In the majority
of Japanese disciplines, the abdomen or Hara is seen as the most
important area of the body, partly because many of the internal
organs are housed in this region, but even moreso because of its
significance in terms of seiki: the vital life-force.
(NOTE: Seiki
is the term used in the Healing Art of Tenchi Seiki
Te-Ate to refer to the Vital Life Force of Nature - a
concept similar to but not quite the same as Reiki)
Seiki development centres around a specific area of the
Hara located midway between the navel and the top of the pubic
bone and known as the seika tanden.
It is here
that the mixing & uniting of two types of seiki occurs.
The Ten (Heavenly) energies enter the body via the top
of the head (crown), and the Chi (Earth) energies enter
the body via the perineum. The Heavenly energies flow down and
Earth energies well up, to meet and unite in the seika tanden,
there to form the individual's personal seiki (jinki
or human energy).
Seika tanden is the 'storehouse' for personal seiki,
and it is through certain breath-regulating practices (kokyu-ho),
dynamic, physical-posture & tension-relaxation exercises (taiso)
& specific concentration exercises, that the practitioner
begins to gain control of, develop, manipulate and utilise this
vital force which has been naturally present in their organic
makeup since birth, but which, in the majority of people is seldom
ever developed beyond its natural 'baseline' state.
The
actual kanji or ideogrammatic character used to represent
the ki part of the term seiki has traditionally
been interpreted as depicting steam rising from a pot in which
rice is cooking over a fire. The implied meaning being that the
nature of ki is something to be felt rather than seen or
heard - that it has an intangible quality - and as such, each
person's experience of (sei)ki will be slightly different.
One's quality of life is seen to directly correlate with the condition,
quality, strength & flow of seiki in the body, and
a major part of therapeutic arts such as Tenchi Seiki Te-Ate ['Heaven
& Earth Vital Life-force Therapy'] is about working to balance
and strengthen the client's seiki by means of a series
of both 'hands-on' and non-contact manipulative techniques, many
of which target specific tsubos or 'subtle-energy focal
areas', both on the client's body and in their energy field. As
mentioned above, each person's experience of seiki is slightly
different.
Sensations of seiki may be anything from a pulsing or mild
tingling to the experience of extreme heat, or on occasion even
extreme cold.
New students often feel warmth in the Seika Tanden and the palms
of the hands when initially practicing the basic development exercises,
with the tingling sensation being most commonly felt in the fingertips
and toes.
When the practitioner has become slightly more advanced he or
she can identify areas of blockage or disharmony (and even areas
of potential blockage or disharmony) by the quality of seiki
sensations when they practice their development exercises.
