I was raised Roman Catholic and therefore became familiar with the practice of using Rosary Beads to facilitate prayer and meditation. I have to admit that after completing the sacrament of Confirmation (sometime around 1976), my use of Rosary Beads ceased. Or, did it.
My regular readers know that an integral part of my daily Esoteric Kata practice includes not only precursor Kata, the Sacred Trinity of Kata and Zazen, but also the unique Ghost Hand Kata. https://senseijohn.me/2023/06/30/katannabis-unique-ghost-hand-kata-learn-this-powerful-kata-for-free/ .
I was performing a highly advanced version of the Ghost Hand Kata https://senseijohn.me/2023/11/20/ghost-hand-kata-update-newest-variations/ . It occurred to me that what I was doing was akin to using Christian Rosary Beads to facilitate prayer. This struck me as profound.
To help me better understand the similarity between the Rosary and Kata performed with a prayerful intention, I began to list a few common traits:
- •Both involve combining mind, body and soul or spirit into one activity.
- •Both are performed with Kime (mental & physical focus) and libidic energy, otherwise known as passion. Similar to the “Cry of the Soul.” (See Endnote # 2).
- •Beads, otherwise a mere physical object, can become a sanctified facilitator of prayer with the Transcendent Divine. So too, with Kata, please see this post: https://senseijohn.me/2023/08/11/katannabis-sanctify-your-kata/ .
- •There are proscribed intonations (prayers) that are associated with each particular bead. In Kata, you can associate an intonation with a specific breath, movement or sequence. See for example, my intonations in the Kata Ananku and Seipai: https://senseijohn.me/2024/02/14/esoteric-kata-esoteric-kiai-breath-intonation-introduction-ananku-seipai-kata-intonations/
- •There is a procedure, a series of independent “actions”, prayers that are linked into sequences. In the Rosary, these sequences are called “Decades” (See Endnote # 1). Taken together, the Decades form a cohesive whole. The cohesive whole is then capable of being reproduced by the performer. It is also capable of being transmitted, taught to another. It is also possible to be performed in a group. Again, all of the same is true of Kata.
I concluded my session and quietly sat with my dog, Maharet, looking out our bay window at the evening snowfall reflecting off house lights. It struck me that the analogy of the Rosary to the Ghost Hand Kata, actually extended to all Kata when performed specifically with the intention of prayer and sacrifice. I call this method of performing Kata “Blood Kata.” Please see: https://senseijohn.me/2022/10/17/katannabis-effect-of-sacrifice-prayer/ and https://senseijohn.me/2024/01/02/esoteric-kata-blood-kata-ritual-introduction/ .
This isn’t an article on the methodology of using the Rosary, so for those unfamiliar with the Rosary, I have placed a guide in Endnote # 1 which will acquaint you with same.
The concept of Kata as analogous to the Rosary is a matter that I hope to delve deeper into as I continue to explore my Esoteric Kata. As with other aspects of Esoteric Kata, I’ll post my continuing insights. In the meantime, continue your own Esoteric Kata journey with a pure heart, open mind and clean spirit. Until then,
I remain,
Cum superiorum privilegio veniaque *
Sensei John Szmitkowski
* (with the privilege and permission of the superiors)
Endnotes:
1. The following guide was obtained form the US Conference Of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) website:
“The repetition in the Rosary is meant to lead one into restful and contemplative prayer related to each Mystery. The gentle repetition of the words helps us to enter into the silence of our hearts, where Christ’s spirit dwells.”
2. I derived the phrase “Cry of the Soul” from a book that I highly recommend to supplement your Esoteric Kata practice – “Psychic Self-Defense” by Dion Fortune, the nom-de-plume for Violet Mary Firth. The “Cry of the Soul” is described as: “(In) times of spiritual crisis, when the very self is being swept away, then it is that the cry of the soul is heard, and Something manifests out of the mists of the Unseen, manifests in a form that is comprehensible to the one who calls. Whether intense stress induces a temporary expansion of consciousness, a fugitive psychism, or whether a Being of its own volition passes through the veil and manifests, I do not know; there are never any details available of these incidents. They take place only in times of dire stress and go as swiftly as they came, leaving no trace except upon the soul.” Excerpt From: Fortune, Dion. “Psychic Self-Defense.” iBooks.
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