Section 1
The Body Sensation of Enlightenment
All paths lead to the same mountaintop.
Amitabha (or Vairocana) in Buddhism,
Jehovah in Judaism and Christianity,
Allah in Islam,
and Tao in Chinese philosophy.
Different names but one “Great Spirit of the Universe”.
From the book of Saint Bennei Yamazaki (1859 –1920)
Chap 1
Enlightenment, for anyone. The time has come
I decided to call the transformation that occurred in my mind and body
the “body sensation of enlightenment.”
Not because I thought, “I have attained enlightenment,”
but because the experience resonated so clearly
with the accounts of ancient practitioners and spiritual seekers.
Enlightenment Is for Everyone
While writing this book,
I made two simple promises to myself:
First, basically to write only what I have truly experienced.
Second, not to write anything
that others could not also experience.
And now I want to say this clearly:
We are living in an age
when anyone can experience enlightenment.
A Path Found Through Guidance
I wished to share the body sensation of enlightenment with others
So I spent years —
what felt like lifetimes —
searching for a way.
Since this experience lies beyond language,
the path was full of trials and struggles.
Yet while trying to put
the depths of my own awareness into words,
something unexpected happened.
I discovered a way
for anyone to experience
the body sensation of enlightenment —
easily and directly.
It was a discovery
that felt guided,
as if touched by grace.
Hōnen (1133–1212), the Buddhist monk who revealed the path of reciting the Name of Amitabha.
Dōgen Zenji (1200–1253),
the Japanese Zen master who even influenced Steve Jobs,
*Amitābha Buddha is the superstar of the Buddhist world. He is taught about most frequently in the Mahāyāna sutras.
*Mahayana sutras are sacred Buddhist texts that focus on the ideal of saving all sentient beings. They began to appear around the 1st to 2nd centuries CE and later.
For those of us who are not geniuses—
for the ordinary seekers who follow long after them—
no matter how diligently we practice or how much knowledge we pile up,
we often end up at a dead end.
I feel truly fortunate
that I did not lose myself
in the labyrinth of tradition.
*Mui No Shinjin is a true self which has left everything up to the Buddha, the Great Spirit of the Universe. This state is also called Jinen Honi in Shinran‘s teaching.
A Maze of Secret codes
The spiritual geniuses of the past
experienced Buddha or God directly—
not as ideas, but as living reality.
And that is why the teachings they left us
are astonishingly simple:
“Just sit.” — Zen Master *Dōgen
“Simply recite the Name.” —*Hōnen
“Love God.” — Jesus
Traditional religions are woven from words that feel almost like codes.
Awakening to the Great Spirit of the Universe
“What a mysterious! That’s what I thought.
One day, I directly experienced the living presence of *Amithaba —the Great Spirit of the Universe—
and in that moment, I awakened spiritually.
Simply by bringing the image of Amithaba into my heart,
my body and mind became warm and soft,
and I felt myself melting into a Great Love.
Even without thinking anything—
I found that I was continuously wishing, moment after moment,
for the upliftment of all heavenly realms throughout the universe.
法 体
Chap 2
The Door of Enlightenment Opens Through Ki
*Meridians are the stream of the life energy or force that flows throughout the body.
“Ki” is the energy of the universe as described in Chinese Taoism philosophy.
*KiShin-Do is Ki training system founded by Ryokyu Endo.
When I speak of a body sensation,
it does not mean a simple physical feeling.
Here, what I call sensation
refers to something deeper —
the sensation of *Ki. 氣
the sensation of existence.
Human beings are born
with a sense more subtle
than the five ordinary senses.
Through this Ki experience as a gateway,
one can be guided to awakening
and directly experience
the body sensation of enlightenment.
“KiShin-Do” Demonstration
Send away opponent by Ki energy.
Emptiness Luminous Sensation
The self and the world both dissolve into emptiness (śūnyatā),
and luminous light pervades the ten directions.
Majestic Comfort Sensation
Every cell of the body vibrates gently and comfortably,
as though resonating with all the atoms of the universe.
Great Love Sensation
A state in which body and mind melt
into the Great Love of the Great Spirit of the Universe, as if one’s own breathing were synchronized
with the breath of the universe.
Pranidhana Sensation
Like Saint Paul (Christianity) or Shinran (Japanese Pureland Buddhism)
one entrusts every moment to the Great Spirit of the Universe,
resting in a peace that is complete and unshakable.
Why four?
Because—
each of the four bodies—
the Dharma Body, the Buddha-Nature Body, the Spiritual Body, and the Ki Body—
feels its own unique body sensation of enlightenment.
A Universal Experience
After the year 2000,
no matter where I went in the world,
about ninety percent of participants
were able to sense Ki.
From this shared experience,
I began to seek the way to share the body sensation of enlightenment.
Tao Shiatsu demonstration
A man who hardly walk started to run.
The Path of Enlightenment Guided by Ki
Since around 1985,
I have been teaching Tao Shiatsu —
a method of healing through the *meridians
that carry Ki throughout the body.
During this work, quite by chance,
I discovered a way
to help students actually feel Ki as body sensation.
At first, there was only one person.
Then a few.
Then dozens.
And then…
The Four Types of the Body Sensation of Enlightenment
Through self-analyzation,
I realized that there were four distinct types
of the body sensation of enlightenment.
The Four Invisible Bodies
One day, I realized,
there are four invisible bodies that exist besides the physical body,
They are—
the Dharma Body,
the Buddha-nature Body,
the Spirit Body,
and the Ki Body.
When I guided people who already awakened to feel Ki,
every one of them experienced these four bodies
in the same way.
The Four Bodies
Dharma Body
Buddha Nature Body
Spiritual Body
Ki Body
What do the body sensations
of enlightenment feel like?
Chap 3
Body Sensation of Enlightenment and
the Four Invisible Bodies
1. Emptiness Light and Dharma body
The Principle of Light and Shadow
In that moment, I realized—
phenomena are nothing but shadows
cast when the light of the universe shines everywhere.
The All-Pervading Light
My body-mind is a body of transparency.
The Universe, too, is one vast transparency.
The moment both touched each other,
the light shone everywhere,
throughout the ten directions.
In Buddhism, it is taught that
“when the wind of ignorance blows, existence is born.”
In particle physics, it is said that
“existence arises when an object is observed.”
*Mahayana Buddhism grasps the whole Universe as an infinite, borderless transparent body.
*Ven. Bennei Yamazaki called the Great Spirit of the Universe
Amitabha ”.
Yet… it is mysterious.
Both are emptiness itself—
and still, somehow,
the Dharma-Kaya(Body) of the Great Spirit of the universe
touches the Dharma-body of a human being.
Dharma Body
Dharma Body,
Is the formless, boundless body.
and, the Light Dharmakaya of the Great Spirit of the Universe—
Is formless light , infinity beyond all duality,
Body sensation of enlightenment of Luminous Light
One day—
it felt as if a wind blowing from the front passed through my back and disappeared.
Only a boundless, transparent sensation remained.
It was the sensation of complete freedom—
a freedom unbound by anything.
In that moment, my body and mind became transparent,
and the universe, too,
my very being became transparent, boundless, emptiness itself. became one great transparent boundless body.
This World as the Pure Land of Light
When karmic, limited consciousness arises within human beings,
phenomena appear.
Yet the phenomenal world—
the world of shadows—
is, in its true nature,
already the Pure Land of Light.
*“Okunen” Being mindful of God and or Buddha with Love
*According to Bennei Yamazaki teachings, the centre of the Universe is called Sambhogakāya . In Ryokyu’s experience, this Sambhogakāya seems to be the source from which Great Love arises.
Held in the Bosom of Great Love
Within the bosom of Great Love,
joy and sorrow both dissolved —
there was only warmth.
So gentle was this tenderness
that I could not resist it.
Every corner of my being
felt as if immersed in an eternal hot spring.
I was floating
within a quiet, deep, and boundless comfort.
Then I realized—
the whole world itself has always been Great Love.
An indescribable peace filled me,
and I sighed with relief,
saying softly,
“At last, I have truly come home.”
Eventually I realized —
I was dwelling within a world
completely filled with Great Love.
And then —
an indestructible, inexhaustible happiness
was born within me.
Surely, it was the Sun of the Spiritual Realm
revealing its form.
In that luminosity, I understood even more—
within the Buddha-Nature Body, Great Love—Saṃbhogakāya—resides.
Buddha-Nature Body
When I was embraced by the Great Love,
I suddenly realized—
“Ah… the body of Buddha-Nature
is even greater than the stratosphere.”
And it is breathing
in perfect oneness with the universe.
What the universe is breathing out
is the Great Love of Amida.
Oneness with the Breath of the Universe
Soon I became aware
that my breathing was synchronising
with the breathing of the Universe.
The Universe itself
was inhaling and exhaling Great Love.
No —
it was not I who was breathing;
it was the Universe breathing through me.
Sharing the Body Sensation
After being embraced by Great Love,
I found I could help others feel it too —
Even from afar,
on an unconscious level, I was extending this Great Love
to all beings throughout the universe.
When I received the warm embrace
of the Great Love of the Great Spirit of the Universe,
my body and mind melted softly —
as if turning into a jelly-like fluid.
Master *Shandao described this state as
“body and mind melting into fluid — inconceivable.”)
Day by day,
moment by moment,
to let all beings feel Great Love —
that is the transference of the mindful Amitabha with love(smṛti-pariṇāmanā).
<“Here, ‘ekō (回向)’ refers to the great love of the inner universal spirit arising within oneself and directing that love toward others.”>
When one awakens to this,
one can live all day long
within Great Love itself.
Gently dwelling
within my Buddha-nature body
is the Great Love-Saṃbhogakāya.
Quietly, without my noticing,
it had already merged —
and become one with me.
2. Body Sensation of the enlightenment of Great Love,
and Buddha-Nature Body
Body Sensation of the Great Love Breath
Let me introduce
two practitioners’
journals here!
A Practitioner’s Journal 1
As If I Had Been Born Anew
Miku Omori
(Japan)
I secluded myself in the dojo for a week.
During twelve hours a day
of *Flame of Hope Chant practice,
there came a moment when my eyes suddenly filled with tears—
and before I knew it, they wouldn’t stop.
It was an overwhelming vibration of Great Love,
something I could not resist.
The universe became transparent,
and the Buddha appeared
as pure light itself.
On the final day, I felt it—
a sense of release,
as if I had finally set down
the heavy burdens I had carried all my life.
Both my heart and body felt astonishingly light.
And there I was—
as if I had been born anew.
*The Flame of Hope chanting is a practice of praying with visualization while repeatedly reciting a mantra
I heard it’s musical and meditative.
It’s wonderful that people of any religion can practice together.
A Practitioner’s Journal 2
My First Flame of Hope Chant
Chitose Imanaka
(France)
It happened when I first studied Tao Shiatsu at the Kyoto dojo,
and later joined the Flame of Hope Chanting.
Before long,
an indescribable emotion suddenly rose within me.
Tears began to flow—
stronger and stronger—
running from my eyes and nose, unstoppable.
It was as if an endless stream of tears
had been waiting to be released.
By the time the mantra began,
I was already sobbing.
“Why is this happening?”
I had no idea.
And yet, when it was over,
both my heart and body
felt astonishingly light.
What was that experience?
Not tears of sadness,
but something entirely different.
Even now, from time to time,
they still overflow without warning.
Then, one day, I understood.
The chant purifies the karma of self and others,
transforming it into light,
guiding all beings
toward infinite evolution.
And I realized this—
not with my mind,
but with my whole body.
In that moment,
a warm, deep sense of happiness
enveloped me completely.
*A mantra is a sacred phrase that practitioners repeat in meditation or prayer. Such sacred utterances exist across many spiritual traditions.
One day,
from the root of my existence,
joy surged upward like a fountain.
I didn’t know where this overflowing joy came from?
But I noticed.
“Oh, yeah! In the first place,
the source of existence itself is joy ”.
Before I knew it,
I was praying—without even realizing it—
for the upliftment of all beings.
This rising prayer was not mine.
It’s the heart of the Great Spirit of the Universe itself.
The deities of the heavens resonated.
They were ascending joyfully with that prayer.
And then I awakened—
that the Universe itself is a body of the spirit,
whose ultimate reality
is the infinite ascent of joy.
Playful heart (yūshin):
Is the source of child-like freedom, imagination, and creativity.
It is one of the four essential hearts needed for spiritual development.
Anyone can learn to perceive it through Ki.
That vibration
was not confined to my individual body.
All the cells of my being
were resonating with all the atoms of the Universe.
*Venerable Bennei taught this:
“In Buddhism, what we call the Spiritual Nirmāṇakāya,
is the same as what Christianity calls the Holy Spirit.”
It refers to the Great Spirit of the universe
that appears before people as a spiritual presence.
The appearance of the Majestic Nirmāṇakāya
was no fairy tale.
It was unmistakably— a living reality before my very eyes.
At the same time,
there overflowed from within
the sensation of Majestic Comfort.
What an ecstasy—
every cell of my being
trembled with delight.
The Majestic Nirmāṇakāya—and I—
mutually contained,
mutually entered,
mutually vibrated as one.
The Majestic Nirmāṇakāya
was at the same time
the outer Holy Spirit
and the inner Buddha—
the very root of my existence.
Even toward the lowest, most wretched part of myself,
that Majestic Nirmāṇakāya approached
with supreme humor and joy,
gently touching me—
and from within,
quietly causing joy to rise.
Majestic Comfort of the Universe
With a playful heart (yūshin),
I praised Amitabha.
At that moment,
the lid of my ego lifted away.
Then—like a hot spring bursting from the earth—
joy gushed forth from within me.
Spiritual Body
What appeared before me
was the Nirmāṇakāya in the form of Amitabha —
a radiant super divine power.
It had gently transformed to two meters tall,
so that I could recognize it with the eyes of my heart
The body sensation of Majestic Comfort
All my cells, and all the atoms
and subatomic particles of the universe,
were merging and resonating with each other.
Everything was praising everything else,
rejoicing together,
rising toward the infinite.
And in that moment,
I woke up to —
this is the true nature of existence.
3. Body Sensation of the Enlightenment
of Majestic Comfort and the Spiritual Body
Feeling the Joy and Comfort of the Majestic Power
Resonance of the Universe -“You enter me, I enter you”
One day, I found myselfー
that my body and mind were dropped off.
Ah, I see!
This is what Zen Master Dōgen called
“Shinjin Datsuraku — the dropping away of body and mind”.
Also the quote of Saint Paul,
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,”
What he meant was this body sensation.
It is the Ki Body
that brings our wishes into form,
that shapes the future itself.
Across the surface of the Ki Body
run the meridians,
slowly rotating—
like planets circling the sun.
When one lives in harmony with this law of the Universe,
one naturally begins to walk the path of peace.
*Mui No Shinjin is a true self which has left everything up to the Buddha, the Great Spirit of the Universe. This state is also called Jinen Honi in Shinran‘s teaching.
*A "fulfilled person of Non-Action is one who entrusts everything to Amitabha —
to the movement of the Universe itself.
In Buddhism of Pure land school, this is called Jinen Hōni— the spontaneous working of the Dharma.
*Meridians are the life energy of the universe that flows throughout mind and body.
Eastern medicine heals illness by adjusting meridians.
No longer did I feel
that I was doing anything by my own will.
Every gesture, every breath—
moved by the Great Spirit itself.
The Great River of the Universe--
Fulfilling Pranidanakaya
I realized that in the Universe
there flows a spiritual current—
a Great River leading all true wishes to fulfillment.
I began to call this vast current
the Great River of the Universe,
or the Body of the Fulfilled Vow (Pranidhana Kaya ).
The heavy karmic burdens
I had carried for so long dropped off from body and mind—
because my ki body was filled with this Pranidhana Kaya( Fulfilled Vow Body of the Universe).
Entrusting All to the Other-Force---
Body sensation of absolute peace
Before I knew it,
I had completely entrusted my being
to the Other-force,Amitabha.
I was enveloped in absolute peace,
floating in stillness and serenity.
Living in Surrender to the Universe
I was relieved of ego, and every action was transformed as if it were performed by the Great Spirit of the Universe.
This must be the state
that Pure Land Buddhism calls “Nin un Musa”
— effortless action in leaving 100% up to Amitabha.
Or, Zentaku (total entrustment),
or in broader Buddhist terms Hōge (letting go), or Bussa Butsugyō —
the Buddha acting through Amitabha.
When one entrust 100% to the flow of the Universe
“a Fulfilled Person” of Non-Action (Mu’i no Shinjin) will be born.
The Fulfilled Person of Non-Action--Flow with the Universe
What leads to the realization of all wishes is the Great River of the Universe—the True Vow Body of Fulfillment—Fulfiled Pranidana Kaya.
When it dwells within one’s Ki body,
One begins to live entrusting the flow of the Universe.
Like Saint Paul or Shinran,
one attains the serene peace
of surrendering everything to God or Amitabha .
So one gains unlimited absolute peace
and eternal happiness.
The Ki Body
The shadow-play of the Ki body—
that is the physical body—
is what is moved by Ki.
And Ki is the unseen bridge
that links mind and body.
A sphere with a radius of about two meters—
able to expand and contract freely.
That is the Ki body.
4. Body Sensation of the enlightenment of Pranidhana and the Ki Body
Body Sensation of Pranidhana (Entrust 100% to the Great Spirit of the Universe)
Now the time has come…
Anyone can feel
the body sensation of
enlightenment !
Ryokyu says
“It's because
I found the secret of
the Universe”
Episode 2
Awakening to the Spirit World
I’ll send you Episode 2: “Awakening to the Spirit World.”
If you’re curious about the invisible world, you would enjoy it!
The part below is an appendix.
Please check it out ! 〜
How was it ?
Up next is
“ How Ryokyu Endo Has Been Dealing with
the Spirit World! ”
Four Body of the Great Spirit of
the Universe and it’s function.
Above all, what amazed me most
was realizing that this power was living inside me.
This working of the power couldn’t be fully explained
by the traditional Buddhist concept of the Three Bodies (Trikāya)—
Dharmakāya, Saṃbhogakāya, and Nirmāṇakāya.
So I found myself thinking,
“Could this be something beyond those three aspects
of the Universal Great Spirit?
Could it be a kind of fourth aspect?”
And I decided to call it
Pranidhāna-kāya — the Body of the True Vow.
The Four Aspects of the Great Spirit of the Universe
And even more surprisingly, it was the very same source that moves the universe,
there is an energy flowing that guides wishes into reality.
I never thought that the power moving the universe
was also the power making human wishes come true.
Correspondence Diagram
Four Bodies of the Great Spirit of the Universe
Dharma kaya (Luminous)
Sambhoga kaya
(Great Love)
Nirmana kaya (Majestic Comfort)
Pranidhana Kaya (Fulfillment)
Four Bodies of the Human Being
Dharma Body
Buddha-Nature Body
Spiritual Body
Ki body
Four Body Sensations of Enlightenment
Body Sensation of Luminous Emptiness
Body Sensation of the Great Love
Body Sensation of Majestic Comfort
Body Sensation of Pranidhana
(Fulfillment)
● Dharma kaya — Luminous Emptiness
● Sambhoga kaya — Great Love
● Nirmana kaya — Majestic Power
● Pranidhana Kaya — Fulfillment
I'll talk to you later,
about the four bodies!
In both the West and India,
there were people
who knew about the invisible bodies.
Who were they?
The Western Understanding of the “Four Bodies”
One of the great Western spiritual pioneers,
Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925),
also spoke of invisible bodies beyond the physical.
Human beings
have several “invisible bodies,”
such as the etheric body and the astral body.
Below is the reference from “Tao Shiatsu: Revolution in Oriental Medicine”
by Ryokyu Endo) ISBN: 9781500658410 / 1500658413 Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform , 2014
Steiner wrote:
“Beyond the physical body lies the etheric body.
Within it flow certain lines of energy;
when that flow is obstructed, illness appears.”
This etheric body corresponds precisely
to what I call the Ki Body.
Moreover, what Steiner described as the “lines through which energy flows”
are equivalent to the meridians known in Eastern tradition.
The Ancient Indian Insight into the Four Bodies
After that, I felt an even deeper sense of reassurance—
for I learned that these “four bodies” had already been described
in India’s Vedānta philosophy,
especially in the Upanishads.
“Ah…
Humanity has known about the four bodies
since ancient times.
I wasn’t just my illusion …”
It was the moment I realized
that my own experience overlapped
with what ancient people had perceived.
The Four Bodies and the Five Koshas (Sheaths)
Four Bodies
(as presented in this book)
Physical Body
Body of Ki
Body of Buddha-Nature
Dharma Body
Spiritual Body
Vedantic Kosha
Anna-maya Kosha
Prāṇa-maya Kosha
Mano-maya Kosha
Vijñāna-maya Kosha
Ānanda-maya Kosha
Sanskrit Term
अन्नमय कोश
(Anna-maya Kosha)
प्राणमय कोश
(Prāṇa-maya Kosha)
मनोमय कोश
(Mano-maya Kosha)
विज्ञानमय कोश (Vijñāna-maya Kosha)
आनंदमय कोश (Ānanda-maya Kosha)
Meaning / Function
The “body made of food.” The material, mortal body—born, grows, ages, and dies; perceived by the five senses.
The sheath of vital energy (Prāṇa). Governs life-force flow, chakras, and nāḍīs; the source of vitality.
The sheath of mind. Generates perception, emotion, and thought; the wellspring of compassion and faith.
The sheath of wisdom. The layer of reason, intuition, and discriminative insight; resonates with universal truth.
The sheath of bliss. The innermost layer nearest to the soul—pure joy, peace, and illumination.
This is something I want everyone on Earth to see.
If you can, I’d be really, really happy
if you could support the translation with a small tip.
