In this interview I am once again joined by John Maki Evans, teacher of Japanese swordsmanship and several esoteric spiritual disciplines, and author of ‘Kurikara: The Sword and the Serpent’.

John discusses his time at Oxford University, his depression as a student, and why it took him years in a monastery and extensive training in Japan to undo the effects of academic study on his mind.

John shares his insights into ‘The Subtle Art of a Cat’, a little known, centuries old Japanese text with a potent message about spiritual cultivation, true art, and complete spontaneity.

John tells the story of the text and explores its hidden meanings, including how to maintain awareness during dynamic action, access freedom and flow, and move beyond self consciousness.

John also reflects on his powerful near-death experience, the art of teaching, and how to harmonise the primal forces of Thanatos and Eros, death and desire.

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Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep246-subtle-art-of-a-cat-john-maki-evans-2 



Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

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Topics include:

00:00 - Intro01:09 - Getting into Oxford University04:30 - John’s experiences at Oxford University 07:57 - Struggles with depression09:12 - Bad effect of Oxford on John’s mind10:25 - Stultification and John’s personality 11:04 - Time at the monastery and releasing inner stuckness 13:26 - Time in Japan and developing a different personality 17:28 - How John learned Japanese18:43 - Study arc for reading Japanese classics 21:19 - Gaining practice value from texts 23:37 - Accessing the real thing27:22 - The Subtle Art of a Cat33:17 - The polarising ego 35:14 - Spontaneity and beyond self consciousness37:09 - Neti neti 39:12 - Spontaneous action and the spiritual side of martial arts41:35 - Freedom and flow43:09 - Maintaining awareness and complete spontaneity45:47 - John’s life changing near-death experience 54:20 - Hara power, the unconscious, and the survival instinct58:16 - True martial cultivation01:00:06 - Common mistakes and hurting oneself01:04:11 - Complete body-mind participation 01:05:43 - Evaluating quality of movement and being01:07:46 - Duende and art 01:09:18 - England and the old white male01:10:24 - Learning to be with Thanatos and Eros 01:12:39 - The Gate of Killing and Death01:15:39 - Harmonising intuition and manipulation01:16:16 - Egotism in the martial arts 01:18:00 - Becoming exposed and the art of teaching01:21:39 - Letting go of feeling good

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Previous episode with John Maki Evans:- https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep231-esoteric-arts-of-japan-john-maki-evans

To find out more about John Maki Evans, visit:- https://www.battodo-fudokan.co.uk/

Read ‘The Subtle Art of a Cat’- https://terebess.hu/zen/neko.pdf …For more interviews, videos, and more visit:- www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James