Ryman-style exercise for Harai

I was passionately working on my daily exercise (introduced on April-11^th blog) before taking a bath.  To tell you the truth, there is one more exercise that I hadn’t mentioned earlier.

First I start with my hands on my waist and stand straight. Then, I step half step forward with my knee bent and bring it back. I do the same with the other leg. As I repeat this, the steps become bigger. When you bring back your leg, try to move smoothly as much as you can. You might loose your balance in the beginning, but if you continue doing this work-out, I sense that the center of your body (the path of Shinki-神気 - divine energy) will come into balance. Once your body is in balance, the movement becomes smooth and graceful. Don't over work in the beginning. Make sure you stretch your Achilles tendon before you start. 

One night when I was working on this movement, a reijin (霊人), a spirit, who is a master of swords appeared in my psychic vision. I hadn’t seen him for a while. He told me something very interesting.

He told me that as I’m stepping forward, I should put my hands together and swing from top of my head downwards. It’s like the Kendo (Japanese fencing) practice swinging your arms up and down but with your palms together. As I was trying the movement as he told me to do, I could hear the sound I heard at Ise Jingu. It’s the sound like the flying large wasp or an overlap of several low sounds of a bowstring instruments. I hear this sound when I go to a shrine filled with Shinki -divine sacred energy.

When I completed my exercise, I felt a great purifying effect.

Along with the gratitude sending towards your ancestral spirits and Kami, if you do this work-out it will be even more effective.

*The hands that are put together can be like two center fingers pointing out or all fingers together. Do it whichever way you prefer.

*Another important point is to move your leg smoothly. Close to suri-ashi, almost sliding your leg and try to make less noise as possible as you move. Very gently put your leg on the floor.

*The knees should be in a 90degree angle when you are stepping forward. So your upper body will come low.

*As you swing down your arms, say “Ehi!” out loud. This will bring harai (cleansing/purify) effect.

* Bring back your body gently and smoothly.

This time when he came to me, I noticed that this reijin was a two swords master. The balance of both right and left of his body was completed perfectly. He could use both arms equally with very fine skills. He was just like Musashi Miyamoto.

He also mentioned about his regrets during his lifetime. He regret being in contact with city cultured people and new religion followers. He was a pure country boy. He said he was watching out choosing whom to get close to, but failed to make the right choices. He also mentioned about a frightening incident of some foreign religious group approaching his family but this cannot be revealed in detail.

In the Japanese Mythology, Amaterasu-Ohomikami was entrusted to keep a Shinken (神剣), the Divine Sword from Susanoo.

As you can see in the photo book I published of Ise Jingu, Izawa-no-miya is where Amaterasu-Ohomikami resides. You can see the nichirin (circle of light) of Amaterasu.

Izawa-no-miya is where she holds the sacred sword that cuts off bad/evil mind.

The *ken-barai-fuda (剣祓札) is a charm equivalent to a kami-fuda (神札).

When I receive permission from the divine, at a proper timing, I will reveal the secret of the shape of this divine sword.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

I would like to spread the Gratitude Awareness towards ancestral spirits and everything around you so 5% of the world population will start acting on it on a daily basis.

*Ken-barai-fuda 剣祓札：Direct translation is sword-purify-charm. A rare charm sold specially at The Grand Shrine of Ise (or Ise-Jingu). It is rare because it has a special kind of tree bark wrapped on the top of the wooden piece inside the charm that is the old traditional way of making a proper charm.

Twenty years of visiting Ise - Part 5

We took the bus to go to Naigū. It has been years since I have taken a public bus. My wife and I were getting some change ready. It was 200 yen until the last stop all of the sudden, it went up to 410 yen! I would recommend you to get off at Okage-yokocho and walk. It will be cheaper.

We got to Naigū around 1:30 pm. The heat was intense. For older people and people with health problems, I would recommend to visit early in the morning. Spiritually, it is always better before 9:30 am. I have heard that many of the African tribes who worship the sun believe that the sun god only appears at sunrise and sunset. During the day, the sun god is not present.

When I sent my gratitude at the honden, main shrine, of Naigū, I sensed the seventh rank of Amaterasu-Ohomikami. I could see one Light Pillar standing toward heaven on the left side of the ground of sengu. The path behind the main shrine toward Aramatsuri-no-miya, the scenery is quite spectacular. However, this time, a fence was made and was no longer able to see the view. This time I didn’t sense anything at Aramatsuri-no-miya. I bought a Ken-barai-fuda*(charm) at the Naigū shrine office.

After leaving the shrine, we went to Okage-yokocho to have some ice shaves. When I looked at my shoes, it was covered with white dust from the gravel walk. I was going to clean it when we got back to the hotel, but ended up wearing it all the way back home. I felt this could be a souvenir for my house. Instead of taking the bus, we took a taxi back to the parking lot. If you are more than a party of four, it will be cheaper to take a taxi. During the taxi ride, the taxi driver told us an interesting story. He said that due to the exposure to the sunray, skin diseases are occurring within the taxi drivers. They had requested UV protection sheets to be applied on the car windows but was rejected. He said, “Even in Ise, we might need sun glasses like the one they wear at the South Pole,” kind of half joking and laughing.

After saying goodbye to my sister’s family, we went to a Shinto goods store near the entrance of Gegū and bought a hemp bark. I apply this bark to the tip of the core bar on my eight-legged altar. The god spirits reside on tree barks.

The next day, we went all the way to Sakamoto, Shiga Prefecture to a special soba restaurant. This Tsuruki-soba is a purveyor to the Imperial Household. The restaurant built 120 years ago had a nice atmosphere. I sensed that this area is a patrol course for the monkey ogres, who are the kenzoku spirits of Susanoo in the lower rank. Maybe it has to do with being close to the shrine, Hiyoshi-Taisha*. Such as this soba restaurant, when the local spirits are worshipped, they would receive protection and last long. The trip has come to an end. We drove back home looking at Lake Biwa on the way.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live




Ken-barai-fuda 剣祓札：A rare charm sold specially at The Grand Shrine of Ise (or Ise-jingu). It is rare because it has a special kind of tree bark wrapped on the top of the wooden piece inside the charm which is the old traditional way of making a proper charm.


Hiyoshi-Taisha 日吉大社：Located in Sakamoto, Shiga. The shrine was first built in the 8th century but was burnt when Oda Nobunaga destroyed the shrine along with Enrayku-ji temple. Hideyoshi Toyotomi constructed the existing buildings in the last quarter of the16th century. His name during childhood was “Hiyoshi-maru” and his nickname was “Saru” which means monkey.