“I am in Love with Japan. Sweet Japan. Beautiful, Sensitive, Strong-Hara Japan.” It all started on February 19, 1995 (my birthday), when Hitachi City invited me to be the keynote speaker at a big conference on Healing and the Earth. I was very excited, but totally unprepared for what was about to happen. I had watched a lot of Shogun on TV, but that was it. I simply didn’t know much at all about the Japanese culture, and due to my lack information, I’m afraid I made some big mistakes! The biggest was keeping the Mayor of Hitachi City and his entourage waiting for me for a half hour while I was shopping! He had arranged a special luncheon in my honor. (I didn’t know it was being held in my honor at the time!) Everyone was still very polite about it, as of course the Japanese would be. Then I learned that everything in Japan runs on time. If you are one minute late for a train, you’ve missed it. (Actually, you’ve probably missed it even if you’re a half-minute late.) And I mean all trains, such as the bullet train between Tokyo and Kyoto! When we were late for the train, we Americans starting running to catch it, but no matter how hard we tried to get the Japanese to rush to the train, they didn’t. They simply said we would catch the next one! And we did. Of course, the first one did leave on time. But even before the conference started, I had a few learning experiences. For example, when walking down the main street in Ginza, I noticed someone rushing to catch up to me. At first I was nervous and kept going. But then she caught up to me. She reached out for me and said, “Here, you dropped your penny!” Another example happened when I was first met upon my arrival in Tokyo. I was walking with the Japanese people who had met me at the airport. They kept walking very slowly; the slower I went, the slower they went. I had to keep turning around to speak to them. Finally, I asked Yui Wang, who was a student then, why this was happening. She explained to me that they were trying to walk behind me, Japanese style, since I was a famous and respected person. Well, I never had thought of myself as a famous person. (And I still don’t.) But actually, just a month ago, my husband Eli insisted on the same idea of my being famous. In his frustration, he finally blurted out: “Just Google you!” I asked, “Just Google what—‘me’?” He said,“Just Google your name.” I did, and was shocked. But back to then Hitachi invited me to bring some of my teachers with me, so I took Rosanne Farano, Michael Spatuzzi, Celia, and Yui Wang. We had a ball! After the conference, Hitachi gave us a two-week tour of Japan. We went to Kyoto and saw the Palace with the nightingale floors. They were built to make sounds when anyone walked on them, to warn of Ninja intruders. So being Japanese and it being the Emperor’s Palace, of course, the sounds had to be nice sounds. A method was developed to create the sound of a nightingale singing. It was wonderful. Many people from all over the world came to give their ideas on healing the world, the people in it, and of course, Mother Earth. Even the sounds at intersections that tell you it is okay to walk now chirp like birds! And you wouldn’t believe how they open up shopping centers every morning! The shopping center Aqua City near the Nikko Hotel (where we’ve stayed for years while doing IBHSs in TFT Hall) has something beautiful to watch: Two women approached the doors a short time before opening. They simply and quietly stood there in uniform. As the time to open got nearer, they came forward to the doors, and in unison got down on their knees to unlock the doors near the floor. Then, in unison, they stood up and reached for and opened the upper locks. They stood back and waited for the exact time, doors unlocked. Everyone outside simply waited, even though it was raining. Then, at the exact time, the two women, perfectly dressed of course, came forward, opened the doors, bowed, stood to the side, and motioned with one hand, fingers held straight and together, that we could come in. They then bowed to each person as we walked through the doors. One of the highlights of the trip was a special Shinto ceremony that Hitachi had arranged for me to bless my marriage with Eli. I was amazed at the forms of spiritual energies and nature spirits that appeared in special places in the ceremony. I was given a small white plate with a folded paper with special markings and coins inside that were blessed in this ceremony. I have them on my altar at home. One highlight of this first journey to Japan was the experience in Nara where the large copper green Buddha is. As we were taking pictures of the Buddha, some Japanese tourists were taking pictures of me. Yui heard the father tell his little boy that I was an Eskimo, because I had my large white jacket with a fuzzy hood on! So, from that time on, I have been high on Japan. The year after the Conference, I started to go to Japan to give workshops, first in Nagoya and later in Tokyo. I took Roseanne, Yui and Michael with me, and then later Laurie Keene, Chris Sarubbi and Yui. Each time we had a great time, and had lots of people in the workshops. I have been there at least twelve times, and now I get to go five times a year to train these wonderful people! As I’m sure you know, we have had many people from Japan fly all the way to the U.S. to train at BBSH. For years, when the school was in New York, about 60 students a year would come. In Florida, it became a little less. So, since we already have a lot of graduates who live in Japan, we have also started a Teacher Training program there, in addition to the PS1 class! The PS1 class is comprised of amazing and highly talented students. One of the first things I noticed is when we told them to take a 15-minute break between teaching segments, they were back in their seats and ready to go in ten minutes. Oh, I guess that doesn’t surprise anyone after reading the first part of this piece. I always remind myself that I come from a 200-year-old culture, while Japanese culture is 5,000 years old! I was also surprised when the students learned so quickly. When I gave my first workshop in Japan in 1996, people had a difficult time expressing feelings, as well as feeling their Human Energy. The first man to try hitting the bataca and expressing anger toward his father would hit the bataca once, then stop, back up, bow and apologize. Then he would do it again. And no one cried. Now the students jumped right into the process and healing work, and they could sense the HEF. It was beautiful to be present for. Oh, and also, about the Hara: In Japan, you walk into a room, and your hara gets aligned. Surprised, you say, “Oh, thank you!” Japan is a hara country. Everyone holds hara all the time! Boundaries are clear. Everyone walks on the correct side of the street, or anywhere else for that matter. No one ever bumps into anyone else. After Class 1 at BBSHJ, I flew directly to BBSHE Class 1. Debarking in Frankfurt was a real challenge. Everyone was walking in all sorts of directions. There was no right side to walk on. The HEFs were huge, expanded, flying all over the place and changing directions in nanoseconds. People were cutting in front of others in line rushing into the hectic future. Back to chaos again. Super individualized creative chaos, powerful efficient hara harmony, come together now within me, sweet love. Barbara Brennan, 2007 Image Credit: Courtesy of Yui Wang Barbara Brennan School of Healing
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 18:36:04 +0000
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