Initiating Kukikan

“The Tao that can be told of is not the absolute Tao.”

These are words of wisdom from the ultimate realization of Lao Tsu, who in his final years wrote the small treatise called Tao Te Ching. Truth can never be told, and that which is told can never be the Truth. What is the difficulty? Why can the Truth be not told? There are many reasons. The most basic reason is that, Truth is so very simple that it cannot be told in words, in any language.

But, Truth can be pointed out. Truth is always realized in silence. For you to see, someone can be pointing the finger to the moon. But if the finger is taken as the object of focus you will miss the beauty of the moon. This is what has been happening with all the pointers which all the wise men have indicated.

Kukikan is just pointing towards the truth. Kukikan is about just showing the direction for one and all to experience the reality with oneself. Kukikan is about simplifying the path so that you realize by experience. It is about applying the laws of nature, using the tools which are available. Only reading about it will not be much fruitful. Each one will have to put in effort for ones own welfare. If you are hungry, you will have to make the effort to find food and make the effort to eat it, somebody else cannot eat the food for you.

Let us understand what is the Truth? There are different names to indicate the Truth, e.g. Tao, Tai chi, Dharma, Dhamma, Religere, Yoga, etc. These are all words pointing to the ultimate and eternal Laws of Nature. Every living being in this universe is governed by the Laws of Nature. When any individual goes away from these governing laws, suffering, misery, stress, unsatisfactoriness, disease, etc. will be the resultant fruit. No amount of material wealth can reverse the misery. It is only if the individual reverts back to following the laws of nature that harmony can be experienced.

Modern science proves that everything that exists in the universe is ‘energy’. All of nature is vibrating at a particular frequency. This is the universal law. Unless this law does not come to your own experience it cannot be the truth for you.

In martial arts terminology, ‘Ku’ means cosmic energy, ‘Ki’ means inner energy (other names are prana, chi, bio-energy, etc.), and ‘Kan’ means the roof. Therefore Kukikan means “The Roof under which the manifestation of cosmic and inner energy takes place”.

Now let us understand the word “Roof” (Kan). Here, since we are talking about training and experiencing, the ‘roof’, symbolizes the ‘body’ of the individual. The body has to be used as a tool to experience the manifestation of the ‘energy’. Without a strong and fine-tuned car (body) how can one have a comfortable journey? To drive a powerful car a wise driver (mind) is of utmost importance, complemented with good and appropriate fuel (breath).

A word of caution- Remember Kukikan is a pointer. It will be your own experience which will be your truth. Why did I choose the word with a martial rendering? Martial arts have long been associated with warriors and their ways of training. Training with impeccable discipline is what is expected of a martial warrior. In ancient times the word warrior was applied more to a person who is very virtuous, has a very focused and sharp sense of awareness, and as a result he is a wise man. A warrior is the on who is at war with all that is ugly and negative within oneself. Thus came the saying “Even if one defeats an army of ten thousand enemies, he is not a winner, but the one who has won over oneself, is the ultimate winner”.

In a nutshell Kukikan is pointing towards ‘The Search Within’.