In contemplating the deeper nature of what we are, and theconcept that we are not "ourselves" I began to explore they idea that we are literally the ki(life energy) flowing through us.
Often we consider ourselves to be the vibrating strings of energy that make up our molecules, but I feel like we are actually the space that moves those strings, the force that passes between the strings, and not actually the strings themselves.
Consider this. Your body is an instrument, but you are not actually the instrument, the instrument will age and decay and disappear, rather you are the energy that moves through the instrument, the song itself.
To take this thought a little further, imagine a guitar sitting by itself in space. It has no meaning, it is not even a guitar and certainly there is no guitar experience occurring. Without people to play it is nothing. Similarly that guitar is a very different thing when in the hands of a musician, because they energy flowing through it has changed.
In fact there is not true reality in the guitar, it is meaningless without the energy that moves through it. The true reality lies not in the wood and metal strings, but in the experience of guitaring.
So as humans we are not our bodies, not our material, but rather we are the energy that moves through us and the energy we share with others. Think about your relationship with someone. One day the energy feels good, they are your soulmate and your best friend, then the next day the energy feels bad and they are some rude person you used to know. This is because there is no truth in bodies, no true relationship, but only the movingki of life.
We therefore have to stop caring so mindfully about the material aspects of life, the "bodies" and instead begin to feel and care much more deeply about the energy that is flowing between us and others. For it is the energy that gives meaning to the bodies and not the other way around.
You can have two great bodies and yet no great relationship between them, because bodies do not create relationship, energy does. You might meet someone with a body you never thought you'd be deeply connected to and then the energy is such that you find a deep depth between the two of you. This is an example of what we actually are. The energy that passes between our bodies and not our bodies themselves.
Our bodies are just instruments for playing energy. And it is the song that we need to be considering, not the instruments. How can we be mindful of the song of life, how can we be mindful of the energy that is passing between us all. If we do not like the energy between us and another how can we begin to change the tune.
Aikido and therapy about both about changing the experience of life, both about changing the way that we relate to life. If we redefine life as the energy that is flowing around us we are likely to make changes much more quickly than if we are trying to change the bodies around us.