truth is paramount.

We see and hear but we use other faculties to confirm the truth of it to reach reality. Even touch is influenced by the ego program so programming the ego is important.

The fighting arts utilize "chakugan" to be proficient in action. We are naturally reactive in our bodies when we "see" and/or "hear" something that triggers the flight or fight responses of the mind and body. When the bodies natural defenses start our heart rate, breathing, and adrenaline are pumped and our minds, if trained properly, assist us in re-directing those natural actions into a more productive action. Mental images, even if confirmed with hearing and finally other physical means, occur usually after the bodies natural protective responses are in action. So the training can also keep one from taking inappropriate actions if fooled by the eye or ear. There is only one way to accomplish this and that is through practice and training which may be the reprogramming of the ego so it filters fact and not fiction.

The I Ching refers to the duality of real and not real. Appearance and Reality can be two different things and our "seeing" and/or "hearing" may cause reality to be skewed. We have a mind and body which is the Creative results of the Tao, or the Great Tai Chi, which is the creation of yin and yang that lead to humanity and the Universe.

What is it that is common to all real things and common to all unreal things, that makes them what they are and different from each other? The unreal world depends entirely on things in the real world for its existence. Then again if my hypothesis is accurate then the real vs. unreal is influenced by our ego's which are influenced by our experiences in life as we grow up and the ego changes accordingly as information comes but if the program is not enabled to "truth and reality" then what we perceive and believe may not be reality.

Another point in this exercise is our ego program or ego matrix is a basic in and out program when we are born. This is why the ancients always strive to be like a new born child but if the ego matrix of those around us as we grow are not properly programmed then those programs code our program changing the ego matrix into a mixture of others into the "one" which is us.

Is everything we experience a mere appearance, or are these appearances manifestations of actual things which are more or less as they appear to be? What is the ego matrix telling us.

Minds are of the ability to make things real even if they are not. Maybe this is why we have so many factions in our fighting art because all the ego matrix's are programming their minds and why should they disbelieve their own minds?

When the mind receives input from the world by "seeing" or "hearing" or "touching" something then the body will react according to what nature programmed into our very being, DNA, Instincts, etc. We can change this deep set nature through practice and training but it takes continued, constant, diligent, repetitive training and practice to overcome the mind and bodies natural reactive instincts.

The idea is to reprogram our matrix so that we are not confused by what we see or hear so clarity becomes instinctual and the truth is real. This could be the way we overcome misunderstandings that lead to conflict. When we are free from confusion and reprogram our ego's so that we can identify the real then the mind will cease to be influenced by unreality.

Let training and practice teach our minds and bodies to recognize and understand the ability to distinguish appearance and reality so we can take actions that are appropriate. Maybe this is the true key to "not striking first" rule in karate-do? If we attain that ability then we can not be influenced unduly by events that normally cause re-actions. Let action be the rule and let re-action be set aside as something we do not do much like "not striking first."

Reprogram your ego matrix so that your mind has the power to overcome illusions, to achieve the ability to exit from any predicament in life with appropriate intent resulting in peaceful action.

We can only do this by taking charge of our matrix and opening the mind to reality.