AIKIDO ZEN PATH
AI – Harmony, KI – Energy, DO – Way
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The Art of PeaceThe divine beauty |
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Master Morihei Ueshiba (O-Sensei) |
AIKIDO ZEN PATH offers a way to practice the ‘Art of Peace’ for total spiritual development. The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei, developed the art as an expression of his spiritual experience. His goal was to awaken humanity to Oneness. Aikido Zen teaches a way of embodying and living Universal Energy, another name for Buddha Nature or Enlightenment.
Our program follows the Zen Garland General Path, which provides a common foundation uniting us. Practitioners in the Aikido Zen Path primarily study with one of the Directors, Dharma Holders and 5th Dan Aikido Sensei Eran Vardi or Sensei Greg Noble. Students also have the option to enhance their practice through personal study with Zen Master, Roshi Paul Genki Kahn.
Students who wish to enter the Aikido Zen Path have an interview with one of the Directors. If the candidate is accepted in the program, he or she works with their Teacher to develop a holistic training path appropriate to their personal goals, level of commitment, and existing life responsibilities. Our model is not a monastic form, but an intense discipline of worldly life lived spiritually. We offer residential accommodations for students who wish to come for periods of intense training.
All practitioners in Zen Garland are welcome to practice Aikido for training in Embodiment, the development of mind-body integration, awareness and skill in functioning.
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Eran Vardi, Sensei |
Rev. Greg Tensho Noble, Sensei |
“In your training, do not hurry, for it takes a minimum of ten years to master the basics and advance to the first rung. Never think of yourself as an all-knowing, perfected master; you must continue to train daily with your friends and students and progress together in the Art of Peace.”
Practitioners committed to the AIKIDO ZEN PATH are supervised by Vardi Sensei and Noble Sensei, and have intensive private and group studies on Aikido, as well as regular Aikido training. These practitioners follow the Zen Garland holistic approach to spiritual development, which includes 5 Core Practices: Zen meditation, study with a Zen Teacher, ethical integrity, embodiment and character development. Aikido Zen as a Spiritual Path integrates these aspects around the physical practice of Aikido under the guidance of a teacher accomplished in both Aikido and Zen.
AIKIDO ZEN PATH training locations:
Aikido of Ramapo Valley (part of the Zen Garland campus)
Wyckoff, New Jersey:
Directed by Eran Vardi Sensei, 5th Dan in the United States Aikido Federation and the International Aikido Federation. Vardi Sensei’s Dojo, Aikido of Ramapo Valley, is part of the Zen Garland Campus in Wyckoff, NJ.
West Virginia Zen Dojo
Charlston, West Virginia:
Directed by Rev. Greg Tensho Noble, Sensei, 5th Dan in the Aikido World Alliance, where he is Chairperson for both the Technical Committee and the National Test Committee
“If you have not linked yourself to true emptiness, you will never understand the art of peace”
The establishment of Practice Paths in Zen Garland and the empowerments and ordinations of teachers, priests and ministers leading Practice Paths flow from Roshi Paul Genki Kahn’s empowerment as a Zen Buddhist priest, master teacher, lineage and precept holder. Zen realization and actualization are the heart of our spirituality and beyond form and formlessness. Being so, Zen can express itself in infinite forms. The Zen Garland Practice Paths transmit the heart of Zen, share a General Path that provides common ground, and offer such unique expressions for spiritual practice as Christian Zen, Native American Zen, Aikido Zen.