Jintsu 神通: Mystical Power From Sudden Change

毘沙門天 Bishamonten photo by Satoshi Kobayashi

Some people talk about 要 kaname, one aspect of this year's theme,  like simply translating the Japanese to English explains its meaning. This is a bit shallow. Hatsumi Sensei would probably encourage us to look deeper than that.

My take on kaname is a bit different than other's I have spoken with. For me, one important aspect of kaname is being connected with 神通 jintsu and 神通力 jintsuuriki. These are mystical powers of heaven and earth that are connected to and pivoting through you.

In Buddhism, Jintsu is known as "direct knowledge" or even "supernatural knowledge." This leads to some interesting super powers like: 天眼通 tengentsuu divine eye or clairvoyance; 神足通 jinsokutsuu unimpeded bodily function like walking on water or walking through walls; 天耳通 tennitsuu clairaudience or divine ear; 他心通 tashintsuu or telepathy; 宿命通 shukumyoutsuu remembering past lives; and 漏尽通 rojintsuu which is the extinction of contamination, or a divine clarity of mind.

While these ideas seem impossible, if you broaden your experience to include this type of connection in your training you will experience some interesting results. I cannot teach anyone how to do this. But as an example, the connection we use in both taking AND giving the Godan test must not be severed. If you have experienced this connection, ask yourself, where does it originate? And how do you embody it in training?

Hatsumi Sensei suggests that one way to connect to this power is to repeat one technique a thousand times. The idea here is to cultivate mindlessness. You get the self out of the way and enter a state of 無心 mushin. What happens next is 神運に任せ jiuni makase. Your fate or luck is connected to kami or the divine.  

The resulting power of this connection leads to  変化必然 henka hitsuzen. These inevitable changes have immense power. In the 天津鞴韜馗神之秘文 amatsu tatara kishin no hibun, a secret teaching of ancient war strategies that informs several ryuuha in the Bujinkan, one very important principle is:

豹変して必ず勝つ hyohen-shite kanarazu katsu. Sudden change will always prevail.

This is what I think about with the idea of kaname. But my experience so far this year has also shown me that kaname is a reflection of one's heart.  If you have ever felt the power of this kind of change, ask yourself, where does it originate? How might you embody that in training?