Realizing Bodymind Oneness in Daily Life

How much of yourself do you actually use? Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, in terms of your full capacity as a human being? Most of us have had moments (in a crisis, in a flow state, in a moment of total presence) where we surprised ourselves. We moved faster, thought more clearly, responded more skillfully than we thought possible. Where did that ability come from? It was always there. We just got out of our own way long enough to access it.

This is the central message of this Shokushu. We walk around using a fraction of our natural capacity, not because we are weak, but because we have separated ourselves from ourselves. We live in our heads, disconnected from our bodies. Or we push our bodies while ignoring what our minds and hearts are telling us. This division is the source of so much unnecessary limitation and suffering.

The practice is simple, though not easy: experience Bodymind Oneness, in this moment, in each moment. Not as a concept, but as a felt reality. Then the artificial ceiling we've placed on our own capacity disappears, and we find ourselves capable of far more than we ever imagined.

Table of Contents

• Realizing Bodymind Oneness in Daily Life

• Reflection of the Week:

  • Unpacking Ki Sayings 

  • The Text Original Japanese

  • Standard English Translation

  • A More Literal Translation 

  • Commentary & Analysis 

    • Realizing Bodymind Oneness

    • Fundamentally One-As-It-Is 

    • Without-power

    • Entrusting Completely 

  • Why This Is the Fourth Shokushu 

  • Conclusion

Reflection of the Week:

Unpacking Ki Sayings 

The Shokushu (誦句集), or Ki Sayings, are the crown jewels of Soshu Koichi Tohei Sensei's teaching influenced by, among other things, his reading of Saikontan (菜根譚) as a young man. We often read one of the Ki Sayings before class, and it's easy to let them wash over us without washing through us. So I want to take time to chew on each of them in depth so we can soak more deeply in their meaning.

There is a challenge here. These Ki Sayings are experiential teachings, written in Japanese many years ago and not updated significantly even as Tohei Sensei's own experience and pedagogy progressed through his life. The English version was translated early on by students whose own level of understanding was still developing, so, even with small revisions over time, the English version can sometimes be misleading and sound like commands or a distant goal. Even the Japanese original does not always accurately convey fully the deeper meaning.

In this series of articles about each Ki Saying, I will do my best to present the Japanese original, the standard English translation, a more literal translation, and an exploration of the deeper meaning which may diverge for expand from a literal reading. The real teaching, however, is not about the meaning of words, but about experiencing the Oneness of Bodymind now, now, now, in every moment.

The Text Original Japanese

四、心身統一

心身は本来一如である。 氷山の一角のみを我が力と思い、その非力を嘆くこと勿れ。 心身を統一し、天地に任せきった時、人間本来の偉大なる力を発揮出来るのである。

Standard English Translation

4. Unification of Mind and Body

Mind and body were originally one. 

Do not think that the power you have is only the power you ordinarily use and moan that you have little strength. The power you ordinarily use is like the small, visible segment of an iceberg. 

When we unify our mind and body and become one with the Universe, we can use the great power that is naturally ours.

A More Literal Translation 

4. Realizing Bodymind Oneness

Bodymind is fundamentally one-as-it-is. 

Do not think the tip of the iceberg is your only power, nor mistake without-power (hiriki) for powerlessness. When we experience the Oneness of Bodymind and entrust ourselves completely to Heaven and Earth, we can express the great power that is naturally and originally ours.

Commentary & Analysis 

Let's break down the key phrases to deepen our understanding.

Realizing Bodymind Oneness

The title gives us the name of the central practice of our art: Shinshin Toitsu (心身統一). This is not just the title of a Ki Saying; it is the name embedded in our practice itself: Shinshin Toitsu Aikido (心身統一合氣道).

Let's look at the components:

• 心身 (shinshin) combines 心 (shin/kokoro), mind or heart, and 身 (shin/mi), body. It is worth noting that 身 could be seen as body (体, karada), but its meaning is broader than just the physical body. 身 carries the sense of one's whole person, one's self, one's lived existence, not just flesh and bone. When paired with 心 (kokoro), which itself means not just "mind" but heart, feeling, and spirit, the compound 心身 points to the totality of our lived experience, inner and outer. This is why I prefer "Bodymind" as a single word. It captures the Japanese sense of 心身 as an already-one whole rather than two separate things that need to be joined.

• 統一 (toitsu) is typically translated as to unify, to integrate, to bring into one. But the character 統 (tou) is richer than "unify" suggests. Its left side is the radical for silk 糸 (ito, thread). 統 originally meant the lead thread of a silk cocoon: the single starting thread that, once found, allows the entire skein to be drawn out. From this concrete image came the abstract meanings: an organizing principle, a governing thread, and "altogether" (everything functioning as one). 一 (itsu/ichi) is simply "one." So 統一 is not about combining separate pieces. It is about finding the thread that reveals the wholeness already there. That thread was never missing; we just hadn't found it yet.

However, if mind and body are already one, as the very next line tells us, then what are we "unifying"? It is not fusing two separate parts together. It is the continuous process of realization, the making real, the experiencing, of what is already true. We "realize" Bodymind in the same way we "remember" something we already know. The knowledge was never lost, only obscured. This is why I prefer to translate 心身統一 as "Realizing Bodymind Oneness" rather than "Unification of Mind and Body." I think it better expresses what the practice actually is.

Fundamentally One-As-It-Is 

心身は本来一如である。
(shinshin wa honrai ichinyo de aru)

The standard translation renders this as "Mind and body were originally one." But this past tense is misleading. The Japanese 本来 (honrai) does not mean "once upon a time." It means "fundamentally," "by nature," or "from the very beginning and continuing now." And 一如 (ichinyo) is a Buddhist term meaning "one-as-it-is," or "one suchness," an expression of non-duality that describes things as they actually are, not as they once were.

A more accurate rendering then would be: "Bodymind is fundamentally one-as-it-is."

This is not a historical claim about some lost paradise of unity (“were one”). It is a statement about right now, this very moment, each moment. Mind and body are one. They have never been separate. The separation we feel (the chattering mind disconnected from the tense body, the body acting on autopilot while the mind races elsewhere) is not a fundamental reality. It is a habit of perception, a kind of fog or dust that obscures what is always already the case.

If mind and body were one (past tense), then our task would be to somehow reassemble something that broke apart, a daunting and perhaps impossible project. But since mind and body are one (present tense), then our task is simply to notice, to experience what is already true. This is far more immediate and far more accessible.

As we reflected in the article on Shugyo Tassai Kigan Shiki, we are not creating this connection; we are uncovering it, like brushing dust off a mirror or polishing a rock to find the gemstone within. The mirror was always bright; the gemstone was always there. Our Saikontan quote for this article echoes this same insight: "The mind need not be purified; remove what muddies it, and clarity appears on its own." The task is not construction. It is recognition.

Without-power

氷山の一角のみを我が力と思い、その非力を嘆くこと勿れ。
(hyōzan no ikkaku nomi wo waga chikara to omoi, sono hiriki wo nageku koto nakare) 

氷山の一角 (hyōzan no ikkaku), "the tip of the iceberg," is as common an expression in Japanese as it is in English. のみを (nomi wo) means "only," narrowing our attention to just that visible tip. 我が力と思い (waga chikara to omoi) is "thinking it is my power." So the first half describes the error: we look at the small, visible portion of our capacity and mistake it for the whole.

その非力を嘆くこと (sono hiriki wo nageku koto): lamenting/bemoaning hiriki. Conventionally, 非力(hiriki) is understood as powerlessness, a lack of strength. But the character 非 (hi) invites a deeper reading. In his fascicle Zazenshin (坐禅箴), Dogen introduces the term hishiryo (非思量, without-thinking) to point beyond the dichotomy of shiryo (思量, thinking) and fushiryo (不思量, not-thinking). Where 不 (fu) simply negates, 非 (hi) points outside the category entirely. Hishiryo is not the suppression of thought; it is awareness that transcends the thinking/not-thinking framework altogether. I am taking the liberty here of constructing the parallel term 不力 (furiki) to name what hiriki is not: no-power, powerlessness, the negative side of the power/no-power dualism. Read through this lens, hiriki is not furiki. Rather, it is without-power: something outside the power/no-power framework entirely.

So we have two distinct misapprehensions. The first is looking at the tip of the iceberg and calling that all of our power. The second is experiencing hiriki (the state outside the power/powerless, strong/weak framework entirely) and lamenting/bemoaning it as weakness because we mistake it as mere powerlessness (furiki). Both errors keep us inside a measuring system the teaching is trying to dissolve. 勿れ (nakare) is an emphatic "do not!" that applies to both of these errors. 

The iceberg is a vivid, commonly used image. But we should not put too much stock in extending it. Even imagining "the rest of the iceberg" keeps us thinking in terms of quantity or dualism: a larger but still finite store of power; weakness vs strength. The great power that is naturally and originally ours is not a bigger iceberg. It is limitless. Hiriki is the opening to it.

This is why 全身の力を完全に抜く (zenshin no chikara o kanzen ni nuku, Relax Completely) does not mean "use less power." It says throw away the power of your whole self entirely. The destination is hiriki: not weaker, not stronger, but outside the comparison altogether.

A note on the grammar: I acknowledge that その (sono, "that") conventionally implies a causal link between the two clauses: in this case mistake the tip of the iceberg for your only power, and hiriki follows as a consequence. In this exploration I am deliberately looking past the literal/conventional reading into the experiential meaning beneath.

Entrusting Completely 

心身を統一し、天地に任せきった時、人間本来の偉大なる力を発揮出来るのである。
(shinshin wo toitsu shi, tenchi ni makasekitta toki, ningen honrai no idai naru chikara wo hakki dekiru no de aru)

The standard translation reads: "When we unify our mind and body and become one with the Universe, we can use the great power that is naturally ours." But the Japanese meaning is something deeper and more practical.

心身を統一し (shinshin wo toitsu shi) is simply the verb form of 心身統一, "realizing Bodymind Oneness." The し (shi) links this to what follows, pairing the two as a single, simultaneous condition: when we are experiencing Bodymind Oneness and entrusting ourselves completely to the Universe, the great power expresses itself. These are not sequential steps; they are two facets of the same experience.

The key phrase is 天地に任せきった時 (tenchi ni makasekitta toki). Let's break it down:

• 任せる (makaseru) means "to entrust" or "to leave to." It carries the sense of surrendering control, of placing yourself completely in the care of something greater.

• きった (kitta) is an emphatic suffix meaning "completely" or "thoroughly." There is nothing held back.

• 天地 (tenchi) is Heaven and Earth, the Universe.

So the phrase means: "When we completely entrust ourselves to the Universe." This is not "becoming one with the Universe" as though we were separate and needed to merge. It is a total letting go, a complete surrender of the small self's need to control.

And what happens when we do this? 人間本来の偉大なる力を発揮出来るのである (ningen honrai no idai naru chikara o hakki dekiru no de aru), "We can express the great power that is naturally and originally ours as human beings." As we explored with Maai, 人間 (ningen) is translated as human-being and to be clear does not mean "individual." That would be kojin (個人), literally "one-of person," something separate and boxed in. Ningen literally means "between-ness person," a human-being in community, defined not by isolation but by interconnection, by the space between. The great power described here is that of a ningen, not a kojin. Note also that 本来 (honrai) appears again. This power is not acquired, earned, or given. It is fundamental, natural, always already present. We don't gain new power through this practice. We simply stop blocking the power that was always there.

The Saikontan quote reflects this beautifully: "The mind need not be purified; remove what muddies it, and clarity appears on its own." The clarity doesn't arrive. The power doesn't appear. They were always there. Our agitation and division, our insistence on doing it all ourselves, simply prevented us from expressing what was already ours.

Why This Is the Fourth Shokushu 

At first glance, you might expect this teaching to come first. After all, Shinshin Toitsu, Realizing Bodymind Oneness, is so fundamental to what we do that it is literally in the name of our art. It is the central experience, the core practice, the thing we are actually doing on the mat and in our daily lives. Why isn't it the opening statement?

The answer lies in the careful pedagogical architecture of the Shokushu as a whole:

• Shokushu #1: Our Motto establishes the North Star, the ultimate purpose of our training: to experience Bodymind Oneness and realize Oneness with the Universe. It encapsulates the entire practice in one pithy, concise passage. It tells us what we are doing, why we’re doing it and then how to do it. 

• Shokushu #2: The Meaning and Value of My Life grounds this purpose in our personal reality. It tells us that you and I, as human beings, have the unique capacity and responsibility to undertake this work. 

• Shokushu #3: The Process of Experiencing Oneness with Ki describes the underlying reality we operate in. The Absolute Universe is One, and we are born of it. There is no separation to bridge.

Now, with a high-level understanding of our path, a personal stake in it, and an understanding of our inherent connection to the world around us, Tohei Sensei reminds us that we are not separate within ourselves, either. This is the practical, experiential heart of the matter: Realizing Bodymind Oneness. And that when we realize that Oneness in our whole self and entrust ourselves completely to the Universe, releasing the idea of power altogether, then, paradoxically, the great power that is naturally and originally ours becomes available to us. 

Everything that follows in the remaining Shokushu (the principles, the practices, etc) builds on this experiential foundation. Without it, the subsequent teachings are just words. With it, they become expressions of the great power that is naturally ours.

Conclusion

Living only from the tip of the iceberg, relying on nothing but conscious effort, is exhausting. The deep, bone-level weariness that comes from fighting year after year. The tight shoulders that never fully release. The mind that won't stop racing. The feeling that no matter how hard we push, it's never quite enough. 

The cost of staying there compounds over time. What begins as manageable tension becomes chronic stress. What starts as determination sours into burnout. We keep gripping tighter, convinced that if we just try harder, we'll break through. But the conscious effort’s resources are finite, and the harder we grip and push, the more we exhaust them.

We don't have to keep doing this. We don't have to keep fighting these headwinds. The limitless power that is naturally and originally ours is here for us, in each moment. The wind is already at our backs. We just haven't realized it yet. As Shinichi Tohei Sensei says, “Change your concept.” 

The dojo is where we practice that process of realization. It's where we learn, in our whole self and not just our heads, that letting go doesn't mean falling apart. Every class, every technique, every moment of Ki Breathing, Ki Meditation, misogi, etc. is an opportunity to let go of our grip on the idea of power a little more completely, and open to what is always already there. We build confidence in that experience and are able to bring it into the rest of our lives.

Upcoming Events

April 6 - May 18 “LVKA Spring Intro to Ki-Aikido course” 7:15pm - 8:15pm on Mondays from April 6 through May 18.

April 24 - 26, 2026 “Ki Ga Tsuku in Daily Life” with EKF Chief Instructor Rich Fryling Sensei hosted by Minnesota Ki-Aikido

August 7 - 9, 2026 “EKF Summer Seminar” hosted by South Carolina Ki Aikido, Save the Date

October 19 - 21, 2026 “World Camp” in Chiba, Japan. Contact your Head Instructor for details.

I look forward to seeing you on the mat (and in daily life) soon!