kokoro [n.] intelligent heart, feeling mind One year. Two devastating losses. Three sacred Japanese mountains. A major life transition, a heart full of grief and a revelation that changes everything. Join Japanologist Beth Kempton on a pilgrimage through rural Japan in search of answers to some of life's biggest questions: How do we find calm in the chaos and beauty in the darkness? How do we let go of the past and stop worrying about the future? What can an awareness of impermanence teach us about living well? Together you will journey to the deep north of Japan, hike ancient forests, watch the moon rise over mountains of myth and encounter a host of wise teachers along the way - Noh actors, chefs, taxi drivers, coffee shop owners, poets, philosophers and the spirits that inhabit the land. You will contemplate the true nature of time at one of the world's strictest Zen temples and nothing will be quite the same again. This book is an invitation to cultivate stillness and contentment in an ever-changing, uncertain world. It all begins with the kokoro, a profound Japanese term which represents the intelligent heart, the feeling mind and the embodied spirit of every human being. To explore the kokoro is to explore the very essence of what it means to be human in this tough yet devastatingly beautiful world. When you learn to live guided by the light in your kokoro, everything changes, and anything is possible.

Originally written in Japanese and published in Japan in 2002, "Kokoro no Katachi - The Image of the Heart" has been offering a unique perspective on the Japanese martial arts (Budo or Bugei) and their cultural significance to many readers. "What is true Budo?""What does the journey to become a master of Budo entail? "Driven by those burning questions, the author Mr. Hino examines and illuminates the wisdom of legendary masters, especially the world's most well-known grand master of Japanese martial arts Masaaki Hatsumi (1931-). His personal encounter and interview with Mr. Hatsumi make the essence of ancient martial arts real and alive in present times. With a new epilogue added, the book is now available in English as a complete edition.

Kokoro no Te, translated into English as "handmade from the heart," is the philosophy behind this collection of small, high-fashion craft projects that have a distinctive Japanese flair. Featuring purses, pins, sewing accoutrements, and the author's own temari balls, the 30 original hand-sewn designs combine surprisingly simple techniques with exquisite colors and fabrics, allowing sewers to create lavish objets d'art, with delicate beading and embroidery, easily and inexpensively. A pattern for a doll-sized kimono is included. The color photographs and line drawings show multiple points of view for each project and show precisely how each artful, stylish, and charming piece comes together.--From publisher description.

Kokoro Yoga, by New York Times bestselling author and former U.S. Navy SEAL Mark Divine, is an integrated physical, mental, and spiritual training, designed initially for the nation's elite special-ops soldiers and now taught to anyone seeking to develop the heart and mind of a warrior. Kokoro, the Japanese concept of warrior spirit—or merging heart and mind into action—is the central focus of Divine's new approach to teaching yoga. Coach Divine's yoga sequences are focused to adapt to all physical and mental capabilities, combining breathing, meditation, and visualization into both traditional poses as well as cross-training/combat-conditioning exercises. His decades of experience with amateur and professional athletes, active and aspiring Navy SEALs, and wounded warriors uniquely qualifies him as an expert motivator and teacher. With Kokoro Yoga the practitioner will: * Get an unbeatable full-body workout through body-weight functional movements that can be done at home or on the on go * Increase flexibility while building long, lean muscle mass * Improve physical and mental balance, focus, and control at all levels—including a special segment designed for those recovering from PTSD * Find emotional, intuitional, and spiritual harmony to achieve peak performance Coach Divine’s methods have been tested by the toughest warriors in the world. Use this book as a guide to experience the profound power of yoga as a developmental system that will allow you to break through any barriers holding you back.