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)
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
*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.
*Amitābha Buddha is the superstar of the Buddhist world. He is taught about most frequently in the Mahāyāna sutras.
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.
Chap 1
Enlightenment, for anyone. The time has come
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.
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
Tao Shiatsu demonstration
A man who hardly walk started to run.
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.
*Meridians are the stream of the life energy or force that flows throughout the body.
*KiShin-Do is Ki training system founded by Ryokyu Endo.
Send away opponent by Ki energy.
“KiShin-Do” Demonstration
“Ki” is the energy of the universe as described in Chinese Taoism philosophy.
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.
Chap 2
The Door of Enlightenment Opens Through Ki
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…