Modern Yamabushi: The search for the modern Jedi

As a warrior, you take responsibility for holding the balance

 between light and dark within you and, by extension,

 
the world around you, and ultimately

 when you go deep enough, the universe.

 -Barefoot Doctor

The myth of the spiritual warrior permeates our folklore, our legends, and the very fabric of our religious systems. From the dawn of antiquity, the role of the spiritual warrior has been an integral part of every population. Stories of wondering monks, blind but agile acupuncturists, mythical Greek warriors who were to have descended from the gods, or the Knights Templar all characterize the personification of the warrior-monk. 

The position that the warrior-monk achieved throughout history has produced many legends, novels, stories and films. These legends have become entertainment for some, a passion for learning for others, but for a small minority, these legends have become a driving factor for self-improvement. A small number of scholars of spiritual mythology have found within the legend of the warrior-monk something far more tangible than bedtime stories (Jung, & Kere, 1949).

This paper will investigate this eclectic group of searchers. It will discuss the historical background for the myth of the Yamabushi and the warrior-monk. It will discuss current attempts by the United States military for cultivating the spiritual warrior. Finally, an example for a Jedi training program will be illustrated where an alternative youth school learns the arts of the warrior-monk.

From the dusty sandals of a Shaolin monk played by David Carridine, to the conflict between Jedi masters, and the mystical adventures of Neo in the Matrix trilogy, Hollywood has embraced the epic battles between good and evil. The warrior-monk draws an interest that spans all ages and genres. But behind all of the glitter of the red carpet, is the historical representation of what these blockbuster films drew their inspiration from. George Lucas spent years researching Eastern and Western philosophies before catapulting the epic story of the Jedi Knights onto the silver screen (Morong, 1994). There is a tremendous amount of Buddhism and warrior ethics woven within the Star Wars saga (Bartolin, 2005). The box office sales do well with mystical tales of warrior-monks walking their path and fighting for justice (Morong, 1994).

The story of the wandering, mystical, warrior-monk fighting for the underdog resonates with today’s society. People desire to have those martial skills and the connection with the earth much as the ancient warrior-monks had. They wish that they could master an art to the level of the Jedi Knights.

What society does not realize is that there is still that level of training and devotion continuing today in some Eastern martial art and philosophy subcultures as well as a small number of Westerners learning the skills of the ancient Native American scouts (Brown, 1995 & Kaigno & Shuchao, 1996).

These small eclectic groups spend years perfecting the mystical skills of tracking, wilderness survival, esoteric martial arts, yoga, tai chi, energy healing, remote viewing, telekinesis, mind reading, and all aspects of human enhancement (Kaigno & Shuchao, 1996 & Danaos, 2000). These groups include: small martial arts dojos, Buddhist monks, military psychics, survivalists, naturalists, New Age groups, and a plethora of other eclectic groups well off of the radar of society. This section will focus on the mystical Japanese Yamabushi, the Apache scout, and give reference to the military psychics and current endeavors to learn the mystical arts of the warrior-monk.

Historical representation of the Yamabushi and the Warrior Monk

The word Yamabushi literally means, “lying in the mountains” and refers to ascetics who followed an aesthetic and austere spiritual practice in remote natural areas (Earhart, 1984). The term was used to describe those warrior-monks who chose the mountains exclusively for their austere training grounds. These men and women would withdraw from ordinary society to pursue the benefits of a rigorous mountain lifestyle. They would often maintain a special diet, such as pine needles to maintain health and to gain mythical powers (Hitoshi, 1989). Training included martial arts but focused heavily on special magic powers that included exorcism, healing, invisibility, and awareness (Turnbull, 1992).

The Yamabushi would subject themselves to physical trials such as standing under cold waterfalls for extended periods. These wilderness Ascetics sought out sacred mountains as a training ground and a shelter from society where they could freely put to use many different religious techniques. In Japan, as with many East Asian cultures, mountains themselves are considered sacred regions where deities reside. These unpopulated and unregulated areas of the country were seen places where man could interact directly with nature and the spirits contained within (Earhart, 1984).

The Yamabushi were providers of spiritual and medical care to the populations located near their mountain retreats. They would offer prayers, herbal remedies, and magical practices. People would travel for some distances to access the healing powers of these warrior-monks. The ascetic lifestyle and natural location were an inspiration for the solace-seeking pilgrims.

Earhart summarized the Yamabushi inspiration for performing asceticism in the mountains as the belief that one can become a Buddha or equal to a Buddha by a practice of mountain retreats combined with rituals (Earhart, 1984). Caves acquired a special importance for the Yamabushi as places to absorb the maximum spiritual power of the mountain and the deities who dwell there. Legend holds that ascetics chose winter for their cave rites because of the close connection with nature during of purification. Purifying themselves of effluence, they entered the retreat in a state maximally capable of accepting new powers. Miyake adds that since the spirits of the mountains were believed to pass the winter in a state of semi-hibernation, when the Yamabushi prayed in the caves in that season, he may absorb the powers of the spirits (Miyake, 1989)

Nature was the cornerstone of the Yamabushi practice. They immersed themselves in remote, austere, and natural surroundings. As a practice, they would sequester for long periods in their mountain dwelling. The Yamabushi saw the importance of the wilderness for training and connection to the warrior spirit.

The Yamabushi were not the only society of warrior-priests who chose a life of aesthetic practices. Christian monks have often used remote locations to commune with the spirit. Indeed, whole monk orders have within their founding laws a mandatory time of seclusion surrounded by nature and austere environments (Lawrence, 2001). A prime example of the Christian warrior monk is the Knights Templar of the age of the crusades. Although legends abound on the origins and motives of this eclectic order, the tenets of the organization rely heavily upon the mystic Christian beliefs (Addison, 1997).

Other Christian examples of the warrior-monks were the Knights Templar who were created during the crusades of the twelfth century. Their original duty was to protect the roads leading into Jerusalem from the brigands and bandits that were numerous after the crusaders fought for control of the region. The Templars quickly expanded and strengthened their numbers. They created the first banking system and grew so wealthy that the Pope and the King of France created false accusations against the order that allowed them to persecute the organization and gain much of the financial wealth that the Templars had amassed (Addison, 1997). As knights, the Templars controlled the access to knowledge; as monks, their role was to maintain and transmit the metaphysical truth, and also to communicate with similar organizations of other traditions.

The church prosecuted the Templars and tortured and killed many until the order went into hiding. The Inquisition evolved from the prosecution of the Knights Templar and went on to take the lives of countless innocent victims over the next three hundred years (Addison, 1997).

The legends of the Knights Templar continue today with best selling books continuing the myths and intrigue of the warrior monk. Also found within mainstream media are references to other eclectic groups of warrior-monks (Addison, 1997).

Native American Scouts

Many of the North American tribes had within their communities a secret society of scouts and shadow scouts. These warriors were selected for their abilities for hunting, tracking, warriorship, and survival capabilities. Before they were selected for scout training, they were challenged with situations that tested their judgment, compassion, and commitment to the tribe (Goodwin, 2004).

The warrior-scout spent the first forty years training with other scout students as well as being sent out for solo missions. During the entire time of their training they were monitored and followed by the scout elders to witness the tenacity and honor of the students. For example, one test for the warrior-scout was to be taken blindfolded over one hundred miles away from the tribal encampment and told to find the tribe without removing their blindfold. Meanwhile, the rest of the tribe were quickly packing up the camp and moving it some distance away.

The warrior-scout had to retrace his steps by tracking with his fingertips and sensing the direction of travel by feeling the heat of the sun to the south. Many days later, when he finally returned to where the tribe had been, he then had to follow the tracks of the tribe using his fingertips to finally locate their new encampment. Meanwhile, the student scouts still had to forage for food and water on the way without removing their blindfold. If at anytime they took their blindfold off, they were immediately sent back to the tribe and never allowed to continue scout training.

During one such event, one scout trainee named Stalkingwolf from the Lipan Apache tribe was tracking his tribe along an embankment and slipped down the steep slope to the creek below. During the fall, his blindfold fell off. Concerned that he would be disqualified if he opened his eyes, he fumbled for several days with his eyes shut until he found his buckskin blindfold, replaced it around his head, and continued on to track the relocated tribe (Brown, 2003).

  The spiritual abilities of the warrior-scout were honed as well. They were taught how to listen to the landscape, to communicate with the plants and wildlife, and to heal with but a touch (Steiger, 1984). They were avid herbalists and knew all of the uses and applications of everything found in their bioregion.

As warriors, the scouts were the eyes and ears of the tribe. They would be sent into enemy camps to hear their counsels on war, to count the available warriors and then to return unseen and unheard. Once the invasion of the New World commenced, they would sneak into the enclosed forts to lie within arms reach of the sentry guards and listen to the conversations and assess their fighting capabilities. Scout pits were dug right underneath the footsteps of the marching soldiers where the scouts slept during the day, free from the fear of being discovered (Goodwin, 2004).

These historical representations of the warrior-monk have not been totally laid to rest in some dusty archive in a basement at a University. These principles, training techniques and abilities are alive and well today. In recent times, the military of the United States has embarked on using the paranormal to assist with its endeavors. Wilderness based home schools have emerged around the country. These facilities of alternative education incorporate the training and awareness of the Native American scouts within their curriculum. There are students of Tai Chi, Taoists wizards, and martial artists who have cultivated supernatural skills and abilities that can only be explained using the ancient stories and myths of the warrior-monks (Steiger, 2004, & Kaigno & Shunchao, 1996).

Current manifestations of Jedi training

The "Jedi Warrior Program" was designed and delivered to the United States Army Green Berets in nineteen eighty-five and nineteen eighty-six after four years of intensive research and design. It was described by the Pentagon as, "The most exquisite orchestration of human technology has ever been attempted” (Strozzi-Hecker, 2003).

The goal of the program was to increase abilities for physical, mental, team and mission performance of the participants. Daily activities included; two hours of Aikido, morning and evening Buddhists style mediation, team-building activities, and nominal administration duties. Upon the completion of the six month program, the Army tested the participants and found an increase of seventy-five percent on the physical assessment tests (Strozzi-Hecker, 2003).

It is notable that the Army had neither vocabulary nor testing ability to assess the mental, spiritual and emotional improvements. During the program, all three of these issues surfaced on an individual level. The staff had no experience dealing with this outcome and the participants, being raised in a society where those three issues were suppressed and ignored were frightened when they were forced to address them. There was no environment where these budding warrior-monks could face these issues coming from within. Instead, they revolted and turned to anger when they could not understand what was happening to them. The experience failed miserably and the Army quickly buried the results in a quagmire of bureaucracy and soon forgot the lessons learned (Strozzi-Hecker, 2003).

This was not the first attempt by the Pentagon to use extra sensory perception for applications on the battlefield. In the late nineteen seventies, there was an emergence of a phenomena labeled as remote viewing. It was started by a couple of professors at Stanford University but was soon picked up by the military (Ronson, 2006).

The premise was that soldiers could be trained to eavesdrop on events happening around the globe by traveling psychically through time and space to a specific location. These psychic spies were able to influence a tremendous amount of events occurring in the late nineteen seventies and eighties. After knowledge of this elite unit had been leaked to the press, the Pentagon quickly terminated all of the known programs and personnel (Morehouse, 1996). Several of the soldiers involved in the program have since published their own accounts and involvements (Ronson, 2006).

Other accounts of current applications of Jedi training are occurring in the Southeast Asia. There have been some account of Buddhist monk spending months in seclusion without food and water, there are descriptions of miraculous physical feats, unexplainable healings and filmed instances of moving objects without touching them, starting fires with bare hands, lightning bolts coming from the hands of Taoist wizards, and other examples of defying the laws of physics (Tomio, 1994, Danaos, 2000, & Kaigno & Shuchao, 1996).

Many of these examples could have been adapted into the Jedi training manual of the Star Wars saga. These are but a few illustrations of Jedi-like training in current societies. Taoists wizards, reclusive Buddhist monks, and the United States military all have something in common. They have used Jedi-like powers to benefit their particular goals and worldviews. These may seem a bit far fetched and out of reach. There are also common people who are using some particular training regiments within an alternative school’s curriculum. These home-schooled children spend three days per week focusing on mainstream reading, writing, and arithmetic. The other two days are a different matter altogether.

These children spend these two days out in the wilderness with Apache trained survivalists and trackers. While the kids think that they are just out amongst the tree playing, the instructors are actually using a method called Coyote Teaching. Coyote Teaching in a modality developed by the First Nation tribes to teach by questioning. The instructors use this method to keep each child intrigued with the natural world around them (Young, 2007 & Brown, 1995).

Part of the program includes spiritual training and heightening the awareness of the students. Using blindfolds, drums, and scout games, the instructors work to hone the senses and awareness of the students. By the end of the eight-year program, these kids are able to sense and interact with the natural world on a level that some would call miraculous.

The tactics used by the instructors have been passed down from the First Nations tribes. These procedures have been honed over tens of thousands of years and are still applicable today, and are steeped deeply within shamanism and the spiritual implications of the Native American tribes. The abilities demonstrated by the graduating students include the capability to communicate with inanimate objects, to sense thoughts and emotions, to heal with the energy of the Earth, and to understand the language of the birds and animals around them (Brown, 1984).

These skills and abilities are not unique. References to similar powers have been documented about the ancient Yamabushi, prophets from the bible, Buddhists monks, and even the United States military. It seems that there is a common theme found throughout history when assessing the human potential for psychic or supernatural abilities. It is not rare nor is it left to the realm of science fiction. George Lucas, when creating his world of Jedi’s fighting for good and evil, never would have guessed the impact his films had on humanity. What he didn’t realize is that his Jedi order has some brethren here in the real world.

Conclusion

It has been shown that many different societies have benefited from the role of the warrior-monk. Across the globe the spiritual warrior permeates ancient history and in a smaller scale, today’s mythology and intrigue. The scouts from the New World, the gallantry of the Knights Templar, the quiet mystical presence of the Yamabushi all bring a sense of connection to the world of the unseen as well as service to the people they swore to assist.

In today’s restless society, there is a severe lacking in the role of the warrior-monk. There has been a deep separation between the fighting ranks and a spiritual connection to the unseen. There is no niche for the warrior-monk. The United States military attempted to introduce the concepts of the warrior-monk to twenty-five Green Berets in the mid nineteen-eighties with disastrous results (Strozzi-Hecker, 2003). The philosophies of the Western mind do not have a vocabulary for connecting with the realms found within the human psyche. Societies have been raised on images and role models based on bravado, testosterone, and no connection to inner feelings. Images of John Wayne, Rambo, and the epic tough guy icon have removed the vocabulary and the freedom for any budding warrior-monk to grow into their role of service and humility.

This repressed desire for the life of the warrior-monk has created a need within the current society for the stories and films based on epic battles with good pitted against evil, with the role of the warrior-monk finally allowed a niche to fight and win for service to his people.

The real life representations of the model of the warrior-monk are limited and struggling. Perhaps as civilization continues down a path that veers away from a connection with spirit, nature and the unseen, the role of the warrior-monk can again emerge to shed some light on the ongoing battles between right and wrong.

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