Sitting still: Japanese ‘sacred treasure’ found at SUNY Brockport

That Sachio Ashida is called a “sacred treasure” is not just some sentimental affection stated by his wife, children or students. It is an official decree from his native Japan; the country where he learned the judo and the ways of the Buddha that keep his face lit like an oil lamp in winter.

Ashida was bestowed with the title Kun Yontou Zuihosho, fourth level of merit of the Imperial Order of the Sacred Treasure, by Emperor Akihito of Japan in a ceremony at the imperial palace.

That palace, to be sure, is a long way away in space and stature from his cramped basement office at SUNY Brockport. But that matters little to UUPer Ashida, who carries his ideals within his small, honed frame no matter where he goes. The associate professor of psychology, who also directs the college’s Judo Club (considered one of the top three on the East Coast), was honored by the emperor for his “lifelong dedication to and exemplification of the Zen Buddhist principles of self-awareness and understanding, self-discipline and the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of life.”

It was in the Kasei Zen temples in Nyshinomiya, Japan, where Ashida first learned discipline through long periods of sitting and studying with masters.

“You resolve while you are sitting,” he said. “While the thought comes in, you become a prisoner of thought, but then you dissolve the problem, so when the thought comes in, it’s natural.”

His first challenge as a Zen student: to study a flag moving in the wind and figure out if it’s the flag or wind that’s moving. Ashida studied philosophy, theory and physics, but for six months had the wrong answers. Finally, he got it: “Flag is not moving; air is not moving; my mind is moving.”

It comes down to perspective. For example, he said, a full moon might appear to be choppy when it is reflected on rough waters. But your mind knows the true figure of the moon, he said, not just its appearance. Similarly, in relationships, we focus on one characteristic of people and distort their true, whole spirit. We lose perspective. A once happy marriage may lead to divorce when we forget the whole person.

Ashida tells the following tale of change from firsthand perspective. When he could not pass the English entrance exam in a Ph.D. program at the University of Nebraska, he was assigned a tutor, Margaret. She was, ironically, doing her master’s thesis on similarities between Zen and Walt Whitman's epic poem, “Leaves of Grass.” They ended up marrying.

Her father, however, would not even meet his son-in-law. He was a commanding officer under Gen. MacArthur in World War II when they were defeated by the Japanese at Bataan Corregidor. Ashida, at 20, fought in the Imperial Japanese Air Force as a suicide pilot — against the Americans. Ashida said all Margaret’s father saw, through a photograph, was a Japanese enemy. Others thought the same: Nebraska state law at the time forbade marriage to people of Chinese, Japanese and Indian descent.

After Margaret become pregnant with their first child, Ashida’s father-in-law came to visit when he was working at a nearby army base. “With just one sight, we became best of friends,” Ashida said, filling the room with his smile. Upon seeing him as a whole person, his father-in-law’s perspective changed.

Judo has helped the Brockport faculty member keep life in perspective. He earned his first-degree black belt at age 15, and now has a Kodokan eighth-degree black belt. He has served as an Olympic judo coach and referee.

“Ultimately, the goal of judo is to achieve a state of enlightenment,” he said. “It’s a life’s work, until you die, to constantly examine yourself.”

In judo, he said, “I try to give very strong signals to the students to develop their own character. We should be educated to learn how to know ourselves.”

The ultimate goal of self-actualization is to understand this statement, which he spoke in Japanese: “Everything is Nothing; Nothing is Everything.”

— Liza Frenette