Mind Manipulation. Dr. Haha Lung

      “Ethereal and subtle, the master strategist passes by without leaving a trace. Mysterious, like the way of Heaven, he passes by without a sound. In this way master an enemy’s fate.”

      —Sun Tzu

      Of all the various cadres down through history to use mind manipulation as a weapon, hands down the most adept were the ninja of Japan.

      Drawing on ancient texts and tactics from East Indian strategists and Chinese spies, medieval Japanese ninja further refined these techniques of mind manipulation before passing them down to us today.

      THE ASIAN MIND

      Experts disagree as to when and where the craft of Japanese ninjutsu (art of the ninja) actually began.

      It is known that many Japanese ninja practices, including their mind-manipulation tactics and techniques, can be found with the mysterious Thuggee cult of India.¹

      Ancient India, the “mother” of civilization, produced many classics of military strategy, most of which contained at least passing reference to the importance of discerning—and then destroying—an enemy’s mind-set. For example, the ancient Hindu text Arthasastra contained advice on the art of espionage and mind manipulation, as did the writings of Indian strategist Kautilya.

      Other portions of Japanese ninja strategy can be traced back to ancient China’s Warring States Period (453-221 BCE) when ruthless rival princes routinely employed subterfuge, spies, and mind manipulation to further their ambitions.

      It was during this tumultuous period that the greatest of Asian strategists Sun Tzu wrote his Ping Fa (Art of War).

      Sun Tzu’s treatise is one of the first military books to carry a chapter devoted specifically to the use of secret agents. This masterpiece covers all aspects of warfare and includes extensive comments on how to gain insights into the strengths and weaknesses of an enemy’s mind and how to wield those revelations during psychological warfare.

      Sun Tzu understood that discerning the mind-set and motivations of an enemy was the first step in overcoming that enemy:

      “Know the enemy and know yourself and in a hundred battles you will never be in danger.”

      So insightful were Sun Tzu’s observations that Art ofWar is more popular today than ever and has been applied to a wide variety of fields, not the least of which are Asian politics and finance.

      China’s Warring States Period also saw the emergence of several groups of specialized secret agents and assassins, the most feared of which were magician-like spies known as moshuh nanren (often referred to in hindsight as “the ninja of China”).

      Moshuh nanren were masters of espionage, assassination, and mind manipulation.

      For example, moshuh nanren purposely cultivated an atmosphere of superstition and fear around themselves and their skullduggery. They did this through use of intimidation—their enemies disappearing in the middle of the night or found dead from the dim-mak (death touch) without any marks on them—and through encouraging the belief that moshuh nanren were descended from mythical lin kuei (forest demons).

      Centuries later, Japanese ninja would use this same tactic, encouraging the belief that they were descended from mythical tengu demons.

      Sun Tzu’s Art ofWar was first “officially” introduced into Japan in the 8th century CE.

      However, many moshuh nanren espionage techniques filtered into Japan between the 1st and 5th centuries, a period that saw a large influx of Chinese Buddhists into Japan. Undoubtedly, Sun Tzu’s Art ofWar came along for the ride.

      In addition to Sun Tzu, early Japanese strategists may have also studied other notable Chinese writers, for example Wu Ch’i (430-381 BCE):

      “One man willing to throw away his life is enough to terrorize a thousand.”

      Another influential Chinese strategist was Tu Mu (803-852 CE), who wrote extensively on the proper recruitment and employment of spies and double agents, especially individuals gleaned from an enemy’s own country. Tu Mu’s keen insight into the workings of the human mind detailed various ways disgruntled and disaffected individuals could be seduced into becoming traitors and double agents.

      We can only speculate to what degree each of these Chinese, and to a lesser extent East Indian strategists, had on the development of the mind-manipulation tactics and techniques of medieval Japanese ninja. We do know for certain that, in short order, the ninja of Japan become quite adept at employing a myriad of mind-manipulation strategies, most of which remain valid today.

      THE NINJA MIND

      “A keen insight into human psychology and predictability has always proven the ninja’s greatest weapon. This remains true today.”

      —Dirk Skinner

      Japanese “ninja” techniques did not come into their own until the 6th century when Prince Shotoku, contestant for the imperial throne, recruited a yamabushi (mountain warrior-monk) by the name of Otomo-No-Saijin as a spy.

      Where Otomo acquired his espionage skills and insight into human nature is not known. What is known is that Otomo was certainly adept at his craft, and instrumental in helping Shotoku outthink his enemies. Otomo’s alias was Shinobi (one who sneaks in). The word ninja comes from the Japanese written character for shinobi and refers generically to anyone who uses stealth and subterfuge techniques (e.g. mind-manipulation) to accomplish his goals.

      Over the next few centuries, Japanese techniques of espionage, subterfuge, and psychological warfare continued to be refined. In the 14th century, Japan was ripped end-to-end by savage internecine warfare between rival samurai clans. The savagery of this period stimulated an increase in “ninja” activity, as “ninja” criminal bands took advantage of the chaos to rob and plunder, and every freelance “ninja” spy peddled information on opposing forces. Any act of savagery or subterfuge occurring during this time was attributed to “ninja,” a catchall term not indicative of the later great organized ninja clans. However, the 14th century did see the scattering of seeds that would eventually grow into true ninja clans in central Japan.

      Eventually more than 50 shinobi-ninja clans—including the powerful Hattori, the Momochis and the Fijibayashis—would forge an almost autonomous state in the central provinces of Iga and Koga.

      Insulated by dense forests, these shinobi-ninja perfected their stealth and intelligence-gathering craft, their martial arts, and, most importantly, their satsujin-jutsu (insights into the minds of men), both their own and that of potential enemies. As they grew more powerful, many of these shinobi clans were content to be left to themselves.

      Other ninja clans, however, openly defied and actively warred against local daimyo (samurai overlords). More often than not they played one samurai clan against the other. This was sound ninja strategy. The more the daimyo warred amongst themselves—thinning their samurai ranks—the less manpower they had on hand to devote to hunting down ninja.

      In the mid-1500s, Shogun Oda Nobunago and his two generals, Ieyasu Tokugawa and Hideyoshi Toyotomi launched a campaign to wipe out defiant ninja clans in central Japan. In his zeal, Nobunago drew no distinction between defiant ninja clans and those shinobi folk merely wanting to be left to themselves. This indiscriminate slaughter by Nobunago alienated many of the shinobi clans that might have otherwise not actively warred against him.

      In November 1581, Nobunago’s army invaded Iga province in force, decimating the shinobi clans. Those shinobi escaping immediate death during the intense fighting were hunted down and killed. A few clan leaders had read the writing on the wall and had made contingency plans for their people to escape to other parts of Japan, many to Kii province where still-defiant Buddhists had set up an enclave.

      Not