The principal of the mist

"There are stories of mountain ascetics (sennin), represented by En-no-gyoja, who were said to be able to use mysterious powers and survive by eating only mist, having grasped the principle of eternal life." Masaaki Hatsumi, Advanced Stick Fighting

In this present time, where the sciences dominate the western mind, where materialism has displaced the spiritual, it may seem strange to consider that life is sustained by the spiritual and not primarily by physical processes.  This is mostly clearly understood within the sphere of combat.  The ancient warrior understood that what dertermines the outcome of battle is not the mastery of technique, not sophistication of weaponry, but the keen heart which has been forged, tempered, and honed to a razor's edge.  It is the mettled heart and the backbone of steel which crushes the onslaught of the enemy.  Instances abound in the lore of combat where the beaten hero rises once more to snatch victory from defeat.  It is said that one may fall seven times but rise up eight.  So, the spirit must be fed and thereby strengthened to endure through to victory at the moment of dire necessity.

The ancient ascetics were said to sustain themselves on mist.  Indeed they did.  The sennin understood the principal of spiritual food and realized the importance of proper maintenence of the soul.  The principal of the mist teaches us that in order to sustain life, indeed to attain the secret of eternal life, we must first and foremost look to the needs of the soul.  Without a correct understanding of the spiritual any physical accomplishment is without meaning and at the critical moment, we shall fail.  The mist is a metaphor for the immaterial, the ephemeral and spiritual.  What the sennin saw through a glass darkly, we may see clearly: "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4  

Where does this spiritual strength originate?  You must first know the secret of eternal life.  "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God: to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Romans 3:22-26  Therefore, having obtained eternal life through faith in Christ's redemptive work on the cross, one may begin to understand "eating the mist" by feeding the soul on its only source of sustenance, "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

For true victory, the warrior must look first to his spiritual life and seek out the principals of eternal life.  Having gained this inestimable treasure, the warrior may feed on the spiritual, the Word of God; everything else proceeds from this and nothing apart from it matters.