Aggression is powerful means of exerting your influence over situations in life. People can fight aggressively, sell a product aggressively, and can even meditate aggressively towards a goal. Aggression takes many forms, but it is the same energy. In martial arts, pent up energy, potential stored energy, can be used in order to land a decisive attack on the opponent. This shows how a potentially volatile energy can be channeled and externalised effectively. This is why people with excessive energy are drawn towards and tend to engage in military or martial arts training. Whatever the way of life, there is a need to direct and channel energy appropriately in order to give it a direction, or to simply let off steam. The only main difference between the scholar and the fighter is the direction of energy and the form it develops.
In Martial Arts, we say that one must become like water. Water takes many forms. Water can learn how to evaporate from a high pressure state of heat and aggression towards a low pressure state of steam. This is why the Martial artist must also develop the capability to become like fire. The fire heats the pan, which is represented by the Hara Centre and the Solar plexus, so that steam is created and the fighter becomes like air. The Hara centre and the solar plexus is located around the organs of the trunk, and this region contains systems of high pressure, conduction, and insulation. It’s all there to convert gross energy to more subtle forms.The characteristic of evaporated air is constant movement and rising towards lower pressure systems, which is represented by the mind. From here it drops back down again in an ongoing cycle.
Water drops its heavier elements and rejoins them later when it is time to come back down to earth from up high. It is like when you drop your bag and run somewhere else. You pick it up another time and it weighs you down once more. And yet, even when you drop the bag, it is the same you without the added weight. There is a time for carrying the load and working with it, and a time to drop it off. Symbolically, this represents the process of transformation which occurs when the Martial Artists works on their physical training in the day time, and then meditates in the afternoon and evening.
In the process of evaporation, or transcendence, there is shift from the physical experience to the spiritual, the gross to the subtle. In other words, you begin to see that you and the gross aspect of your being, the body, are separate states of experience. This may not be in your actual experience, but it becomes more and more so the more one works on themselves.
As an individual begins to reach nothingness, or no mind, this itself is the beginning of a new form. Jesus was said to have gone to the mountains after working in society, in order to evaporate all the stress, all the karma he accumulated from others. This is a famous example of how one mans intense activity needed an equal period of meditation and recharging. Not only that, but a person who begins to experience an expansion of consciousness can become disheartened because they are forced to undergo the process again and again. This is another reason why one should not get carried away in the spiritual process, it just demands more and more of us the more we progress. The more someone experiences an expansion of consciousness, a greater awareness of reality, the more their capacity for growth and development increases. This involves them more and more in their particular mission as their scope for action increases.
During the process of becoming free from physical bondage, or karma, the life energies simply cause a new cycle of life to begin all over again once they have reached the highest point. When the energies drop back down successfully, like morning due, they are infused with a certain increased magnetic charge. There is a new and greater capacity for action.That is what Karma is, a cause an effect, which enables someone to continually work with physical and mental energy. The reward for work is more work. The moment a void is created, it is immediately filled by additional energy, this is the nature of the universe, which is expanding all the time. So you don’t need to worry about reaching nothingness, or losing your identity and becoming a vegetable.
The highest point of experience will vary from one individual to another. For some, simply winning a contest or the thought of winning some money will propel them to the heights. For them, supplanting a rival aggressively is enough to get there. For others, they want to draw in a new Karma which is based on fulfilling other kinds of obligations, such as raising a family or reaching states of nirvana for instance. Jesus wanted to take the karma of others and dissolve it. The Buddha wished to enlighten as many people as possible. It all depends on the inclinations of the individual, but in the eyes of the universe it is the same energy, just a different form of expression. So depending on what direction the energies are given, what high ideal you aim towards, you will orientate towards a particular type of activity. This decides the thought processes which leads to accumulation of Karma, which has a cause and effect relationship towards the strived for ideal. The person who obsesses about drugs eventually ends up taking them. It is a question of becoming absorbed in the right though processes.
This cause and effect relationship ensures ceaseless evolution in response to a deep longing towards expansion of experience. In a way, this represents death and rebirth, because you end up becoming an individual with new capabilities as if you were totally different. Just like the drug addict who wonders how he got that way years down the line, it is also possible to make informed conscious decisions about the expression your energies take, rather than giving way to compulsions. It is just as possible to become a warrior, or a saint. Such an expansion of consciousness enabling new possibilities usually happens gradually. Say somebody wants to kill somebody else. Usually, they will experience an aggressive urge in order to carry out this compulsive need to wipe out their enemy. This is a survival instinct which to some degree is necessary.
The energy to kill another person is experienced in response to a need for action, not a need to kill. The same need to kill an opponent can be directed at oneself, so that one feels like committing suicide. If such a person uses their energies to meditate and reflect intelligently, such an urge to kill may evaporate entirely so that the need to fulfil it disappears and their energies take on a new orientation. The urge to kill is often confused with the urge to simply dissolve or evaporate the ego, which is the goal of the spiritual dimension in the martial arts. It is not necessary to kill the aspiration for spiritual growth annihilating someone who dishonours you or any of that nonsense. Perhaps there was a time when war was an everyday reality, but except in particular circumstances this is no longer the case. For the first time in history we can say that the meaning of life for many is now in well being rather than survival.
The instincts never decide the appropriate direction of energy, they just inject you with a certain force. There is no reason to eliminate this force, it is just a question of directing it towards the highest goal possible within you. The instincts are doing their job just fine, you would be dead without them.Now, the highest point within you may not be a conscious reality yet, but you can work towards it by using the imagination to create such an experience. Perhaps you imagine yourself to be a ball of energy radiating outwards. Just aim towards whatever is highest in your experience. In other words, you can imagine a type or ideal reality and this will address the deepest aspects of your core longings, even if you are unconscious of the need to do so. It’s all taken care of if you work in the right direction relentlessly. The key is to meditate and think about expansion of experience and consciousness, which means becoming fully involved and aware of your experiences and reality more broadly.
It doesn’t matter what you imagine, because this isn’t the point to focus on. It’s a way into an invisible doorway. This is how the imagination can work on the energies indirectly, because even if the imagination bares no resemblance to what physically occurs, the thirst is quenched and fulfilment of the need for expansion is granted on an even higher level. This level is known as the energy body, which extends beyond the physical and mental bodies, and is closely related to the aura, which is influenced by the thoughts and feelings.
Many people experience reality simply on the level of memory. Say for example you want to wipe out an enemy. This is in response to the memory of what they have done to you, rather than what the reality is right now. Perhaps they even did you a favour by letting you see them for what they are, but still you are angry at them. You then imagine all sorts of ways to get your own back. And so your energy is spent engaged in exercises of memory and imagination, of past and future prediction, rather than the moment by moment experience of reality as it actually is. In reality, there is only the present moment, which should be given your full attention. We are not yet even aware of what the present moment really means, or how to live in it really.
The memory of the past is something like a saved progress of the software you are running in your mind. It is useful to know where you are in your experience of the world, so a backup copy of reality is created. This is so you can save your progress. From there, the imagination is used to project you towards a reality that closely approximates an ideal, which is the best you can come up with in the mind. But it is still limited. Even so, imagination creates a psychological energy boost even if it isn’t an accurate representation of what eventually happens. The energy that this process of imagination creates is the important factor, rather than the particular form it takes.
In the case of aggression, you must learn to put it to work for you, rather than giving in to the dictates of it. It is a tremendous power in the right hands. In the martial arts, raw energy is built up in the Hara centre, which is located in and around the abdomen, the body’s centre. If the energies stay here and are used only to satisfy the instincts, then they are dissipated here and the energy doesn’t function in another way. This is the lowest level of manifestation, and at the same time expert martial artists have mastered this level of activity. However, the Hara centre is also the body’s maintenance centre, which means that if this is excessively externalised and used up there, rather than evaporated upwards towards the higher centres, then health is eventually undermined. Many martial arts have died fairly early because of this. Just as electricity can be used to power an electric chair, the same energy can be used to light up a village. This is why as ones perceptions evolve and reach new heights, such dissipation of life energy becomes less of a priority and lightening up becomes the goal.
Why not direct aggression towards driving out the negative attitude in others around you? Very often if you go the right way about it, you can gain the respect and even admiration of your antagonists, which is a definite possibility. There is no shortage of the need for such work, so you will never be out of the job. If someone antagonises you, remind yourself how ignorant and helpless that person must be to waste their time and energy on trivial disputes, and that they deserve compassion, rather than passion. In other words, you can learn to consciously direct your energy towards them in a harmonious rather than reactive way, ensuring your own inner balance is maintained. Otherwise you run the risk of creating the same inner disharmony within yourself that your antagonist is experiencing.
Obviously, when someone is insulting you or attempting to drag your name through the dirt, this is no time for idleness. It’s time to show them how strong you are in your whole demeanour and expression, by directing your willpower towards creating the type of persona which is above all this. Usually only desperation, caused by stress, can bring out this possibility. By creating such a personality, an exteriority that others see, you set up the conditions for receiving good karma and future gain. This does not mean you wont experience difficulty, it just means you wont suffer the process of cause and effect so much, or even at all. The key is to suffer moments of stress intelligently so that you do not suffer the process of it, which actually leads to growth.
Karma does not cause the effect of well being, it only responds to the longing, the high ideal of the individual. In other words, the consciousness you have developed determines the energy form you receive. The Karma you experience is related to the inner receivers you have developed, and so what you create within yourself is how the energy will function. The same energy is sent to the maniac and the soldier, because they are both equally charged. But they both work at different levels so their possibilities are different.
Say you work on sending you aggression upwards, towards evaporation and the higher subtle centres, then the form of behaviour you take will be one of compassion rather than anger towards your opponent. It is the same energy converted into a different form, which takes on a particular demeanour and body composition. The nervous system can greatly influence the other bodies. This is why in the spiritual dimension of martial arts, the nervous system is focused on first of all. The martial arts systems aim towards fuelling the energy body, which extends beyond the physical body and crafts it. The energy body seeks a proper relationship to the outside, even using the opponents energy to convert and fuel itself. Otherwise you just waste energy siping out the opposition. Then, you are just fuelling the ego which wishes to destroy an opponent violently rather than make proper use of them as a means of self realisation and transcendence.
Just having the right attitude and determination can make a potential antagonist powerless. Most of the time this is all you need, because your antagonist will sense that you are superior to them they will see how futile it is to resort to pettiness. And also, you make yourself a hard target for opportunists who may otherwise make a move against you. Finally, since you are not threatening anyone else, you don’t rouse in them feelings of resentment, or competition.
The next time someone tries to draw you in to nonsense, ask yourself whether there is anything to gain from getting drawn in. For sure, there is likely to be an experience of heat and anger initially, but perhaps it is better to use these states to put on a powerful display of tolerance where you distance yourself from reactivity. It is important to act, but not to react on the same level as the antagonist.
The aggressor is often trying to make an opponent out of you, a straw man, when really all experience is within. Likewise, your experience is within. For them, a tremendous amount of energy is spent creating this caricature out of you. People get drawn into wasting energy, by playing a game where everybody loses. So one way of dealing with this expression of madness is to cover it up by making others out to be the problem. Another way is to transcend it altogether and evaporate these states, which takes a lot of work too. The only difference is that you end up with a good result the second way. So these are the choices, to battle your own weaknesses or to cover them up and externalise things, depriving yourself of the opportunity of inner transformation and certain powerful states of energy.
All aggressive behaviour aimlessly directed at others is an accumulation gathered over many years, a karma which needs to be worked out one way or another. For many there seems to be no other explanation other than to burst the build up of excessive energy from time to time in counter productive ways. This is limited. aggression shouldn’t be taken personally, because in a way it is natural for people to get riled up and act aggressively. This is mans lower nature, his animalistic side. Animals act this way constantly because they lack higher reasoning or even a possibility of transcendence.
In todays society, largely due to sedentary life styles which lack physical vigour, energy stays largely at the lower level of existence, the low chakras. The only solution for many is to go clubbing all night and drinking all day so that there is an outlet. Instead, if people were to get into the habit of manual work, chopping wood all day for instance, the body and its energies would be utilised more proficiently, and we wouldn’t have such large scale mental health problems.
Once you are aware that aggression is a powerful force, a source of raw energy, you produce something from this potent power, rather than letting it overwhelm you by ignoring its wider implications. It is entirely up to you how you direct the energy provoked by hostility and frustration with life events. And the more highly attuned to life, the more likely you are to pick up the early warning signs and act quickly. In other words the most alert and powerful individuals have the most frequent need of intelligently directing their energies. This is the problem with martial arts, you start off trying to overcome difficulties, and you end up with a thousand more difficulties because your scope for action has increased. This is just the way it is, the more capable you become, the more karma you take on. So eventually, you begin to realise the work and intense energy that goes into such apparent calmness and natural suavity that exudes certain Masters.
So next time you get pent up, you could try going off and using this energy to go for a walk or some other type of exercise. After all, there are many martial arts exercises which are aimed at precisely this need. Of course, many people think such exercises lack practical self defence value, but this is largely because the world is going through a kind of neurotic phase of hyper sensitivity to survival needs. This tendency causes people to stop looking for meaning in life to a large extent. But don’t let the opportunities for growth go to waste. And never let feelings of defeat and weakness linger on without action, because then these will have a chance to eat away at you. Go mad for a moment and shout at the punchbag if you have to, and you might see that there is a kind of potential madness in you that is not put there by someone else. Indeed there is enough in anybody to work with already. Hitting the heavybag has a certain theraputic value to it. There really is enough potential raw energy in yourself to power you for a lifetime without looking to others.
Sometimes you will have to argue your corner to avoid being bullied, or to simply demonstrate that you are not going to be walked over. Some situations are unavoidable. However once you have tried your hardest to sustain an attitude of fairness whilst making the most of the situation, sometimes the antagonist almost needs you to take control. They may even thank you for it afterwards. In the end, it is only the emotional and physical level, which can always change. So if you have to do confront someone I recommended exerting yourself in the following way.
After deciding that you have no choice but to make a stand to put an end to the unfairness of the situation, explain how the behaviour of your antagonist is spoiling things. Then explain what you would like to be done about it and what you are willing to do to support the situation rather than assigning blame. Very often this will be enough to put your antagonist off any future confrontations, since you are behaving reasonably. You have then found a new ally. Many lasting friendships have happened or been repaired this way. In other cases, people simply know no other way than to waste all their energy in pointless battles, so you just leave them to it.
If instead of taking control of the situation, you inspire bitterness in them by carrying on arrogantly and making demands of them, expect never to see the end of it. Make every effort to spare the embaressment of the other person so they don’t come back and bite you at a later date when you least expect it. Because that’s what they feel they will have every right to do if you have inspired such a state within in them.
You must defend yourself but often not by the same primitive means that others tend to use. You can rub your hands together and create heat. This is what two people do when they argue, they heat each other up at a certain level. Instead of reactive force, use intelligence to direct the primitive urge to retaliate immediately towards other regions and dimensions. Most of the time your opponent will be so surprised by their lack of impact and control over you that they will simply have no choice but to move on and find an easier target. In terms of physical self defence, they’ll pick someone weaker and less determined if they even suspect it might be an even fight.
Above all, martial arts practice isn’t just the raw expression of aggression. On some level it is just that, a way of venting emotion and using up energy. But once this phase is over there’s no going back. In fact, many people who start in the first place do so because they simply would go mad otherwise if they didn’t have such an outlet. This often carries on into later life and it becomes a kind of therapy. So whichever way you do it, it ends up good.
On the deep level, energy must be intelligently managed. Any kind of aggressive volatile energy, which is a kind of anger, should be directed as wisely as possible, to avoid it turning against the user. Obviously this doesn’t mean you will be totally devoid of emotion during a heated exchange. This just shows that everybody, including the most composed people, need to work ceaselessly on managing and directing their energies. The thing to do is to put your aggressive drive to work intelligently and to do this often so that you encourage the interaction between energy and intelligence to become one. This reciprocal exchange then becomes second nature. The more you do this in everyday life, the more likely it will work with you when it matters. The most dangerous encounters are usually unexpected, so it is a case of preparing well in advance.
