Kazane, Sound of the Wind

In this episode, I speak to Reverend Shoshin Ichishima, abbot at the Senzoji Temple in Chiba-ken, Japan, and Professor Emeritus at Taisho University in Tokyo. Ichishima sensei is also the teacher or Monshin sensei, who I spoke to on episode 3 of this podcast.

Ichishima sensei and I spoke on the day the Buddha’s birthday is celebrated in Japan, talking about his experiences teaching Buddhism around the world, including a fire-ceremony that appeared in the local papers in San Fransisco, when it put an end to a drought.

At eighty-two years old, Ichishima sensei is as active as ever, still guiding his students and disciples through the Tendai tradition. You can catch him through the weekly sessions at the Tendai Buddhist institute in New York through this website: https://www.tendai.org/

Star Wars as Spiritual practice

Kozan and I met through Zen Takai, our mutual Bushido sensei, and immediately connected through our interest in martial arts, Reiki and the Force (maybe one and the same?). In this conversation, he shares about how the Jedi Playbook came to be, and describes his recent encounter with Zen Takai Sensei.

Check out the new Jedi playbook website at www.jediplaybook.com where you can find the oracle deck Kozan san used in this episode for my reading, as well as other cool merch.

Listen to Kozan’s interview with me on his podcast here: https://youtu.be/KBKzRbNq4XM

And don’t forget to follow the @jediplaybook on Instagram!

PS. If you are interested in learning intuitive tarot where you don’t need a book for the meanings, check out my short online course here: https://www.gasshocenter.com/product-page/intuitive-tarot-course

I didn’t know much about Tendai Buddhism until reading about it in Frans Stiene’s wonderful book “The Japanese Art of Reiki,” after which I started researching about it and also Mikkyo (Esoteric Buddhism or Tantric Zen). That is how I found the Tendai Buddhist Institute in NY, and started attending their weekly online services led by the Temple’s head, Rev. Monshin Paul Naamon.

Not only a scholar (he is retired as Interdisciplinary Professor at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Asian Studies and Human Biology) and a Tendai Buddhist Priest and Secretary General of the Japanese Tendai Buddhism in North America, Monshin Sensei is a very charisamatic character with a great sense of humour, and I am so deeply grateful for the time he took to speak to me about his life and work.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Here are a few topics we covered:

· Difference between Tendai and Zen Buddhism

· Monshin’s personal journey from Judaism to Zen and Tendai

· Ecounter with his sensei, introduction to Tantric Zen (Esoteric) Buddhism – Mikkyo

· Physical training on Mount Hiei

If you are interested in learning more and perhaps joining one of the weekly services, check out the website at: http://www.tendai.org/

You are also welcome to check out my interview with Frans Stiene on Episode 1 of Kazane Sound of the Wind, and more of my work at www.gasshocenter.com

Gassho

A Reiki Master’s Top Ten Tips for Vitality and Wellbeing (aside from Reiki!)

Taken from my Youtube live from 30 January 2022. Catch the video on www.youtube.com/c/zarahwindy

Nathalie is a fellow Reiki teacher and martial artist based in NYC. In this episode, she shares how she discovered Reiki many years ago, how her Iaido practice (Japanese sword-drawing) has enhanced her spiritual journey and vice versa.

Says Nathalie: "[Now] I can actually feel my body, so I have more of a kinetic feel, and if you have a kinetic feel, you can actually feel more emotions, more range of emotions. So when I am in Reiki, I can be in my body, and I can process more emotions, I can access more of myself inside my body.”

She has written two books on Reiki, which are both available on Amazon, and co-runs a group on Facebook for Reiki and martial arts practitioners called Shin Shin Kaizen.

When I shared with Nathalie some of my own frustration with my new martial arts practice, she had these encouraging words to say: “If you’re not frustrated, that means you are not practicing.” I feel this is true of Reiki as well as it is with martial arts!

For my first guest under the new podcast name Kazane, Sound of the Wind, or KSW, I am thrilled to have Frans Stiene, author of several Reiki books including the Japanese Art of Reiki and co-founder of the International House of Reiki (www.ihreiki.com).

Frans shares his amazing journey from Amdsterdam party animal to authority figure in the Reiki community. His contributions to the practice and the return to traditional forms as transmitted by Reiki founder Mikao Usui are invaluable. To top it off, Frans is a super approachable, fun guy, and I had a blast talking to him!

One of my highlights was Frans’s definition of Reiki in one sentence: “The system of Reiki is a Japanese spiritual practice that promotes to lay bare my true nature.” So simple, beautiful and true.

Listen to the full episode to gain insights on meditation and why some find it impossible, as well as practical tips for reiki practitioners to develop a routine.

Frans is actively teaching online and you can connect with him via his website mentioned above.

After three beautiful seasons and one happy anniversary celebration, Zarah Windy the podcast will now be known as Kazane, Sound of the Wind.

Allow me to explain this process.

First of all when I started my podcast journey in September 2020, it was more of a challenge to myself and an exploration – like most of what I do, really!

This little experiment resulted in 30 episodes with amazing guests and listeners from all around the world.

Some of you might have heard me speak about the power of words, and names especially hold a specific vibration. Windy was the name given to me by my mother at birth. I was born in a mountain city in the north of the Philippines, during a windy night. Growing up, I hated my name as I often got teased about it and also called Wendy. Only recently did I realize that it had a powerful connection to the Air element, which is overwhelmingly present in my astrological chart as well as one of my qualities in terms of martial arts (Air=Wind).

That same year, which was pivotal for many, I dropped my family name which is comprised of three Chinese names, and inserted my Christian name, which appears on my baptismal certificate but not on my passport.

Story has it that the priest did not accept Windy as my name and so my mom took Zarah from the bible. Consequently, that name, which I thought was easier to remember than my Chinese surname, had that energy of coercion attached to it, thought etymologically, some of its meanings are “princess” and “radiance,” which I find beautiful, and one of the reasons I named my own daughter Sara.

When in October 2021 I wanted to order a bokken or wooden training sword with my name engraved in Japanese, my sensei, Zen Takai, decided it was time for me to receive a Samurai name. Perhaps he sensed the depth of my practice went beyond the form and was truly a quest for inner knowledge and deepening of my Japanese spiritual practice – Reiki. Mikao Usui himself, the founder of Reiki, was both a Samurai and a monk.

All this to say, I hope you enjoy the new episodes of Kazane, Sound of the Wind, starting with the author of the Japanese Art of Reiki and many other books, Frans Stiene.

The focus of the podcast is still on healing and spirituality, plant medicine and relationships, with an added dimension of martial arts and Japanese culture. Arigato!

Ending Season 3 with Cath Prema, a Shamanic Reiki teacher based in Cebu. Cath was my first Reiki client at my wellness studio in Cebu, Philippines, back in 2017 (prior to that I practiced from home), which makes her a very special person! She revealed how she somewhat found me off-putting and intimidating at first.

After completing her three levels of Reiki at the Gassho Center for Healing Arts (the name of my center) alongside other courses, Cath went on to found Gaia Center with two other Gassho graduates. She now teaches and holds sessions mostly online.

Interestingly, Cath received her Sanskrit name, Prema, at the same time I received my Samurai name, Kazane (early November 2021). It seems her story and mine have evolved alongside, diverging and reconnecting through time and space.

You can connect with Cath through Gaia connection on Facebook and Instagram, or through her personal page @premacath.

I am grateful to Rion Kati for making me discover the Gene Keys, an amazing body of work that I have since completely immersed myself in since 2020. As you will see, Rion’s work is full of Gene Key language with frequent references to the Siddhis, which are the highest expression of our existence.

In this episode we touch on one of my favorite topics, Hieros Gamos (Sacred Reunification), but also dating, music for healing, creating temple space and even K-Pop!

Among other things, Rion calls himself a Media Alchemist. You can find some of his powerful powerful videos and attunements on his Youtube channel here (my favorite is the Queen attunement): https://www.youtube.com/c/powerliminals

For additional resources for women, go to Rion’s website: www.sexychi.com

For a link to his book “Calling of the Kingmaker: Inciting the Reunified Princess,” send me an email to [email protected].

For resources for men, contact Rion directly on Facebook.

“I am at the peak of my dreams, but why am I unhappy? That’s scary. That’s a really scary place to be.”

In this very intimate episode, contemporary dance artist and energy healer Ea Torrado talks about her dark night of the soul before the breakthrough, where she almost gave up on dancing.

Ea is the founder of Daloy Dance Company based in Manila, Philippines. During our conversation, she described Daloy as: “movement of the body getting to a more heightened state of awareness. It’s becoming a really spiritual practice for me, and the clear message that I am getting is that I need to sit with it more, or I need to live more so that I could share it deeper.”

She also asks this question: “What if Daloy is more than a dance practice, but it’s a philosophy that involves trusting one’s intuition through and through?”

In the latter part of the interview, I also share how I almost left the Reiki community as well, as a result of a “character assassination” attempt.

Learn more about Daloy through their website here: https://www.daloydancecompany.com/

Join their monthly Ritwal (Filipino word for ritual) sessions every month around the time of the full moon. More information, follow them on Instagram at @daloydance