Cleaning our spiritual homes Kwan Jhang Nim Charles Ferraro Reprinted from Mi Guk Kwan News - Spring 1998

I trust this newsletter finds you already deeply entrenched in the challenges of the new year. 1997 was a year that for me personally brought many joys and a few disappointments. Such is the dichotomous nature of life. As always it is perspective that pulls us through our up and down swings. We are constantly reminded that both the positive and the negative aspects of life are both essential, as well as, equally connected to our ability to act out God's play of consciousness. As we act out our parts on life's stage we continually picture the events of our day to day activities, experiences and achievements, as a sort of mini-drama taking place within an epic motion picture. 

The fact that all of our individual dramas must coexist simultaneously and peacefully with everybody else's continues to provide for us a never-ending challenge. Peace among all people is an elusive, almost impossible concept, given the approximate 140 minor wars that have taken place over the past decade. One almost begins to get the feeling of helplessness or powerlessness at the prospect of being able to make even the slightest difference in a world filled with so much violence and unrest. Geography, politics, economics and religion seem to shape our individual and collective destiny. I am continually perplexed at how we as the human race, who supposedly began with a common father and mother, have gotten things so far out of "WHAK" (no pun intended). I am extremely thankful for the role Tang Soo Do has had in my life. Tang Soo Do has been a stabilizing influence for me especially during these moments of uncertainty. 

Upon examination, we see that in spite of our differences, at the core we are basically the same. We all have the same fears: fear of not being accepted; fear of not belonging; fear of not measuring up; fear of death, etc. On the flip side, we all want to love and be loved. We all would like to gain a clearer perspective of our soul's purpose: Why are we here? What did we come here to do: How can I become a more spiritual being? So then, why so much adversity, disharmony and disease? Let me say once again it is a matter of perspective. It is how we as individuals look at ourselves, the manifested world around us that defines our spiritual perspective.

We all have a responsibility to get our own personal house in order. If we are going to affect the world in a positive way we must purge ourselves of the self-limiting concept of fear. We must recognize that fear is a creation of the ego, and the ego's ally is the mind. Not to sound Freudian here but, what is not of the ego and the mind is of the heart and the spirit. Fear has many offspring, such as: arrogance, jealousy, ungraciousness, feelings of inadequacy, hatred and desire to harm ourselves or others. Since fear is created by the ego and consequently the mind we must strive to create in our lives the exact opposite. What is the exact opposite of fear? To call it fearlessness, would only limit our understanding. A fuller appreciation of the opposite of fear would be Love. Love is the most powerful emotion available to our species. The children of love are joy, gratitude, self-appreciation, humility and a sense of connection with our fellow man, with God, and in fact, with all that is. When we operate from our spirit, our soul, our source for desire to do good, if you will, we can't help but to manifest and express Love and it's various offspring in our lives. We will not want to hate, harm or injure ourselves because to do that would deny our connection, and oneness with God. We will not want to hate, harm or injure others either, as we will see them as an extension of the Creator, purposefully placed exactly where they are in order to play out their part in assisting us in our own personal journey of becoming a more spiritually realized being. The more we raise up the qualities of the spirit, the less effect the ego will have on our lives.

It is through the cleaning of our own individual spiritual homes that we will have the most effect on the world as a whole. As we become more and more spiritual in our thoughts, actions and deeds we will begin to have a positive effect on those around us. As more and more individuals effectuate this spiritual awakening, the collective consciousness will begin to shift. The point is...each one of us can make a difference in the world today if we just start where it will benefit us the most...within ourselves.

Tang Soo Do, "the way of the empty hand defense," is a path that when practiced properly will lead one to the perfection of the mind, body and spirit. The purpose of Tang Soo Do is to improve the quality of our life. When we chose the art of Tang Soo Do as one of our paths towards achieving this perfection of the self, we had an inkling of the larger picture but our immediate needs were probably more apparent to us at that time. We may have joined because we felt something was missing in our lives. Perhaps we needed to get in better shape; perhaps wanted to learn how to protect ourselves; maybe we wanted a family oriented activity; perhaps we felt like we wanted more discipline, or more self-esteem; or maybe we thought that a karate school would put us in touch with other individuals who felt as we do. Martial arts certainly provides us with all the above benefits. Tang Soo Do training, however, can play an even larger role in helping us to shape a better more peaceful world when we have our spiritual homes in order.

I would challenge each and every one of you, for 1998 to begin to change some of your perspectives. Let each of us through our practice of Tang Soo Do continue to develop our Weh Gung (spiritual power), Neh Gung (mental power) and our Shim Gung (spiritual power). Let us begin to let go, one by one, of our fear-based limitations and continually replace them with new perspectives based on love. Let us reach out to each other whenever possible in a spirit of mutual respect and a genuine desire to see each other succeed. I wish you and your families a healthy, prosperous and spiritually transformed new year. 

Best wishes, Charles Ferraro, President / Founder
Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan Association