Esotericism and Exotericism
Esotericism and Exotericism
martial arts as a bridging mechanism
There exist certain ideals that can trigger us in powerful and often unexpected ways. Our monastery, for example, was formed out of a genuinely organic call and response. It was as though someone pulled a trigger. This triggering is often a constant refrain to the monk. As the world of social networking and connectivity has embedded deeper and deeper into our culture, specific keywords such as ‘socialness’ and ‘connectivity’ ring like loud temple bells in the mind of the mystic. The monks and nuns of everyday life hear words like that as plain-talk, but it resonates in them on a so-called soul level. To them, it’s the vocabulary of deeper consciousness.
Achieving transformation
How do we, as everyday mystics, bring about genuinely deep transformation into our lives, our families, communities and surroundings? Unlike the role of a social worker or the community organizer, the mystic is more about solutions that are based in and emerge from deeper forms of consciousness, and they hopefully do that with awareness.
It’s not only awareness that’s needed, however, but also the vital deeper applications of consciousness. If the mystic can use her mind to transcend reality, then how might she use her mind to deliberately transform nature and human behavior?
One of the most vexing of questions in all this is, how?
How do we train ourselves to get there?
Micro-dosing LSD (an emerging trend in tech-centric Silicon Valley) may arguably be helpful in calming those who live their high pressure lives embroiled in fast-paced careers. But delving into consciousness to help calm us within the frantic energy of our careers is very different then the path that the everyday or cloistered monk or nun take. Theirs is the mystic’s impossible call-to-arms, the deep and magnetic drive to delve into far deeper states. With awareness. And sans drugs.
Inevitably, the problem emerges of exactly how to bring deeper consciousness experiences back out into the everyday world. How do we make these experiences practical? It’s one thing for the mystic to float within the everythingness, and then a few hours later emerge speechless. It’s an altogether different thing to figure out how to apply that in everyday life.
This particular challenge is what I’ve dedicated my life to helping solve. Which catapults us headfirst into the concept of a combined menu that includes both inner and outer training within the curriculum. In American society, however, there exists a deep-seated resistance, if not blatant and cynical anomosity, toward any kind of training (outside of a doctorate) that takes years, even decades.
Americans are, after all, the kings of the quick fix, the short solution, the maximum profit. Yet, in matters of consciousness training, a truly deep commitment is required.
Quick fixes get investors and pop culture gurus all jazzed up. And those energetic, optimistic gurus will politely respond in conversations with a mystic warrior like me.
Me: These methods have been refined over thousands of years. It’d be nice to get there faster, but there’s no quick fix.
Guru: My point exactly. We need better, quicker ways. Mind leaps. Improved brain mapping.
Me: Fair enough, but there’s no quick fix. This kind of inner work isn’t happening from a weekend intensive. It requires people who dedicate their lives. And our society disparages that kind of investment.
Bridging the gap
Esotericism and exotericism: Is the orthodox exoteric observance a requirement for authentic access to the dimensions of the esoteric dimensions? Is it possible to successfully practice multiple exoteric and/or esoteric traditions simultaneously? What is the relationship between the inner and outer layers of a faith? — Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, as quoted in The New Monasticism
My personal background included being the son of a Protestant minister, who was a graduate of Lake Forest College and a co-worker with a young Billy Graham. I personally attended a couple of Bible colleges, and then worked full time in Pittsburgh for a college-focused ministry for a couple years. Around the same time I became confirmed in the Episcopal Church. By the time I hit my mid-20s, this was all behind me.
While I never abandoned the heritage and knowledge of my Christian upbringing, subsequent decades of martial arts, esoteric and consciousness studies deeply affected my approach to spirituality.
I found that my Jiu Jitsu studies more than adequately fulfilled the more exoteric functions that a monk might typically experience in a so-called real-life monastery.
Where the monk bowed to the altar, I bowed into the mat.
Where Moses removed his sandals to stand on Holy Ground, my shoes came off at the dojo’s entrance.
Where the abbot instructed the postulants in ritual, prayer, discipline and verse, the black belt instructors guided the students in discipline, strict adherence to technique and constant practice of principles.
Where the monks offered daily prayers, we practiced thousands of repetitions.
Where the monks tended to chores, we cleaned up the dojo and its campgrounds.
And where the monks stared at the demons in the mirror, we did too.
Will martial arts teach the bridging connection?
Can we associate the exoteric aspects of Jiu Jitsu practices with deeper esoteric consciousness? Absolutely.
The ideal exoteric practice provides a real life playground upon which to test drive the esoteric. With that in mind, let's take a quick look at the breadth of Jiu Jitsu’s ability to make this connection.
To learn to balance between worlds, the Jiu Jitsu student must first learn to balance in many ways: physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, statically, dynamically, peacefully, under singular attack, under multiple and simultaneous attacks, under verbal attack, physical attack, being attacked with empty hands, and being attacked with weapons. Attacks occur not only in the dojo, but at work, at home, through family, on beliefs and assumptions, and from within our psyche.
Similarly, challenges in martial arts training can occur from virtually any direction, at any time, under any circumstance. As the Jiu Jitsu student subsequently improves at maintaining their composure, they may also have an opportunity to practice their composure along the path of deeper experiences, as well. I firmly suggest it would be far harder to find students of the inner way who can traverse its trails with greater calmness and composure than the composure of a highly trained martial artist.
Jiu Jitsu was the hand-to-hand combat art of the Japanese samurai, widely acknowledged as history’s fiercest warrior. These were people who were trained to stay rock-steady calm in the face of certain death. Is it no wonder that an advanced martial arts student could stay utterly composed when confronting and overcoming the deeper boundaries of consciousness?
Of course, there are not many martial arts schools focused on the esoteric nature of consciousness. In the more advanced programs, they may touch on some deeper aspects of the human spirit, but those brushes with spiritual development and depth will typically only occur within the context of the respective martial art itself, and the instructors themselves may be completely incapable of adequately verbalizing what’s taking place, much less explain it.
So while the martial arts is not automatically a magic pill when it comes to making the magic connection between inner and outer, it is most assuredly capable of doing that. Capable and repeatable.
Righting the upside down approach
Monasteries and dojo need to be established for the express purpose of creating repeatable journeys into consciousness. Foundation money should be directed toward efforts that are creating effective exoteric/esoteric bridging mechanisms that work in today’s world.
The kind of consciousness change that so many are looking for and yearning over simply will not occur until we get this priority right. We need calm and steady leaders to emerge.